Note: This transcript of the 6th volume of Lord Kingsborough's 1830 "Mexican Antiquities" 
has not yet been corrected, from the original OCR process. When corrections have been 
completed, a new transcription will be posted in place of this preliminary file.

Jan 1, 2011.


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ANTIQUITIES OF MEXICO:

COMPRISING

FAC-SIMILES

OF

ANCIENT MEXICAN PAINTINGS AND HIEROGLYPHICS,

PRESERVED

IN THE ROYAL LIBRARIES OF PARIS, BERLIN, AND DRESDEN;

IN THE IMPERIAL LIBRARY OF VIENNA;

IN THE VATICAN LIBRARY;

IN THE BORGIAN MUSEUM AT ROME;

IN THE LIBRARY OF THE INSTITUTE AT BOLOGNA;

AND IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY AT OXFORD.

TOGETHER WITH

THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN,

By M. DUPAIX:

WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE

SCALES OF MEASUREMENT AND ACCOMPANYING DESCRIPTIONS.

THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED BY MANY VALUABLE

Inedited Manuscripts,

By LORD KINGSBOROUGH.

THE DRAWINGS, ON STONE, BY A. AGLIO.

---

IN SEVEN VOLUMES.

VOL. VI.

---

LONDON:

PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

PUBLISHED BY ROBERT HAVELL, 77, OXFORD STREET;

AND

COLNAGHI, SON, AND CO., PALL MALL EAST.

M.DCCC.XXXI.





[3]


A P P E N D I X.

---

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HIEROGLYPHICAL PAINTINGS OF
THE COLLECTION OF MENDOZA.

The History and Foundation of the Capital of Mexico here commences, which was founded and 
peopled by the Mexicans, who were at that time named _Mecitis;_ the origin of whose empire, and 
the lives and actions of whose kings, are truly and briefly declared in this history, accordingly as they 
are successively signified by the paintings and hieroglyphics which follow.


In the year thirteen hundred and twenty-four after the advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
the Mexicans arrived at the site of the capital of Mexico; and as they found the place and situation 
agreeable, after having for many years wandered in their travels from country to country, in some of 
which they stopped for several years, having prosecuted their journey from distant parts, none of the 
situations in which they had made a temporary abode contenting them, they arrived at the site of Mexico, 
which was at that time a complete swamp, overgrown with thick rushes, which they call tuli, and tall 
flags resembling a thicket. The entire extent of this site was occupied by a clear stream of water in 
the shape of a cross, free from weeds and rushes, which cross resembled that of Saint Andrew, as the 
painting shows. Nearly at the bounds and centre of this space and cross, the Mecitis found a large 
stone * or rock, on which was a high tunal, to which an eagle with rich plumage was accustomed to 
resort to devour its prey, so that the ground was strewed round about with the bones of birds, and many 
feathers of different colours. Having passed through and explored the whole site, and found it fertile 
and abundant in game, fish, and fowl, and such productions as are peculiar to a marshy soil, with which 
they might be enabled to support themselves, and to turn their industry to account in their dealings 
with the neighbouring people, and further induced by the security which the water afforded, which their 
neighbours could not cut off, and from other motives and causes, they determined to extend their travels 
no further; and having so determined, they fortified themselves, substituting in the place of walls and 
bulwarks, the water and thick clumps of tulis and of flags. Having laid the foundation or commence-

-----


* Instead of _honda, donde_ should have been printed in the corresponding Spanish passage, and a comma 
should have been inserted _after pea;_ and for _Candal,_ which is there supposed to be the proper name of 
the eagle, the word _caudal_ should be substituted.




4 INTERPRETATION OF THE

ment of a settlement and population, they determined to bestow a name and appellation on the place,
calling it Tenotchtitlan, because and on account of the tunal growing upon the stone. *

The Mexican army had ten persons as chiefs, whose names were OCELPAN, Qu APAN, ACACITLI,
AUUEXOTL, TENUCII, TECINEUH, XOMIMITL, XOCOYOL, XIUHCAQUI, and ATOTOTL, (as likewise is
demonstrated by the painting,) who having made choice of a site, elected as their head and king TENUCH,
in order that he might rule over them, as a person eminently fitted for that office, who united in himself
talents and abilities qualifying him for command. The other chiefs became in a manner his lieutenants,
and filled the post of captains over the mixed multitude. Some years having passed away in a course of
settlement, and the population of the city increasing, the capital received likewise the name of Mexico,
being named and called after the Mexicans, and was distinguished by the appellation of the place and
habitation of the Mexicans; and as the number of the people had somewhat increased, they began like a
brave and warlike nation to direct their attention to conquests over their neighbours; and accordingly
they signalized their courage in arms, thereby reducing to a state of vassalage, and to the payment of
tribute, two cities in the vicinity of Mexico, named Colhuacan and Tenayucan, (which is also proved
by the painting,) which events occurred in the course of the reign of TENUCU, which lasted fifty-one
years; at the expiration of which period he died.



-----
* This account appears to be compounded of truth and fiction. It is probable that when the Mexicans selected, for the sake of
security, a swampy island in the Mexican Lake as the site of the capital of their future empire, the first thing they proceede'l
to do, was to make drains, as well for the purpose of rendering the ground more firm for the sake of building, as to guard against the
noxious exhalations which, continually arising from so marshy a soil, would have proved very destructive to the lives of the new
colonists; and that the main drains were cut in the shape of the cross represented in the plate. We learn from the letters of Cortes,
that the city of Mexico itself was entirely intersected with drains and canals, and that while some of the streets were wholly water, others
were half earth and half water, a line of road for foot-passengers running parallel to the half which served as a passage for boats and canoes.
The Spanish brigantines during the last days of the siege of Mexico, sailed into the city by the larger canals, and greatly contributed
to its destruction. Peter Martyr compares it to Venice, and says in his fifth Decade, that he had seen a map of it which was done
by the natives: "After that we saw another great map, a little lesse, but not lesse alluring to our mindes, which contained the city
of Tenustitan itself, described by the same hand, of the inhabitants, with her temples, bridges, and lakes." The cross of Saint Andrew
was likewise a sacred symbol among the Indians. Gomm'a, describing the manners and customs of the inhabitants of Cumana, says:
"Entre los muchos idolos y figuras que adoran pOl' dioses, tienen una aspa como la de Sant Andres, y un signo, como de escl'ivano,
quadrado, ccrrado y atl'avesado en cruz, de esquina a esquina, y muchos fmiles y otros Espaflolcs dezian sel' cruz, y que can el se defendian
de las fantasmas de noche, y 10 ponian a los ninos en nacicnclo." "Amongst the many idols and figures which they worship as gods,
they have a cross like that of Saint Andrew, and a ign, done as it were by a penman, square, enclosed, and with a cross diagonally
passing through it, which many monks and other Spaniards have pronounced to be a cross, and with it they defend themselves from
nightly spectres, and place it over children shortly after their birth." In the edition of Peter Martyr's work, published in Paris, by Hakluyt,
and dedicated to Sir Walter Raleigh, a wood engraving, as well as a description of the same kind of cross, occurs. The engraving
exactly resemhles the cross in which the Mexicans founded their city, and the description is similar to that given by Gomara, which
in the English translation of the Decades is as follows. "They knew them (the Chiribians, or Chiribichen es, which name differs
from that of Chibirias, the mother of Bacab,) honour the crosse, although lying somewhat oblique, and in another place compassed
about with lynes, they putt it upon such as are newe borne, supposing the divels Rie from that instrument. If any fearefull apparition
bee seene at any time by night, they set up the crosse, and say that the place is cleansed by that remedy; and being demanded
whence they learned this, and lite speeches which they understande not, they answere that those rites and customes came by tradition
from the elders to the younger." Gomara says, that in Yucatan a cross of copper, or of wood, was placed over the graves of the dead.
II AU1 se hallaron Cl'uzes de laton y palo sobre mUCl'tos. De donde arguyen algunos, que muchos Espailoles se fueron tt esta tierra,
quando In destrucion de Espana hecha por los Moros, en tiempo del Rey Don Rodligo. Mas no 10 creo, pues no las ay en las islas."
-- La Istoria de las Indios, fo. xxvii. "They found there crosses of copper and of wood over the dead. Whence some conclude that
many Spaniards fled to that country at the period of the destruction of Spain by the Moors, in the time of the King Don Roderic:
but I do not credit this, because there are no crosses in the islands." Gomara mentions here the discovery of crosses in Yucatan, as




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 5

The blue outlines in the margins of this history signify a year, and point out the number of years;
and the length of the lives of the kings of Mexico. For the more perfect and clear understanding of
the paintings and their mode of reckoning, and the names of the years, it must be observed that they
reckoned by the points contained in each square, counting from the first point as far as thirteen points.
Although different figures occupy the squares and enclosures, nevertheless the number of the points is
the chief thing to be attended to; for as to the names which they assigned and allotted to their years,
beginning from the first point and reckoning as far as thirteen points, they are not of much importance
as considered in connection with each square and enclosure. For the better understanding of what has
been said, we here separately insert the signs and proof of the names, together with their interpretations,
for the information of the reader. Wherever in the order and succession of the squares and enclosures
reckoned as years, a square occurs with a branch and stem resembling a flower accompanying it, it
signifies an unfortunate and calamitous year; which the Mexicans believed and feared, affirming that
their ancestors from time immemorial had admonished them, that such years as succeeded each other
after every interval of fifty-two years, would be dangerous, unlucky, and calamitous, on account of the
universal deluge having taken place in such a year, and likewise darkness caused by an eclipse of the
sun, and earthquakes generally every where. * They accordingly performed many sacrifices and ceremonies 


-----
a fact of which there could be no doubt, and which had engaged the attention of well-informed Spaniards; but Herrera, who pronounces
so severe a censure on the Indian monarchy of Torquemada, and declares Sahagun to be a writer of no authority, and is
further determined that no crosses should be found in America, disbelieves Gomara on the grounds of Yucatan not possessing mines;
although, unfortunately for his own credit as an historian, M. Dupaix discovered a copper medal in the city of Ciudad Real, which is
on the frontiers of Tabasco, and the peninsula of Yucatan; a representation of which will be found in the eighth plate of the third part
of his Monuments of New Spain, No. 12. In another part of America, the Spaniards were disappointed by finding that a golden cross,
in search of which they had proceeded nine hundred miles to the north of Mexico, as far as Quivira, was merely a jewel of copper.
Gomara thus relates the motives and the result of the expedition: "Desde alll fue Don Gargilopez de Cardenas con su compania de
cavallos a Ia mar, y Francisco Vazquez con los demas, a Tiguex, que esta ribera de un gran rio. AlIl tuvieron nueva de Axa y Quivira.
Donde decian que estava un fey, clicho por nombre Tatarl'ax, barbudo, cano, y rico, que cenia un bracamarte, que rezava en horas,
que adOl-ava una cruz de oro, y una ymagen de muger senora del ciiHo." "Don Garliilopez de Cardenas went from thence with his
troop of horse to the sea, and Francisco Vazquez with those who remained behind, to Tiguex, which is on the banks of a great river:
there they received intelligence of Ax a and Quivira, where they said there was a king of the name of TatarraJl., bearded, gray-headed,
and rich, who was girded with a bracamarte, who prayed at regular hours, who adored a cross of gold, and the image of a woman
who was queen of heaven." -- After recounting the many hardships which they suffered in the journey, he proceeds to add: "Huvo
hartas lagrimas, ffaqueza, y votos. Llegaron en fin a Quivira, y hallaron al Tatarrax, que buscavan, hombre ya cana, desnudo, y
con una joya de cobre al cuello, que era toda su riqueza. Vista por los Espafioles 10. burIa de tan famosa riqueza, se volvieron a
Tiguex, sin ver cruz ni rastro de Christiandad, e de aIH a Mexico en fin de Margo del ano de quarenta y dos." "Tears, fainting, and
vows were abundant. They arrived at last at Quivira, and found Tatarrax, whom they sought, a naked, gray-headed old man, with a
copper jewel banging at his neck, which was his only wealth. The Spaniards, perceiving the joke of these so much boasted riches,
returned to Tiguex,vithout seeing cross or trace of Christianity, and from thence to Mexico, towards the end of March of the year
forty-two." In further corroboration of the accounts given by Peter Martyr and Gomara of crosses discovered in America, the testimonyof
Garcia may be adduced, who, having been himself many years in Peru, is not likely to have been deceived respecting the
one in Cuzco: "En Yucatan se hallaron muchas cruces, i en el Cuzco una mui notable." -- Origen de los Indios, pag. 243.


_____
* Christians might have feared the return of every period of fifty-two years, as being nearly the anniversary of the age which Christ
had attained when he was crucified, and of the great eclipse which sacred history records, and which (since profane history is silent
respecting it,) it is very remarkable how the Mexicans should have become acquainted with. Boturini says that this eclipse was
noted down in the historical paintings of the Tultecas, as having happened in the sign of Seven Rabbits: "En el (a no) de Siete Conejos
nos acuerda el grande eclypse, que aconteci6 en Ia muerte de Christo, nuestro Senor." -- Idea de una Nueva IIistol~ia General de la
America Septentrional, page 6. The sign of Seven Rabbits may allude to the year, and the sign of Nahui Ollin, (or Four Earthquakes,)
may have been the day in which this famous eclipse occurred.




6 INTERPRETATION OF THE

to their gods on such years, devoting themselves to the celebration of religious rites, and abstained
from the commission of any sin until the proper day and hour of such a year had arrived; on which day
all generally extinguished their lights and fires till the day had passed by, which being over, they lit
new fire, which was brought from a mountain and kindled by a priest. *


_____
* Torquemada, after describing in the thirty-third chapter of the tenth book of his Indian Monarc"y the curious manner in which
the priest kindled the fire with the two little pieces of wood, called Tletlaxoni, in the wound itself in the breast of the prisoner, concludes
by remarking, "Asi como en el pueblo de Israel celebraban el alio del Jubileo, que era el de cinquenta, en el qual se redimianlas
possessiones y heredades, y se libertaban los cautivos, y la tenian por la major de sus fiestas, como 10 dice el Tostado; asi estos
Indios tenian esta por Ia major, [,orque en ella pensaban que redimian vida para mas tiempo, aunque se enganaban, pues dios es el que
10 da, y 10 quita; y no sabemos, como dice Christo, el que el Padre celestial tiene determinado, por estar reservado a su solo poder;
pero como ciegas estos hombres creian estas locuras, con todas las demas que en estes libros van escritas, y otras sin cuenta que
callo." "As the Israelites celebrated the year of Jubilee, which was the fiftieth, in which they redeemed possessions and inheritances,
and freed captives, and which they considered the greatest of their festivals, as Tostado observes; so the Indians reckoned this (the
festival of Teoxihuitl, or the year of God,) as their greatest: for they thought when it arrived, that their lives were redeemed for a
longer space of time; although they deceived themselves, since it is God who bestows and takes away life; and we are ignorant, as
Christ declares, of what may have been determined by the Heave,nly Father, since he has reserved that to himself; but these men,
being blind, believed in these absurdities, with all the rest which are mentioned in these books, with innumerable others, respecting
which I am silent." It would appear from some expressions of Boturini, that a redemption of certain descriptions of property took
place in the year of Two Canes, or of the Mexican Jubilee; whilst other kinds, such as garments and vessels of earthenware, were
wholly destroyed. The Mexicans expected also the end of the world at the expiration of each of these short cycles, and were, in
fact, in continual expectation of that event; resembling in this anticipation some of the early Christians and disciples, who misinterpreting
the texts of Scripture, and the words of Christ, believed that that event was momentarily at hand. The expression of "in
these latter days," occurring in Scripture, deceived some of the more ancient fathers, who did not believe that the course of the world
had still to continue, at least for a period of time, as long as from the age of Noah to the birth of Christ, who having informed his
disciples that his second coming would be like that of a thief in the night, induced thereby some of them to suppose that John, the
favourite disciple, would tarry till he came; perhaps they might have even thought that the day of judgment would speedily follow
the crucifixion. It may be observed, in passing, that in the fifty-second year after the death of Christ, a pretended Messiah, to whom
the credulity of his countrymen, in consequence of some successes which he obtained over the Romans, had given the title of "Bar
Chocoba," (the Son of the Star,) arose, who proved afterwards no blessing to the House of Israel. In later times Mahomet appeared
in that character, and appealed to his astonishing victories as a proof of his divine mission; but the Jews rejecting him, are condemned
in the Koran for their disbelief. It is to be regretted that the early Spanish historians should have professed great reserve in treating
of some superstitious notions and traditions of the Mexicans.

Gomara, speaking of a king named Topilcin, whom they believed to have been changed into Venus, or the morning star, evidently
suppresses much curious information which he could have given, as he himself admits; "AI luzero que tienen por Ia mejor estrella,
matavan un esclavo del rei el dia que primero se Ies demostrava, y descubren 10 en Otono, y veenle dozientos y sesenta dias.
Atribuyen Ie los hados, y assi agueran pOl' unos signos que pintan para cada dia de aquellos dozientos y sesenta. Creen que Topilcin
ou rei primero se.convertio en aquella estrella. Otras cosas y poesias razonan sobre este planeta. Mas porque para la istoria bastan las
dichas, no las cuento." ". They sacrificed to Venus, which they considered the most excellent of the stars, a royal slave on the day in
which this star first appeared to them, when they perceived it in the autumn. It continued visible for two hundred and sixty days.
They believed that it was influential over destinies, and accordingly they practised divination by signs, which they painted and allotted
to these two hundred and sixty days. They imagine that Topilcin, their first king, was changed into this star. They indulge in other
speculations and fancies about this planet; but since history may be content with what is already written, I do not mention them."
It would even appear from the accounts given by Peter Martyr and Gomara, (for both these authors record the viva voce evidence
given by friar Thomas Ortizius before the council of the Indies), that that friar, speaking in the name of Pedro de Cordova and.of the
Dominicans and Franciscans, and recommending the slavery of the Indians, insinuates that he omits some charges which might have





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 7

Ce Tuchtli, Ome, * Acatl, Yey Tecpatl, N ahui Cali, Macuili Tuchtli, Chiquincen, + Acatl, Chicome
Tecpatl, Chicnahui Cali, Matlactli Tuchtli, X oce Acatl, X omome Tecpatl, X omey Cali, X onahui
Tuchtli; One Rabbit, Two Canes, Three Flints, Four Houses, Five Rabbits, Six Canes, Seven Flints,
Eight Houses, Nine Rabbits, Ten Canes, Eleven Flints, Twelve Houses, Thirteen Rabbits.
The names which they assign to the years, which are signified by each square, are written above them
in red ink, and the interpretation of these names are written below each square. Where an X is marked
in red ink, which means ten, they reckon matlactli.

PLATE I. ++

1. Acacitli. 2. Quapa. 3. Ocelopa. 4. Aquexotl. 5. Tecineuh. 6. Tenuch. 7. Xomimitl. 
8. Xocoyol. 9. Xiuhcaq. 10. Atototl. 11. Colhuacan. 12. Tenayucan. 13. Tenochtitlan.


PLATE II.

1. Acamapich. 2. By this shield and arrows are signified weapons of war. 3. Quauhnahuac.
4. Acamapich. 5. Mizquic. 6. Cuitlhuac. 7. Xochimilco.

The four cities represented and named in this plate, are those which ACAMAPICH conquered by
force of arms during the time that he was king of Mexico.

The four heads painted and inserted in the above plate denote those who were taken prisoners in the
wars with the four cities, whom they beheaded.


-----
been brought against them; but what charge but one seems wanting to the long catalogue of accusation? -- that of Judaism. And even
if the Indians had been discovereu to be all Jews, they could not have been more hardly dealt with by the Spauiards; for Gomara says,
" Fray Garcia de Loayoa dio grandissimo credito a fray Thomas Hortiz y a los otros frayles de su orden. Por 10 qual el Emperador
con acuerdo del consejo de Indias, declaro que fuessen esclavos estando en Madrid el ano de veniticinco." This condemnation
applied to the Indians of the continent of America generally; for the Caribean islanders had been condemned to slavery twenty years
before. It would not be just towards the two religious orders, or at the least to the Dominicans, not to add that they afterwards
disapproved of the slavery of the Indians, and condemned it from the pulpits. Las Casas's persuasion that the Indians were
descended from the Jews, is elsewhere mentioned; but as the words" Loquela tua manifestum te facit" were discovered with some
other reasons tending towards the same conclusion by Torquemada in some private papers containing the will of Las Casas, at the
same time that great weight must be attached to so solemnly recorded an opinion, it cannot be said that that learned prelate was
guilty of any indiscretion in promulgating it; but the contrary is proved, by the proviso which he made respecting the publication of
his History, -- that it should not be printed till fifty years after his death; and then only if it appeared good to the superior of his
order, and for the benefit of religion; but that in the intermediate time no layman or young ecclesiastic was to be permitted to read
it. This work has never been published; and Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete says, that when it was referred some years ago
to the Academy of History at Madrid, to take their decision respecting its publication, they did not think it convenient.

* Come Occurs in the Spanish text; a dash of the pen having been mistaken for the letter C.

+ Torquemada designates the number six, Chiquacen; and Chicuey, eight, being here omitted, and Chicnahui, nine, substituted
for it, the remaining names properly belong to the numbers immediately preceding each of those to which they are assigned.

++ These references are to the plates in the first volume, where the persons and cities numbered are represented by their proper
symbols.



8 INTERPRETATION OF THE

In 1370 ACAMAPICIITLI succeeded to the said kingdom and government; and in the course of his
reign he gained and conquered by force of arms the cities contained and named in the paintings, which
were Quauhnahuac, Mizquic, Cuitlahuac and Xochimilco, which became tributary to him, acknowledging
themselves as vassals. AC.HIAPICIITLI during his entire reign was disposed to keep many wives, the
daughters of all the principal Mexican lords, by whom he had many sons, who were the founders of the
future greatness of many families of Caciques, and chieftaius of martial reputation; by whose means the
capital of Mexico received great augmentation and increase of power, as is successively shown in the
course of this History by the paintings, with their explanations.
The two figures, with the title and name of ACAMAPICIITLI accompanying them, are in reality the
same; for the first figure points out the beginning of his reign, and his accession to the said dignity; and
the second denotes the year after he had succeeded to the said dignity, when he undertook the conquest
and subjugation of the said four cities. * The said reign lasted twenty-one years; at the expiration of
which period the said ACAMAPICHTLI died, and departed this present life, whose decease occurred in
the year 1396.

PLATE III.

1. TOLTITLAN. 2. QUAuHTITLAN. 3. Chalco. 4. HUICILYHUITL. 5. This representation ofa
shield and arrows signifies the conquest of the cities painted and named in the margin of the plate.
6. Tulancinco. 7. Xaltocan. 8. Otnmpa. 9. The capital city of Tezcuco. 10. Acolma. The
number of years XXI.

In 1396 I-IUICILYHUITL, the son of ACAMAPIClf, succeeded to the said government, who in the
course of his reign conquered and gained by force of arms eight cities, which are those contained in
the preceding paintings, the names of which said cities are therein specified, which became tributary to
the state of Mexico, acknowledging themselves as vassals. The said HUICILYHUITL was of a warlike
disposition, and inclined to keep many wives, by whom he had many sons, who increased the resources
of the Mexican State. The reign and life of the said HUICILYHUITL lasted twenty-one years; at the
expiration of which period he died, and departed this present life, according to the computation of the
figures contained within the blue compartments.

PLATE IV.

1. Tequixquiac. 2. CHIMALPUPUCA. S. This painting of a shield and arrows signifies wars.
4. Chalco. 5. CHIMALPUPUCA dead. 6. These heads signify five Mexicans who were put to death

-----
* The first figure probably denotes that Acamapichtli, before he was elected king, possessed the title of Cihuacohuatl, or supreme
governor of the Mexicans; when Mexico afterwards became a monarchy, this office was retained, and the person who occupied it
filled a post like that of Grand Vizier in the East. Torquemada says, that by the Mexican laws it was equally treasonable to conspire
against the life of the King or of the Cihuacohuatl. The symbol over the head of the first figure of Acamapichtli exactly
corresponds with the signification of this Mexican appellation.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 9

by the Chalchese. 7. A Canoe. 7. A Canoe. 7. A Canoe. 7. A Canoe. 8. This figure personifies
the people of the city of Chalco, who rebelled against the Mexicans, and injured them by breaking
four of their canoes, which is symbolically signified by the stone grasped in its hands; and five
persons are further represented, whom they killed in the said rebellion. 9. X years.

In 1417, by the decease and death of HUICILYHUITL, CHIMALPUPUCA succeeded to the said
government. The said CHIMALPUPUCA was the son of the said Hu lCLLYHUITL; and in the course of
his said reign, he conquered by force of arms the city of Tequixquiac, and Chalco, which is a large
city; which acknowledging themselves as vassals, paid tribute to the state of Mexico, as is demonstrated
in the preceding paintings: the said cities in this manner remaining subject to him, in the course
of a few years the said city of Chalco, being powerful, rebelled against the Mexicans, from which
rebellion there resulted loss to the Mexicans, five persons being killed, and four canoes destroyed, as is
signified in the preceding paintings, with their explanations. The course of the life and reign of the
said CHIMALPUPUCA lasted ten years; at the end of which period he died, according to the computation
of the blue compartments painted in the margin. CHIMALPUPUCA also had in his life many
wives and sons, for that was considered a point of state.

PLATE V.

1. Azcapuzala. 2. Coyuacan. 3. Teocalhueyan. 4. Y ZCOACI. 5. This shield and arrows signify
the instruments of war by which the cities contained and named under their proper symbols in these
plates were conquered. 6. Quaguacan. 7. Tlacopan. 8. Atlacinhuayan. 9. Mixcoac. 10. Quauximal.
11. Quauhtitlan. 12. Tecpan. 13. Acolhuacan. The number of years XIII.

PLATE VI.

1. Mizquic. 2. Cuitlahuac. 3. Xodjimilco. 4. Chalco. 5. QUAUHTLATOA dies in Tlatilulco.
6. Tlatilulco. 7. Huizizilapa. 8. Quauhnahuac. 9. Cuezalan. 10. Zaqualpa. 11. Y ztepec.
12. Xiuhtepec. 13. Yoalan. 14. Tepequacinla.

In 1427, by the decease and death of the said CHIMALPUPUCA, Y ZCOACI, the son of ACA~fAPIH,
who had been king of Mexico, succeeded to the government, who during his said reign gained and
conquered by force of arms twenty-four cities, which are those represented in the preceding plates;
which cities he subjected in a single invasion under the dominion of Mexico. As the said Y ZCOACI
was brave and valiant in arms, and in many respects a man of sound judgment and resolution,
he subjugated the said cities, which became tributary to him, acknowledging themselves his vassals.
The said Y ZCOACI had many wives, by whom he had seven sons and daughters. He continued in
possession of the sitid government thirteen years, at the expiration of which period he died, and
departed this present life.





10 INTERPRETATION OF THE

PLATE VII.

1. ATONAL, Coayxtlahuacan. 2. Mamalhnaztepec. 3. Tenanco. 4. HUEHUEMOTECCUMA. 
5. Weapons of War. 6. Teteuhtepec. 7. Chiconquiauhco. 8. Xiuhtepec. 9. Totolapa. 10. Chalco. 
11. Quauhnahuac. 12. Atlatlauhca. 13. Huaxtepec.


PLATE VIII.

1. Yauhtepec. 2. Tepuztlan. 3. Tepatzinco. 4. Yacapichtlan. 5. Y oaltepec. 6. Tlachco.
7. 'rIalcozauhtitla. 8. Tepecuacinla. 9. Quiyauhteopan. 10. Chontalcoatlan. 11. Hlleypnchtla.
12. A totonilco. 13. Axocopan. 14. Tulan. 15. Xilotepec. 16. Y zcuincuitlapilco. 17, Atotomilco.
18. Tlapacoyom. 19. Chapolycxitla. 20. Tlatlauhquitepec. 21. Cuetlaxtlan. 22. Quauhtochco.

In 1440, by the decease and death of Y ZCOACI, HUEHUEMOTECCUMA, the son of HUICILYHUITL,
who was king of Mexico, succeeded to the said government; and during his reign he conquered
and gained by force of arms thirty-three cities, as they are represented in the preceding plates,
and painted in a circle round the figure of the said HUEHUEMoTEccunu; and having subjected
them to the state of Mexico, they paid him tribute, acknowledging themselves his vassals. HUEHUEMOTECCUMA
was a very grave and generous prince, who applied himself to the practice of virtue. He
was endowed with excellent abilities and judgment, and an enemy to corrupt morals; he introduced, of
his own free will, order and laws into the state, and his subjects placed their entire confidence in him.
He imposed severe punishments, which he commanded to be executed without any mitigation, on those
who violated the laws; he was not however cruel, but on the contrary, kind, anxious for the public.
good, and the father of his people. He was not intemperately addicted to women; he had two sons.
He was exceedingly temperate in drinking; so that never in the course of his life was he seen in a
state of intoxication, whilst the native Indians are in general extremely inclined to drunkenness; on
the contrary, he commanded that those who so transgressed should be punished; and from his generosity,
and the good example which he displayed in his life, he was feared and respected by his subjects
during the whole course of his reign, which lasted twenty-nine years, at the expiration of which period
he died, and departed this present life.

PLATE IX.

1. Tlatilula. 2. MOQUIHUIX, the lord of Tlatilula. 3. Atlapula. 4. Xalatlan. 5. AXAYACACI.
6. Weapons of war. 7. Tlacotepec. 8. Metepec. 9. Capuluac. 10. Ocoyacac. 11. Quauhpanoayan.
12. Xochiachan. 13. Teotenanco. 14. Caliymaya. 15. Cinacantepec. The number
of years XII.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 11

PLATE X.

1. Tulucan. 2. Xiquipilco. 3. Tenanzinco. 4. Tepeyaca. 5. Tlaximaloyan. 6. Oztoma.
7. Xocotitlan. 8. Ocuilan. 9. Oztoticpac. 10. Matlatlan. 11. Cuezcomatlyyacac. 12. Tecalco.
13. Cuetlaxtlam. 14. Puxcauhtlam. 15. Ahuilizapan. 16. Tlaolan. 17. Mixtlan. 18. Cuefaloztoc.
19. Tetzapotitlan. 20. Miquiyetlan. 21. Tamuoc. 22. Tanpatel. 23. Tuchpan. 24. Tenexticpac.
25. Quauhtlan.

In 1469, by the decease and death of HUEHuEMoT-EccuMA, AXAYACACI succeeded to the government,
who was the son of TEcoconiocTLI, and the grandson of Y ZCOATZI, who had been king of
Mexico; and whilst the said AXAYACACI was king, he conquered and gained by force of arms thirtyseven
cities, according to their successive names and representations, in which number is included
the city of Tlatilula, which he reduced under his dominion by force of arms; an event of great
importance. 'The lord of Tlatilula at that time was MOQUIHUIX, a powerful personage, possessed of
great abilities, who being naturally of a haughty disposition, afforded to the king of Mexico a pretext
and occasion for wars and dissensions, although they had formerly been friends; whence ensued
great battles and engagements between them, in which the said MOQUIHUIX of Tlatilula died, precipitating
himself from the top of a high temple: for seeing himself worsted in a combat, and
returning from a defeat, he went into a temple to save himself from being taken prisoner, when a
priest who was in the temple upbraiding him, and reproaching him for so doing aloud, he precipitated
himself to the ground in the manner which has been mentioned; on which occasion the Mexicans
proved victorious, and the city of Tlatilula from that time until the conquest of Mexico by the
Spaniards, was subject to the king of Mexico, paying him tribute, and acknowledging vassalage.
AXAYACATZI was very valiant and brave in war, and was intemperately addicted to women; whence
the number of his wives and sons was considerable. He was proud and impetuous, which caused him
to be extremely feared by all his subjects. He maintained and approved as good, the laws and ordinances
which his ancestor HuEHuEniOTEccuMA had enacted, as has been declared in his history,
and his reign lasted twelve years, at the expiration of which petiod he died, and departed this
present life.

PLATE XI.

1. Tonaliymoquefayom. 2. Toxico. S. Ecatepec. 4. <;ilom. 5. Tecaxic. 6. Tuluca. 7. TlfoPCATZI.
8. This shield and arrows signify the instruments with which the cities contained in the
margin of this plate were conquered. 9. Yamanitlam. 10. Tlapan. 11. Atezcahuacan. 12. Mafatlam.
IS. Xochiyetla. 14. Tamapacha. 15. Ecatlyguapecha. 16. Miquetlam.

In 1482, by the decease and death ofAxAYACACI, T1foPCATZI, the son of the said AXAYACACI,
succeeded to the said government, who in the course of his reign conquered and gained by force of
arms fourteen cities, accordingly as they are successively painted and named.




12 INTERPRETATION OF THE

The said TI~OpCATZI was also extremely brave and warlike; and before he succeeded to the said
government, he achieved in war, in his own person, signal deeds of valour, whence he obtained the
dignity of TLACATECATL, which was esteemed a title of great honour and state, and was the point from
which, when the throne became vacant, a successor was immediately elevated to the regal dignity, which
career of titles and honours his predecessors, his brothers hereafter named, and father and grandfather,
pursuing, became at length kings of Mexico.

The said TI~OpCATZI had likewise, as a mark of authority and state attaching to the said dignity,
many wives, and sons born of them. He was a man of a grave character, and severe in exercising
command, and in causing himself to be feared and respected by his subjects; he was also disposed
and inclined to good and virtuous actions, and zealous for the interests of the state. He caused to be
observed and approved as good, the laws and statutes which his predecessors had augmented and kept
ii'om the time of HUEHUE~IOTECCUMA, and was vigilant in punishing and chastising the crimes
and misdemeanors of his subjects, whereby the state of Mexico was well governed and administered
during his life-time. The course of his reign lasted five years, at the end of which he died, and
departed this present life.

PLATE XII.

1. Tziccoac. 2. Tlappan. 3. Molanco. 4. Amaxtlan. 5. Gapotlan. 6. Xaltepec. 7. Chiapan.
8. Tototepec. 9. AHUI~OpN. 10. Weapons of war. 11. Xochtlan. 12. Xolochiuhyom.
13. Cozcaquauhtenanco. 14. Co~ohuipilecan. 15. Coyuca. 16. Acatepec. 17. Huexolotlan.
18. Acapulco. 19. Xiuhhuacan. 20. Apancalecan. 21. Tecpatepec. 22. Tepechiapa. 23. Xicochimalco.
24. Xiuhtec~acatlan.

PLATE XIII.

1. Tecuantepec. 2. Coyolapan. 3. Y ztactlealocan. 4. Teocuitlatla "". 5. Huehuetlan.
6. QuauhxayacatitIa*. 7. Yzhuatlan. 8. Comitlan. g. Nantzintlan. 10. Huipilan. 11. Cahualan.
12. Yztatlan. 13. Huiztlan. 14. XolotIan. 15. Quauhnacaztlan. 16. Ma~atIan. 17. AyauhtochcintlatIa.
18. QuauhtIan. 19. Cue~alcmtIapila. 20. Mapachtepec. 21. Quauhpilola. 22. Tlacotepec.
23. MizquitIan.

In 1486, by the decease and death of TI~OpCATZI, AHUI~OPN the brother of his predecessor
TI~OpCATZI succeeded to the said government; who in the course of his reign conquered and gained
by force of arms forty-five cities, accordingly as they are successively painted and named. The said
AHUI~O~IN resembled in valour and martial prowess his brother and predecessor TI~OpCATZI,
whence he obtained the title of TLACATECATL, which signifies great captain, which said title was the
next step to the throne.

* Many of the Mexican names of places terminated in an, and not as they are generally written in a; the final letter n being
frequently expressed by a cross above the letter a in ancient MSS., and this has not always been here attended to.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 13

The said AnulfopN was also naturally of a good disposition, and inclined to the practice of every
virtue: the state was accordingly during his whole life and reign well governed and administered.
He observed, and caused to be observed, the laws and statutes which his ancestors had maintained and
kept from the time of HUEHuEMoTEccuMA; and since the Mexican monarchy had received great
accessions, and possessed the larger part of New Spain subject to it, acknowledging vassalage; the
said state, from the many and costly tributes which they paid to it, arrived at great splendour: and like
a powerful and generous prince, he indulged his subjects with magnificent entertainments, and was of a
sweet and benignant disposition; whence his vassals and chiefs loved him extremely, and entertained
feelings of great reverence towards him. He likewise had many wives and sons, as a thing annexed to
the said dignity, and a point of great state. He was of a gay temper, whence his subjects continually
diverted him during his life-time with all kinds of festivals, and vocal and instrumental music by day
as well as by night; so that in his palace the voices of singers and musicians, and the sounds of many
musical instruments, never ceased. The course of his life'* lasted eighteen years; at the expiration of
which period he died, and departed this present life.

PLATE XIV.

1. Achiotlan. 2. <;ofolan. S. N ochiztlan. 4. Tecutepec. 5. <;ulan. 6. Tlaniztlan. 7. Huilotepec.
8. MOTEffuMA. 9. Weapons of war. 10. Y cpatepec. 11. Y ztactlalocan. 12. Chihihualtatacala.
IS'. Tecaxic. 14. Tlachinoltic. 15. Xoconochco. 16. <;inacantlan. 17. Huiztlan.
18. Piaztlan. 19. The decease and death of MOTEffuMA. Pacification and conquest of New Spain.
Number of years XVIII.

PLATE XV.

1. Molanco. 2. Caquantepec. S. Pipiyoltepec. 4. Hueyapan. 5. Tecpatlan. 6. Amatlan.
7. Caltepec. 8. Pantepec. 9. Teoacinco. 10. Tecofauhtla. 11. Teochiapan. 12. <;acatepec.
13. Tlachquiyauhco. 14. Malinaltepec. 15. Quimichtepec. 16. Y zcuintepec. 17. <;enfontepec.
18. Quet:mltepec. 19. Cuezcomayxtlahuacan. 20. Huexolotlan.
PLATE XVI.
1. Xalapan. 2. Xaltianquizco. S. Yoloxpuecuila. 4. Atepec. 5. Mictlan. 6. Y ztitlan.
7. Tliltepec. 8. Comaltepec.


-----
* "Life" is obviously a mistake for" reign." But the text of the original has in this, as in every other passage, been literally
adhered to in the translation.



14 INTERPRETATION OF THE

1. Citlaltepec. 2. Quauhtochco. 3. MIXCOATL-TLACATECTLI, a Governor. 4 * Tzonpanco.
5. Xaltocan. 6. TLACAifECTLI, a Governor. 7. TLACOCHTECTLI, a Governor. 8. Huaca.
9. Y zteyocan. 10. Acalhuacan. 11. Coatitlan. 12. Huixachtitlan. 13. TLACATECTLI, a Governor.
14. TLACOCHTECTLI, a Governor. 15. <;ofolan. 16. Poctepec. 17. Coatlayauhcan 18. Acolnahllac.
19. Puputlan. 20. Y ztacalco. 21. Chalcoatenco.

PLATE XVIII.

1. TLACOCHTECTLI, a Governor. 2. TLACATECATL, a Governor. 3. Oztoma. 4. TLACATECTLI,
a Governor. 5. TLACOCHTECTLI, a Governor. 6. Atzacan. 7. TLACOCHTECTLI, a Governor.
8. Atlan. 9. OMEQUHTEZCACOACATL, a Governor. 10. TLILANCALQUI, a Governor. 11. Xoconochco.
12. Tecapotitlan.

In 1502, on the death of AHUlfofIN, MOTEffun1A succeeded to the said government; who at his
accession found the state of Mexico already advanced to great majesty and authority; and having
been himself promoted to the said dignity on account of his great gravity and severity of character,
he augmented exceedingly the state and dominions of Mexico, in a much greater degree than any of
his predecessors:

MOTEffuMA was the son ofAxAYACApN, who was king of Mexico; and before he succeeded to
the said government, he acquired a reputation for valour and military enterprise, whence he obtained
the title of TLACATECTLI, and so succeeded to the said government, as has been already declared; and
becoming possessed of the said sovereign rule, he increased as much as possible the Mexican empire,
ruling over all the cities of New Spain, which gave and paid him great and costly tributes. He
was extremely feared by all his subjects, and likewise by his chIefs and nobles, so that none when
they transacted business with him, ventured, on account of the great fear and reverence in which they
held him, to look him in the face, but kept their eyes cast down to the earth, and their heads bent and
inclined to the ground, with many other extreme forms of respect, observances and ceremonies, willi
which they did him homage, on account of the great majesty which he displayed before them, of which
a description is here omitted, to avoid prolixity.

After MOTEffuMA had succeeded to the said government, he conquered forty-four cities, (accordingly
as they are represented and named in the paintings that follow,) and subjected them beneath his rule

-----
* It does not appear that the cities represented in the other plates had special governors deputed from Mexico to govern them
as viceroys. The extent of the Mexican empire was twelve hundred miles, from one extremity to the other; and it is likely that
the government of the frontier provinces would only have been confided to persons in whom the sovereign could place the greatest
dependence; and therefore that the office of viceroy in these places would be one of higher dignity and confidence.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 15
and empire; which, as an acknowledgment of vassalage, paid him during the whole course of his life
great and rich tributes (as may be seen in the paintings with their explanations which follow)

MOTECCUMA was by nature wise, an astrologer * and philosopher, and skilled and generally versed
in all the arts, both in those of a military, as well as others of a civil nature, and from his extreme


-----
* Scripture frequently mentions the wise men and astrologers whom the kings of Babylon consulted in doubtful emergencies, and
sent for to interpret dreams of ominous import: and it is particularly recorded of Joseph and Daniel, who were Jews, that their
interpretation of dreams surpassed those of the wise men of Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. It is singular that dreams and visions,
the usual way in which the Jews received divine inspirations, should have formed no small portion of the superstitions of the
Mexicans; amongst whom diviners and the art of divination were, according to Torquemada, held in great esteem. The custom of
a monarch surrounding him.elf with astTologers to deliberate upon the arduous affairs of his kingdom, i. so entirely oriental, and
conformable to the prejudices of the nations bordering on Palestine, whose manuers it should be recollected the Jews never failed to
imitate, -- that we must feel some surprise at finding that Montezuma and N ezahualpilli, the king of Tezcuco should have placed such
faith in astrology and divination, and some difficulty in conjecturing whence they derived it. The passage in the Interpretation of
the Collection of Mendoza to which this note refers, expressly states that Montezuma was skilled in astrology, to which proficiency
the complimentary speech addressed to him by Nezahualpilli on his accession to the throne, (in which, according to Torquemada, he
congratulated the Mexican nation on the election of a king, whose deep knowledge of heavenly things ensured to his subjects his
comprehension of those of an earthly nature,) would seem to allude; that Nezahualpilli was himself attached to astrological inquiries,
is recorded in the following very curious passage of the sixty-fourth chapter of the second hook of the Indian Monarc"y, "Dicen
que fue grande astrologo, y que se preciaba mucho de entender los movimientos de los astros celestes; yean esta inclinacion que [,
estas casas tenia, hacia inquisicion par todas las partes de sus reinos, de todos los que sabian alga de esto, y los traia a su corte, y
communicaba con elias todo 10 que sabia; y de DOche se subia a las agoteas de su palacio, y desde all) consideraba las estrellas,
y arguia can todos 10 que de elias dificultaban. Al menos, yo se decir, aver vista un lugar en sus casas, encima de las agoteas, de
quatro paredes, no mas altas que una vara, ni mas ancho ellugar que 10 que puede occupar un hombre acostado, y en cada esquina
tenia un hoyo 6 agujero, donde se ponia una hasta en las quales colgaban un cielo. Y preguntando yo, que de que servia aquel
quadro? me respondio un nieto suio, que me iba mostrando la casa, que era del Senor Nezahualpilli, para quando de noche iba can
sus astrologos a considerar los cielos y sus estrellas; de donde inferi ser verdad esto que de el se dice; y pienso que el estar levantadas
las paredes una vara de el suelo, y tener puesto cielo de algodon 6 seda, pendiente de las varas, debia de ser para mejor tantear
el curso celeste; como el otro filosofo, que metido en una cuba estuvo treinta y dos anos mirando can puntualidad el curso de una
estrella." "They say that he was a great astrologer, and prided himself much on his knowledge of the motions of the celestial
bodies; and being attached to this study, that he caused inquiries to be made throughout the entire of his dominions, for all such
persons as were at all conversant with it, whom he brought to his court, and imparted to them whatever he knew; and ascending by
night on the terraced roof of his palace, he thence considered the stars, and disputed with them all on difficult questions connected
with them. I at least can affirm that I have seen a place on the outside of the roof of the palace, inclosed within four walls only a
yard in height, and just of sufficient breadth for a man to lie down in; in each angle of which was a hole or perforation, in which
was placed a lance, upon which hung a sphere; and on my inquiring the use of this square space, a grandson of his, who was
showing me the palace, replied that it was for King Nezahualpilli, when he went by night attended by his astrologers to contemplate
the heavens and the stars; whence I inferred that what is recorded of him is true; and I think that the reason of the walls being
elevated one yard above the terrace, and a sphere of cotton or silk being hung from the poles, was for the sake of measuring more
exactly the celestial motions; like the philosopher who, seated in the hollow of a cask, spent thirty-two years in watching with precision
the course of a single star." It can hardly be doubted that the Mexicans were acquainted with many scientifical instruments
of strange invention as compared with our own: whether the telescope may not have been of the number is uncertain; but
the thirteenth plate of M. Dupaix' Monuments, which represents a man holding something of a similar nature to his eye, affords
reason for supposing that they knew how to improve the powers of vision. Astronomy has in all ages been a favourite study with
mankind: the Greeks cultivated it from their love of philosophy; the Jews were star-gazers because the Chaldeans were astrologers;
and the early Christians, whom Saint Paul inspired with a distaste for the arts and sciences of Greece, might still have retained some
predilection for it, from associating it with the discovery of the new star by the wise men of the East, who were reputed to have been
famous astronomers. The proficiency which the Mexicans had attained in this science cannot with certainty be known. Like the
Jews and primitive Christians, they entertained a superstitious dread of eclipses; and from some of their paintings it may be inferred
that they believed in a firmament, or lJ'TOge",fl''', which divided tI,e waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were
above the firmament.



16 INTERPRETATION OF THE

gravity and state, the monarchy under his sway began to verge towards empire: his subjects accordingly
were impressed with feelings of great awe and veneration towards him on account of his power;
since, compared with him, none of his predecessors had attained to a fourth part of his state and
majesty.

He was zealous in causing the laws and,statutes of his predecessors, from the time of HUEHUEMOTECCUMA
to his own time, to be strictly obeyed and fulfilled; and being endowed with so,much
wisdom, he by the excellence of his own understanding, enacted and framed other laws and ordinances,
snch as it appeared to him were wanting to the completion of the former, without repealing any; all
which he did for the advantage and good government of his state and subjects,
He was inclined to keep many wives, the daughters of princes his vassals and allies, by whom he
had many sons: his reason for keeping so many wives was chiefly to show his great majesty and
authority, for they considered it a matter of state; of whom, those who were the daughters of principallords
and grandees he espoused as his lawful wives, according to their rites and ceremonies,
who resided within his palaces and the houses which he usually inhabited; and the sons whom he had
by them were more highly considered on account of their legitimacy, than those whom he had by the
other women,

The order which was observed with respect to these women would be a long history to detail; and
since the present History is brief, it is here omitted. The quantity, value, and number of the tributes
which his subjects paid to him, will be seen and understood presently, according to the signification
of the paintings representing their several kinds and qualities. He was very exact in the tribute which
they paid him, that it should be collected in full, according to the amount of taxation which he imposed;
and he kept for this purpose his calpixques and revenue-officers, stationed in all the cities of
his vassals, as a sort of governors, to rule over, direct and administer their affairs. Being so much
feared, none dared to transgress or exceed his will and pleasure, which was accordingly entirely fulfilled
and obeyed; for he was inexorable in punishing and chastising rebels.

- In the sixteenth year of the reign of MOTECCUMA, the Mexicans received advice of certain Spaniards,
the discoverers of New Spain, that the object of the arrival and expedition of the Spaniards was to
gain and conquer the country, which event would happen at the expiration of twelve months. The
Mexicans accordingly reckoned the time, and found it to be true; for at the end of twelve months the
expedition and arrival of the Spaniards in the port of New Spain occurred; in which came Don
FERDINAND CORTES, Marquis of the Valley, at the end of the said twelve months; which event took
place in the seventeenth year of the reign of the said MOTECCUuMA, and in the eighteenth year of the said
reign MOTECCUMA terminated his career, in which year he died, and departed this present life.

MOTECCUMA when he succeeded to the said government was about thirty-five years of age, a little
more or less, so that at the time of his death his age was fifty-three.

In the year immediately following the death of MOTE~~uMA, the conquest and pacification of the
capital of Mexico, and the other cities in its vicinity, by the MARQUIS OF THE V ALLEY itnd his
companions took place; and thus New Spain was gained and reduced to submission.









[17]


THE SECOND PART.

The cities contained, represented, and named, in this and the foregoing plate, were governed
by caciques and lords of Mexico, placed therein by the king of Mexico, as well for the protection
and good government of the citizens, as that they should take the entire charge of collecting, and
causing to be collected, the revenues and tributes belonging to the crown of Mexico, and likewise
for the security of the citizens, that they should not rebel.

The nature and the quality of the tribute which the inhabitants of Tlatilulco, which is now called
Santiago, paid to the state of Mexico, is represented and declared in the following plate; the brief
abstract of which said tribute here follows *.
They were obliged, in discharge of tribute, always to keep in repair the mezquita named Huiznahuac.
Likewise to furnish forty large baskets, each containing half a fanega t, of chocolate ground with
the flour of maize, which they called cacahuapinol: each basket was required to have sixteen hundred
nuts of chocolate.

Also forty other baskets of chianpinoli:j:.
Also eight hundred loads of large mantles.
Also eighty pieces of arms of rich feathers, of the devices and colours represented.
All of which, with the exception of the said arms and shields, they paid in tribute every eighty days;
but the said arms and shields they paid only once in the entire year.
The said tribute began in the time of QUAUHTLATOA and MOQUIHUIX§, who were lorde of Tlatilulco.
The kings of Mexico who first compelled the inhabitants of Tlatilulco to pay tribute III acknowledgement
of vassalage, were Y ZCOAP and AXAYACAp.

-----
* This tribute roll was published by Cardinal Lorenzana in Mexico in the year 1770, together with an edition of the Letters of
Cortes, from some ancient Mexican paintings which once belonged to Boturiui. The symbols of the tributary cities are engraved in
the most incorrect manner, and their explanation is full of errors.

+ Clavigero observes in a note, that afanega was a Spanish measure for dry goods, containing about a hundred Spanish pounds,
or one hundred and thirty Roman pounds. It is possible that the present Spanish fanega may differ from that in use in the
beginning of the sixteenth century.

++ Torquemada says that chian was a seed, of a cooling quality and an agreeable flavour: "es cierta semilla de calidad fria, aunque
sabrosa."

+++ The proper name Moquihuix has probably some reference to the symbol worn as a memorial on the nose by the Mexicans,
which may have been instituted by Huemoque their ancient leader.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 19

18. Four hundred loads of large mantles. 19. Four hundred loads of small mantles worked in
this manner. 20. Four hundred loads of small mantles worked in this manner. 21. Four hundred
loads of large mantles. 22. Four hundred loads of large mantles. 23. Four hundred loads of
large mantles. 24. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device, which was presented once
in the year. 25. A shield of this device, of rich feathers. 26. A piece of armour of rich feathers
of this device, which was presented once in the year. 27. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
2B. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device, which was presented once in the year. 29. A
shield of rich feathers of this device. 30. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device, which
was presented once in the year. 31. A shield of rich feathers of this device.

PLATE XXI.

1. Cuitlahuac. 2. Tezcacoac. 3. Mizquic. 4. Auchpanco. 5. Tzapotitlan. 6. Xico. 7. Toyac.
B. Tecalco. 9. Tla~oxiuhco. 10. N extitlan. 11. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device,
which was presented twice in the year. 12. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 13. xx pieces
of armour of this device, which were presented once in the year, composed of rich feathers. 14. xx
shields of feathers of this device. 15. xx pieces of armour of this device, which were presented
once in the year. 16. xx shields of feathers. 17. xx pieces of armour of common feathers with
this blue device, which were presented once in the year. lB. xx shields of feathers of this device.
19. Chests of beans and of chian, one full of the former and the other of the latter. 20. A chest of
maize and another of quauhtli, which is seed of bledos.
The cities which are represented and named in the two following plates, summed up here, are
twenty-six cities; in which the kings of Mexico, from the period of their first conquest, kept calpixques
stationed in each of them; and a governor resided in the principal city, who ruled over
all for the maintenance of peace and justice, and in order to cause the due payment of tribute and
to prevent rebellion. The tributes which all these cities hereafter named, paid collectively, are the
following.

2000 loads oflarge mantles.
Likewise 1200 loads of rich canahuac, which are small vests which lords and caciques wore, of the
colours which are represented.
Likewise 400 loads of maxtlatl, which are a kind of trowsers.
Likewise 400 loads of quipiles and naguas. All which they paid and presented twice in the year.
They further gave as tribute three pieces of armour ornamented with common feathers, and the
same number of shields of the colours and devices which are represented; all which they paid at the
expiration of the year.

As also twenty pieces of armour ornamented with common feathers, and as many shields of the
devices and colours which are successively represented, which they paid once in the year.
Likewise four large chests of timber, one full of beans, another of chian, another of maize, and
another of quautli, which is seed of bledos. Each chest contained four or five thousand fanegas,
which they paid in tribute once in each year.



20 INTERPRETATION OF THE

PLATE XXII.

1. Acolhuacan Acolmecatl, Calpixqui. 2. Huicilan. 3. Totolfinco. 4. Tlachyahualco.
5. Tepechupa. 6. Aztaquemeca. 7. Teacalco. 8. Tonanytla. 9. <;enpoalan. 10. Tepetlaoztoc.
11. Ahuatepec. 12. Ticatepec. 13. Contlam. 14. Yxquemecan. 15. Matixco. 16. Temazcalapa.
17. Loads of small mantles of this colour and work. 18. Loads of small mantles of this colour.
19. Loads of small mantles of this work. 20. Loads of white mantles. 21. Loads of white mantles.
22. Loads of quipiles and naguas of this work. 23. Loads of maxtlac, which are a kind of trowsers.
24. Loads of large mantles. 25. Loads of large mantles. 26. Loads of large mantles. 27. A
piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 28. A shield of rich feathers. 29. A piece of
armour of rich feathers of this device. 30. A shield of rich feathers. 31. A piece of armour of
rich feathers of this device. 3Z. A shield of rich feathers. 33. Twenty pieces of armour of common
feathers of this device. 34. A shield of feathers.

PLATE XXIII.

I. Twenty pIeces of armour of common feathers of this device. 2. Twenty shields of common
feathers. 3. Twenty pieces of armour of common feathers of this device. 4. Twenty shields of
common feathers of this device. 5. Twenty pieces of armour of common feathers of this device.
6. Twenty shields of common feathers. 7. Twenty pieces of armour of common blue feathers of this
device. 8. Twenty shields of common feathers of this device. 9. A chest of beans and chian.
10. Two chests, one of maize and the other of quauhtli. 11. Tifaynca. 12. Tepetlapa. 13. Caliahualco.
14. Tecofuca. 15. Tlaquilpa. 16. Quauhgmecan. 17. Epafnyuca. 18. Ameyalco.
19. Ecatepec. 20. Quauhyocan.
The cities which are represented and named in the two following plates here enumerated are
sixteen cities, which paid as tribute to the kings of Mexico the articles which are painted and declared
in the said two plates: the kings of Mexico kept calpixques stationed in each of them, and
a governor placed over all the calpixques, who was a principal person of Mexico (the calpixques
being likewise Mexicans) for their good government and the better administration of their affairs,
which was arranged and provided in this manner by the said kings, as well for to guard against
rebellion, as for the administration of justice and the hearing of civil causes. The said tributes which
the said lords paid, accordingly as they are signified by the said paintings, summed up here, are as
follows.

First, they paid 1200 loads of large mantles of twisted cloth.
Likewise 200 loads of small white mantles, wearing apparel.
Likewise 1200 loads of small mantles richly worked, wearing apparel for lords and caciques.
Likewise 400 loads of maxtlatl, which are a kind of trowsers worn amongst them.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 21

Likewise 400 loads of quipiles and naguas, wearing apparel for women, all which they presented
twice in each year; each tribute being paid every six months.
They further gave eight pieces of armour, and four shields, ornamented with rich feathers of different
colours according to their representations, which they paid as tribute once in the year.
As also four large chests of timber full of maize, beans, chian, and quautli, which is seed of bledos;
each chest contained 5000 fanegas, which they gave as tribute once in each year.
Likewise 8000 reams * of paper of the country, which they paid twice a year, which amounted each
year to 16,000 sheets of paper.

And likewise 2000 Xicaras at each payment of tribute, which they made twice in the year.

PLATE XXIV.

1. Quauhnahuac. 2. Teocalcinco. 3. Chimalco. 4. I-Iuicilapa. 5. Actlyzpac. 6. Xochitepec.
7. Miacatl. 8. Molotla. 9. Coatlan. 10. Xiuhtepec. 11. Xoxontla. 12. Amacoztitla. 13. Y ztla.
]4. Ocpayucan. 15. Yztepec. 16. Atlicholoayan. 17. Loads of small mantles of this colour.
18. Loads of small mantles of this colour. 19. Loads of small mantles of this colour. 20. Loads
of small white mantles. 21. Loads of small white mantles. 22. Loads of maxtle or trowsers.
23. Loads of quipiles and naguas. 24. Loads of large mantles. 25. Loads of large mantles.
26. Loads of large mantles. 27. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 28. A shield
of rich feathers. 29. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 30. A shield of rich feathers.
31. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 32. A shield of rich feathers. 33. A piece of
armour of rich feathers of this device. 34. A shield of rich feathers.

PLATE XXV.

1. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 2. A shield of rich feathers. 3. A piece of armour
of rich feathers of this device. 4. A shield of rich feathers. 5. A piece of armour of rich feathers.
6. A shield of rich feathers. 7. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 8. A shield of rich
feathers. 9. Two chests, one of maize, the other of quauhtli, which is seed of bledos. 10. Two
chests, one of beans, the other of chian. 11. Eight thousand sheets of paper ofthe country. 12. Four
hundred Xicaras worked in this manner. 13. Four hundred Xicaras. 14. Four hundred Xicaras.
15. Four hundred Xicaras. 16. Four hundred Xicaras.

The cities which are represented and named in the two following plates, and here enumerated, are
twenty-six cities, which paid tribute to the kings of Mexico of the things represented and declared in
the said two plates; in which, as in the case of the preceding cities, a governor and Mexican Calpixques
resided, placed there by the hand of the said kings of Mexico.


-----
* The ream and the sheet are here considered as the same quantity of paper; perhaps from the Mexican ream consisting of a
single sheet of paper, which folded up into many squares or pages.




22 INTERPRETATION OF THE

The tributes which they paid are those which follow, taken from the said paintings, and here
summed up.

First, they paid 400 loads of maxtlatl, which are trowsers.
Also 400 loads of naguas and huipiles, wearing apparel for women.
Also 2400 loads of large mantles of twisted cloth.
Also SOO small rich mantles, wearing apparel for lords and chiefs of Mexico, of the colours
which are represented.
Also 2000 varnished xicaras, of the colours which are represented.
Also SOOO reams of paper of the country; all which they presented at each payment of tribute,
which was every six months.
They further likewise gave 40 pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with
rich and dyed feathers, and others of a more common sort, of different colours, according to their
representations.
As also four large chests of timber like those already mentioned, full of maize, beans, chian, and
quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXVI.

1. Huaxtepec. 2. Xochimilcacinco. 3. Quauhtlan. 4. Ahuehuepan. 5. Anenequilco. 6. Olintepec.
7. Quahuitleyxco. S. <;:ompanco. 9. Huicilan. 10. Tlalti~apan. 11. Coacalco. 12. Yzamatitlan.
13. Tepoztla. 14. Yauhtepec. 15. Yacapichtla. 16. Tlayacapa. 17. Xaloztoc.
18. Tecpacinco. 19. Ayoxochapa. 20. Tlajacac. 21. Tehuizco. 22. Loads of maxtlatl. 23. Loads
of huipiles and naguas. 24. Loads of large mantles. 25. Loads of large mantles. 26. Loads of
large mantles. 27. Loads of small mantles worked in this manner. 28. Loads of small mantles
worked in this manner. 29. Loads of large mantles. 30. Loads of large mantles. 31. Loads of
large mantles. 32. xx pieces of armour of common feathers of this device. 33. xx shields of
common feathers. 34. xx pieces of armour of common feathers. 35. xx shields of common feathers.
36. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 37. A shield of rich feathers. 3S. A piece of
armour of rich feathers. 39. A shield of rich feathers.

PLATE XXVII.

1. A piece of armour of rich feathers. 2. A shield of rich feathers. 3. A piece of armour of rich
feathers of this device. 4. A shield of rich feathers. 5. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this
device. 6. A shield of rich feathers. 7. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. S. A
shield of rich feathers. 9. Two chests of maize and of seeds of bledos. 10. Two chests of beans
and chian. 11. Xicaras. 12. Xicaras. 13. Xicaras. 14. Xicaras. 15. Xicaras. 16. Eight 
thousand reams of paper of the country. 17. Nepopoalco. 18. Atlatlauca. 19. Totolapa.
20. Amilcinco. 21. Atlhuelic.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 23

The cities which are represented and named in the plate which follows, and here enumerated, are
seven cities, which were tributary to the kings of Mexico, in the same manner as those already mentioned
in the preceding section; and the articles of tribute which they paid are the following:
First, 400 loads of small mantles richly worked, besides 800 loads of such as have been designated
mantillas, of the colours which are represented.

Likewise 4000 petates, which are mats, and 4000 chairbacks, with their seats, composed of enea
and of other grasses, which they paid every six months.
Further, Two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with rich feathers, of
the devices and colours which are represented.

Likewise, Sixty pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with common feathers.
Also, Four large chests of timber of the size and measure of those already mentioned, full of maize,
beans, chian and quautli, which they paid as tribute once in the year.

PLATE XXVIII.

1. Quauhtitlan. 2. Tehuiloyoca. 3. Alhuexoyocan. 4. Xalapan. 5. Tepoxaco. 6. Cuezcomahuacan.
7. Xilo~inco. 8. Loads of small mantles worked in this manner. 9. Loads of small
mantles worked in this manner. 10. Loads of small white mantles. 11. A piece of armour of rich
feathers. 12. A shield of rich feathers. 13. A piece of armour of rich feathers. 14. A shield of
rich feathers. 15. xx pieces of armour of common feathers. 16. xx pieces of armour of common
feathers. 17. xx pieces of armour of common feathers. 18. xx shields of common feathers.
19. xx shields of common feathers. 20. xx shields of common feathers. 21. Two chests of maize
and quautli. 22. Two chests of beans and chian. 23. Four thousand chairbacks of enea. 24. Four
thousand mats. 25. Each of these ears of corn signifies 400 mats.
The cities represented and named in the following plate, and here enumerated, are ten cities, which
were tributary to the kings of Mexico in the same manner as those already mentioned in the preceding
sections; and the articles which they paid are the following:

First, 800 loads of small rich mantles, worked as represented and specified.
Likewise, 400 loads of small white mantles with black and white fringes.
Likewise, 800 loads of small white mantles.
Likewise, 400 loads of naguas and quipiles.

Likewise, 400 large jars of thick honey of the aloe; all which they paid every six months.
They further presented Two pieces of armour, ornamented with rich feathers, and the same number
of shields of rich feathers, of the devices which are represented and declared.
As also, 40 pieces of armour, ornamented with common feathers, and as many shields, of the devices
which are represented.

And likewise, Four large chests of timber of the size of those already mentioned in the preceding
section; one of maize, another of beans, another of chian, and another of quautli, which is seed of
bledos: all which they paid once in the year.




24 INTERPRETATION OF THE

PLATE XXIX.

1. Axopan. 2. Atenco. 3. Tetepanco. 4. Xochichivca. 5. Temohuiizan. 6. Tezcatepec. 7. Mizquiyahuala.
8. Y zmiguilpa. 9. Tlaahuililpa. 11. Loads of small mantles worked in this
manner. 12. Loads of small mantles worked in this manner. 13. Loads of small white mantles.
14. Loads of small white mantles. 15. Loads of small mantles worked in this manner. 16. Loads
of huipiles and naguas. 17. A piece of armour of feathers of this device. 18. A shield of rich feathers.
19. xx pieces of armour of common scarlet feathers. 20. xx shields of common feathers.
21. A piece of armour of rich feathers. 22. A shield of rich feathers. 23. xx pieces of armour of
common blue feathers. 24. xx shields of common feathers. 25. Two chests of maize and quautli.
26. Two chests of beans and chi an. 27. Four hundred pitchers of thick honey of the aloe.

The number of cities contained, represented, and named in the following plate, which were tributary
to the kings of Mexico, in the same manner as those already mentioned in the preceding sections,
the number of these cities here summed up, is seven; and the articles of tribute which they paid are
the following:

First, 400 loads of small mantles richly worked, which were wearing apparel for lords and caciques.
Also, 400 loads of small white mantles with black and white fringes.
Also, 800 loads of large mantles of twisted cloth.
Also, 400 loads of lime: all which they paid every six months.
They further presented Two pieces of armour ornamented with rich feathers, and two shields, according
to the devices which are represented and declared.
Likewise, Sixty pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with common feathers,
according to the devices which are represented and declared.
Likewise, Four large chests of timber of the size of those already mentioned; one full of maize,
another of beans, another of chian, and another of quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXX.

1. Atotonilco. 2. Guapalcalco. 3. Que~almaca. 4. Acocolco. 5. Tehuehuec. 6. Otlazpa.
7. Xalac. 8. Loads of small rich mantles worked in this manner. 9. Loads of small mantles
worked in this manner. 10. Loads of large mantles. 11. Loads of large mantles. 12. A piece
of armour of rich feathers of this device. 13. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 14. A piece
of armour of feathers of this device. 15. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 16. Twenty pieces
of armour of common feathers of this device. 17. Twenty pieces of armour of common feathers of
this device. 18. Twenty pieces of armour of feathers of this device. 19. Twenty shields of common
feathers of this device. 20. Twenty shields of common feathers of this device. 21. Twenty shields
of common feathers of this device. 22. Two chests of maize and chian. 23. Two chests of beans and
of quautli. 24. Four hundred loads of lime.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 25

The number of cities of the following plate is nine, according to their names and representations.
First, they paid 400 loads of small mantles richly worked, wearing apparel for lords and caciques
of Mexico.

Likewise 400 loads of small white mantles with black and white fringes.
Likewise 800 loads of small white mantles of eneguen.
Likewise 400 jars of thick honey of the aloe; all which they paid every six months.

They further presented two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with
rich feathers, of the colours and devices which are represented and declared.
Also four large chests of timber of the size of those already mentioned; one full of maize, another
of beans, another of chian, and another of quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXXI.

1. Huepuchtla. 2. Xalac. 3. Tequixquiac. 4. Tetlapanaloya. 5. Xicalhuacan. 6. Xomezocan.
7. Acayocan. 8. Tezcatepetonco. 9. Atocpan. 10. Loads of small rich mantles worked in this
manner. 11. Loads of small mantles of eneguen. 12. Loads of small mantles of eneguen.
13. Loads of small mantles of eneguen. 14. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 15. A
piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 16. Twenty pieces of armour of common yellow
feathers of this device. 17. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 18. A shield of rich feathers
of this device. 19. Twenty shields of common feathers of this device. 20. Twenty pieces of
armour of common feathers of this device. 21. Twenty shields of common feathers of this device.
22. Twenty pieces of armour of common feathers of this device. 23. Twenty shields of common
feathers of this device. 24. Two chests, one of maize and the other of quautli, which is seed of
bledos. 25. Two chests, one of beans and the other of chian. 26. Four hundred large jars of
thick honey of the aloe.

The number of the cities represented and named in the following plate.
They paid 800 loads of small rich mantles, wearing apparel for the lords of Mexico, according to
their names and representations as contained in the said plate.
Likewise 1600 loads of small white mantles of eneguen; all which they paid to the kings of Mexico
every six months.

Further also, four pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with rich feathers,
of the colours and devices which are represented and declared.
Likewise four large chests of timber such as those already mentioned, full of maize and beans,
chian and quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXXII.

1. Atotonilco. 2. Caxochitla. 3. Quachque~aloya. 4. Hueyapan. 5. Itzihuiuquiliican. 6. Tulan~
ingo. 7. Four hundred loads of small rich mantles worked in this manner. 8. Loads of small



26 INTERPRETATION OF THE

rich mantles worked in this manner. 9. Loads of small mantles of eneguen. 10. Loads of small
mantles of eneguen. 11. Loads of small mantles of eneguen. 12. Loads of small mantles of eneguen.
]S. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 14. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
15. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 16. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
17. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 18. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
19. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 20. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
21. Two chests, one of maize and the other of chian. 22. Two chests, one of beans and the other of
quautli, which is seed of bledos.

The number of cities represented and named in the following plate is seven.
First, they paid 400 loads of very rich naguas and quipiles, which are wearing apparel for women.
Likewise 400 loads of rich mantles, wearing apparel for lords.
Likewise 400 loads of worked naguas.
Likewise 800 loads of rich mantles.
Likewise 400 loads of mantles striped with scarlet in the middle; all which they paid every six
months.

They also presented a live eagle, or two or three, or more, accordingly as they could procure them.
And further, two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with rich feathers,
of the devices and colours which are represented.
As also four large chests of timber, full of maize, beans, chian, and quautli; all which they paid once
in the year.

PLATE XXXIII.

1. Xilotepec. 2. Tlachco. S. Tzanayalquilpa. 4. Michmaloyan. 5. Tepetitlan. 6. Acaxochitla.
7. Tecofauhtla. 8. Loads of very rich naguas and quipiles. 9. Loads of rich mantles worked in this
manner. 10. Loads of naguas worked in this manner. 11. Loads of rich mantles worked in this
manner. 12. Loads of rich mantles worked in this manner. IS. A live eagle, which they presented
at every payment of tribute, as sometimes three, sometimes four, and occasionally a greater or lesser
number. 14. Loads of mantles worked in this manner. 15. Loads of small rich mantles worked in
this manner. 16. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 17. A shield of rich feathers
of this device. 18. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 19. A shield of rich feathers
of this device. 20. Two chests of maize and chian. 21. Two chests of beans and quautli.
The number of cities which are represented and named in the following plate is thirteen.
First, they paid 800 loads of small rich mantles worked in the manner represented.
Also 800 loads of small mantles of eneguen, which they presented every six months.
Likewise a piece of armour, and a shield, ornamented with rich feathers.
Likewise 40 pieces of armour, and an equal number of shields, ornamented with common feathers,
which pieces of armour they paid once in the year.

Likewise four large chests of timber, of the size of the preceding, full of maize, beans, chian, and
quautli, which they also paid once in the year.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 27

And also 1200 loads of wood, which they gave once in eighty days.
As likewise 1200 large beams of timber, which they paid once in eighty days.
And further, 1400 planks, which they paid once in eighty days.

PLATE XXXIV.

1. Quahuacan. 2. Tecpan. 3. Chapolmoloya. 4. Tlalatlaoco. 5. Acaxochic. 6. Ameyalco.
7. Ocotepec. 8. Yuohuizquilocan. 9. Coatepec. 10. Loads of small mantles. 11. Loads of
small mantles. 12. Loads of small mantles. 13. Loads of small mantles. 14. A piece of armour
of rich feathers of this device. 15. Twenty pieces of armour of common feathers of this device.
16. xx pieces of common armour of this device. 17. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
18. xx shields of common feathers of this device. 19. xx shields of common feathers of this device.
20. Two chests, one of maize and the other of chian. 21. Two chests, one of beans and the other
of quautli. 22. Four hundred large beams. 23. Four hundred large beams. 24. Four hundred
large beams. 25. Four hundred large planks of wood. 26. Large planks of wood. 27. Four
hundred large planks of wood. 28. Four hundred boards of wood. 29. Four hundred boards of
wood. 30. Four hundred boards of wood. 31. Four hundred loads of wood. 32. Four hundred
loads of wood. 33. Four hundred loads of wood. 34. Quauhpanoaya. 35. Tallacha. 36. Chichicquautla.
37. Huitzfilapa.

The number of cities represented and named in the following plate is twelve.
First, they paid 400 loads of small mantles of white cotton, with fringes of yellow, scarlet, and olive.
Likewise 400 loads of small mantles of eneguen, worked and striped with scarlet, white, and blaek.
Likewise 1200 loads of small white mantles of eneguen, which they gave as tribute every six months.
They further presented two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with
rich feathers, of the devices and colours which are represented.

Also twenty pieces of armour, and an equal number of shields, ornamented with common feathers,
of the devices and colours which are represented.

As also six large chests of timber, like those already mentioned, full of beans, maize, chian, and
quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXXV.

1. Tuluca. 2. Calixtlahuacan. 3. Xicaltepec. 4. Tepetlhuacan. 5. Mitepec. 6. Capulteopan.
7. Metepec. 8. Cacalomaca. 9. Caliymayan. 10. Teotenanco. 11. Tepemaxalco.
12. Coquitzinco. 13. Four hundred loads of small cotton mantles worked in this manner. 14. Loads
of small mantles of eneguen worked in this manner. 15. Loads of small white mantles of eneguen.
16. Loads of small white mantles of eneguen. 17. Loads of small white mantles of eneguen. 18. A
piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 19. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device.




28 INTERPRETATION OF THE

20. Twenty pieces of armour of common feathers of this device. 21. A shield of rich feathers of
this device. 22. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 2S. Twenty shields of common feathers
of this device. 24. Two chests, one of maize and the other of chian. 25. Two chests of maize,
beans, and quautIi. 26. Two chests, one of maize and the other of chian. 27. Two chests, one of
beans and the other of chian.

The number of cities represented and named in the following plate is six.
First, they paid 800 loads of small rich mantles of eneguen, worked as represented.
Likewise 400 loads of small rich cotton mantles, worked as represented.
Likewise 2000 loaves of very white salt, refined in the shape of the mould, for the consumption
only of the lords of Mexico; all which they paid every six months.
Further, a piece of armour, and a shield, ornamented with rich feathers, of the colour and device
which are represented.

As also twenty pieces of armour, and an equal number of shields, ornamented with common
feathers, of the colour and device which are represented.
Likewise four large chests of timber, of the size of the preceding; one full of maize, and the others
of beans, chian, and quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXXVI.

1. Ocuilan. 2. Loads of small rich mantles of eneguen, worked in this manner. S. Loads of
small mantles. 4. Loads of small rich mantles of eneguen. 5. Loads of small white mantles of
eneguen. 6. Tenantzinco. 7. Tequaloyan. 8. Tonathiuco. 9. Coatepec. 10. <;incozca.
11. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 12. A shield of rich feathers. IS. xx pieces
of armour of common feathers of this device. 14. xx shields of common feathers. 15. Two chests,
one of maize and the other of quautli. 16. Two chests, one of beans and the other of chian.
17. Four hundred loaves of salt of this shape. 18. Four hundred loaves of salt of this shape.
19. Four hundred loaves of salt of this shape. 20. Four hundred loaves of salt of this shape.
21. Four hundred loaves of salt of this shape. These loaves of salt were very white and fine, and
were only for the consumption of the lords of Mexico.

The number of cities represented and named in the following plate is three.
First, they paid 1200 loads of large mantles of soft eneguen.

Likewise 400 loads of small mantles of worked eneguen; all which they gave every six months.
They further paid once in the year eight large chests of timber, of the size of those already mentioned;
two full of maize, two of beans, two of chian, and two of quautli.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 29

PLATE XXXVII.

1. Malinalco. 2. Loads of large mantles of soft eneguen. 3. Loads of mantles of soft eneguen.
4. Loads of mantles of soft eneguen which they call yzcyotilmatli. 5. C;:onpahnladin. 6. Two
chests, one of maize and the other of quautli. 7. Two chests, ' one of beans and the other of chian.
S. Xocotytlan. 9. Loads of small mantles of eneguen worked in this.manner. 10. Two chests,
one of maize and the other of quautli. 11. Two chests, one of beans and the other of chian.
The number of cities named and contained in the following plate is ten, situated III a warm
climate.

First, they paid 400 loads of small rich cotton mantles, worked as represented.
Likewise 400 loads of naguas and quipiles.
Likewise 1200 loads of small mantles of soft eneguen, which they paid every six months.
They further gave 200 small pitchers of bees' honey.
Also 1200 Xicaras varnished of a yellow colour.
Also 400 small baskets of white copal for incense.
Also SOOO lumps of unrefined copal wrapped up in leaves of the palm-tree; all which they paid
once in the period of eighty days.

They further presented two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with
rich feathers of the colour and devices which are represented.
As also two large chests of timber of the size of those already mentioned, the one full of maize
and the other of chian; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXXVIII.

1. Tlachco. 2. Acamilyxtlahuaca. 3. Chontalcoatlan. 4. Tectipa. 5. N ochtepec. 6. Teotliztacan.
7. Tlamacazapa. 8. Tepexahnualco. 9. Tzicapuzalco. 10. Tetenanco. 11. Loads of
small rich cotton mantles worked in this manner. 12. Loads of nagllas and quipiles. 13. Loads
of mantles of soft eneguen, large vests. 14. Loads of mantles of soft eneguen, large vests.
] 5. Loads of mantles of soft eneguen, large vests. 16. A piece of armour of feathers of this device.
17. A shield of rich feathers of this device. IS. A piece of armour of feathers of this device.
19. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 20. Two chests, one of maize and the other of chian.
21. xx. 22. xx. 23. xx. 24. xx. 25. xx. 26. xx. 27. xx. 2S. xx. 29. xx. 30. xx;
each single pitcher is reckoned at twenty pitchers of bees' honey, according to the numerical sign
over each pitcher. 31. Four hundred small baskets of white refined copal. 32. Four hundred
Xicaras. 33. Four hundred Xicaras. 34. Four hundred Xicaras. 35. Eight thousand lumps of
unrefined copal wrapped up in leaves of the palm-tree.

The cities situated in a warm climate, which are represented and named in the following plate,
are fourteen in number.




30 INTERPRETATION OF THE

First, they paid 400 loads of quilted mantles.
Likewise 400 loads of mantles striped with black and white.
Likewise 400 loads of rich mantles.
Likewise 400 loads of naguas and quipiles.
Likewise 400 loads of small white mantles.
Likewise 1600 loads of large mantles; all which they gave every six months.
They further paid 100 axes of copper.
Also 1200 xicaras of yellow varnish.
Also 200 small pitchers of bees' honey.
Also 400 small baskets of white copal for incense; all which they gave once in eighty days.
Also 8000 lumps of unrefined copal, which was likewise used for incense, and was paid once in
eighty days.
They further presented two pieces of armour with their shields, ornamented with rich feathers,
with the devices which are represented.

As also 20 pieces of armour, together with their shields, ornamented with common feathers..
Likewise five strings of rich stones called chalchihuitl.

And likewise four large chests of timber of the size of those before mentioned, full of maize,
beans, chian, and quautli; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XXXIX.

1. Tepecuacuilco. 2. Chilapan. 3. Ohuapa. 4. Huitzoco. 5. Tlachmalacac. 6. Y oalan.
7. Cocolan. 8. Atenanco. 9. Chilacachapa. 10. Teloloapan. 11. Loads of quilted mantles
worked in this manner. 12. Loads of mantles worked in this manner. 13. Loads of rich mantles
worked in this manner. 14. Loads of naguas and quipiles. 15. Loads of small white mantles.
16. Loads of large mantles. 17. Loads oflarge mantles. 18. Loads oflarge mantles. 19. Loads
of large mantles. 20. One hundred axes of copper. 21. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this
device. 22. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 23. xx pieces of armour of common
feathers of this device. 24. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 25. A shield of rich feathers
of this device. 26. xx shields of common feathers. 27.28.29. Xicaras. 30. Two chests, one of
maize and the other of chian. 31. Two chests, one of beans and the other of quautli. 32.33. 34.
35. 36. Five strings of beads of rich stones which they call chalchihuitl. 37. Small baskets of
white copal. 38. Eight thousand lumps of unrefined copal. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.
48. Two hundred pitchers of bees' honey. 49. Oztoma. 50. Y chcateopa. 51. Alahuiztla.
52. Cue~alan.

The number of cities of warm provinces which. are represented and named in the plate following.

First, they paid 1600 loads of large mantles striped with orange.
Likewise 2400 loads of large mantles of twisted cloth.
Likewise 80 loads of red chocolate.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 31

Likewise 400 bundles of cotton.

As also 800 sea shells of the deepest red, resembling porcelain shells; all which they paid every
six months.

PLATE XL.

1. Gihnatlan. 2. Colima. 3. Pomotlan. 4. Nochcoc. 5. Yztapan. 6. Petlatlan. 7. Xihuacan.
8. Apancalecan. 9. Co~ohuipileca. 10. Coyucac. 11. <;acatulan. 12. Xolochiuhyan.
13. Loads of large mantles worked in this manner. 14. Loads of large mantles worked in
this manner. 15. Loads of large mantles worked in this manner. 16. Loads of large mantles
worked in this manner. 17. Large white mantles. IS. Loads of large white mantles. 19. Loads
of large white mantles. 20. Loads of large white mantles. 21. Loads of large white mantles.
22. Loads of large white mantles. 23. lxxx loads of red chocolate. 24. Four hundred bundles of
cotton. 25. Four hundred sea shells, resembling scarlet porcelain shells. 26. Four hundred sea
shells resembling scarlet porcelain shells.

The number of cities of warm provinces, which are represented and named in the plate following.
First, they paid 400 loads of naguas and quipiles.

Likewise SOO loads of large mantles.

Likewise SOO Xicaras, which they name tecomates, out of which they drink chocolate; all which
they paid every six months.

They further presented two pieces of armour, with their shields ornamented with rich feathers,
of the device and colours which are represented.

Likewise twenty Xicaras of gold in dust; each xicara contained two double handfuls.
Also ten plates of gold, of the breadth of four fingers, and three quarters of a yard long, and as
thick as parchment; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XLI.

1. Tlapa. 2. Xocotla. 3. Ychcateopa. 4. Amaxac. 5. Ahuacatla. 6. Acocozpa. 7. Y oalan.
8. Ocoapan. 9. Huitzannola. 10. Acuitlapa. 11. Malinaltepec. 12. Totomixtlahuacan.
13. Tetenanco. 14. Chipetlan. 15. Loads of naguas and quipiles. 16. Loads of small mantles
worked in this manner. 17. Loads of large mantles. 17. Loads of large mantles. IS. A piece
of armour of rich feathers of this device. IS. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 19. A piece
of armour of rich feathers of this device. 19. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 20. Ten
plates of gold of the breadth of four fingers, as thick as parchment, and measuring 'three quarters of
a yard in length. ' 21. Twenty Xicaras of gold dust, each xicara contained two double handfuls.
22. Eight hundred Xicaras, which they name tecomates, cups out of which they drink chocolate.




32 INTERPRETATION OF THE

The inhabitants of the city which is named and specified in the following plate, the name of which
is Tlacoyauhtitlan, a city of a warm province, paid the following tribute; that is to say, the city of
Tlacoyauhtitlan, together with the other seven cities contained in the first section.
400 loads oflarge mantles.

100 small pitchers of bees' honey.
20 pans of tecocahuitl, which is a yellow varnish with which they anoint themselves; all which
they paid every six months.

Also, a piece of armour with a shield ornamented with rich feathers, which they presented once
in the year.

PLATE XLII.

1. A piece of armour of feathers of this device. 2. A shield of rich feathers of this device.
3. Loads of large mantles. 4. Twenty pans of tecocahuitl, which is a yellow varnish with which
they anoint themselves. 5. One hundred small pitchers of bees' honey. 6. Tlacoyautitla. 7. Tolimam.
8. Quauhtecomacinco. 9. Ychcatlan. 10. Tepoztitla. 11. Ahuacicinco. 12. Mitzinco.
13. <;acatla.

The cities represented and named in the second section of the following plate paid the following
tribute.

400 loads of large mimtles.
Likewise 40 large bells of copper.
Likewise 80 copper axes.
Likewise 100 small pitchers of bees' honey; which they paid every six months.
As also a piece of armour with a shield of rich feathers.
And likewise a little vessel of small turquoise stones; all which they presented once in the year.
The cities of warm provinces which are represented and named in the second section are six in
number.

14. A piece of armour of feathers of this device. 15. A shield of this device. 16. Loads of large
mantles. 17. A little vessel of small turquoise stones. 18. One hundred small pitchers of bees'
honey. 19. xl large bells of brass or copper. 20. lxxx axes of copper. 21. Quiyauhteopan.
22. Olinalan. 23. Quauhtecolmatl. 24. Qualac. 25. Ychcatl. 26. Xala.
The cities which are represented and named in the third section of the following plate are six in
number; cities situated in warm provinces, which paid the following tribute.
400 loads of large mantles.

Likewise 100 small pitchers of bees' honey; which they paid every six months.
They further presented a piece of armour, with a shield ornamented with rich feathers of the
device and colours which are represented.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 33

Likewise 40 small tiles of gold, of the size of an oyster, and of the thickness of the finger.
Likewise 10 middling-sized masks of rich blue stones, like turquoises; all which they paid once
in the year.

27. A piece of armour of feathers of this device. 28. A shield of this device. 29. One hundred
jars of bees' honey. 30. Loads of large mantles. 31. 32. Tiles of gold, of the size of an oyster, and
as thick as the finger. 33. Ten masks of rich blue stones. 34. A large bag of the said blue
stones. 35. Yoaltepec. 36. Ehnacalco. 37. Tzilacaapan. 38. Platanala. 39. Yxicaya.
40. Ychcaatoyac.

The number of cities represented and named in the following plate.
First, they presented 800 loads of large mantles, which they paid every six months.
They further gave two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with rich
feathers, of the colours which are represented.
As also four large chests of timber, of the size of those before-mentioned, full of maize, beans,
chian, and quautli. 
Likewise four other large chests of timber, of the same size, full of the same contents.
Likewise four more chests of timber, full of maize; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XLIII.

1. Chalco. 2. Tepuztlan. 3. Tecmilco. 4. Xocoyoltepec. 5. Malinaltepec. 6. Quauxumulco.
7. Loads of large mantles. 8. Loads of large mantles. 9. A piece of armour of rich
feathers of this device. 10. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 11. A piece of armour of rich
feathers of this device. 12. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 13. Four chests of maize,
beans, chian, and quautli. 14. Four chests of maize, beans, chi an, and quautli. 15. Two chests
of maize. 16. Two chests of maize.

The number of cities of hot provinces which are represented and named in the following plate.
The articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
There were in each of these cities Mexican calpixques; and the same order, rule, and government
were preserved in them as in the other cities and provinces which have been already mentioned.
For the sake of brevity, therefore, the names of the cities, and the tributes which they paid, will
henceforward only be enumerated. With respect to their government by calpixques, it will be
understood that the cities hereafter named preserved the same order and government.
Those contained in the following plate are twenty-two.

First, they paid 4000 loads of lime.
Likewise 4000 loads of thick cane stalks, which they name otlatle.
Likewise 800 deer skins.




34 INTERPRETATION OF THE

Likewise SOOO loads of acayetJ, * which are perfumes which the Indians use in the mouth.
Likewise 200 cacaxtles, which are equipments which the Indians make use of for carrying
burthens on their backs, like packsaddles.

All which they paid once in every period of eighty days.
As also four large chests of timber, of the size and measure of those before mentioned, two full
of maize, and the other two of beans; which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XLIV.

1. Tepeacac. 2. Quechulac. 3. Tecamachalco. 4. Acatzinco. 5. Tecalco. 6. Y c~ochinanco.
7. Quauhtinchan. S. Chictlan. 9. Quatlatlauh. 10. Tepexic. 11. Ytzucan. 12. Quauhque-
cholan. 13. Teonochtitla. 14. Teopantlan. 15. Uuehuetla. 16. Atezcahuacan. 17. Oztotla-
pechco. IS. Chiltepintla. 19. N acochtlan. 20. Epatlan. 21. Coatzinco. 22. Tetenanco.
23. Tlaxcaltecatl. 24. Chulultecat. 25. Huexotzincatl. 26. A staff or rod which they used as

-----
* Torquemada says that Acayetl were canes filled with perfumes to smoke: "unos canutos embutidos de cosas de olor para
tomar humo."

+ From a comparison of the symbols of the cities of Chululteca (otherwise called Chollula or Churula) and Atlicholoayan,
which latter symbol occurs in the twenty-fourth plate of the Collection of Mendoza, under the number 16, it would appear that a
deer's foot was in some manner connected with the signification of both these proper names; and if, further, the apparent connection
hetween the names of the city of Chollula and the star Sitlal Cboloha, or Venus, and the signification of the former and
that of the sign Ce MazatI, or One Stag, (under which the interpreter of the Cadex Telleriana-Remensi, has written" cielo," as he
likewise has written" cieIo" under the sign Ce Acatl, or One Cam', which was dedicated to Quecalcoatle, and for that reason attributed
to Heaven; as was also, we may suppose, Ce Mazatl, because both signs belonged to Quecalcoatle,) be considered, it might
seem proper to assign some other derivation to the name of Chollula, and to reject as unfounded the analogy elsewhere noticed
between that name (frequently written Churula) and Jerusalem. This is not, however, at all necessary; for the Tultecas, in
adapting the foreign name of Jerusalem to the Mexican dialect, which was soon to become their mother tongue, would gladly
have availed themselves of a word in that language, which, resembling it in sound, bore also a signification which they might
convert into an allusion to their Messiah; since a double analogy would thus present itself: and whilst the sound of Churula
recalled Jerusalem to their recollection, its signification would refer to that passage in the Song of Solomon which the Jews always
interpreted of him; "The voice of my beloved! Behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My
beloved is like a roe or a young hart." A deer or a fawn is certainly as apt a symbol of innocence as a lamb; and the phrase of
"exalting the horn" would be more suitable to the former than to the latter. It deserves likewise to be remarked, that the Indians
of Florida offered up annually to their deity the image of a stag, or the stuffed skin of one, which they elevated in the ail' upon a
high pole. From the name of Tonatzuli, which they gave to certain birds which they kept to sing the praises of the sun, it may
be inferred that the appellation of that luminary in the language of Florida resembled the Mexican term, Tonatiuh; that these
Indians sacrificed to this or to some other principal deity, their first-born male infants, (differing in this custom from the less civilised
Northern tribes, who carefully nourished their male children, in the hopes that at a future time they would be serviceable in
war, (is a fact which authors of veracity have not scrupled to assert; which if true, even of some small Indian tribe, extreme fanaticism
and credulity can only account for. In reference to the above-mentioned symbol of tI,e city of Cholula (the deer's foot), it
may be observed, that the same symbol occurs in one of the original Mexican paintings preserved in the Bodleian library, surmounting
a globe, which is fastened to a crown worn by some Aztec deity, who poises in one hand a lance, and holds in the other
a shield, whose figure is associated with the sign of thirteen eagles. The plate likewise, in the Collection of Mendoza, in which
this symbol is contained, may correct a mistake of Clavigero; as it demonstrates by the heads of three chiefs of Tlaxcalla,
Chulula, and Huexolzinco, that those states, and the cities dependent upon them, were tributary to Montezuma, although the
tribute which they paid was of little value. The symbols of the other Mexican cities are interesting, since they are all accompanied
with their proper names; and the interpretation of the hieroglyphics, which Boturini pronounces in the following sentence
to be an almost hopeless task, (" solo este trabajo de interpretar las nambres de las figuras apura toda la atencion de un
historiador,") can now cause neither embarrassment nor confusion.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 35

a sword, with knives inlaid along the sides. 27. Four thousand loads of lime. 28. Eight hundred
deer skins. 29. Four thousand loads of thick cane stalks, which they name otlatle. 30. Eight thousand
loads of canes of which they made arrows. 31. Two chests of maize. 32. A chest of beans.
33. Eight thousand loads of acayetl, which are perfumes which they use in the mouth. 34. Two
hundred cacaxtles.

The cities of hot and temperate provinces which are represented and named in the following plate
are eleven in number; and the tributes which they paid are the following.
First, 400 loads of quilted mantles richly worked.
Likewise 400 loads of mantles striped with scarlet and white.
Likewise 400 loads of mantles striped with black and white.
Likewise 400 loads of maxtlatl, which served as trowsers.
Likewise 400 loads of quipiles and naguas; all which they paid to the kings of Mexico every six
months.

They further presented two pieces of armour, and the same number of shields, ornamented with
rich feathers of the colours and devices which are represented.
Also two strings of beads of chalchihuitl, rich stones.
Likewise 800 handfuls of long green rich feathers, which they call qnecali.
Likewise a piece of work of rich feathers named tlalpiloni, which served as a royal ensign, of the
shape which is represented.

Likewise 40 bags of grain, which they call grain of cochineal.
And 20 xicaras of gold in dust, of the finest quality; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XLV.

1. Coayxtlahuacan. 2. Texopan. 3. Tamacolapan. 4. Yanantitlan. 5. Tepuzculula. 6. Nochiztlan. 
7. Xaltepec. 8. Tama~olan. 9. Mictlan. 10. Coaxomulco. 11. Cuicatlan. 12. Loads
of rich quilted mantles worked in this manner. 13. Loads of mantles worked in this manner.
14. Loads of mantles worked in this manner. 15. Loads of maxtlac. 16. Loads of naguas and
quipiles. 17. A piece of armour of feathers of this device. 18. A shield of feathers of this
device. 19. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 20. A shield of rich feathers at: this
device. 21. 22. Two strings of beads of chalchihuitl, rich stones. 23.24. Eight hundred handfuls
of long green rich feathers, which they call quetzale. 25. 26. Forty bags of grain, which they name
cochineal. 27. Twenty xicaras of fine gold dust. 28. A tlalpiloni of rich feathers of this shape,
which served as a royal ensign.

The number of cities of hot and temperate provinces which are represented and named in the
following plate is eleven; and the tribute which they paid is as follows.

First, they gave 400 loads of quilted mantles richly worked.
Likewise 800 loads of large mantles; which they paid every six months to the kings of Mexico.




36 INTERPRETATION OF THE

They further presented four large chest; of timber of the size of the preceding, two full of maize,
one of beans, and the other of chian.

Also twenty tiles of fine gold, of the size of a middling salver, and of the thickness of the thumb.
Likewise twenty bags of grain of cochineal; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XLVI.

1. Coplapan. 2. Etlan. 3. Quauxilotitlan. 4. Guaxaca. 5. Camotlan. 6. Teocuitlatlan.
7. Quatzontepec. 8. Octlan. 9. Teticpa. 10. TlalcuechaJlUaya. 11. Macuilxochic. 12. Loads
of rich quilted mantles worked in this manner. 13. Loads of large mantles. 14. Loads of large
mantles. 15. Two chests of maize. 16. Two chests of beans and chian. 17. Twenty tiles of fine
gold, as large as a middling-sized salver, and as thick as the thumb. 18. Twenty bags of grain of
cochineal.

The number of cities of hot provinces which are represented in the following plate is three. The
articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
First, they paid 400 loads of large mantles, which they gave every six months.
They further presented a piece of armour, and a shield, ornamented with rich feathers, of the
colours which are represented.

Likewise twenty xicaras full of fine gold dust.
Likewise five bags of grain of cochineal.
Likewise 400 handfuls of rich green feathers, which they call quetzalli; all which they paid once in
the year.

PLATE XLVII.

1. Loads of large mantles. 2. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 3. Tlachquiauco.
4. Twenty xicaras of fine gold in dust. 5. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 6. Achioatlan.
7. <;apotlan. 8. Five bags of grain of cochi~eal. 9. Four hundred handfuls of quetzali, rich feathers.
The cities of hot and temperate provinces which are represented and named in the following plate
are twenty-two in number; and the articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are
the following.

First, they gave 1600 loads of rich mantles, wearing apparel for lords and caciques.
Likewise 800 loads of mantles striped with scarlet and white.
Likewise 400 loads of naguas and quipiles; all which they paid every six months.
They further presented a piece of armour, and a shield, ornamented with rich feathers, with the
device of a bird, and of the colours which are represented.
Likewise a shield of gold.
Likewise a device for armour resembling a wing, of rich yellow feathers.



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 37

Likewise a band of gold for the head, of the breadth of the hand, and as thick as parchment.
Likewise two strings of beads, and a collar of gold.
Likewise a diadem of gold, of the shape which is represented.
Likewise three large pieces of chalchiuitl, rich stones.
Likewise three strings of entirely round beads of chalchiuitl, rich stones.
Likewise four strings of beads of chalchiuitl, rich stones.
Likewise twenty lip-jewels of clear amber, ornamented with gold.
Likewise twenty other lip-jewels of crystal with blue enamel, and ornamented with gold.
Likewise eighty handfuls of rich green feathers, which they call quecali.
Likewise four pieces of green feathers, like handfuls, ornamented with rich yellow feathers.
Likewise 8000 small handfuls of rich feathers of the colour of the turquoise.
Likewise 8000 small handfuls of rich scarlet feathers.
Likewise 8000 small handfuls of rich green feathers.
Likewise 100 jars or pitchers of fine liquid amber.
Likewise 200 loads of chocolate.

Likewise 16000 round lumps, resembling balls, of oli, which is the gum of a tree; which balls
being struck on the ground, rebound very high; all which they paid once in the year.

PLATE XLVIII.

1. Tochtepec. 2. Xayaco. 3. Otlatitlan. 4. Cocamaloapa. 5. Mixtlan. 6. Michapan. 
7. Ayotzintepec. 8. Michatlan. 9. Teotlitlan. 10. Xicaltepec. 11. Oxitlan. 12. Tzinacanoztoc.
13. Tototepec. 14. Chinantlan. 15. Ayo~intepec. 16. Cuezcomatitla. 17. Puctlan. 18. Teteutlan.
19. Loads of rich mantles worked in this manner. 20. Loads of rich mantles worked in
this manner. 21. Loads of rich mantles worked in this manner. 22. Loads of rich mantles worked
in this manner. 23. Loads worked in this manner. 24. A piece of armour of rich feathers with this
device of a bird. 25. A shield of rich feathers. 26. A golden shield of this shape. 27. Loads of
mantles worked in this manner. 28. Loads of naguas and quipiles. 29. A device from the down
of rich feathers. 30. A diadem of gold of this shape. 31. A golden band for the head, of the
breadth of the hand, and as thick as parchment. 32. A string of golden beads. 33. A string of
golden beads. 34.35.36.37. Four strings of chalchihuitl. 38. 39. 40. Three pieces of chalchihuitl,
rich stones. 41. 42. 43. Three strings of chalchihuitl, rich stones. 44. Twenty jewels for the lips,
of clear amber, with their ends set in gold. 45. Twenty jewels for the lips, of crystal of a blue
shade, set in gold. 46. Eighty handfuls of rich feathers. 47. 48. Sixteen thousand balls of olli.
49. Tlacotlal. 50. 51. 52.53. Four pieces of rich feathers resembling handfuls in their composition,
of this shape. 54. One hundred pots or jars of liquid amber. 55. Two hundred loads of chocolate.
56. Toztlan. 57. Eight thousand small handfuls of blue feathers. 58. Eight thousand
small handfuls of rich scarlet feathers. 59. Eight thousand small handfuls of rich green feathers.
60. Yautlan. 61. Yxmatlatlan.



38 INTERPRETATION OF THE

The cities of hot provinces, which are represented and named in the following plate, are seven in
number. The articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
First, they gave two long strings of chalchihuitl, rich stones.

...
Likewise 1400 handfuls of rich blue, scarlet, green, and turquoise coloured feathers, which are
represented in six handfuls.
Likewise 80 whole skins of birds of rich plumage, of the colour of the turquoise, with violet breasts,
of the colours which are represented.
Likewise 80 more whole skins of birds.
Likewise 800 handfuls of rich yellow feathers.
Likewise 800 handfuls oflong green feathers which they call que~ali.
Likewise two lip-jewels of transparent amber ornamented with gold.
Likewise 200 loads of chocolate.
Likewise 40 tiger skins.
Likewise 800 rich tecomates out of which they drink chocolate.
And likewise two large pieces of clear amher, of the size of a brick; all which they paid every six
months.

PLATE XLIX.

1. Xoconochco. 2. Ayotlan. 3. Coyoacan. 4. Mapachtepec. 5. Ma~atlan. 6. Huiztlan.
7. Acapetlatlan. 8. Huehuetlan. 9. Ochpaniztli*. 10. 11. Two strings of chalchihuitl. 12. Tlacaxipehualiztl. * 
13. Handfuls of rich blue feathers. 14. Handfuls of rich green feathers. 15. Handfuls
of rich scarlet feathers. 16. Handfuls of rich blue feathers of the colour of turquoise.
17. Handfuls of rich scarlet feathers. 18. Handfuls of rich green feathers. 19. Eighty skins of
birds of this colour. 20. Handfuls of rich yellow feathers. 21. Handfuls of rich green feathers.
22. A lip-jewel of transparent amber, set in gold. 23. Eighty skins of birds of this colour.
24. Handfuls of rich yellow feathers. 25. Handfuls of rich green feathers. 26. A lip-jewel of
transparent amber, set in gold. 27. One hundred loads of chocolate. 28. Twenty tiger skins.
29. One hundred loads of chocolate. 30. Twenty skins. 31. Four hundred tecomates of this shape,
out of which they drink chocolate. 32. Four hundred tecomates of this shape. 33. 34. Two pieces
of clear amber, each of the size of a brick.

The cities of hot and temperate provinces, which are represented and named in the following plate,
are seven in number. The articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
First, they gave 400 loads of large mantles; which they paid every six months
Likewise 20 loads of chocolate.
Also 1600 bundles of cotton; all which they paid once in the year.


-----
* The symbols of two Mexican months seem to have been inserted here accidentally amongst those of the tributary cities.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 39

PLATE L.

1. Quauhtochco. 2. Teucoltzapotla. 3. Tototlan. 4. Tuchconco. 5. Ahuilizapan. 6. Quauthetelco. 
7. Ytzteyocan. 8. Loads of large mantles. 9. Twenty loads of chocolate. 10. 11. 12.
13. One thousand six hundred bundles of cotton.


The cities of hot provinces contained, represented, and named in the following plate, are six in
number. The articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
First, 400 loads of quipiles and naguas, which are wearing apparel for women.
Likewise 400 loads of quilted mantles.
Likewise 400 loads of small mantles, with white and black fringes.
Likewise 400 loads of mantles, each mantle of six yards, with one half striped with black and
white.
Likewise 400 loads of large white mantles, each mantle of six yards.
Likewise 160 loads of rich and c,u riously worked mantles, wearing apparel for lords and caciques.
Likewise 1200 loads of striped mantles, containing more white than black; all which they paid
every six months.

They further presented two rich pieces of armour, with their shields ornamented with rich feathers,
according to their representations.

Also a string of chalchihuitl, rich stones.
Also 400 handfuls of long rich green feathers, which they call quecali.
Likewise 20 lip-jewels of crystal with blue enamel, set in gold.
Likewise 20 lip-jewels of transparent amber, ornamented with gold.
Likewise 200 loads of chocolate.
And further a quefaltlalpiloni of rich feathers, which served as a royal ensign; all which they paid
once in the year.


1. Cuetlaxtlan. 2. Mictlanquauhtla. 3. Tlapanicytlan. 4. Oxichan. 5. Acozpa. 6. Teociocan.
7. Loads of naguas and quipiles worked in this manner. 8. Loads of mantles worked in this
manner, half scarlet. 9. Loads of small mantles worked in this manner. 10. Loads of mantles
worked in this manner. 11. Loads of large mantles. 12. Eighty loads of rich mantles worked
in this manner. 13. Eighty loads of rich mimtles worked in this manner. 14. Loads of mantles
worked in this manner. 15. Loads of mantles worked in this manner. 16. Loads of mantles
worked in this manner. 17. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 18. A shield of
rich feathers of this device. 19. A piece of armour of rich feathers. 20. A shield of rich feathers.
21. A string of chalchihuitl, which are stones. 22. Two hundred loads of chocolate. 23. Four
hundred handfuls of green feathers. 24. Twenty lip-jewels of crystal of a blue shade, set in gold.



40 INTERPRETATION OF THE

25. Twenty lip-jewels of transparent amber, set in gold. 26. A quecaltlalpiloni of rich feathers,
which served as a royal ensign.
The cities contained, represented, and named in the following plate, are seven In number; and
the articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
First, they gave 400 loads of mantles, striped with brown and white.
Likewise 800 loads of large white mantles; which they paid every six months.
They further presented once in the year two pieces of armour with their shields, ornamented
with rich feathers, of the kind which is represented.

PLATE LII.

1. Tlapacoyan. 2. Xiloxochitlan. S. Xochiquauhtitlan. 4. Tuchtlan. 5. Coapan. 6. Aztaopan.
7. Aca~acatla. 8. Loads of mantles worked in this manner. 9. Loads of large white mantles.
10. Loads of large white mantles. 11. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 12. A
piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. IS. A shield of feathers of this device. 14. A shield
of feathers of this device.

The number of cities represented and named in the following plate. The articles of tribute which
they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following.
First, they gave 1600 loads of mantles, striped with brown and white.
Likewise 8000 loaves or lumps of liquid amber for incense, which they call xochiococtl; all which
they paid every six months.

They further presented two pieces of armour with their shields, ornamented with rich feathers,
of the kind which are represented; which they paid once in the year.

PLATE LIII.

1. Tlatlauhquitepec. 2. Atenco. 3. Teciutlan. 4. Ayutuchco. 5. Yayauquitlalpa. 6. Xonoctla. 
7. Teotlalpan. 8. Ytztepec. 9. Yxcoyamec. * 10. Yaunahuac. 11. Caltepec. 12. Four


-----
* This symbol represents a beast with an eye situated in the middle of its body, to which the first syllable yx of the proper
name Yxcoyamect (which often in compound words signifies an eye, as in Yxnextli, the name which the Mexicans gave to Eve on
account of her perpetual son-ow for having plucked the forbidden fruit,) alludes. The idea of beasts with eyes in various parts of
their body often occurs in the Old Testament; and Ezekiel describes, in the eighteenth verse of the first chapter of his prophecies,
wheels full of eyes; and Zechariah mentions, in the ninth verse of the third chapter of his book, a stone with seven eyes. Eyes are
also frequently represented in Mexican paintings in places and on objects where their occurrence is quite unusual. A beast with
five eyes upon its back is painted in the tenth page of the lesser Vatican MS.; and a stone with the exact number of seven eyes
seems to be represented in the Mexican painting which is preserved in the Imperial library at Vienna. It cannot be denied that
a passage in the twelfth chapter of the Revelations, which has perplexed all commentators on Scripture, "And there appeared
a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun," receives considerable elucidation from some of the figures contained
in the Mexican paintings, since this extraordinary costume is one in which they are not unfrequently attired.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 41

hundred loads of striped mantles. 13. Four hundred loads of mantles, striped with black and white. 
14. FOllr hundred loads of striped mantles. 15. Four hundred loads of striped mantles. 16. A 
piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 17. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 
18. A shield of feathers of this device. 19. A shield of feathers of this device. 20. Eight thousand 
loaves of xochiococotle, which is liquid amber. 

The cities of hot provinces, which are represented and named in the following plate, are seven 
in number. The articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following. 

First, 400 loads of mantles, latticed as it were with black and white. 
Likewise 400 loads of rich mantles, worked with scarlet and white, wearing apparel for lords. 
Likewise 400 loads of maxtlatl, which served as trowsers, otherwise named small-clothes. 
Likewise 800 loads of large white mantles, each mantle of six yards. 
Likewise 800 loads of striped mantles, each measuring twelve yards, orange-coloured and white. 
Likewise 400 loads of large white mantles, each mantle of twelve yards. 
Likewise 400 loads of mantles, striped with green, yellow, and scarlet. 
Likewise 400 loads of naguas and quipiles. 
Likewise 240 loads of rich worked mantles, of scarlet, white, and black, wearing apparel for lords; 
all which dresses they paid every six months. 

. They further presented two pieces of armour with their shields, ornamented with rich feathers, 
of the kind which is represented. 

Also 800 loads of dry axi. 
Likewise 20 bags of small white feathers, with which they ornamented mantles. 
Likewise two strings of chalchihuitl, rich stones. 
Likewise two strings of beads of rich stones, resembling turquoises. 
Likewise two pieces like salvers, ornamented or set with rich turquoise stones; all which they paid 
once in the year. 


PLATE LIV.

1. Tuchpa. 2. Tlaticapa. 3. Cihnanteopa. 4. Papantla. 5. Ocelotepec. 6. Miahuaapa.
7. Mictlan. 8. Four hundred loads of mantles worked in this manner. 9. Four hundred loads of 
rich mantles worked in this manner. 10. Four hundred loads of maxtlatl, which are a sort of 
trowsers. 11. Four hundred loads of large white mantles. 12. Four hundred loads of large white 
mantles. 13. Four hundred loads of mantles worked in this manner. 14. Four hundred loads 
of mantles worked in this manner. 15. Loads of mantles. 16. Loads of mantles worked in this 
manner. 17. Loads of quipiles and naguas. 18. 19. 20. Two hundred and forty loads of rich 
mantles. 21. 22. Eight hundred loads of dried axi. 23. A piece of armour of rich feathers of 
this device. 24. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this device. 25. Twenty bags of small 
feathers. 26. 27. Two strings of chalchihuitl, beads of rich stones. 28. A string of turquoise 




42 INTERPRETATION OF THE

stones. 29. 30. Two salvers of small turquoise stones. 31. A shield of rich feathers. 32. A 
shield of rich feathers of this device. 

The cities represented in the following plate are two, and the articles of tribute which they paid to 
the kings of Mexico are the following. 

First, they gave 800 loads of rich mantles, worked in scarlet and white, with fringes of green, 
yellow, scarlet, and blue. 
Likewise 400 loads of maxtlatl. 
Likewise 400 loads more of maxtlatl. 
Likewise 400 loads of large white mantles, each measuring six yards; all which they paid every 
six months. 

They further presented each year 1200 bundles of cotton.


PLATE LV.

1. Atlan. 2. Four hundred loads of rich mantles worked in this manner. 3. Four hundred 
loads of maxtlatl, which are a kind of trowsers. 4. Four hundred loads of rich mantles worked in 
this manner. 5. Four hundred loads of maxtlatl, which are a kind of trowsers. 6. Four hundred 
loads of large white mantles. 7. Tecapatitlan. 8. 9. 10. One thousand two hundred bundles of 
cotton. 

The tributes which the city of Oxitipan, which is represented and named in the following plate, 
paid to the kings of Mexico, are the following. 

First, 2000 loads of large mantles, each mantle of three yards. 
Likewise 800 loads of large mantles, striped with yellow, blue, scarlet and green, each mantle 
measuring six yards; all which apparel was presented every six months. 
They further gave 400 loads of dry axi. 

And likewise a live eagle, and occasionally two or three, accordingly as they could catch or 
procure them; all which they paid and presented once in the year. 


PLATE LVI.

1. Four hundred loads of large mantles. 2. Four hundred loads of large mantles. 3. Four 
hundred loads of large mantles. 4. Four hundred loads of large mantles. 5. Oxitipan. 6. Four 
hundred loads of striped mantles of this colour. 7. Four hundred loads of striped mantles of this 
colour. 8. Loads of large mantles. 9. Four hundred loads of dryaxi. 10. A live eagle, which 
they presented at every payment of tribute; and occasionally two or three, accordingly as they could 
procure them. 




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 43

The cities which are represented and named in the following plate are five in number. The 
articles of tribute which they paid to the kings of Mexico are the following. 

First, 400 loads of white mantles, with fringes of scarlet, blue, green, and yellow. 
Likewise 400 loads of maxtlatl, which are a kind of trowsers. 
Likewise 800 loads oflarge white mantles, each mantle of six yards. 
Likewise 400 loads of naguas and quipiles, which are wearIng apparel for women; all which 
apparel they paid every six months. 

They further presented two pieces of armour, with their shields, ornamented with rich feathers, 
of the kind which is represented. 

Also 800 bundles of cotton; all which they paid once in the year. 
Also 400 loads of dry axi. 


PLATE LVII.

1. Ctzicoac. 2. Molanco. 3. Cozcatecutlan. 4. Ychcatlan. 5. Xocoyocan. 6. Four 
hundred loads of mantles worked in this manner. 7. Four hundred loads of maxtlatl, which are a 
kind of trowsers. 8. Four hundred loads of large white mantles. 9. Four hundred loads of large 
white mantles. 10. Four hundred loads of naguas and quipiles. 11. A piece of armour of feathers 
of this device. 12. A shield of rich feathers. 13. A piece of armour of rich feathers of this 
device. 14. A shield of rich feathers of this device. 15. Four hundred loads of dry axi. 16. 17.
Eight hundred bundles of cotton. *


-----

* It may appear surprising that no mention should occur in this long tribute roll, of silver, pearls, emeralds, and rubies; all 
which are enumerated by Spanish historians in the list of the first presents which Montezuma sent to Cortes; of which two wheels, 
the one of gold and the other of silver, representing the sun and the moon, formed the most valuable part. The precious green 
stones, named Chalchiutles, so often noticed as an article of tribute, were not emeralds, or a stone of much intrinsic value; but 
Clavigero and various Spanish writers mention the large emerald which was discovered by a missionary in the province of 
Mixteca, which was called _the Heart of the People,_ and on which was carved a bird in the centre of a ring formed out of a 
serpent; who, notwithstanding the immense price which he was offered for it, ground it in the presence of the Indians into 
powder. The green colour of the stone, its name, and the symbols engraved upon it, lead to the supposition that it was an 
omament belonging to some image of Quecalcoatle, who was worshiped under the three names of Quecalcoatle, which signifies 
a serpent; Huitzilopuchtli, which means an aquatic bird; and Votan, which is _a heart_ in the Tzendal or Capotecan language. 
The following are the Mexican names of various precious stones, which the Tultecas were very skilful in cutting and polishing 
_with emery,_ three or four kinds of which are described by Sahagun: -- the Quetzaliztli was the emerald, the literal signification of 
which name is _the precious stone;_ the Teuxiuitl was the turquoise; the Tlapalteuxihuitl is supposed to have been the ruby; and 
the Xiuhmatlaliztli, the sapphire; the Epiollotli was the pearl; amber was called according to the shades of its colour by three 
different names, Apoconalli, Tzalapoconalli, and Iztacapoconalli; the Eztetl was the blood-stone; the Teuilotl was the crystal; and 
the Teutetl was a dark stone resembling jet. Sahagun describes, in the first section of the twenty-ninth chapter of his tenth book, 
the manner in which the Tultecas discovered precious stones, whether they lay hid in the earth or within other stones, by watching 
at sun-rise certain exhalations which rose from the surface of the ground: "They possessed such knowledge respecting precious 
stones, that although they were within some other large stone and buried in the earth, they found them by their native ingenuity 
and philosophy. They discovered them in places where they were likely to exist in this manner: They got up early in the 
morning and proceeded up some rising piece of ground, turning their faces towards the rising sun; and as they walked along they 
looked carefully around them to perceive where and in what situation beneath the ground a precious stone was likely to be: they 





44 INTERPRETATION OF THE

examined more attentively moist and damp spots; and when the sun had completely risen, but more especially when it was beginning 
to rise, a fine and subtile vapour collected and rose in the air; and there they discovered the precious stone under the earth 
and within some other stone, by seeing the ascent of that vapour. They were the discoverers of the mine of precious stones which 
the Mexicans name Xiuitl, which are turquoises, which according to ancient tradition is in a large hill near the city of Teputzotlan, 
which bears the name of Xiuhtzoni."  It may be interesting to compare this passage of Sahagun with what Diodorus Siculus 
says in his second book, of the growth of gems in Arabia, and of their modification into different colours and various degrees of 
transparency by the rays and heat of the sun; since the ancient philosophers seem, like the Tultecas, to have believed that the 
sun drew a vapour (_______) from precious stones.





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 45

THE THIRD PART.

The description of what was customary with the native Mexicans at the birth of a male or female 
infant; the rite and ceremony of naming the children, and of afterwards dedicating and offering 
them at their temples, or to the military profession, according to the signification of the figures which 
follow on the other side of the leaf, which are accompanied with brief explanations in addition to 
the description given in this page of all the said figures, which is as follows. 

As soon as the mother was delivered of the infant, they put it into a cradle, as is represented; and 
when it was four days old, the midwife took the infant in her arms naked, and carried it into the 
court of the mother's house, in which court were strewed reeds, or rushes, which they call Tule, upon 
which was placed a small vessel of water, in which the said midwife bathed the said infant; and after 
she had bathed it, three boys * being seated near the said rushes, eating roasted maize mixed with


---
* Baron de Humboldt, citing M. de Palin's work on the study of hieroglyphics, remarks, in reference to this passage in the 
_Interpretation of the Collection of Mendoza,_ that the Mexican custom of naming children in the presence of three other children,
who were parties to the ceremony, was somewhat analogous to the Jewish rite of baptizing proselytes before _three witnesses:_ 

"Cette ceremonie se fait devant trois enfans (que designent des enfans en general) ils nomment le nouveau-ne, et celebrent 
sa naissance en mangeant du mais. Dans l'inscription de Rosette, un decret ordenne la meme chose, et par une pareille representation; 
les trois celebrans y etant reunis aux trois fleurs pour former le caractere de la celebration du jour de naissance, que 
l'on represente aussi par le lever du soleil. Tous les details de ce tableau ou de cette table de loi Mexicaine rapellent le bapteme 
des proselytes du judaisme, en presence de trois temoins, et les (_____) des Grecs, ou l'enfant le cinquieme jour de sa 
naissance etoit voue aux dieux et obtenoit un nom, apres des ceremonies expiatoires." The remaining rites, of baptising the 
children and of afterwards presenting them with an offering at the temple, seem to be a confusion of Christian ceremonies with 
Jewish customs and traditions; which however distant the period or intricate the manner in which it was effected, -- and whether 
by Jews alone in hatred to Christianity, and in profanation of its sacraments and most hallowed reminiscences, and partly out of 
superstition, (as the Mahometans are said sometimes to adore the cross,) or by Jews and Christians both colonizing America, -- 
the longer we meditate on the religious rites of the Mexicans and the Peruvians, the more we are inclined to believe did actually 
take place.

The custom of offering their children at the temple was peculiar to the Jews; and no other nation ever imitated them in this, 
except the Mexicans. Another custom analogous to this, or at least founded on an analogous belief, -- viz. that their God who 
brought them out of Egypt had a right to their bodies for sacrifice on his altar, as well as for service in his temple, -- was the 
redemption of the first-born, which consisted in every Jewish parent being obliged to give the priests or Levites a certain sum 
of money, in lieu of his eldest son for sacrifice; for according to the fifteenth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, "all that 
opened the matrix amongst beasts," being males, were to be sacrificed to the Lord; but the first-born of men were to be redeemed. 
The firstling of an ass was likewise to be redeemed with a lamb; or if unredeemed, to have its neck broken. This command of 
Moses should be considered in reference to the custom of sacrificing children which existed in Mexico and Peru: for if the 
Indians borrowed the custom of offering their children at the temple from the Jews, vague traditions of the time when the Lord, 
to punish Pharaoh whose heart he had hardened, smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, "from the first-born of Pharaoh




46 INTERPRETATION OF THE

boiled beans, which kind of food they named Yxcue, which provision or paste they set before the 
said boys, in order that they might eat it. After the said bathing or washing, the said midwife desired 


-----
that sat on his throne, unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon;" [1] and an indistinct recollection of the sacrifices 
which were ordained to commemorate that event, and of the devotion of the first-born of men as well as of animals, miserably 
confused with notions of propitiation and atonement, might have suggested to their fanaticism the idea of sacrificing their own 
children, who were no less innocent than those of the Egyptians. 

In the Holy Land such sacrifices were very common amongst the Jews; and the name of _Tophet,_ and of the Valley of the Son 
of Hinnom, which was close to the gates of Jerusalem, is still odious on account of the human sacrifices, especially those of 
children, which the Scripture records as having there taken place. 

If we may be allowed to venture an opinion on an obscure matter of history, the extreme rigour with which the Jews after 
having been long fostered in Spain were treated by the Spanish govemment and the Inquisition, towards the end of the fifteenth 
and the beginning of the sixteenth century, was not less owing to a spirit of intolerance on their part, than to the discovery of 
great enormities perpetrated by the more ignorant and fanatical class of Jews resident in Spain at the celebration of the festival 
of the sacrifice of their paschal lamb. The severity of the edicts issued against them at that time is really surprising; and for 
many years afterwards a kind of undefined horror of Jews and Judaism prevailed in Spain, which Sir Edwin Sandys, an old English 
writer, probably attributing it to a wrong cause, thus notices: It There is in Spain a sort of people of the Marrany, as they term 
them, who are baptized Jews and Moors, and many of them in secret withal circumcised Christians. All which, although 
conforming themselves in some sort of outward show unto the Christian religion, yet are thought in heart to be utterly averse 
from it, and to retain an inward desire to return to that superstition from which their ancestors by rigour and terror were driven; 
and the Jews will say in Italy, that there come divers Spaniards to them to be circumcised there, and so away to Constantinople 
to plant in the East."

It may be interesting to learn from the Narrative of Mr. Walsh, chaplain to Lord Strangford, (the late British ambassador to 
the Porte,) what is the present situation at Constantinople of the descendants of those Jews who were expelled from Spain three 
centuries ago; who it is singular should be accused of the same crimes by the Turks as were formerly often unjustly laid to their 
charge by Christians. Mr. Walsh's account is somewhat long; but we sball here give it without any abbreviation: -- "Our direct 
road was to cross the harbour, and pass through Constantinople, and out at the Selyvria gate; but as we took horses from Pera, 
we were compelled to go a round of several miles, and cross the Kyat-khana Sou, at the head of the harbour. Our way lay
through the suburb in which the Jews reside; and perhaps you would wish to know, _en passant,_ something of the remnant of that 
extraordinary people settled at Constantinople, who have lately distinguished themselves in the Greek insurrection by their 
inveterate hostility to the Greeks. You would naturally suppose, as I did, that these people came to Constantinople from some 
part of the East, and brought with them their Oriental language; but this is not the case. After the extinction of the Waldenses, 
in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the rage of the Inquisition was turned against the Jews of Spain; and having inflicted on 
them various persecutions and sufferings, an edict was at length issued for expelling them altogether from that country; and 
they set out, to the amount of eight hundred thousand persons, from this land of Egypt, -- not spoiling their enemies, but spoiled of 
all they possessed themselves. As the same prejudices existed against them in every Christian country at the time, they could 
find no asylum in the West; so they set their faces to the East, and returned to the place from whence they originally came. 
They were kindly received in different parts of the Ottoman Empire, and the Turks afforded them that protection which 
Christians had denied them. They settled at Salonichi, Smyrna, Rodosto, and other large towns, where they at this day form an 
important part of the population. At Salonichi they have no less than thirty synagogues. But the principal division of them 
came to Constantinople, and were assigned a large district, called Hassa Kui, to inhabit, where they form a community of fifty


----
1 A very remarkable representation of the ten plagues which God sent on Egypt, in order to punish Pharaoh's hardness of 
heart, occurs in the eleventh and twelfth pages of the Borgian MS. Moses is there painted holding up in his left hand his rod 
which became a serpent, and with a furious gesture calling down plagues on the Egyptians. These plagues were frogs, locusts, 
lice, flies, &c., all which seem to be represented in the pages referred to; but the last and most dreadful were the thick darkness 
which overspread Egypt for three days, and the death of the first-born of all the Egyptians; the former of which is represented 
by the figure of an eclipse of the sun, and the latter by Mictlanteotle, (or the god of the dead,) descending in the form of a skeleton 
or a cadaverous body, from the rod of Moses. The curious symbol of one serpent swallowing up another, occurs likewise in the 
nineteenth page of the same MS. It is not extraordinary that the Mexicans, who were acquainted with one portion of Exodus, 
-- that relating to the migration of the children of Israel from Egypt, -- should also have not been ignorant of another.





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 47

the said boys to pronounce the name aloud, * bestowing a new name on the infant which had been 
thus bathed; and the name which they gave it was that which the midwife wished. When they first 
carried out the infant to bathe it, -- if it was a boy they carried him holding his symbol in his hand, 
which symbol was the instrument which the father of the infant employed, either in the military profession, 


---
* Naming children was so important a ceremony amongst the Jews, that if the infant died before it was eight days old, when 
the rite of circumcision was performed, a name was given to it at the place of burial; that, as the Rabbis say, it might have a 
_name_ amongst Israel, and be remembered at the resurrection.

According likewise to Jewish usages, boys were to be present at the rite of circumcision, one of whom was to hold a torch with 
twelve lights, in remembrance of the twelve tribes of Israel. 


-----
thousand persons. The Turks call the different people who reside under them by names indicative of the estimation in which 
they hold them; the Greeks, Yeshir, (or slaves,) as they were considered to have forfeited their life at the taking of Constantinople, 
and hold it ever since on sufferance; -- the Armenians, Rayas, (or subjects,) as they were never a conquered people, but merged 
insensibly into the population of the empire: but the Jews they call Mousaphir, (or visitors,) because they sought an asylum amongst 
them. They treat them therefore as visitors, with kindness and hospitality. I give you this as the original and accurate distinction; 
though all the subjects of Turkey, who are not Turks, are loosely called Rayas. As a further motive for good-will they mutually 
approach to an assimilation, much more nearly than any of the rest, in their religious opinions and observances. Their 
strict theism, their practice of circumcision, their abhorrence of swine's Resh, their language read from right to left; are all 
coincidences which, to a certain degree, give them an identity of feeling which does not take place with the others.

"The Jews, therefore, are a favoured people, and held by the Turks in a degree of consideration which is very different from that 
which they receive in any Christian country at the present day. In many towns in Germany which I have visited, they are 
prohibited by law from passing a night within the walls; and the law is strictly enforced, unless evaded by the payment of all 
exorbitant tax: in others they are obliged to submit to degrading conditions and suspicious precautions, which are as frivolous 
as they are humiliating. They cannot travel from town to town, or exercise particular trades, without paying an extraordinary 
toll or tax, which is not exacted from other people. Even in England there is a strong line of demarcation still drawn, and they 
are still considered foreigners; and in London they cannot be members of corporations, cannot open a shop, cannot practise 
particular callings, without paying to the corporation exorbitant fines, which are demanded from nohodyelse. The prejudice 
which led to cruelty and persecution is softened with the growing liherality of the age; but it still exists under a milder form, 
and is a wall of separation between them and the Christian community. In Turkey it forms no such barrier: the Jews freely 
exercise the most lucrative callings; they are generally the brokers who transact business for merchants, and the sarafs, or 
bankers, with whom the Turks deposit their property. They enter, particularly the women, into the harams with merchandize, 
and so are agents of intrigue, and acquire extraordinary influence in Turkish houses.

"On a hill behind the quarter of Hassa Kui, where they reside, they have a large cemetery, ornamented with marble tombs, 
some of them extremely well sculptured in high relief; and the houses of the opulent are furnished and fitted up in a style of 
Oriental magnificence. The lower orders, however, are marked by that peculiarity which distinguishes them in every other 
country; squalor and raggedness in their persons, filth and nastiness in their houses, their morals very lax, and ready to 
engage in any hase business which the less vile would have a repugnance to. They are distinguished, like all classes in Turkey, 
by a particular dress: they wear a turban like a Turkish gentleman, but lower; and instead of being encircled with a rich 
shawl, it is generally bound with a mean cross-barred handkerchief; and their slippers, the colour of which is particularly
prescribed to all Turkish subjects, are blue. The front of their houses is lead-colour. They are inflexibly attached to their 
own religion, though many of them have apparently conformed to Mahomedanism; -- such as have done so, still practise, in their
own way, the rites common to both people.

"The Turk circumcises his child at the age of five or six, and makes it a gay public ceremony. The Jewish proselyte always 
performs it on the eighth day, and in private. Their Rabbins also visit them secretly, and keep up all their former observances. 
Should a Jew be made a convert to Christianity, he becomes the immediate object of the most relentless persecution of his own 
people; so that his life is not safe.

"A very respectable man of that persuasion applied to me to be received into Christian communion, and in due time I baptized
him in the chapel of the British embassy: but he earnestly requested that I should keep it a profound secret; and the day after 
the ceremony he left Constantinople for Poland. Indeed their repugnance to Christians, particularly to the Greeks, displays 
itself on all occasions. When the venerable Patriarch was hanged by the Turks, the Jews volunteered their services to cast his 
body into the sea: some fellows of the lowest description were brought from Hassa Kui for the purpose, and they dragged his 





48 INTERPRETATION OF THE

or in his trade, whether it was that of a goldsmith, jeweller, or any other; and the said ceremony 
having been gone through, the midwife delivered the infant to his mother. But if the infant was 
a girl, the symbol with which they carried her to be bathed was, a spinning wheel and distaff, with 
a small basket and a handful of brooms, which were the things which would afford her occupation 
when she arrived at a proper age. 


-----
corpse, by the cord by which he was hanged, through the streets with gratuitous insult. This circumstance, with others of a 
similar nature, so increased the former antipathy of the Greeks, that they revenged themselves on every Jew that fell in their 
way, at the commencement of the insurrection, with the most dreadful retaliation. The mutual prejudice is so strong, that it 
gives rise, as you may suppose, to a number of accusations; and they charge each other with the most atrocious practices. 
The Jews, you will recollect, in the early ages of Christianity denounced the Christians as eaters of their own children, -- an 
accusation sanctioned by the impure and secret practices of some of the Gnostic sects. The Christians of Spain formerly stated 
that the Jews crucified adults on Good Friday, in mockery of our Saviour: and at Constantinople at the present day, they are 
charged with purloining children, and sacrificing them as paschal lambs at their passover.

"I was one day at Galata, a suburb of Pera, where a great commotion was just excited. The child of a Greek merchant had 
disappeared, and no one could give any account of it; it was a beautiful boy, and it was imagined it had been taken by a Turk 
for a slave. After some time, however, the body was found in the Bosphorus; its legs and arms were bound, and certain wounds 
in its side indicated that it had been put to death in some extraordinary manner, and for some extraordinary purpose: suspicion 
immediately fell upon the Jews; and as it was just after their paschal feast, suspicion, people said, was confirmed to a certainty. 
Nothing could be discovered to give a clue to the perpetrators; but the story was universally talked of, and generally believed all 
over Pera. The prejudice bas also been greatly increased by a book written by a Jewisb Rabbi converted to Christianity, which 
is a great curiosity. It is entitled, _'A Confutation 'if the Religion of the Jews,'_ by Neopbytus, a Greek monk, formerly a 
Jewish Rabbi. The original work was in the Moldavian language, and was printed in the year 1803; but it is said that the 
Jews, at that time, gave a large sum of money to the Hospodar, and the book was suppressed and destroyed. A copy, however, 
escaped, which was translated into modern Greek, and printed at Yasi in 1818, of which I had a copy at Constantinople. The 
first chapter is entitled, (________________), _'The concealed Mysteries now made public.'_ The subject
is 'the blood which the Jews take from Christians, and the purpose to which they apply it.' After detailing a number of the 
most extraordinary particulars, be concludes in the following words: 'When I was thirteen years old my father revealed to me 
the mystery of the blood, and cursed me by all the elements of beaven and earth, if ever I should divulge the secret, even to my 
brethren; and when I was married, and should even have ten sons, I should not discover it to all, but only to one, who should 
be the most prudent and learned, and at the same time firm and unmoved in faith; but to a female I should never disclose it. 
May the earth, said he, never receive thee, if thou revealest these secrets!'

"So said my father; but I, since I have taken as my father the Lord Jesus Christ, will proclaim the truth in every place; and 
as the wise Sirac says, 'even unto death strive for the truth.' Much of these and similar representations are to be attributed to 
prejudice, and great deductions are to be made from them: but certainly the Jews of Constantinople are a fierce and fanatic race; 
persecution and suffering have not taught them moderation, and they pursue, even to death, any apostate from their own doctrines. 
They have a language and character peculiar to themselves; the first is Spanish, debased by Hebrew and foreign words 
into a _lingua franca;_ and the second, in which it is written, is rabbinical, disguised by an alteration of some of the letters. I 
annex a passage of their creed, taken from one of their books, as a specimen of both." The specimen is contained in the Appendix 
to Mr. Walsh's _'Narrative,'_ of which we shall here only insert a single verse, to sbow how entirely Spanish, with the exception of a 
few words, although written in Hebrew characters, the language of the Jews residing in Constantinople, and probably in many 
of the other cities of Turkey, continues at the present day to be: _"Yo creyo con emouna cumplida, que el Criador, bendicho su 
nombre, pertenece a el ater tefila; y no es otro."_ "I believe with a perfect faith, that to the Creator, blessed be his name, prayer 
ought to be made, and there is none beside him."

In Turkey it is evident that the Jews are held in much greater consideration than Christians, and in all other Mahometan 
countries; it is probably for the reasons which Mr. Walsh enumerates. In Hindostan, (as anyone who reads the Abbe Dubois' 
well written work on Christian Missions in that part of the globe must feel convinced,) the Jews would be considered by the 
Brahmin as belonging to the most degraded race of Pariahs, and Christians as occupying a place next to them; because the Old 
Testament describes the blood of goats and of bulls as a grateful offering to Jebovah. Beyond the Ganges in Thibet, in many of 
the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and in the populous kingdoms bordering on China, where the votaries of Budha are very 
numerous, a sect so opposed to their religious prejudices would scarcely be tolerated; and the laws of Moses would seem to the 
gymnosophists on the banks of the Burampooter, what those of Draco appear to the philosophers on those of the Thames.





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 49

They offered the umbilical cord of the male infant, together with the shield and arrows, the symbols 
with which they had carried him to be bathed, in that spot and place where war was likely to happen 
with their enemies, where they buried them in the earth; and they did the same with that of the 
female infant, which they in the same way buried beneath the Metate or stone on which they 
ground meal.

After the above-mentioned ceremonies, when the period of twenty days had expired, the parents 
of the infant went with the infant to the temple or Mezquita * which they called _Calmecac,_ and in


-----
* Mezquita and Alfaqui are words which in Arabic signify _a temple_ and _a priest._ The Saracen dynasties which so long ruled 
over Spain made the Spaniards familiar with the meaning of them. In nothing did the civil policy of the Mexicans more closely 
resemble that of the Jews than in their dedicating their children at the temple, and afterwards sending them there to be instructed 
by the master, or, as we might say, _the superior Rabbi,_ in the doctrines of their religion and their moral and ceremonial laws. 
Christ himself is said, when only eight years old, to have gone to the temple at Jerusalem, and disputed with the Rabbis, listening 
to them and asking them qnestions: whence it may be inferred (as they could not have known that he was the Son of God, 
since general publicity was not given to that circumstance till many years afterwards), that it was customary for the priests and 
Rabbis to teach children who came to the temple, by discoursing to them of matters of Jewish faith and doctrine. And that it was 
also a custom for children perpetually to serve in the temple we know from the history of Samuel, who waited on Eli the high 
priest; of whom it is said, in the eighteenth verse of the second chapter of the First Book of Samuel, _"But Samuel ministered 
before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod."_ Torquemada says, that the ceremony of dedicating their children to 
the military profession was likewise a religious one; and that their names were registered at the temple by the priests, that when 
they attained a fit age they might be compelled to go on military service. Amongst the Jews all wars, not excepting their civil 
wars, bore a religious character (for even in civil war right must exist on one side); and in the twentieth chapter of Deuteronomy 
directions are given to the priests to accompany and _exhort the soldiers to battle._ The interpreter of the Collection of Mendoza 
says that priests likewise followed the Mexican armies, not only for the purpose of joining the combatants, but also to perform 
certain religious ceremonies, in which some analogy is discovered between the customs of the two nations. So frequently is 
Jehovah named in Scripture the _God of war,_ and likened to a warrior going forth to battle, as in the following verse, "The Lord 
is a man of war, The Lord is his name," -- that it is evident that the Jews believed that such epithets of praise _did not profane the 
Majesty of Heaven,_ and that it was magnifying God to ascribe to him courage and invincibility in conflicts with arms of flesh and a 
mortal foe. Since likewise the expression "The Lord went up," as applied to the marching of the Jewish armies, repeatedly 
occurs, and the presence of Jehovah in the camp of Israel is so often proclaimed, -- it is not surprising that they should have considered 
their wars as sacred, and have called them the _"wars of the Lord;"_ or that they should have attached religious ideas to the 
profession of arms. But whether the names of the soldiers were enrolled by the Levites, as they were by the priests amongst the 
Mexicans, is uncertain. A striking example is afforded in the twentieth chapter of the Book of Judges of the religious spirit 
which animated the Jews even in their wars with each other. This remarkable chapter contains the account of the extermination 
of nearly the whole tribe of Benjamin by the other tribes, and of the singular cause which led to that result; as well as of the 
solemn and religious preparation for a war that deluged Israel with blood, and seemed to lend a sanction to a precedent by which 
Romulus might have justified the violence which he offered to the Sabine women. The very commencement of it reminds us of 
the formal summons to Cusco which the Ingas sent to their subjects when about to undertake any of their religions wars: "Then 
all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the 
land of Gilead, unto the Lord in Mizpeh. And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in 
the assembly of the people of God, _four hundred thousand footmen_ that drew the sword." That the Ingas waged wars for the 
express purpose of compelling other nations to lay aside what they deemed to be idolatry, and to embrace the knowledge of the 
true God, we have the authority of Acosta and of other eminent historians for asserting. And the following passage from the 
eighteenth chapter of the sixth book of the _Natural and Moral History of the Indies,_ will show that they were at no loss for 
specious reasons with which to defend their injustice: [["Creterum cur, et quo prretextu, terras eas dominatui suo subegerint,
brevi tel' quoque percenseamus. Ad populum autem prrifitebantur, quod post diluvium, de quo Indis universis constabat, a solis
Ingis genus humanum de novo propagatum et multiplicatum esset. Bjus e!lim generis septem heroas ex specu Pacaritambo
erupisse, et quo diximus modo, novos populos ac gentes proseminasse. Unde fas sit, ac requum, ut Ingis, ceu satoribus suis ac
progenitoribus, omnes in universum populi parerent ac obsequerentur. Sed et hoc gloriabantur, quod soli ex omnibus veram et
puram Dei colendi ac honorandi 1lotitiam haberent. Unde etiam in Cusco, veluti terra quadam sancta, ultra 400 delubra numerabantur,
et finitima omnia passim sacrornm arcanis plena videbantur. Et sicut forti manu in occupandis et subigendis regni.]]





50 INTERPRETATION OF THE

the presence of their Alfaquis presented the infant with its offering of mantles and maxtles, together 
with some provision; and after the infant had been brought up by its parents, as soon as it arrived 


-----
[[pergebant, ita in condendis quoque templis, ac divinis cultibus instituendis, nihilo segniores erant. Quos cleos venerabantur ex 
his primarius Viracocha Pachayachachic, id est, mundi creator, erato Ab hoc secundus sol colebatnr, credebaturque tum solem, 
tum Guaeas, virtutem et vigorem 8uum a creatore infusam susciperc, apud quem etiam pro hominibus mediatores et advocati 
intercedant."]] "But let us now proceed briefly to state the plea and pretext by which they (the Ingas) subdued those countries 
under their yoke. They professed to the people that after the deluge, with which event the Indians were universally acquainted, 
the human species was again propagated and multiplied by the Ingas alone; for that seven heroes of their race came forth from 
the cave of Pacaritambo and procreated, in the manner which has been mentioned, new nations and people; whence it was fit and 
just that all mankind should obey and submit to the Ingas as their ancestors and progenitors. They made this likewise a boast, 
that they alone of all men possessed the true and pure knowledge of the worship and honour due to God: and hence in Cusco, 
as in some holy land, the temples exceeded the number of four hundred, and the neighbouring territory was every where full of 
religious mysteries. In the same manner also as they were strenuous in seizing on, and conquering kingdoms, so they were not 
less sedulous in founding temples and in instituting religious rites. Of the gods whom they worshiped, the principal was Viracocha 
Pachayachachic, that is to say, the creator of the world. Next to him came the sun; and they believed that both the sun and 
the Guacas derived the virtue and vigour infused into them from the creator, _before whom they interceded as mediators and advocates 
for men."_ Gomara says that the Mexicans likewise made religion a pretext for their early wars: [["Dieron guerra a sus
vezinos, vencieron muchas batallas. Tuvieron esto, que a los que se les davan, ponian ciertos tributos 6 parias; y [t los que Ies
resistian, robavan, y servian se dellos, y de sus hijos y mugeres, por esclavos. Comenfaron por via de religion, afiadieron Ie Iuego
las armas y fuerlia, y despues codicia; y assi se quedaron seiiores de todo, y pusieron la silla de su ymperio en Mexico." -- La
Conquista de Mexico, fo. CXX]]. The Peruvians had the singular custom of putting the images of the gods of the conquered provinces 
into a large net or latticed frame, and of preserving them as a trophy in honour of Viracocha. And we may observe, 
in passing, that Ezekiel twice introduces God as threatening to spread his net over his enemies, in which light he regarded the 
disobedient Jews: "My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the
land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about 
him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them." chap. xii. This prophecy related to the captivity 
of the Jews and of their king Zedekiah, whose eyes were put out before he was carried to Babylon. The expression likewise of 
"scattering towards every wind," which occurs in several places of Scripture, brings to our recollection that passage in the 
twenty-ninth chapter of Acosta's _History of America,_ wherein, treating of the Mexican jubilee which was celebrated every fifty-second 
year in honour of Tetzcatlipoca, he says, that the Mexicans, in the midst of the sincerest manifestation of their penitence 
for their past sins, (the recollection of which was awakened by the sound of the trumpets which the priests blew towards the four 
quarters of the world,) humbly deprecated injuries from either darkness or the winds. In the seventeenth chapter of his prophecies, 
Ezekiel again makes use of almost the same language: "And I will spread my net npon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, 
and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. And all his 
fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds; and ye shall know 
that I the Lord have spoken it." Job also employs a like metaphor: "Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed 
me with his net: Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced 
up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths." That the Jews did, like the Peruvians, acknowledge _in a
manner_ the gods of other nations, although they disbelieved in their divinity, cannot be denied; since it is evident from the following 
remarkable verse in the twenty-second chapter of Exodus: "Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people."
And it says in the twenty-seventh verse of the twenty-sixth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles; _"Out of the spoils won in 
battles_ did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord:" which usage was precisely that of the Mexicans. It has been 
before remarked, that the Mexicans in many of their customs resembled the Peruvians, and that their religion was probably 
derived from a common source, _Viracocha being the same deity as Tetzcatlipoca and Huitzilopuchtli,_ although worshiped under 
a different name. The proper name Viracocha, signifies the _foam_ or _froth of the sea;_ and Pachayachachic, the _creator of the 
universe._ And since the epithet of Tlavizcalpantecutli was bestowed on Tetzcatlipoca _on account of the creation of light,_ and the 
Mexicans believed that he in the beginning _had made the division of the waters;_ -- so that of Viracocha might have been given to 
Pachayachachic by the Peruvians _for some analogous reason._ To say that this name has some resemblance in meaning to the 
Greek word (______) is merely pointing out a similarity where there can be no possible allusion. The belief which the Mexicans 
and Peruvians entertained of their origin is likewise an argument in favour of their common descent. The former of these nations 
pretended that their ancestors had proceeded from seven caves; and the latter, that they were descended from seven heroes, who 



COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 51

at the proper age, they delivered him to the superior Alfaqui of the said Mezquita, that he might be 
there instructed, in order that he might afterwards become an Alfaqui: but if the parents of the 

-----
came out of the same cave. M. de Humboldt has observed, that if we knew exactly in what part of the globe the ancient kingdoms 
of _Tulan, Tlapallan, Huetlapallan, Amaquemacam, Aztlan,_ and _Chicomoztoc_ were situated, we might be able to form an 
opinion of who the ancestors of the Mexicans were, and from what country they passed over to America. An attentive examination 
of the meaning of these proper names, and the mutual comparison of one with another, may at least assist us in forming some 
conjecture. But it must first be observed, that the opinion of Herrera, (who is the authority to which a kind of general submission 
is yielded on all questions relating to America), viz. that that continent was only colonized from its western side, -- is improbable in 
the extreme; for, omitting physical reasons and other causes for supposing that the contrary would rather have been the case; such 
as the great current of the sea which runs from the African towards the American shores; the relative magnitude of the Atlantic 
and the Pacific oceans; and the consequent nearer proximity of America to Europe; and the much greater naval enterprise 
which has in all ages distinguished Europeans, and the Asiatics bordering on the coasts of the Mediteranean Sea from other 
Asiatics: and likewise the curious fact mentioned by Sahagun, that the Mexicans recorded in numerous historical paintings an 
early colonization of America from the East; as also that Torquemada says that when Quecalcoatle set out on his return to 
his former kingdom of Tlapallan, he proceeded to the province of Coacacoalco, (which was situated on (he gulf of Mexico,) and 
there embarked in a boat or raft formed out of serpents' skins [1] (and such a boat seems to be represented in the forty-third 
page of the painting preserved in the Royal Library of Dresden) -- Herrera cannot be considered a candid author, or one who 
declared all that he knew or believed respecting the ancient colonization of America; nor can it be expected that much weight 
should be attached to his theory; -- that America was peopled from Asia by colonists passing over the Isthmus of California, and 
that the Mexicans came from thence; since modern geographical science contradicts the supposed facilities of such a passage. We 
shall therefore, (divesting ourselves of all ancient prejudices, which Lord Bacon rightly considers the idols to which human reason 
readily bows, and to be most detrimental to the advance of knowledge,) proceed to the consideration of the meaning of the above-mentioned 
proper names, and, comparing them with each other, endeavour to discover whether they may not all have a common 
reference, and lead us to that portion of the Old continent to which ancient traditions and the mythological recollections of Peru 
and Mexico equally point. Tulan signifies _the country of reeds,_ Tlapallan _the red sea,_ Huetlapallan _the old red sea,_ Amaquemecam 
_the country of the veil of paper,_ Aztlan _the country of the flamingo,_ and Chicomoztoc _the seven caves._ In the absence of 
all positive knowledge of facts, to employ conjecture is not only admissible, but becomes absolutely necessary, if research after 
truth is not altogether to be abandoned. We may therefore be permitted to express an opinion, for reasons which shall be alledged, 
that Egypt is the country to which all these proper names refer; and that the colony which arrived in early ages in America from 
the East, were Jews from Alexandria; in which emporium of the commerce of the world they had been established from the 
period of its foundation by Alexander the Great, and enjoyed equal rites of citizenship with the other citizens, possessed a contentious 
synagogue; and, probably as a means of increasing their wealth, addicted themselves to those mercantile pursuits which 
caused its haven to be crowded with the ships of every country.

The Scripture testifies that in the reign of Solomon the Jews embarked extensively in mercantile speculations; and the frequent 
mention which it makes of the gold of Ophir and of silver, common in Jerusalem as the stones in the days of that king, might have 
induced their descendants, settled at Alexandria, to try whether they could not likewise discover the _"navigation to the Isles."_ [2] 
That the Jews would not have allowed their ignorance of the art of navigation to remain long an obstacle to the gain which they might 
acquire from it, it is unnecessary to attempt to prove; and that in later ages there were good cosmographers amongst them, the testimony 
of Doctor Robertson is sufficient to show: who says, that when Columbus laid before John the Second, king of Portugal, the 
plan of his proposed discovery of the New World, "The king listened to him in the most gracious manner, and referred the consideration 
of his plan to Diego Ortiz bishop of Ceuta, and two Jewish physicians, eminent cosmographers, whom he was accustomed


-------
1 Boats were in very early ages formed out of skins, as the following passage in the old _Life of Saint Patrick,_ elsewhere 
referred to, proves; who is said to have prescribed to Maccuil as an act of penance, that, embarking in a boat of a single skin, 
without rudder or oars and with his feet chained, in order that the waves might carry him to some chance island of the ocean, 
he should forsake his native soil: [["Conliga pedes tuos conpede ferreo, et projice cIavem ejus in mari, et mitte te in navern unius
penis, absque gubernaculo et absque remo, et quocumque te duxerit ventus, et mare, esto paratus, et terram in quamcunque
deferat te divina providentia, inhabita, et exerce tibi divina mandata."]] The Mexicans feigned that Quecalcoatle embarked in a 
boat formed out of a serpent's skin, intending thus to give an air of novelty to fiction.

2 They would probably have sailed to the West in search of them, becanse the Hebrew name for _the isles_ bears the 
signification of the West also.




52 INTERPRETATION OF THE

infant resolved that when he attained a fit age he should go and serve in the military profession, they 
immediately offered him to the master, making a promise of him, which master of the young men 

-----
to consult in matters of this kind. As in Genoa ignorance had opposed and disappointed Columbus, -- in Lisbon he had to 
combat with prejudice, an enemy no less formidable. The persons according to whose decision his scheme was to be adopted or 
rejected had been the chief directors of the Portuguese navigations, and had advised to search for" passage to India by steering a 
course directly opposite to that which Columbus recommended, as shorter and more certain. They could not, therefore, approve of 
his proposal, without submitting to the double mortification of condemning their own theory and of acknowledging his superior 
sagacity. After teasing him with captious questions, and starting innumerable objections with a view of betraying him into such a 
particular explanation of his system as might draw from him a full discovery of its nature, they deferred passing a final judgment with 
respect to it. In the mean time they conspired to rob him of the honour and advantages which he expected from the success of his 
scheme, advising the king to dispatch a vessel secretly, in order to attempt the proposed discovery by following exactly the course 
which Columbus seemed to point out. John, forgetting on this occasion the sentiments becoming a monarch, meanly adopted 
this perfidious counsel. But the pilot chosen to execute Columbus's plan had neither the genius nor the fortitude of its author; -- 
contrary winds arose, no sight of approaching land appeared, his courage failed, and he returned to Lisbon, execrating the project 
as equally extravagant and dangerous." -- _History of America._ book 2. It is certainly singular that the proposal of Columbus 
should have been referred by the king of Portugal to a bishop and to two Jews, and that he should have experienced from them 
the treatment described. If the Jews had had any suspicion that their countrymen had already established themselves in America, 
or that the great and unknown region which Benjamin of Tudela had described as under the dominion of the Jews, lay in the direction 
of the intended navigation, other objections besides those hinted at by Doctor Robertson might have actuated their conduct. 
The above passage has, however, been only cited to show that the Jews have not been in all ages ignorant of cosmography; and it 
is not impossible, amidst the uncertainty which prevails respecting by whom, where, and when the mariners' compass was invented, 
that they might have introduced it from the East, where it had been long known and used, to the knowledge of Europeans, who, 
as it might be expected, wonld not have been at much pains to record the obligation. The reasons for supposing that the 
proper names of places abovementioned all refer to Egypt, are the following, which are chiefly derived from the local qualities of 
its soil, -- Tulan, (the country of rushes,) is a name which would well suit a country extending along the banks of a great river 
covered with flags; Tlapallan and Huetlapallan, (the country of the red sea, or of the old red sea,) would be an appellation equally 
applicable to Egypt; Amequemecan, (the kingdom of the veil of paper,) might refer to the reeds producing the papyrus, 
since the land of Egypt is said in Scripture to be hidden in her reeds, on account of their great abundance, and the lowness of the 
soil. Aztlan, (the country of the flamingo,) is a name which recalls to our recollection the ibis, a bird of the flamingo species, 
which was very common in Egypt, and greatly revered by the Egyptians; Aztlan, likewise, is said to have been an island, and 
that part of Lower Egypt named the Delta, in which Alexandria is situated, is in fact an island formed by the arms of the Nile; 
and the pyramid, the memory of which the Mexicans preserved as existing in Aztlan, might have been nothing more than a 
tradition of the Egyptian pyramids. Chicomoztoc, (the country of the seven caves, or of the seven dragons' mouths, or of the 
seven gulfs,) -- for _oztoc_ may be interpreted _a cave, a dragon's mouth, and a gulf,_ -- might also have signified Lower Egypt, and 
the seven branches of the Nile, from which colonies, either at the same or different times embarking, might have proceeded to 
America. It deserves likewise to be observed that Quecalcoatle and Totec are said by the interpreter of the Vatican Codex to 
have collected together the innocent people of Tulan, and such other persons as were inclined to follow them, and to have journeyed 
on till they arrived at a high mountain, _which not being able to pass, they bored a hole through it, and so passed._ 
This passage is represented in the fourteenth page of the MS. referred to, where a number of persons are painted creeping 
from between two mountains vertically placed over each other, with the further peculiarity of being joined together at the 
summits, whilst their bases are separate and opposed to each other, which might indicate a passage between two mountains 
the summits of which were contiguous, but the bases nevertheless separate, -- such as are those on either side of the Straits of 
Gibraltar. Votan also is said in the Memoir inserted by Doctor Cabrera in his short treatise on the Population of America, to 
have visited the old continent, and to have gone by the road which his brethren the Culebras had bored, which would seem to refer 
to the former journey of Quecalcoatle to America. The curious expression likewise ofVotan's having determined on quitting America 
to visit Europe, "to travel until he arrived at the root of heaven, in order to discover his relations, the Culebras," which follows 
shortly afterwards in the above-mentioned Memoir, might possibly contain some allusion to Mount Atlas, which, situated in Libya, 
was sometimes personified under the figure of a man supporting the heavens on his shoulders, on account of its great height. The 
Mexicans had likewise a notion of high mountains reaching up to heaven, as the proper name Citlaltepec, (or the mountain 
of the stars) indicates. The houses of the thirteen Culebras, which Votan is said to have passed by, or to have left behind him 
on the journey, were, perhaps, the Madeira Islands, in which ancient Hebrew inscriptions are stated to have been found; although 





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 53

and boys was named Teachcauh, or Telpuchtlato; which offering they accompanied with a present 
of provisions and other things for its celebration: and when the infant attained a fit age, they delivered 
him up to the said master. *


-----
*The title of Master, which was given by the Mexicans to those who instructed their sons in the principles of their religion 
and in their moral duties, corresponds well with the Hebrew word Rabbi, which is translated Master in the English version of the 
New Testament; by which name Christ was called by his disciples, on account of his being a teacher.


-----
Spizelius denies the fact. That in very early ages the tide of Jewish migration flowed from East to West, may be inferred from 
the great numbers of Jews who settled in Spain, and from the monument mentioned by Procopius in the second book of his 
_History of the Vandal War,_ as having been discovered in the city of Tangiers, which bore the following inscription in the Phenician 
language: --

"Nos sumus qui praedonem Jesum filium nave fugientes in tutum recepti sumus." "We are those who, flying in a ship from 
the robber Jesus the Son, have arrived at a place of safety." It is impossible to understand this inscription as referring to the 
Canaanites in the days of Joshua, although Procopius and Calmet both so explain it; since they interpret "Jesum filium nave," as 
"Jesus or Joshua the son of Nun;" making _nave_ or _naue_ the Phenician of the proper name Nun. [1] Whoever the interpreter of the 
Phenician inscription was, he might easily have been mistaken as to the meaning of the word _naue;_ since it might either have 
been an original Phenician name for a ship, which had become obsolete, or of which the translator was ignorant; or it might have 
been adopted into that language at some period or other from the Greek: or, finally, it might have been a Latin word inserted in 
the Phenician inscription; as the Jews of Constantinople at the present day introduce into their confession of faith in the Spanish 
language, occasionally an Arabic word, which they write like the rest in Hebrew letters. Since likewise it is allowed that the 
Greeks and Romans learned ship-building and the art of navigation from the Phenicians and the Carthaginians, there is some 
reason for supposing that the Phenician name for a ship would resemble the Greek term _vave,_ and the Latin _navis._ The appellation 
of Culebras (or _serpents_) corresponding in signification with the Mexican name _Coatl_ or _Cohuatl,_ which Votan bestows on his 
brethren of both continents, might also have been a term either applied by the Jews to themselves, or given to them by Christians, 
or of patronymic derivation. Since "wise as a serpent" was a Hebrew proverb, the Jews might, in some critical posture of their 
affairs, -- such as would have been the discovery by them of the West Indian Islands or of the continent of America, when the exercise 
of prudence and circumspection would have appeared very necessary to keep the secret from Christians, -- have assumed this epithet 
as a kind of motto of caution; or having fled from the wrath of Christians and settled in the New World, they might, out of 
hatred to Christianity, have adopted a name which was first given to them by Christ, and which the early Christians, following his 
example, might likewise have applied to them as a term of reproach; indicating, by so doing, their intention of becoming, should 
it be ever in their power, that in deed to Christianity, which they before were only in name: and certainly, in considering the 
nature of many of the Mexican and Peruvian religious rites, an intended profanation of Christian mysteries seems almost manifest. 
The last argument for supposing that serpents or snakes may have been an appellation by which the Hebrew race were occasionally 
distinguished, -- as the Macedonians were sometimes called (_____) (or _ants_), from (_____); and the Athenians, or Ionic 
Greeks, (______); or _aborigines;_ and those of Dorian descent inhabiting a portion of the Peloponesus, (______, or _sown men,_ in 
allusion to their fabulous origin, -- is, that Christ calls the Pharisees "a generation of vipers =;" whether from their wickedness, their 
prudence, or their lineage, is not absolutely certain, although probability inclines to the first and second reasons. If lineage or 
territorial occupation was insinuated in this address, it might be in consequence of the similarity of the proper names Hevrei and 
Hebaei, (the first of which, according to Calmet, signifies in the Phenician language, _snakes,_) and from the Jews having possessed 
themselves by force of the land of the Hivites, or Hevaei. With respect to the latter name, the Rabbis say that the reason the 
Hivites were so called, was because they were accustomed to live in subterraneous caves, like snakes, being the early inhabitants 
of the land of Canaan; something therefore corresponding in sense to the Greek phrase (_____) is admitted to be found in the 
proper name Hevaei. But conquest always gives the victors a right to assume the titles of the vanquished; and as Argos was 
called Pelasgian long after the real Pelasgians had ceased to exist; so if there was any thing honorary as indicating great antiquity 
in the term Hevaei, the Jews from their long residence in the land of Canaan would have had a right to assume it.

The strongest argument, however, and one which we perceive how unwilling the Spanish historians of the sixteenth centnry 
were to press to a conclusion, by which to prove that America was colonized from its European side, is the confession of Montezuma 
and his nobles, one and all, to Cortes, -- that their ancestors had come from the same part of the globe as the Spaniards,

----
1 Joshua is named Jesus the son of Nave in the forty-sixth chapter of Ecclesiasticus.





54 INTERPRETATION OF THE


PLATE LVIII.

1. The woman lately delivered. 2. These four roses signify four days, at the completion of which 
period the midwife carried forth the new-born infant to be bathed. 3. The cradle with the infant. 
4. The midwife. 5. The symbols. 6. 7. 8. The three boys who named the new-born infant. 
9. The rushes, with the small vessel of water. 10. The brooms, distaff, spinning-wheel, and basket. 
11. The father of the infant. 12. The superior Alfaqui. 13. The infant in the cradle, whose parents 


-----
situated towards the rising sun: [["Y todos, en especial el dicho Muteczuma, me respondieron, que ya me habian dicho que elias
no eran naturales de esta tierra; y que habia muchos tiempos que sus predecesores habian venido a ella; y que bien creian que
podrian estar errados en algo de aquello que tenian, par haber tanto tiempo que salieron de su naturaleza; y que yo como mas
nuevamente venido, sabria mejor las casas que debian tener y creer que no eUos."]] Which Montezuma also acknowledges in the 
following passage of his speech to his subjects: [[Tamhien creo que de vuestros anteceSOl'es terneis memoria, como 11050t1'08 no
somos naturales de esta tierra; e que vinieron a ella de otra muy lejos, y los trajo un senor que en ella los dejo, cuyos vasallos
todos eran; el qual bolvi6 dende r, mucho tiempo, y ha1l6 que nuestros abuelos estaban ya poblados, y assentados en esta tierra,
y casados con las mugeres de esta tierra, y tenian mucha multiplicacion de hijos, por manera que no quisieron bolverse con eI, ni
menos 10 quisieron recebil' pOl' sefior de Ia tierra; y el se bolvi6, y dejo dicho que tomaria, 6 embiaria con tal poder que los
pudiesse costrefiir y atraher a su servicio, e bien sabeis que siempre 10 hemos esperado, y segun las cosas que el capitan nos ha
dicho de aquel rey y senor que Ie embi6 adl, y segun la parte de do el dice que vi ene, tengo pOI' cierto, y nssi 10 debeis vosotros
tener, que aqueste es el senor que esperabamos."]] These extracts are from the letters of Cortes to the Emperor Charles the Fifth; 
and the passages printed in italics, (where Montezuma affirms that he and his subjects _might have erred in matters of faith,_ from 
having been aliens for such a length of time from the country of their ancestors, and that they had intermarried with the women 
of the land,) seem more particularly worthy of attention. The lord to whom he alludes as having conducted the Mexicans to their 
new settlements, _"whose vassals all were,"_ was Quecalcoatle. But his second coming, after the lapse of a long period of time, to 
the American continent, is an enigmatical piece of history which it is not probable will speedily be explained. It is singular, 
however, that he should have left a prophecy that he would come again au? the sign of One Cane; and that Cortes, who chanced to 
arrive in Mexico in the year of that sign, and who perceived how much to his own advantage he might turn the popular superstition 
and this current belief, should have pretended that he himself was their expected Messiah. The arrival of Cortes in 
Mexico in the year of One Cane, is represented in page 136 of the larger Vatican MS., from which painting it would appear 
that a slaughter of some of the Mexican priests, as well as a destruction of their idols, had taken place. And since the following 
account of Peter Martyr tends to the elucidation of what is there represented, and likewise corroborates, on the authority of others, 
what Cortes had stated on his own, to the Emperor, we shall here insert it: "Whatsoever images were in the halls, Cortes 
commanded them to be presently overthrown and broken, and to be thrown down the steps of the high stairs in pieces. One marble 
colosse he left standing, because it was too huge, and could not easily be taken away; wherewith Muteczuma being present, was 
much troubled, and all the nobility of the court, who complained, saying, O unhappy and miserable men that we are! _the gods 
being angry with us, will take away the fruits which we eat, and so we shall perish through famine:_ and, as at other times it hath 
befallen us, _the gods being displeased, all kinds of diseases shall suddenly come upon us; and we shall not be freed from our enemies 
if we be assailed by war, nor be sufficiently secured from the tumult of the people,_ who, if they understand this, will furiously arise 
in arms. Whereto Cortes maketh answer: Behold! saith he, what is more wicked and abominable? and what more foolish? 
Do you think those to be gods, which are formed and fashioned by the hands of your tributaries? _Is the service of your men 
more worthy than the men themselves?_ Is that thing, O Muteczuma! which your workmen, and, peradventure, a filthy slave, 
fashioneth with his hands, more worthy than your Majesty? What blindness is this in you, or what mad cruelty, that ye slaughter 
so many human bodies every year for these insensible images' sake? What do these perceive, which neither see nor hear? -- Him, 
Him I say, who created heaven and earth, Him ye are to worship. This is He, from whom all good things proceed; to whom 
these your sacrifices are most offensive. Besides, it is decreed and established, by a law from our king, whom ye confess to 
derive his descent from him who brought your ancestors unto these countries, that whosoever smiteth male or female with the 
sword, shall die the death. -- When Cortes had declared these things by interpreters, Muteczuma, with a pale countenance and 
trembling heart, replied; Hearken, O Cortes! _The ceremonies of sacrifices lift us by traditions from our ancestors, those we observe 
and have hitherto exercised:_ but seeing you say we have so much erred, and that it is displeasing to our king, we are greatly 





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 55

are offering it at the Mezquita. 14. The mother of the infant. 15. The master of the boys and of 
the young men.

The explanation of the plate which follows, and of the figures contained in it, which treats of the 
time, and manner, in which the native Indians instructed their children how they ought to live, 
according to the signification of the figures successively represented in the plate; which comprises 
the four sections which follow. 

The first section shows how parents corrected their children of three years old, by giving them 
good advice, * and the quantity of food which they allowed them at each meal was half a roll.


----
delighted to hear it, so we may persuade the people thereunto. These rites and ceremonies, peradventure, our ancestors who 
were left here found them to be observed by the inhabitants of those times; so that we have followed the customs of our fathers-in-law 
and of our wives. Neither are you to wonder that we fell into these errors, if they be errors. Give us a law, and we will 
endeavour to embrace it with all our power. -- Cortes, hearing this, repeated, that there was one God, three in persons and one in 
essence, who created the heaven and the earth, and the sun and the moon, with all the ornament of the stars which move about 
the earth for the use of men; and hence it cometh, that it is odious unto him to kill men, who formed the slave, and all others 
having the face of men, of the same matter whereof he made me, thee, and them. He was born amongst us of a woman who was a 
virgin, and suffered for the salvation of mankind, which by the learned men who are to come shall hereafter more largely be declared 
both to you, and the rest. The standard of that God and ensign of victory, is the image or representation of this cross; for it 
behoveth the general both to have the cross, and also the image of the virgin his mother carrying the infant in her bosom. -- And 
as he was speaking thus, Cortes, of a lawyer being made a divine, showed the cross and the image of the virgin to be adored." 
The sentences printed in italics in the complaint of the Mexican nobles, in the speech of Cortes to Montezuma, and in that 
monarch's reply, deserve to be noticed, because there is something Jewish in the tone of sentiment and feeling displayed by the 
Mexicans; and a fit answer to Jews seems to be given by Cortes, where he says, "Is the service of your men more worthy than 
the men themselves?" or in other words, Were men made for rites, or rites for men? which question of Cortes seems to refer to 
Christ's answer to the Jews, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." The fears of tumults of the people, 
famine, pestilence, and warlike invasions, were exactly the same as those entertained by the Jews if they failed in the performance 
of any of their ritual observances, as the following denunciations contained in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy clearly 
show: "The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to 
possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme 
burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew: and they shall pursue thee until thou perish." It is not a little 
singular also, (as establishing that to be a fact which few persons would feel inclined to suspect,) that the Mexicans and the Jews 
should have believed that similar divine judgments, (even when those judgments were of a very peculiar nature,) would follow the 
commission of similar crimes. The fifth chapter of Numbers records the extraordinary effects produced by a guilty woman, whose 
husband was jealous of her, drinking the bitter water in the trial of jealousy. And Torquemada says, that nearly the same kind of 
threat was held out by the Mexican priests, to induce the nuns to dread the vengeance of Huitzilopuchtli, if they violated their 
vows of chastity, although he makes no mention of the bitter water. Since, however, the same temporal punishments, such as 
stoning to death and crucifying, were resorted to both by the Jews and the Mexicans, it is not surprising that they should have 
threatened offenders with similar divine judgments. -- It may be proper before concluding this note, to correct a wrong impression 
which the passage quoted above from Acosta's _History of the Indies_ may possibly convey; since it might thence appear that that 
learned writer affirms that the Indians were universally acquainted with the deluge as understood to mean that of Noah; whereas 
he elsewhere says that he alludes to the later deluge of Deucalion, although the former calculated to have happened about four 
thousand years ago, appears extremely near, without recurring to any other, or even admitting such to be probable. 

-----
* The Mexicans, in instilling into the minds of their children in their earliest years the tenets of their false religion, seem to 
have proceeded upon the principle of "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." 
They displayed a perfect knowledge of human nature in so doing; since long habit divests the most absurd doctrines of all appearance 
of strangeness and novelty. Reason inquires about that which is new, but is reconciled to that which is old; and our passions 
enlist us on the side of the pleasing recollections of our early years, -- the prejudices of childhood often retain possession of the 
heart of the sage. If it is important to the welfare of a people that the administration of their finances should be placed in wise 
hands, and that some account should be rendered to them of the expenditure of the taxes which they pay, -- how much more 




56 INTERPRETATION OF THE

PLATE LIX.

FIRST SECTION.

1. Three years of age. 2. The father of the boy. S. The boy. 4. The half of a roll. * 5. The 
mother of the girl. 6. The half of a roll. 7. The girl of three years of age.


-----
important to them, as determining the future glory of their country and its prosperity, is the education of their children! And if a 
magnanimous king would permit an attached people to dictate to him the terms of a great national charter, -- ought not the first 
article to be, that public instruction should be confided to no particular class of men, but to censors chosen from the people, and 
only accountable to them for the proper discharge of the duties devolving upon them?

If History has rightly been pronounced to be Philosophy teaching by examples, -- how striking a lesson that of the Mexicans 
affords us of the evil consequences resulting from early education, when the principles and doctrines instilled into the mind are 
false and bad!

The Mexicans were by nature not more cruel than other men; their hearts were equally susceptible of attachment and of pity: 
they were ingenious in arts, and acute in intellect. But nurtured up in religious prejudices, they shed the last drop of their blood 
in defence of a faith in the rites of which they were cruel; in the ceremonies, mere machines; and in believing its tenets, below 
the level of brute instinct.

----
* In every thing telating to the treatment of their children, even in their mode of punishing them, the Mexicans resembled 
the Jews. As sterility was reckoned by the Jewish women a great misfortune, and they made vows at the temple to obtain 
children; so the Mexican women considered it a great reproach to be without them, and they offered up prayers to Huitzilopuchtli 
that he might vouchsafe to remove that cause of complaint. Torquemada has also observed, that in the festivals consequent on 
the birth of children, the Mexican customs were like those of the Jews. These festivals (omitting further mention of baptismal 
ceremonies and the rite of circumcision, both which it may be presumed on the authority of very eminent writers were in use 
amongst the Mexicans) took place on naming the infant, and afterwards on its being weaned or removed from the breast; and were 
celebrated by invitations of guests to an entertainment. From the account given in the first chapter of St. Luke, we know that 
many persons were present at the naming of John the Baptist. And Torquemada, in treating in the twenty-fourth chapter of the 
thirteenth book of his _Indian Monarchy,_ of the antiquity of the custom amongst the Jews of keeping the day on which an infant 
was weaned as a festival, -- in reference to the same custom prevailing amongst the Mexicans, says; "That this was an ancient 
custom is manifest and notorious; and the Holy Scripture affords us the strongest and clearest proof of this fact, since Moses 
says in Genesis, of the Patriarch Abraham, that when the day for his son Isaac being weaned arrived, he made a very great entertainment. 
From whence it is reasonable to infer, that, being a man of such distinction and power, the guests who were invited were 
likewise numerous: for if this had not been the case, the Holy Scripture would not have said that he made _a great_ entertainment. 
The reason of this entertainment, according to the Jews, as stated by Lira, was: that as Sarah was barren and childless, and an old 
woman of ninety, Abraham's neighbours would not believe that his wife Sarah had given birth to that son; but that having taken 
it from some other woman, she had adopted it, and pretended that it was her own; and that to remove that doubt and convince 
them of the fact, he sent them a formal invihtion; and not only placed before them refreshment, but likewise caused his wife, who 
had been lately delivered of a son, to suckle at her breast the children who chanced at that time to be sucking other mothers; 
and that God on this occasion gave her great abundance of milk." Torquemada further observes, in commendation of the 
Mexican women, that, like the wives of the Jewish patriarchs, they made it a point to nurse their own children, not trusting that 
task to others. The education of children commenced amongst the Mexicans, as with the Jews, at an exceedingly early age; and 
the first thing which they taught them, was to honour the gods: on which custom Torquemada remarking, says, [["Tambien quiero 
que se vea, como el demonio orden6 en su vano pueblo Indiano; que 10 primero que el padre dijese a sus hijos, fuese, que amasell 
y teverenciasen a sus dioses."]] "I likewise wish it to be noticed that the devil commanded amongst his vain Indian people; that 
the first thing a father bid his children do, should be, to love and honour their gods." Of the excellent nature, however, of the moral 
precepts which the Mexican parents inculcated on the minds of their children, the same author is a witness; where, adducing the 
authority of the Book of Ecclesiasticus in favour of tue early education of children, and quoting the twenty-third verse of the 
seventh chapter, "Hast thou children? instruct them and bow down their neck from their youth;" -- he says that the Indians strictly 
fulfilled that doctrine. [["Aquesta doctrina tenemos maravillosamente prob.da en los Indios de esta Nueva Espana, los quales no]]






COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 57

The second section represents the parents employed in the same way, in instructing their children 
when they attained four years of age, when they began to exercise them by bidding them to do a few 
slight things. The quantity of food which they gave them at each meal was a roll. 


-----
[[solo cuidaban de eriar a sus hijos, con el sustento y manjar corporal, can que fortificahan los cuerpos, y crecian en edad y afios,
pero con admirable doctrina moral, para hacerlos racionales y politicos; y que viviesen 13. vida de hombres que tenian, como los
que constaban de anima capaz de orden, y de ragon. Y pOl' sel' esta doctrina de eetas gentes, de mucho acuerdo y consejo, no
dejare, aunque parezca prolijo, de referir sus platicas y amollestaciones, que como por elIas parecera, ni la lei natural, ni la de
gracia, ni In policia humana pide mas en ragon de buenas costumbres, dejado a parte el verdadero conocimiento de dioso"]] "This 
doctrine we find wonderfully approved amongst the Indians of this territory of New Spain, who not only took care to nourish 
their children with food and bodily aliments for the sake of strengthening their bodies, and that they might grow as they advanced 
in age and years, but also with admirable moral doctrines, in order to render them rational and proper members of a civil community; 
and that they might live the life of men which had been allotted to them, as befitted those who possessed minds capable of 
reason and order. Since the doctrines of these Indians are characterized with much prudence and counsel, I will not omit 
(although I may incur the charge of prolixity) to record their conversations and exhortations to their children; since from them it 
will be apparent that neither natural law, nor that of grace, nor human policy could demand more, as far as morality is concerned, 
laying aside the knowledge of the true God." Torquemada inserts many of these exhortations at considerable length in the 
thirteenth book of his _Indian Monarchy;_ and it deserves to be remarked, that not only are the same moral maxims inculcated as 
were held in the greatest estimation by the Jews, but that the language and allusions employed are frequently quite scriptural. 
The Mexican mother who addresses a discourse to her daughter about to be married, telling her that the time has arrived when 
she must forsake her father, and her mother, and her father's house, and devote herself wholly to her husband, might seem to 
have borrowed this advice from the twenty-fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis: and in the great criminality which the 
Mexicans attached to lying, evil-speaking, slander, and drunkenness, vices, which, from generally recoiling on the individuals 
themselves who indulge in them, other nations have been contented to visit with trifling penal enactments, as well as from the 
extraordinary respect which they paid to oaths, on account of the direct appeal which they made to Huitzilopuchtli, and the fear 
of his vengeance, and the rigour with which they treated false witnesses, they more closely resembled the Jews than any 
nation we have ever heard or read of. Since some doubt may be entertained, as the Mexicans were unacquainted with the art of 
writing, how Torquemada was enabled to write down word for word the exhortations which the ancient Mexicans gave orally to 
their children; it may be proper to observe, that they were delivered in a set form, were in universal use, without variation in their 
style and language, and were learned by heart by those to whom they were addressed. That learned writer himself gives the 
following account of these exhortations in the thirty-sixth chapter of the thirteenth book of his _Indian Monarchy._ [["Estas
exortaciones las tradujo de lengua Mexicana en Castellana el venerable Padre Frai Andres de Olmos, fraile men or de la orden de
roi glorioso Padre San Francisco, tantas veces en esta Historia referido en los principios de la conversion de estas gentes; el qual
trabajo en esta vina y nueva plantacion del Santo Evangelio con grandisimo cuidado, padeciendo en Ia fundacion de csta nueva
iglesia grandes y crecidos trabajos; las quales platicas (en lengua Mexicana) tengo en mi poder: y oso afirmar, que ni el dicho
Padre Frai Andres de Olmos, ni el Seoor Obispo de Chiapa, Don Frai Bartholome de las Casas, que las huvo de el, ni yo que las
tengo, y he procuraclo entenderlas, y saber mui de raiz sus metaforas, no las hemos sabido romancear con la dulcura, y suavidad,
que en su lengua estos naturales las usahan."]] "These exhortations were translated from the Mexican language into Spanish 
by the venerable Father Andrew de Olmos, a minor brother of the order of my glorious Father Saint Francis, who is so often 
mentioned by me in this History, when treating of the commencement of the conversion of these nations; who laboured in this 
vineyard and new plantation of the Holy Gospel with the greatest diligence, undergoing great and numerous hardships in laying 
the foundation of this new church; which exhortations (in the Mexican language) I have in my possession; and I can venture to 
affirm, that neither the said Father Andrew de Olmos, nor the Lord Bishop of Chiapa, Don Bartholomew de las Casas, who obtained 
them from him, nor I who now own them, and have bestowed pains upon understanding them, and thoroughly comprehending 
their metaphors, have known how to translate them with the same softness and sweetness as the natives uttered them in 
their ow language." In the same manner as Jewish parents were accustomed to take their children to the synagogues or public 
places of worship, so we are informed by Torquemada, in the thirtieth chapter of the thirteenth book of the _Indian Monarchy,_ 
that Mexican parents took theirs to the temple, on stated days at appointed hours. [["Imponianlos a que sirviesen a los dioses,
llevabanlos consigo a los templos en los dias y horas serialadas, para que se aficionasen a 10 mismo para quando viviesen de por
si, y fuesen padres de familias."]] "They impressed upon them the necessity of serving the gods, carrying their children with 
them to the temples on appointed days and hours, in order that they might acquire a liking for the same practice when they lived 
separate from them, and became fathers of families." The restraint likewise which Mexican parents exercised over their children 




58 INTERPRETATION OF THE

SECOND SECTION.

8. The father of the boy. g. The boy of four years of age. 10. A roll. 11. The mother of the 
girl. 12. A roll. 13. The girl of four years of age.

The third section shows how the parents employed and exercised their sons of five years of age 
in tasks of bodily strength; for example, in carrying loads of wood of slight weight, and in sending 
them with light bundles to the Tianquez or market-place: and the girls of this age received lessons 
how they ought to hold the distaff and the spinning-wheel. Their allowance of food was a roll.

THIRD SECTION.

14. The father of the boys. 15. Two boys of five years of age. 16. A roll. 17. A roll. 18. The 
mother of the girl. 19. A roll. 20. The girl of five years of age.

The fourth section shows how parents exercised and employed their sons of six years old in 
personal services, that they might be of some assistance to their parents: as also in the Tianquez or 
market-places, in picking up from the ground the grains of maize which lay scattered about, and the 


-----
especially their daughters, Torquemada judges to have been very agreeable to the precepts contained in the Book of Ecclesiasticus, 
and consequently to have perfectly accorded with Jewish customs: and the severity with which King Nezahualpilli 
treated his son and daughter, by causing them to be put to death, for disobedience to his orders, and the regulations of the palace, 
-- notwithstanding the extreme affection which the same writer would persuade uS that monarch bore to them, and his general 
benevolence of character, aiming in this instance only at the public good, by himself setting the example of the obedience due 
from subjects to the laws, and from children to their parents, -- might also be defended by recurring to the Mosaic Law, which in 
some cases gave a father the power of life and death over his children; which notwithstanding, the Jews by their traditions and the 
quibble of saying "Corban," or _"It is a gift,"_ in reference to their own obedience to their parents, succeeded in rendering of none 
effect. But if by the laws of the Pentateuch any father might, on the plea of stubbornness and undutiful conduct, assume a power 
over his son's life, -- when in the person of a father the rights of a sovereign also centered, how much more justifiable would the 
assumption of such a power appear; although of the Hebrew law itself, which empowered parents so to act, it might confidently 
be said, that because of the hardness of their hearts it was permitted them; for certainly, of all the nations who ever inbabited the 
globe, whose annals have recorded their own crimes, the Jews were by far the most hard-hearted and barbarous. The law 
referred to is the following, which is contained in the twenty-first chapter of Deuteronomy: "If a man have a stubborn and 
rebellious son which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastened him will 
not hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the Elders of his city, and 
unto the gate of his place. And they shall say unto the Elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey 
our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die: so shalt thou put 
evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear." It is evident, let commentators interpret this law as they please, 
(for they frequently ascribe ambiguity to the Laws of Moses, as if that would not be a great imperfection in laws of human enactment, 
and hence assume a great latitude of interpretation,) that Jewish parents were authorized to appear before the Elders, both as the 
accusers and witnesses on their own behalf against their sons. But it is extraordinary that, possessing so much power by divine 
right at the beginning, either by exercising it too often, or by not exercising it at all, the law itself should, in later ages, have 
become obsolete; which would not, however, be a reason against its possible revival by the posterity of the Jews in another part 
of the globe at some succeeding period. It may further be remarked, that the above-mentioned Hebrew law affords some indications 
that the primitive Jews did occasionally punish drunkenness with death, in which they would have resembled the 
Mexicans. 




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 59

beans and other trifling things which those who resorted to the market had dropped; -- this was the 
occupation of the boys. The girls were set to spin, and employed in other useful tasks, that they might 
hereafter, through the said tasks and works, sedulously shun idleness, in order to avoid the bad habits 
which idleness is accustomed to cause. The allowance of food which was given to the boys at each 
meal, was a roll and a half. 

FOURTH SECTION.

21. The father of the two boys. 22. Two boys of six years old. 23. A roll and a half. 24. The 
mother of the girl. 25. A roll and a half. 26. The girl of six years old. 

The explanation of the figures contained in the following plate, which treats of the time and manner 
in which the native Mexicans instructed and corrected their sons; that they might learn to avoid all 
kinds of sloth, and to keep themselves constantly exercised in profitable things, according to the 
signification of the figures successively represented in the plate, which is divided into four sections, 
which four sections are explained in their proper order and are as follow. 

The first section, wherein is shown how fathers employed their sons of seven years old in giving 
them nets to fish with; and mothers occupied their daughters in spinning, and in giving them 
good advice; in order that they might always be diligent, and employ their time in something to 
avoid all sloth. The allowance of food which they gave to their sons at each meal was a roll and a half. 


PLATE LX.

FIRST SECTION.

1. The seven blue points signify seven years. 2. The father of the boys contained in this division of 
the plate. 3. A roll and a half. 4. The boy of seven years old, whose father is instructing him how 
to fish with the net which he holds in his hands. 5. The mother of the girls contained in this division 
of the plate. 6. A roll and a half. 7. The girl of seven years of age, whom her mother is teaching 
how to spin.

The second section, wherein is declared how fathers chastised their sons of eight years of age, 
intimidating and threatening them with thorns of the aloe, that in case of negligence and disobedience 
to their parents, they should be punished with the said thorns; the boys accordingly weep for fear, 
as is represented and signified by the figures contained in this section. The quantity of food which 
they allowed them, consisted of a roll and a half. 

SECOND SECTION.
8. These eight points signify eight years. 9. The father of the boys contained in this division 
of the plate. 10. A roll and a half. 11. The boy of eight years of age, whose father threatens him 





60 INTERPRETATION OF THE

in case of ill-behaviour to inflict public punishment upon him with thorns. 12. Thorns of the 
aloe. 13. The mother of the girls contained in. this division of the plate. 14. The girl of eight 
years of age, whose mother threatens her with thorns of the aloe in case of ill-behaviour. 
15. Thorns of the aloe.

The third section, wherein is declared how fathers punished, with the said thorns of the aloe, 
their sons of nine years of age, when they were incorrigible and rebellious towards their parents, 
by running the said thorns into their shoulders and bodies. They corrected their daughters by 
pricking their hands with thorns, as is represented in the third section. The allowance of food 
which they gave them was a roll and a half. 

THIRD SECTION.

17. These nine points signify nine years. 18. A roll and a half. 19. The father of the boys 
contained in this division of the plate. 20. A boy of nine years old being found to be incorrigible, 
his father runs thorns of the aloe into his body. 21. The mother of the girls contained in this division 
of the plate. 22. A roll and a half. 23. The girl of nine years old, whose mother corrects her for 
her negligence, by pricking her hands with thorns. 

The fourth section shows how fathers chastised their sons of ten years of age when they were 
refractory, by inflicting blows upon them with a stick, * and threatening them with other punishments, 
as is represented by the figure contained in this section. The quantity and allowance of food which 
they gave them was a roll and a half.

FOURTH SECTION.

24. These ten points signify ten years. 25. A roll and a half. 26. The father of the boys contained 
in this division of the plate. 27. The boy of ten years of age, whose father is correcting him


-----
* Beating with a stick was a very common punishment amongst the Jews. It is surprising how often the words _vapulet_ and 
_non vapulet_ occur in Maimonides's decisions on questions arising out of the Mosaic law. It is said in the explanation of a 
preceding section, that a Mexican parent sometimes chastised his son by making him lie down in a wet place and keeping him for 
a long time in that situation: this was also a Jewish punishment; as was shaving off the hair, which is mentioned in Scripture, 
where piercing the body with thorns seems likewise to be alluded to. [1] In a little work entitled _A View of the Jewish Religion,_ to 
which we shall again refer, it is stated that Jewish parents sometimes corrected their rebellious children by holding their faces 
over some disagreeable smoking substance, which is a singular coincidence with the Mexican mode of punishing their children 
with the smoke of axi. From the following passage, taken from the ninetieth page of the same work, it will be seen that the Jews 
commenced the education of their children at almost as early a period as the Mexicans, and that they used paintings as a means of 
instruction: "At the fifth year they (the children) begin to learn letters and paintings, for most who are of sufficient estates 
maintain in their families a Rabbin or Master for the education of their children; and when the boy is first able to read, he 
is taught to translate the Pentateuch into his country tongue."

-----
1 A crown of thorns was placed by the Jews upon the head of Christ.




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 61

with a stick. 28. The mother of the girl contained in this division of the plate. 29. A roll and a
half. 30. The girl of ten years of age, whose mother is correcting her with a stick.

The explanation of what is represented in the first section of the following plate. -- When a boy or 
a girl of eleven years of age disregarded verbal reproof, their parents obliged them to inhale smoke 
of axi through their nostrils, which was a cruel and severe punishment, that they might be sorry for 
their conduct, and not turn out worthless and abandoned, but on the contrary employ their time in 
profitable things. They gave boys of such an age bread, which consisted of rolls, only by allowance, 
that they might learn not to be gormandizers or gluttons.


PLATE LXI.

FIRST SECTION.

1. The eleven blue points signify eleven years. 2. A roll and a half. 3. The father of the boys 
contained in this division of the plate. 4. The boy of eleven years of age, whose father is punishing 
him by obliging him to inhale through the nostrils the smoke of dried axi. 5. The smoke or vapour 
ofaxi. 6. The mother of the girls contained in this division of the plate. 7. The girl of eleven 
years of age whose mother is punishing her by making her breathe smoke of axi. 8. A roll and a 
half. 9. The smoke of axi.

The explanation of what is represented in the second section. -- When a boy or girl of twelve years 
of age would not submit to the reproof or advice of their parents, the father took the boy and 
tied his hands and feet, and laid him naked on the ground in some damp and wet place, in which 
situation he kept him for a whole day, in order that by this punishment he might amend and fear 
his displeasure. And the mother obliged the girl of the said age to work by night before break of 
day, employing her in sweeping the house and the street, and continually occupying her in personal 
tasks. They gave them food likewise by allowance. 

SECOND SECTION.

10. Twelve years. 11. A roll and a half. 12. The father of the boys contained in this division of 
the plate. 13. The boy of twelve years of age stretched upon the wet ground, with his hands and 
feet tied, for a whole day. 14. This painting signifies the night. 15. The mother of the girls 
contained in this division of the plate. 16. A roll and a half. 17. The girl of twelve years of age, 
who is employed by night in sweeping. 

The explanation of what is represented in the third section of the following plate. -- Boys and girls 
of thirteen years of age were occupied by their parents: the boys in fetching wood from the 
mountains, and in bringing reed-grass and other litter in canoes for the use of the house; and the 
girls in grinding meal and making bread, and preparing other articles of food for their parents. 
They gave the boys for their allowance of food two rolls each at each meal. 




62 INTERPRETATION OF THE

THIRD SECTION.

18. The father of the boys contained in this division of the plate. 19. Thirteen years. 20. Two 
rolls. 21. The boy of thirteen years of age, who brings a load of reed-grass. 21. A canoe with 
bundles of canes. 22. The mother of the girls contained in this division of the plate. 23. The girl 
of thirteen years of age, who makes cakes and prepares articles of food. 24. Two cakes. 25. A 
bowl. 26. The comali. 27. 28. A pot for boiling provisions in and two cakes. 

The explanation of what is represented in the fourth section of the following plate. -- Their parents 
employed and occupied a boy or girl of fourteen years of age, the boy in going in a canoe to 
fish in the lakes, and the girl in the task of weaving a piece of cloth. Their allowance of food 
was two rolls. 

FOURTH SECTION.

29. Fourteen years. 30. Two rolls. 31. The father of the boys contained in this division of the 
plate. 32. The boy of fourteen years of age, who goes out fishing with his canoe. 33. The mother 
of the girls contained in this division of the plate. 34. Two rolls. 35. The girl of fourteen years of 
age, who is occupied in weaving. 36. The web and occupation of weaving.

The explanation of what is represented in the following plate. -- - The figures contained in the 
first section signify that the father who had sons nearly grown up, carried them to the two houses 
represented in the plate; either to the house of the master, who taught and instructed the young 
men; or to the Mezquita, accordingly as the lad was himself inclined; and committed him to the care 
of the superior Alfaqui, or to the master of the boys, to be educated, -- which lads it was fit should 
have attained the age of fifteen. 


PLATE LXII.

FIRST SECTION.

1. A youth of fifteen years of age, whose father delivers him up to the superior Alfaqui, that he 
might receive him as an Alfaqui. 2. The Tlamazqui, who is the superior Alfaqui. 3. The Mezquita 
named calmecac. 4. The father of these two youths. 5. A young man of sixteen, whose father 
delivers him up to the master, that he might teach and instruct him. 6. The Teachcauh or master. 
7. The seminary where they educated and taught the young men, which was called cuincacali. 
8. Fifteen years. 

The explanation of what is represented in the second section of the following plate. -- This painting 
signifies the laws and usages which they followed and observed in the marriages, which they lawfully 




COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 63

contracted. * The ceremony consisted in the female negotiator, who arranged the nuptials, carrying 
on her back, on the first night of the wedding, the betrothed woman, accompanied by four women 
with blazing torches of resinous fir, who attended to light her on the way: and having arrived at 
the house of the man to whom she was engaged, the parents of the betrothed man went out to 


-----
* Herrera gives the following description, in the seventeenth chapter of the second book of his third Decade, of the 
Mexican marriage ceremony, which, he says, was performed by the hands of a priest: [["Casabanse pOl' manos de sus
sacerdotes, poniendose los navios juntos delante del sacerdote, que los tomaba por las manos, i preguntaba si querian casarse;
i en diciendo que si, les ataban la punta de la manta del novio, i del velo que la novia llevaba sobre la cabesa, i atados
iban a casa de Ia desposada, i andaban siete bueltas a1 rededor de un fogon, COIl que quedaba hecho el matrimonio. Eran los
Mexicanos mui zelosos de la virginidad de las esposas, aJrentabanse de 10 contrario, i '"onraban a la que ltaZlaban tal, i 1a
daban grandes dadivas, i a sus padres, i hacian banquetes i fiestas. Ponian POI' memoria quanta traia la novia, pm'que si
se bolvian a descasar como 10 usaban, se hiciese particion de los bienes, llevandose el hombre las hijas, i la rouger los hijos, can
facultad de bolverse a casar can otro, pero una vez descasados, no se avian de bolve1' a juntar so pena de muerte."]] "They 
were married by the hands of their priests, the betrothed couple standing side by side before the priest, who took them by the hand, 
and inquired whether they wished to be joined together in matrimony; when on their replying in the affirmative he tied the corner 
of the mantle of the man to the veil which the woman wore on her head; and they proceeded, tied in this manner, to the house of 
the bride, and walked seven times round a blazing hearth, which completed the nuptial ceremony." -- This painting reminds us of 
the marriage-feast in Canaan of Galilee, when Christ, having commanded his disciples to draw more wine from the pitcher, (which 
appears to have been placed in the middle of the room, as is here represented, with a cup beside it out of which to help the guests,) 
and being informed that the pitcher was empty, he changed the water into wine. What the ancient Hebrew marriage ceremony 
consisted in is not precisely known, although tying together the apparel of the parties would not obscurely have signified that 
those whom God had joined, man was not to put asunder; an admonition which the Mosaic law relating to divorces rendered 
of none effect. That to carry torches was customary at Jewish weddings, is evident from the parable of the five wise and the five 
foolish Virgins. And from the following verse of the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, it might be inferred that the daughters of Jerusalem 
were occasionally carried in hammocks either on the shoulders of men or women: "Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I 
will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy 
daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders." Wine, it has already been observed, was drunk by the Jews at their marriage 
entertainments; although it may be guessed, from the evil consequences of drunkenness recorded in the Pentateuch, that Moses 
would have been little inclined to indulge the children of Israel in the free use of it. Mahomet, who (assisted by a Nestorian 
monk) borrowed largely from the Pentateuch when compiling the Koran, at the same time that he enjoined the practice of circumcision 
to the Mussulmen, forbad them wine. In Mexico, although the grape was not cultivated, wine was obtained from the 
maguey, or American aloe; and the interpreter of the Vatican Codex says, that the man who taught the Mexicans how to change 
the insipid juice which distilled from an incision cut in the shape of a basin in the trunk of the aloe into pulque or wine, was 
afterwards deified by them, and worshipped under the name of Patecatle, and probably under that of _Ometoelttli._ It is singular 
that wine, which was generally forbidden to the Mexicans, should have been allowed them at marriage-feasts; and that drunkenness, 
which the laws punished with death in the case of the young and middle-aged, should have been permitted to the old. Like 
the Jews, they perhaps considered wine the milk of old age; and their legislators might have had respect to this adage. in Tezcuco 
the laws against drunkenness were even more rigidly enforced than in Mexico: and it is related of the celebrated Nezahualcoyotl, 
(Nezahualpilli's predecessor on the throne,) that being once closely pursued by his enemies and nearly taken prisoner by them, he 
took refuge in the house of a certain widow, by whom he was hospitably received; when discovering by mere chance that she had 
a plantation of aloes from which she distilled pulque, which she privately sold, -- both the one and the other being expressly forbidden 
by law, -- he caused her, notwithstanding his obligation to her, to be put to death, that not a tittle of the law might be 
broken. This extreme rigour in fulfilling to the letter a harsh penal law, reminds us of a like severity exercised by Moses on the 
man who gathered sticks upon the sabbath day, which he himself thus describes in the fifteenth chapter of Numbers: "And while 
the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found 
him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it 
was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: _all the 
congregation_ shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned 
him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses." One striking analogy remains still to be pointed out between the 
Mexican and Jewish customs, in reference to the age at which marriage was contracted by one or both parties. Since "Increase 




64 INTERPRETATION OF THE

receive her in the court of the house and conducted her to an apartment where the man to whom 
she was engaged expected her; and seating the betrothed couple on a mat on which were placed 
seats, near a hearth of fire, they took them and tied them to each other by their clothes, and offered 
incense of copal to their gods. Two old men and two women afterwards delivered a separate discourse 
to the newly married couple, and set food before them, which they presently ate; and after their 
repast was over, the two old men and women gave good advice to the married pair, telling them 
how they ought to conduct themselves and to live, * and by what means they might best preserve the 
state and obligations which they had taken upon them, in order that they mIght pass then lives in 
tranquillity.

SECOND SECTION.

9. The apartment. 10. The old man. 11. The hearth of fire. 12. The wife. 13. Copal. 14. The 
husband. 15. The old woman. 16. The old man. 17. Food. 18. A mat. 19. Food. 20. An 
old woman. 21. A pitcher of pulque. 22. A cup. 23. 24. These women light the bride on her way 
with torches, when on the first night of the wedding they accompany her to leave her at the house of 
the bridegroom. 25. The female negotiator, the bride. 26. 27. These women light the bride and 
bridegroom on the first night of their wedding. 

The explanation of what is contained in the first section of the following plate. -- Since each of the


-----
and multiply" was held by the Jews to be a most sacred injunction, and the posterity of Abraham were to become as the stars, and 
the sand of the sea in number, marriages amongst them became at a certain age almost compulsory, except in the case of those 
who devoted themselves to the study of the law. This age Selden fixes at twenty. And from the following passage of the fourth 
chapter of Peter Martyr's fifth Decade, the Mexicans would appear closely to have imitated the example of the Jews: and the 
same may be said of the Peruvians. This passage is also interesting from the mention which it makes of the churches or temples, 
parishes, and particular images, like those of patron saints, which existed in Mexico in the time of Montezuma; and the description 
which it gives of the greater temple: "First, therefore, Muteczuma accompanying him (Cortes), he visiteth the churches, where, 
as with us in every tribe called a parish the churches are all assigned to their particular saint, so in every street with them their 
temples are dedicated to their peculiar idols. But your Holiness shall hear what things are reported of their greatest temple and 
chiefest idols. He saith, it is a famous and renowned square temple, one side thereof there is an huge gate, whereupon those 
four admirable paved ways, which are instead of a bridge from the continent, directly answer. The largeness of that temple in 
situation is matchable with a town of five hundred houses; it is fortified with high stone walls, very well and cunningly made, and 
compassed about with many towers, built after the manner of a strong castle of many towers. He saith, four of them are greater 
than the rest, and much more spacious, because in them are halls and chambers appointed for the priests and prelates. To the chief 
dwellings the priests ascended by fifty marble steps. These are the houses of the priests, who, as I said, take charge of the 
sacrifices. There the sons of the chief men of the city are shut up at seven years old, and never put out their heads or come 
forth thence until they become marriageable _and are brought forth to be contracted in marriage:_ all that time they never cut 
their hair." From the last sentence we may infer that their parents consecrated them at the temple as Nazarites to Huitzilopuchtli, -- 
the martial and tutelary god of the Mexicans, who was represented under the figure of a man seated upon an azure globe, 
scattering forth arrows from his right hand, -- to whom, or to Tetzcatiipoca, Herrera must allude in the following passage of the 
fifteenth chapter of the second book of bis third Decade: [["Can todo eso confesaban los Mexicanos a un sup,'enlO Dios, Senor i
Iiacedor de todo, i este eta el principal que veneraban, mirando al cielo, llamandole C,'iadoT del cielo i tierra, i admirable, i otros
nombres de gran excelencia."]] "The Mexicans, notwithstanding, confessed a supreme God, the Lord, and framer of the universe; 
and he was thhe principal object whom they adored, looking up to heaven and calling him the Creator of heaven and earth, and the 
wonderful, with other epithets of great excellence."

-----
* "Attend to the counsel of the aged" seems to have been a Hebrew proverb.





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 65

figures representing the novice Alfaquis are accompanied with explanations signifying in what their 
fathers and superiors employed them, it will be unnecessary to repeat these explanations, further than 
by saying that as soon as they commenced being Alfaquis, personal services for the Mezquitas 
were immediately allotted to them, in order that when they became superior Alfaquis they might at 
a future time know how to employ the novices in the same routine of tasks as they had themselves 
been engaged in.


PLATE LXIII.

FIRST SECTION.

1. A Tlamacazq, * or novice Alfaqui, whose task it is to sweep. 2. A novice Alfaqui, who brings 
branches from the mountain for the purpose of strewing the mezquita. 3. A novice Alfaqui, who 
returns loaded with thorns of the aloe for the mezquita, in order to offer a sacrifice with them of his 
own blood to the devil. 4. A novice Alfaqui, who brings a load of green canes for the mezquita, for 
the purpose of making fences and to scatter on the pavement.

The explanation of what is represented in the second section of the following plate; in which 
section likewise, under each of the figures, are declared the employments and occupation which were 
allotted to the young men, in order that they might afterwards know how, when they attained a proper 
age and station, to command other young men like themselves, that they might not turn out idle and 
abandoned persons, but always apply themselves to virtuous things. 

SECOND SECTION.

5. A young man who carries a large log of timber for the purpose of keeping light burning in the 
mezquita. 6. A servant who carries wood for the abundant supply of light in the mezquita. + 7. A 
servant carrying the said wood. 8. A young man with a load of boughs for the purpose of strewing 
the mezquita. 


-----
* The signification of Tlamacazq is, properly, _a doer of penance;_ but it seems to have been a general appellation by which the 
Mexican priests were distinguished, on account of the austerities which they practised. It has already been observed, that they were 
required, like the Levites, to perform frequent ablutions; to which custom the name Tlamacazapan, signifying _the priest in the water,_ or 
_the priest's bath,_ compounded of the words _tlamacazq_ a priest, _ atl_ water, and _pan,_ a particle of local rererence, alludes. This name 
was that of a Mexican city, the symbol of which, representing a man up to his neck in water, occurs in the thirty-eighth Plate of the 
Collection of Mendoza, under the number 7. The Jews were likewise accustomed to strew the temple with branches of trees, and to 
keep the courts and pavement of it swept perfectly clean; and women seem sometimes to have occupied themselves in this manner out of 
a deep sense of devotion to Jehovah, and in performance of particular vows. Torquemada, confounding as it would appear the miraculous 
birth of Quecalcoatle, or of Huitzilopuchtli, and the pregnancy of Chimalman with some other history perhaps connected with the birth of 
_Totec,_ says, that a devout woman of the city of Tulan, of the name of Coatlycue, from whom many nations were born, being employed 
according to custom in sweeping the shrines and holy places of the sacred mountain Coatepec, beheld a ball of feathers falling through 
the air, which catching in her hands and putting into her bosom she became pregnant; and that her own family, consisting of many sons 
and a daughter, (_her husband is not mentioned,_) resolved, suspecting that she had been guilty of adultery, to put her to death; but that, 
suddenly giving birth to Huitzilopuchtli, he vindicated the honour of his mother and defended her from the violence of her sons, whom, 
notwithstanding their near relationship, he to a man destroyed. This curious account is detailed at greater length in the twenty-first 
chapter of the sixth book of Torquemada's _Indian Monarchy._

+ The interpreter of the paintings contained in the larger Vatican MS. says, that light was obliged to be always kept burning in the 
Mexican temples, and instancing this and other traits of resemblance between the Mexicans and Jews, he shortly afterwards adds, "From 




66 INTERPRETATION OF THE

The explanation of what is represented in the third section of the following plate; In which section 
likewise, under each of the figures, are declared the punishments and chastisements which the superior 


-----
all these circumstances the fact is plain and probable, that this nation descends from the Jews; since all the ceremonies of this chapter are, 
as it were, according to the text of Leviticus, -- such as that the people should not touch the holy things; and again, as in Exodus, -- that 
light should be always in the temple, [1] and incense, and the trumpets, and the sacred vestments." How strict was the injunction against 
the Jewish laity being allowed to touch the holy things, and what dreadful vengeance they might expect in case of disobedience to this 
command, may be inferred from the following account of David's bringing up the ark from Kirjath-jearim, which is contained in the 
thirteenth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles; wherein it is said that Uzza, notwithstanding the apparently religious necessity for the 
act, was struck dead by God for putting forth his hand _to prevent the ark from falling on the ground;_ at which David feared, recollecting 
perhaps the time when he and the young men who were with him had eaten of the shew-bread, which it was only lawful for the priests 
to eat, as recorded in the sixth verse of the twenty-first chapter of the first book of Samuel: "And when they came unto the threshing-floor 
of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled, And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he 
smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God, And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a 
breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perez-uzza, to this day, And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring
the ark of God home to me?" In reference to the proper name Perez-uzza, which signifies _the breach of Uzza,_ it may be observed that 
the Hebrew names of places are generally, like the Mexican, significative. The use of the trumpets in the Mexican temples was for the 
priests to blow in honour of the Deity, and likewise to summon the people to religious worship; and to sound them in a shrill tone on certain 
festivals of penance and mortification, thereby to excite in the hearts of the people a keener recollection and sense of sorrow for their sins. 
It is a singular thing that Jews, Christians, and Mahometans, (the three sects which divide the Western portion of the glohe,) should not
only differ from each other in employing different modes of summoning the people to their religious duties, but that each, attaching in 
former ages superstitious notions to their own practice. should have entertained the utmost aversion and contempt for those of the other 
sects. Horns, bells, and the human voice, were the means which they severally resorted to; and even still, Mahometans can hardly 
conceive a greater profanation of a mosque. than that of ringing a bell in it. When the time for evening prayer arrives, the Imam, in 
countries inhabited by the believers in the Koran, ascends to the top of a minaret, and calls the people to their devotions by ejaculating 
in a loud and clear voice, "There is no God but God;" an appeal significative of their belief in the unity of the divine essence. Lord 
Byron has remarked, that there is something very solemn and impressive in this short address, disturbing the stillness of the evening, and 
arresting the attention of the mind, absorbed in a very different train of meditation. The early Christians entertained a very extraordinary 
reverence for bells; and a curious notion of their virtue and efficacy in driving away evil spirits, their general belief in which cannot be 
better proved than by the fact, that those who entered on the spiritual office succeeded from the inferior degree of _exorcists_ to that of 
deacons and priests; and boys were even eligible to the former, since it mentions in an old _Life of Saint Patrick,_ lately published by 
Sir William Betham, that when that saint first visited Ireland, he had some boys in his train, who were exorcists. [2] Excommunication 
was likewise anciently performed by bell, book, and candle; and bells, candles, altars, and holy vests, were always the concomitants of 
foreign conversions. [3] If, therefore, some weight has been attached to the argument that Christians and civilized Europeans could never 
have passed over to America, at a period anterior to the arrival of the Spaniards, because the Indians were unacquainted with the use 
of candles either of wax or tallow, and milk and cheese formed no portion of their diet, -- some weight must also be allowed to an argument 
favouring the contrary conclusion, founded on the knowledge which the Mexicans and other Indian nations possessed of the use of bells 
and the art of making them, since bells which were cast by the ancient Mexicans have even lately been dug up in Mexico; and Peter 
Martyr makes express mention, in the tenth chapter of his Seventh Decade, of bells being employed by the Indians of Dabaiba, (who 
inhabited a country situated at some distance from the province of Darien,) in the religious service of their temples, and to call the people 
to prayers. "But it is not unfit to be heard after what manner they are called and summoned to their religious and sacred rites, or 
what instruments they use. One day the cursed thirst of gold provoking thereunto, the Spaniards having levied a strong power of armed 
men, went to pass through the banks of that river, Dabaiba. Here they light upon a king, whom they overthrew, and had from him 
about fourteen thousand pensa of gold, brought into divers forms very fairly wrought, among which they found three golden trumpets 


-----
1 From the following verse, with which Nehemiah closes his book of prophecies, it is evident that the Jewish priests or Levites 
considered it an important and meritorious task to provide a due supply of fuel for the temple: "And for the wood-offering at times 
appointed, and for the first fruits, remember me, O my God, for good."

2 [["Venit vero Patricius cum Gallis ad jnsolas Mac Euchor, et insol~ orientali qtHe dicitur Insola Pat'" t f ' I' d nCH; e secum Ult mu tltu 0
episcoporum sanctorum, et presbyterorum, et diaconorum, ac eIorcistal'um hostiariorum lectorunlque nec no fil' d'."
??? n lOrum quos or Inavlt.
L,ber Ardmac/Ilc-V.ta S, Patn"" p, XIX. EXllt (PatnclUs) ad campum LiB et posuit ibi recelesiam t d' 't A 'I'. '".. ', e or lOaVI UXllum puerUTn
PatNcn exorclstam, et EserOlnum et Mactadeum 111 ceHolA. Cuilin."]] p. xxxv. -- _Irish Antiquarian Researches: Appendix._

3 [["Portavit Patricius per Sininn secum L clocos, L patinos. L calices, altaria, libros legis, evangelii libros, et reliquit illos in locis
novis."]] -- _Vita S. Patricii,_ p. xvii.





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 67

Alfaquis inflicted on those who were subject to them, correcting them either because they were 
negligent and inattentive to their duties, or on account of some excesses which they had committed, 
in the manner represented in the plate. 

-----
and as many golden bells; one of the bells weighed six hundred pensa, the other were lesser. Being demanded for what service they 
used the trumpets and bells, they answered, as they say, that they were wpot to use the harmony and concert of trumpets to stir them up 
to mirth upon their festival-days and times to sport, and that they used the noise and ringing of bells to call the people to the ceremonies 
of their religion. The clappers of the bells seemed to be made after our manner, but so white and clear that at the first sight, save that 
they were too long, our men would have thought that they had been made of pearls, or of the mother-of-pearl; in the end they 
understood they were made of the bones of fishes. They say the ears of the hearers are delighted with a sweet and pleasant sound,
although the ringing of gold useth to be dull. The tongues or clappers moved touch the lips or brims of the bells as we see in ours." 
The question naturally occurs, -- what was the religion of these Indians?

Peter Martyr says in a preceding paragraph, "Being demanded to what God they pour forth their prayers, the Spaniards who were 
present report they answered, that they prayed to him who created the heavens, the sun, and the moon, and all invisible things, from 
whom all good things proceed: and they say that Dabaibe, the general God of those countries, was the mother of that creator." That 
they believed in the immortality of the soul and a future state of rewards and punishments, is expressly stated in the following passage: 
-- "It is very necessary and expedient for their priests to beware of all luxury and carnal pleasure. If any, contrary to his vow and 
purpose of chastity, shall be found to be polluted, he shall either be stoned to death or burned; for they suppose chastity pleaseth that 
God the creator. What time they fast and give themselves to prayer, having washed and rubbed their faces, when at other times they 
walked always painted, they now lifted their hands and eyes to heaven, and abstain not only from harlots and other venereous actions, 
but also from their own wives. They are such simple men, that they know not how to call the soul, nor understand the power thereof: 
whereupon they often talk among themselves with admiration of what that invisible and not intelligible essence might be, whereby the 
members of men and brute beasts should be moved. I know not what secret thing they say should live after the corporal life. That (I 
know not what) they believe, that after this peregrination, if it lived without spot, and reserved that mass committed unto it without 
injury done to any, it should go to a certain eternal felicity: contrary, if it shall suffer the same to be corrupted with any filthy lust, 
violent rapine, or raging fury, they say it shall find a thousand tortures in rough and unpleasant places under the centre: and speaking 
these things, lifting up their hands, they show the heavens, and after that, casting the right hand down, they point to the womb of the 
earth." The doubt might reasonably occur to our minds, whether these Indians might not have been Christians, though not acknowledged 
to be such by the Spaniards, if Peter Martyr did not inform us in another sentence, that, like Jephthah, they offered up human victims 
as burnt-offerings to Dabaiba. "There is an idol called Dabaibe as the river is; the chapel of this image is about forty leagues distant 
from Darien, whereunto the kings at certain times of the year send slaves to be sacrificed from very far-removed countries; and they also 
adore the place with exceeding great concourse of people. they kill the slaves before their god, and then burn them, supposing that 
flaming odour to be acceptable to their idol, as the light of a taper or the fume of frankincense is to our saints." Peter Martyr states in 
the eighth chapter of his Fourth Decade, that the Indians of Coluacana, a large territory of New Spain, who also sacrificed slaves, 
_"circumcised them twenty days before they offered them to their idols."_ Why, we may inquire, should they have thought that circumcision
was more agreeable than uncircumcision to the Deity? With respect to the arguments already mentioned as having been used by some 
eminent writers, who contend that America could never have been colonized by Europeans because the Indians were destitute of the 
knowledge of some articles which are reckoned by the former amongst the chief necessaries of life, -- such as candles for light, and milk 
and cheese for nourishment, -- it may be observed, that these reasons are really destitute of foundation. Leaving out of the question the 
consideration of whether the Jews might not feel scrupulous about manufacturing candles from the fat of animals, the total want of all 
the larger domestic species of quadrupeds in Mexico would have been a sufficient reason for the Mexicans contenting themselves with 
torches; which, perhaps, much more nearly resembled the candles used io other parts of the globe than is generally supposed, as Peter 
Martyr says they were made of the pith of the pine. The Mexicans, for the same reason, could not have either milk or cheese; nor is 
it positively known whether the Peruvians, who might have obtained both from the lama, used them: but in Sibola, a large territory to 
the north of Mexico, where the buffalo was domesticated by the Indians, milk was their common diet: and Gomara, describing the 
manners of the Chicorani, says that they made cheese out of deer's milk: -- "Ay muchos ciervos que crian en casa, y andan al pasto en 
el campo con pastores, y buelven la noche al corral; de su leche hazen queso." "They domesticate many deer, which shepherds drive to 
pasture in the plains, and which are shut up by night in pens; from their milk they make cheese." -- _La Istoria de las Indias,_ fol. xxii. 
Since light was such an essential thing in the Mexican temples, and the Jews attached so much importance to the candlestick in which 
it was burnt in their own temple, ascribing a mystery to each of its branches, it may be interesting to inquire whether the Mexicans 
resembled the Jews in having a candlestick as a sacred utensil in their temple. The author of _The Ceremonies and Religious Customs 
of All Nations_ informs us in the following passage, that they had: "On the two sides of the rail or ballister, at that part where the 
staircase ended, two marble statues supported, in an attitude that very well expressed their labour, two _very odd-fashioned_ candlesticks. 
At some distance from hence was a stone of a green colour, five feet in height, sharp-bottomed. Here the unhappy wretch who was to 



68 INTERPRETATION OF THE

THIRD SECTION.

9. A superior Alfaqui, who is chastising a novice Alfaqui for being neglectful of his duty. 10. A 
novice Alfaqui. 11. A superior Alfaqui. 12. A novice Alfaqui. 13. A superior Alfaqui, who is 
chastising a novice Alfaqui by piercing him with thorns of the aloe as incorrigible. 14. This house 
signifies, that if the novice Alfaqui went to his own house to sleep for three successive days, they 
inflicted on him the punishment which is declared and represented. 

The explanation of what is represented in the fourth section of the following plate; in which section 
likewise, under each of the figures, is declared how soldiers of valour trained to the military profession 
young men who had attained a fit age, accordingly as their fathers had intrusted them to their care, 
and the youths were led by their own inclinations. Their fathers in this manner placed them with 
persons who were skilled in the arts and occupations to which their own inclinations disposed them. 

FOURTH SECTION.

15. The Teguigua, who is a man of valour in war. 16. The young man. 17. The father of the 
young man, who confides his son to the soldier of valour, that he may train him to the military 
profession and carry him along with him to the wars. 18. The young man, the pupil of the soldier 
of valour, who goes with him to the wars, carrying his baggage on his back, together with his own 
arms. 19. The Teguigua, a soldier of valour, who goes ready armed to the wars.

The explanation of what is represented in the first section of the following plate; in which section,


-----
be sacrificed was laid on his back, when they ripped up his stomach and tore out his heart. Above this stone, and opposite to the staircase, 
was a large strong chapel, the roof of which was of a rare and precious wood, under which their idol Vitzlipuztli was seated on a 
very high altar _with curtains round it."_ The character of this deity is thus described in a preceding section: -- "It is plain, from what 
has been just now related of Vitzlipuztli's power, that the Mexicans acknowledged a supreme being under that name, notwithstanding 
what the Spaniards affirmed of their having no word to express the Deity; so that they were obliged to make use of the word _dios_ to 
denote that being whom we call God. Be that as it will, the Mexicans worshipped Vitzlipuztli as the sovereign lord of all things, and 
creator of heaven and earth, and added the epithet _ineffable_ to that supreme deity. But notwithstanding the great idea they had formed 
to themselves of this first cause, they yet could not persuade themselves that it was possible for it to govern the world without the immediate 
assistance of a numberless multitude of genii. The author of the _Conquest of Mexico_ tells us, "that they were so silly as to 
believe that there were not any gods at that time in the other parts of heaven, till such time as mankind grew more and more miserable 
in proportion as they grew more numerous. They looked upon their gods as so many propitious genii, who were ever multiplying as 
mortals stood in need of their assistance." It would be an omission not to observe, before taking leave of the present subject, that the 
Indians, besides torches, used the fat of tortoises for light; and if they were not acquainted with wax lights when the Spaniards first 
visited them, it is more probable that they had forgotten, than that they never possessed, the invention. At the same time it must be 
recollected that the Spaniards intentionally consigned the arts, history, religion, and ancient monuments of America to oblivion, and that 
they denied the Mexicans and Peruvians the knowledge of many arts which had arrived at even a flourishing state of perfection amongst 
them. Many writers have contended that the singe fact of iron not having been known or used by the Indians, affords proof sufficient '
that no intercourse could have taken place in early ages between the old and the new continents; but these writers assume that to be a 
fact, which is by no means proved. M. Dupaix observes, that this metal of all others is most likely to decomposition; and that he 
would not venture to affirm, because he could discover no iron instruments of the ancient Mexicans, that they did not employ them in 
their works of architecture: and Garcia declares, that in Paraguay, iron money, resembling in shape the shell of a tortoise, was used; 
which animal is represented on some of the oldest Greek coins -- those of Thebes. 










COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 85

affairs of state, order, regularity, and judgment prevailed, that the government might thereby be well 
administered. But before the reign of MOTECCUMA, so much order had not been introduced by his 
predecessors into the public affairs, as MOTECCUMA introduced after his accession to the throne: for 
being endowed with excellent parts and prudence, by his own free will he prescribed order and the 
rule of good government, which he commanded to be maintained and preserved under heavy 
penalties; and accordingly offenders suffered, without any mitigation of their sentence, the 
punishment which he had prescribed for their particular case of delinquency; which punishments 
were rigorous: and since they underwent no modification in their execution, his subjects were always 
on their guard, attentive to their duty; and they accordingly with fear applied themselves to 
profitable things, and to such as were in no wise prejudicial to the public liberty which they 
enjoyed.

PLATE LXX.

1. The throne and state of MOTECCUMA, where he sat in council and in judgment. 2. MOTECCUMA. 
3. The house in which the lords of Tenayuca, Chicenauhtla, and Colhuacan, who were friends and 
allies of MOTECCUMA, were entertained as guests. 4. The house in which the great lords of Tezinco 
and Tacuba, who were friends of MOTECCUMA, were entertained as guests. 5. The court of 
MOTECCUMA'S palace. 6. The court of MOTECCUMA'S palace. 7. The council-hall of war. 8. These 
lines gradually ascending lead to the court of MOTECCUMA'S palace, which is here represented. 
9. These four persons are, as it were, judges of MOTECCUMA'S council, and learned men. 10. Suitors 
who, in the way of appeal from the judges, appear and present themselves before the judges of 
MOTECCUMA's council.

The explanation of what is represented in the following plate. -- The father and son, who are seated 
opposite to each other, signify that the father is giving good advice to his son, that he may not turn 
out ill; setting before him the example of those who attained complete virtue, who afterwards joined 
in dances with the lords and caciques, when they bestowed honourable offices upon them, employing 
them as their messengers, and were admitted by the musicians and singers to their feasts and wedding 
entertainments, on account of the favour which they enjoyed.

This painting represents the place where they were accustomed to assemble, to consider and 
provide for the public works. The overseer, who is there seated, signifies that the two young men 
before him are weeping, because he has proposed and offered to employ them in manual labour; 
and the overseer is occupied in giving them good advice, admonishing them to lay aside idleness 
and to forsake a vagabond life, which occasioned and caused them to become robbers, or players 
of the ball, or gamesters with patol, * which resemble dice; the losses sustained in which games they 
recruited themselves for by stealing to satisfy and gratify such vices, which only led to bad 
consequences, as that which is signified by the figures, with their titles, declares. 


* From casting lots being so often mentioned in Scripture, and games of chance _not having been forbidden 
to the Jews in the Pentateuch,_ it is probable that they were acquainted with the use of dice, and that the 
Mexican game of patol differed little from the ancient Hebrew usage of throwing lots.





86 INTERPRETATION OF THE

The trades * of a carpenter, jeweller, painter, goldsmith, and embroiderer in feathers, accordingly 
as they are represented and declared, signify that the masters of such arts taught these trades to 
their sons from their earliest boyhood, in order that when grown up to be men they might attend 
to their trades and spend their time virtuously, counselling them that idleness as it is the root and 
mother of vices, as well as of evil-speaking and tale-bearing, whence followed drunkenness and 
robberies and other dangerous vices and setting before their imaginations many other grounds 
of alarm, that hence they might submit to be diligent in every thing.


PLATE LXXI.

1. A messenger. 2. The father who advises his son to apply himself to the practice of every 
virtue, and to avoid turning out ill. 3. The son. 4. A singer and a musician, who invite guests 
and entertain them with music. 5. A Coaguacal. 6. A young man. 7. A vagabond. 8. A player
of ball. 9. The house where they assemble about the puhlic works. 10. Texancalco. 11. The
Petlacalcatle, or overseer. 12. A Coaguacal. 13. A young man. 14. A robber. 15. A gamester 
with patol. 16. A kind of dice. 17. A carpenter. 18. The son of the carpenter. 19. A jeweller. 
20. The son of the jeweller. 21. An evil-speaker and tale-bearer. 22. A painter. 23. The son 
of the painter. 24. A goldsmith. 25. The son of the goldsmith. 26. A master of the art of 
embroidering in feathers. 27. The son of the master of that art. 28. A drunken man. 29. A 
drunken woman. 30. From the vice of drunkenness ensues that of robbery. 

The explanation of what is represented in the first section of the following plate. -- That which is 
there painted, declared, and described, signifies the punishments awarded by the laws and statutes 
of the kings of Mexico to those who committed such offences, which were put in force without any 
remedy, as appears by the painting. 


PLATE LXXII.

FIRST SECTION.

1. 2. These two figures signify, that young men who intoxicated themselves with wine, died for 
the same, according to their laws and ordinances. 3. If a young woman intoxicated herself, she was 
put to death by the laws of the kings of Mexico. 4. A robber was stoned to death by the laws of the 
kings of Mexico. 5. These two figures, lying side by side and covered with a garment, denote that 
whosoever had criminal intercourse with a married woman, was stoned to death according to the laws 
of the kings of Mexico. +

* A curious account of these different trades will be found in the Supplement. It is in Spanish, and taken 
from the _Indian Monarchy_ of Torquemada.

+ Stoning to death and burning to death were both Mexican punishments; and that they were founded on religious 
prejudices, well as sanctioned by legal usage, may be inferred not only from the latter sentence being 
executed chiefly on priests who disgraced the 





COLLECTION OF MENDOZA. 87

The explanation of what is represented in the second section: wherein it is shown that drunkenness 
was prohibited by the laws and statutes of the kings of Mexico, to men as well as to women who 
were under seventy years of age; persons of that age being permitted and allowed to indulge in it, 
provided such old persons had sons and grandsons, as is demonstrated by the figures; and he who 
transgressed this law died for his offence, as is represented in the first section that precedes this. 

SECOND SECTION.

An old man of seventy years of age was privileged, both in public and in private, to drink wine 
and to become drunk, on account of his great age, and of his having sons and grandsons, by reason 
of which age he was not forbidden to drink wine and to become intoxicated. The old wife of the 
old man represented above was, for the same reason, privileged and allowed to become intoxicated 
like her husband, since she had sons and grandsons: drunkenness was prohibited to none who 
had attained such an age. 

---

The reader must excuse the rude style of the interpretation of the paintings contained in this 
History, for the interpreter was pressed for time, and as a matter neither duly considered 
beforehand, nor on which all were agreed; it was interpreted in the manner of a suit at law. *
Where, likewise, the names of _superior Alfaqui_ and _novice Alfaqui_ occur, it was the mistake of the 
interpreter to use such names, which are proper to the Moorish idiom. By the term _ superior
Alfaqui_ is meant a _superior priest,_ and by that of _novice Alfaqui, a priest in his noviciate;_ and 
where the word _Mezquita_ is written, _temple_ should be understood. Ten days before the departure 
of the fleet this History was given to the interpreter in order that he might interpret it; which 
negligence was owing to the Indians, who were long before they could come to an agreement: 
and as a task executed in haste, much stress was not laid on the style most suitable to the 
interpretation of it, nor was there time to make a new copy, and to polish the expressions, and 
improve the order of the sentences: but although the interpretation is rude, all that is necessary to 
attend to is the substance of the explanations and the meaning of the figures, which is correctly 
declared, because the interpreter is well acquainted with the Mexican language.

-----
rule of their order, but likewise _because the people acquiesced in such cruel judgments,_ since public opinion, in judging of the degrees 
of crime and the proper measure of punishment, seldom errs, except when it views human actions through the distorted medium of false 
religious doctrines, and becomes the unconscious but powerful organ of injustice. 

-----
* The interpreter of the Collection of Mendoza means to say that these Mexican paintings were, in the first instance, given to the 
native Mexicans, that they might consult together on their proper meaning, whose oral testimony he afterwards took down when they 
had come to an agreement as to the right signification of the symbols representing the cities tributary to the crown of Mexico. And 
Sahagun says, that he assembled, in a similar mauner, the Indians of Tezcuco and Mexico who were most conversant with the antiquities 
of their country, in order that they might explain to him the signification of their ancient paintings, as the best authority which he could 
follow in writing the History of New Spain. 




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[95]


THE EXPLANATION OF THE HIEROGLYPHICAL PAINTINGS 
OF THE CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. *

THE FIRST PART.

PLATE I.

1. TECUILVITONTL.

THE lesser festival commenced on the... of June,....; it was the Festival of all the Lords, that 
is to say, of all the lords in their calendar. They said on the arrival of this festival, that the kids 
would not rule during the entire year; or if they did, that they would be applied to merchants. The 
lords gave food and drink on this festival to all the people: it was the lesser festival. 

2. VEYTECUILVITL.

The principal festival commenced on the fourteenth of July; the name signifies The Principal 
Festival of the Lord, resembling the preceding. This was the greatest festival of all that were 
celebrated in the entire year. The great festival was kept in this month, on which the Indians 
drove the Spanish Christians out of Mexico, when the great slaughter took place; and I am informed 
by many old men, that their indignation against the Christians was in consequence of many Christians 
mixing amongst them whilst they were engaged in dancing and celebrating the festival, who turned 
it into ridicule; and that the Indians on this account determined to massacre them all. This event 
took place in the year of Two Flints. This month was that of the general fast which they called 
Atamal, + which means bread and water. They neither ate salt during the period of this fast or
any thing else but bread and water. ++

a. § The greatest festival of all that were celebrated in the entire year.

3. MICHAYLHUITLI. ||

The Festival of All the Dead commenced on the third of August. They made offerings on this 


-----
* The _Codex Telleriano-Remensis,_ is merely a copy by Peter de los Rios, a Dominican monk, of a Mexican calendar. An 
original Mexican calendar, painted on paper of the Agave, and very much resembling the _Codex Telleriano-Remensis_ in the 
disposition of the signs of the days of the year round the figures of the principal Mexican idols, is preserved in the Library of the 
Chamber of Deputies at Paris.

+ This name is compounded of _atl_ water, and _tamal_ bread.

++ This reminds us of the Jewish feast of unleavened bread.

§ a. refers to the symbol of the day on which the festival occurred.

|| The festivals of Michaylhuitl and Huemiccaylhuitl were probably in honour of Quetzalcoatle, whom Torquemada says the




96 EXPLANATION OF THE

festival to the dead, putting food and drink upon their sepulchres, which custom they continued for 
the space of four years; for they believed that during this entire period their souls had not arrived 
at the place of repose, according to their notions; and they therefore buried them with all their 
apparel, vestments and shoes: for they believed that until souls had arrived at the destined place 
at the expiration of these four years, they had to encounter much hardship, cold, and toil, and that 
they had to pass through places full of snow and of thorns; * and on this account, when any principal 
person died, they killed at the same time a slave, and buried him with the deceased, in order that he 
might serve him. The Mixtecas, Capotecas, and Mixes, performed the honours of the dead almost in 
the manner of the Spaniards, for they placed over them a tomb covered with black, and around it a 
quantity of food. Their manner of burying the dead was quite conformable to our custom, the feet 
of the deceased were turned towards the east. + After the bodies had been buried, they removed the 
bones from the sepulchre, and put them into charnel-houses, which they had in the courts of the 
temples, made of mortar. This was the custom of the Mixtecan and Capotecan nations; since the 
Mexicans did not bury, but burned the bones of the dead; ++ and this custom the Mexicans borrowed 
from the Otomitles or Chichimecas, who were the most ancient inhabitants of that country. _a._ A knife. 

4. HUEYMICCAYLHUITL.

This festival began on the twenty-third of August. They celebrated again in this month the 

-----
Mexicans believed to have disappeared or _died,_ and whose image was placed in their temples reclining on a bier, and covered up 
with mantles to denote his absence. The cuchillo (or knife) placed before the two figures in the plate, is the sign _of the flint 
proceeding from the cane._

* The Jews believe in a short state of purgatory.

+ M. Dupaix observes, that the Mexican temples, or Teocalli, were turned towards the east, or at least that their sides were 
adjusted to the four cardinal points of the compass, and that the sacellum or sanctuary above faced the east. It will also be 
seen from his plans, that the ancient subterraneous sepulchres in the province of Mixteca were made in the form of a cross. The 
sides of the Hebrew tabernacle were likewise turned to the cardinal points of the compass. 

++ The Jews sometimes burned the bones of the dead, as is evident from the tenth verse of the sixth chapter of the prophet 
Amos: "And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say 
unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy 
tongue; for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. For, behold, the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great 
house with breaches, and the little house with clefts." It is singular that many of the temples in the Mexican paintings, 
especially in the MS. of Vienna, should be represented with breaches and clefts in the roofs or other parts of them. According 
to Torquemada and Gomara, it was an ancient usage to burn the bodies of the deceased kings of Michuacan (a powerful state 
bordering on Mexico) with great pomp; and the latter writer dedicates a long chapter to the description of the rites which 
accompanied that ceremony; of which the title is, "De como queman para enterrar los reies de Michuacan" -- "How they burn at 
their funerals the bodies of the kings of Michuacan." And the Scripture informs us, in the Second Book of Chronicles and in 
the thirty-fourth chapter of Jeremiah, that the funeral rites of the Jewish kings were solemnized with great burnings; whether of 
the body or of spices only is not clearly explained, since "burying" might apply to the ashes or the bones after they had been 
reduced to charcoal by the fire. At any rate the Jewish custom might easily, in process of time, have changed into a real 
burning of the body along with the odoriferous perfumes. The passages of Scripture alluded to are the following: "But thou 
shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for 
thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah Lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord." The king here addressed 
is Zedekiah king of Jerusalem, to whom the prophet Jeremiah thus speaks. Of Asa it is said: "And they buried him in his 
own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David; and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours 
and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art; and they made a very great burning for him."




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 97

Festival of the Dead; and it was much greater than the former, since the name Hueymiccaylhuitl 
signifies the great festival of the dead. *

During the three last days of this month the living all kept a fast to the dead, and went out into 
the plain to celebrate rejoicings. 

The Marquis Don FERDINAND CORTES terminated in this month the war which he carried on 
with Mexico, when he entirely conquered it. 

Each year, on the celebration of the Festival of the Dead, whilst the priests were engaged in 
performing sacrifices, the entire people, every individual in his own house, ascended on the terraces 
of the houses, and looking towards the north, † made earnest supplications to the dead, each of 
them to those of his own lineage, and ejaculating aloud, exclaimed, _"Come quickly, since we expect 
you."_ ‡

The slaves whom they killed along with the lords when they died, were for the purpose of assisting 
them in the hardships which they had to encounter in a future state.


PLATE II.

5. OCHPANIZTLI.

Ochpaniztli commenced on the twelfth of September. They here celebrated the Festival of the 
Woman who sinned by eating of the fruit of the tree. The festival held on this occasion was 
properly named Otlacotleutli, _our beginning;_ or the festival of our Mother Tutzin, § or _our end,_ or 
the termination of our lives. Ochpaniztli is interpreted purification; and accordingly in this month 
all carefully swept their houses and the roads. They fasted on the first four days of this month, and 
during the entire of it they sacrificed to plants; and after adoring them they carried them to the 
temples. This purification originated in the belief which they entertained, that by the performance 
of this ceremony every evil would depart from the city. ?

They kept many fasts; but the priests fasted during every month: not however all at the same 
time; but a general assembly of the priests having taken place, three or four of them made a vow to 
fast a certain number of days; at the expiration of which the others in their proper order proceeded 
to make a similar vow to fast, until the entire number had been reckoned, and all had fasted on 
bread and water, in order that every evil might depart from the city; and likewise because she ¶

-----
* _Huey_ signifies, in the Mexican language, _old._

† They supposed Mictlan or hell to be situated towards the north.

‡ The following passage occurs in the thirty-sixth chapter of _A View of the Jewish Religion, by A. R.,_ printed in London in 
1656. "That a Messias is promised to the Jews all agree, therefore in their prayers they beseech God _that he may come quickly;_ 
but who he is, or when he shall come, is much controverted."

§ Tutzin, otherwise written Totzin, was said to have been a different goddess from Tonantzin. The first name signifies our 
Mother, the other our Grandmother. _Our beginning_ and _Our end_ were names equally applicable to the festival of Tutzin, since 
Eve was the cause of the beginning and of the termination of man's existence. 

? The notion of evil departing from a city or people by the performance of some ceremony or rite is entirely Jewish.

¶ Suchiquecal. She was also designated Cihuacohuatl, which name certainly alludes to her temptation. It is singular that 
this woman should be represented in the forty-eighth page of the Vatican painting with two children who appear to have been 
fighting, and one of them to have been killed, since in Mexican paintings closed eyes signify death. 

Baron de Humboldt supposes that the two vases at the bottom of the page, one of which is upset, _might have been the cause of_





98 EXPLANATION OF THE

introduced evil into the world. Suchiquecal was the first who sinned; she is here named Y zpapalotle,
the goddess of filth or of sin; and on this account they celebrated a festival to the fate
which awaits man after death. In the course of these twenty days FERDIN AND CORTES arrived in
the country.

6. PACTONTLY.

Pactontly, (or Humiliation,) commenced on the second of October. It was the festival of Tetzcatlipoca
and the rest of his companions, Tehatletllachinatli, which name signifies a conflagration
of fire and water"'

In this month the water usually freezes and ice appears, whence they say that the natives
consider the festival of the glorious Saint Francis as highly ominous, + because it occurs in this
the quarter. A reversed vase might be symbolical of a refused offering, as an upright one of an offering accepted. The difference
of colour in the children might mark inferiority or degradation in the descendants if one of them. Suchiquecal is represented in
the eighty-seventh page of the Vatican painting, and in the MS. of Archbishop Laud, with two children at her knees, apparently
in great mental affliction. this position of the children is very remarkable; and it reminds us of a phrase often used in Scripture,
of children being brollght up at the knees of their parents; Ephraim and Manasseh, the adopted children of Joseph, are thus said
to have been brought up at his knees.

-----
* Abrasamiento de fuego y agua.

+ Fear of the gods seems to have been the fundamental principle of the Mexican religion, which absorbed all other considerations
of good or evil: thus virtues became vices, and vices virtues, according to the prescriptions of a barbarous ritual. It would
appear that even after their conversion to Christianity, the Mexicans could not entirely divest themselves of their ancient
prejudices; and it is probable that Saint Francis long continued rather an object of their fear than of their love. The same
principle of fear induced the Mexicans to pourtray their divinities with terrible countenances, and to bestow the epithet of
Tetzauhteotle, or the terrible god, on Tetzcatlipoca. It would almost appear that the angels of Raphael were copied from the
busts of Apollo, Diana, or some of the other beautiful imaginary deities of Greece; but such were not the forms of the angels
that appeared to the Jews, whose countenances are described in the Old Testament as terrible, even when executing a mission of
grace. The wife of Manoah (informing her husband of the apparition of the angel, who declared to her, that although she had
been barren, she should bear a child who should be a Nazarite unto God from the womb, and begin to deliver Israel,) says in the
sixth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Judges; "A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of
an angel of God, very terrible." Ezekiel also describes, in the first chapter of his Book of Prophecies, the appearance of the
four cherubim which he beheld on the banks of the river Chebar in Babylon, than which nothing could be more formidable:the
head of a lion, which of all wild beasts is the most ferocious; that of a bull, which of all domestic quadrupeds is the most
dangerous; of a carnivorous eagle, and of a man, -- all united in one, -- formed the head of each cherub. It is singular that the
inhabitants of the island of Haiti, whose supreme deity (to whom they assigned many attributes) was worshiped by them under
the name of Jocanna, should have also adored a figure somewhat resembling the cherubim mentioned by Ezekiel; which instead
of four, had five heads united on the body of a man, terminating like the Hebrew cherubim with the feet of an animal: these
heads were those of a tiger, a stag, an eagle, a serpent, and a dog. The presence of the Deity is also described in the nineteenth
chapter of the Revelations as exceedingly terrible: ?.. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon
him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on
his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed wit" a veslure
dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of lLis rnout" goetl, a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations;
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he trendeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he
hath on bis vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together
unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." A
very remarkable painting occurs in the third page of the Codex Borgianus, in which Quecalcoatle is represented in a sumptuous
temple, seated on a throne; a sword proceeds out of his mOlttl., and an eagle is haste7ling to pre!! on the dead bodies under the




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 99

month, since their fruits are at this season attacked by the frost. They accordingly paint this 
month dangerous like that of May, with the same symbols. They paint likewise these footsteps 
behind the month to signify that now the waters are left behind. Tetzcatlipoca * is he who 


-----
_throne:_ above is the symbol of the sun, which half conceals the body of a lamb, or a deer. Quecalcoatle is again represented 
in the same page in the act of sacrificing a demon, whom Death, painted beneath the sacrificial stone, seems waiting to devour. 
Many passages might be adduced from Scripture to prove that terror and martial prowess were attributes with which the Jews 
loved to invest the Deity: even still they cry with a loud voice at stated intervals in the synagogues, Magnus, magnus, magnus, 
_est Deus exercituum;_ which, whether it be translated, Great, great, great, _is the god of war,_ or Great, great, great, _is the god of 
armies,_ means the same thing, for _hosts_ does not convey the signification of 'exercituum.'


-----
* It is singular that the Mexicans should have entertained the belief that their supreme deity Tetzcatlipoca, who punished them 
for their sins, and was the god to whom they professed penitence and besought forgiveness of them, nevertheless tempted them to 
sin. Various passages in Scripture might have induced the Jews to believe that God when provoked would lead them into temptation, 
notwithstanding the necessity of reconciling these passages with another, "neither tempteth he any man;" since the 
mildest interpretation that can be put upon the often-repeated words "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart," is, that he tempted 
him to sin: for to suppose that by the expression "hardened Pharaoh's heart" is meant _forced him_ to adopt a sinful course of 
conduct, would be to impute the sin of Pharaoh to God, which would be impious. Neither, on the other hand, can it be contended 
that the conduct of Pharaoh was not sinful, since by it he drew down the most dreadful judgments recorded in history upon all the 
Egyptians; or that God had no share in causing it, since that would contradict the express words of Scripture. Some persons 
endeavour to draw a distinction between the pride, obstinacy, and presumption of a headstrong monarch and positive sin, -- as much 
as arguing that God might fill the heart of man with the former, but could not cause the latter. But the thirty-fourth verse of the 
ninth chapter of Exodus, where sinning and hardening the heart are used as correlative terms, does not permit us to doubt that by 
the expression "God hardened Pharaoh's heart" is meant, he tempted him to sin by refusing to let the Israelites depart out of 
Egypt, for which Pharaoh was accordingly punished. "And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders 
were ceased, _he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart,_ he and his servants." Herodotus says that the Egyptians were most 
submissive subjects to their kings; and had it been otherwise, they certainly would never have suffered, from the heart of one of 
them having been hardened, ten such plagues as those recorded in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh chapters of 
Exodus, without rising into open rebellion. Another attempted solution of the difficulty which is found in reconciling God's 
assurance to Moses, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart," with the declaration of Saint James in the thirteenth verse of the first 
chapter of his General Epistle, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with 
evil, neither tempteth he any man," -- proceeds on the admission that God did tempt Pharaoh to sin, because he was an idolater, 
his enemy, and the oppressor of his chosen people; and that the words of Saint James are only applicable to true believers. But in 
what sense do those who thus attempt to reconcile the words of the Old Testament with those of the New, and Christian opinions 
with Jewish, understand the first verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel? "And again the anger of 
the Lord was kindled against Israel, _and he moved David against them to say,_ Go, number Israel and Judah." The effect of 
David's taking this census of the population was to displease God, and the consequences of it are described in the fifteenth verse 
of the same chapter of Samuel: "So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and 
there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba, seventy thousand men." Every man on this occasion does not appear _to 
have borne only his own iniquity;_ but the Jews, like the Egyptians, suffered for the transgression of their king. Deception differs 
from temptation, or we might also remind them of the lying spirit which Jehovah is said on one occasion to have sent upon the 
Hebrew prophets. It was probably in consequence of its being a prevalent notion amongst the Jews, as amongst the Mexicans, 
that the Supreme Being did sometimes, when angry, tempt them to sin, -- which the former might have inferred from the following 
passage of the eighth chapter of Isaiah: "Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your 
dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, _for 
a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem._ And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be 
snared, and be taken." -- that Saint James made the above-mentioned declaration; which, if _"lead"_ in the sentence "Lead us not 
into temptation" be an error, as has been contended, which in the apostolic age crept into the Lord's Prayer, which it must be 
presumed originated in some misconception which the early Christians entertained as to the meaning of the corresponding Hebrew 
term, might likewise have been intended to rectify that misconception.

When it is considered what elevated notions the ancient philosophers entertained of the Supreme Being; and that the Stoics, on 
purpose to do away with the idea of evil either emanating from God, or attaching in any manner to his divine essence, only 




100 EXPLANATION OF THE

appeared to that nation on the Mountain of the Mirror, as they say; and is he who tempted 
Quecalcoatle the penitent. *

They paid Tetzcatlipoca great reverence, for they kept lights and fire burning in his honour in the 
temples. Whenever they worshiped him they addressed him, "Lord, whose servants we are, grant 
us this." They accordingly called this festival The Lesser Festival, or that of Humiliation. In this 
month the inhabitants of Mataltzingo celebrated a festival to the god Suchiquecal. †

a. Xiuatlatli. h. A Quiver. c. A Serpent. d. Water and Flames. e. Footsteps. z. A Flint.

7. VEYPACTLI.

Veypactli commenced on the twenty-second of October. It was named the Festival of Humiliation,
for each individual had his own advocate, whosoever he thought proper, and this advocate stood in
admitted one kind of evil, -- moral evil, of which man himself was the sole cause; denying that what are usually called physical
evils were really in their nature evil, because proceeding from his eternal decree, the words of Saint James seem rather to be
addressed to the Jews than to the Gentiles. But how would the Greek sages, Solon, Plato, and Socrates, have been shocked at
the Rabbinical doctrine that God can do no evil, -- not because he is incapable of doing or commanding evil acts to be done, but
because all actions, either done or commanded by him, lose the character of evil which otherwise might have belonged to them.
The Rabbis would never have maintained this absurd and impious doctrine, if they had not misconstrued certain passages of
Scripture, since the omnipotence of God can do all but evil; and evil, were it possible to be done by God, would not lose its
character.

It is probable that the first and third chapters of the prophet Hosea led them into error. It has been truly remarked, that the
philosophy of the ancients was of a sublimer kind than the modern, because, not encompassed with Jewish prejudices, and turning
more on mind than on matter. This was owing to the uncircumscribed range of reasoning on all philosophical questions in
which they indulged. No fear of exciting the divine anger by the crime which the Jews invented of lesa divina majestatis prevented
them from discussing every question connected with their own mythology, the nature and the attributes of the Deity, the origin of
good and evil, or any other moral problem; although in reference to that fictitious crime we may observe, that the wisest of
the ancient philosophers judged it absurd to suppose that the Deity, though he might accept praise, could receive honour (Tll'ij)
from mortals, or could, on the other hand, suffer disgrace or dishonour from them.


* El penitente should, perhaps, be translated the doer of penance, instead of the penitent. The temptation of Quecalcoatle,
the fast of forty days ordained by the Mexican ritual, the cup,vith which he was presented to drink, the reed which was his sign 1,
(which appears to have been a thistle in the province of Yucatan,) the morning star which he is designated, the tecpatl, or stone,
which was laid on his altar, and called the teotecpatl, or divine stone, which was like,vise an object of adoration; -- all these
circumstances connected, with many othel's relating to Quecalcoatle which are hfre omitted, are very curious and mysterious.

† Al dios SuchiquecaJ.

-----


1 Parkhurst notices in his Greek and Hebrew lexicons, that the Jews were accustomed to give to criminals condemned to death
a beverage with some infusion mixed with it, which lessened their sufferings by depriving them in some measure of the consciousness
of pain. It is singular that the Mexicans should have had an analogous custom, as Sahagun remarks in the tenth
chapter of the second hook of his History, of scattering a powder named yiauhtli on the faces of those whom they were about to
sacrifice, "para que perdiesen el sentido, y no sintiesen tanto la muerte;" "that they might become deprived of sells.ation,
and not suffer much pain in dying." It is singular also, that the person who presented a prisoner at the temple for sacrifice,
should, at the moment the priest was about to perform the ceremony, have offered him wine to drink, whic!. he was obliged to sip
through a reed, as Sahagun states in the following passage of the twenty-first chapter of the same book: "Estando todos sentados
venia uno de los que tenia cabtivos para matar, y traia 11 su cabtivo de los cabellos hasta la piedra donde Ie habian de acuchillar,
alii Ie daban a beber vino de la tierra 0 pulere, y como el cabtivo recebia la xicara del pulere, a!zabala contra el Oriente, y contra
el Septentrion, y contra el Occidente, y contra el Medio dia, como offreciendolo acia las quatro partes del mUlIdo; y luego bebia,
1lO con la xicara, sino con una caila hueca c!mpalldo."




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 101

the relation of a guardian angel to him. The festival itself was that of the advocates. This festival
was the great festival of humiliation; they celebrated in it the Festival of All the Gods, which corresponds
in phraseology to that of All Saints.

8. QUECHOLI, OR THE SERPENT OF THE CLOUDS.

Quecholi, or The Serpent of the Clouds, * commenced on the eleventh of November. It was the
festival of the fall of Miquitlatecotli and of Zontemoqui, and the rest. They paint him t on this
account with these instruments of war, since he introduced it into the world. They celebrated in this
month the festival of animals, and made ready their weapons of war, which is the reason why they
represent it with these insignia. The first entrance of Don FERDINAND CORTES, Marquis of the
Valley,. into Mexico occurred in this month. The proper signification of this name is the fall of the
demons, who they say were stars; and even still there are stars in heaven called after their names t,
which are the following: Y zacatecuytli §, Tlahvizcalpantecuytli, Ceyacatlll, Achitllmetl, Xacupancalqui,
Mixauhnatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Contemoctli. These were their appellations as gods before
they fell from heaven, but they are now named Tzitzimitli, which means something monstrous or
dangerous.

a. Xiuatlatly. b. Arrows. c. A Bag of provisions for war.

PLATE III.

9. PANQUETZALITZLI.

Panquetzalitzli commenced on the first of December, being another celebration of the festival
of Tezcatlipoca, which they kept three times in the year.

They do not here paint Tezcatlipoca with a foot formed of a serpent, since they say that this festival
refers to a time previous to his sinning, whilst still in heaven; and that hence happened the war in
heaven, from whence sprung wars below. Panquetzalitzli may be interpreted "the lifting up of
banners," for every individual in this month placed upon his house a paper banner; and the captains
and soldiers sacrificed a certain number of those whom they had made prisoners in war, to whom


-----
* This Mexican month was called Quecholi, and Mixcoatle: the first of these names, according to Torquemada, signified a
hird of blue and scarlet plumage, perhaps the flamingo; the signification of Mixcoatle is the serpent of the clouds.

+ "Him" refers to the figure contained in the plate.

+ The devil is named Lucifer, and is compared in Scripture to a star falling from heaven.
~ This proper name is compounded of Yzaca, the name of the star, and tecuytli, an honorary appellation which refers to the
tecutli, or ornament of the head worn by the kings of Mexico and some of the priests and judges.

|| Ceyacatl signifies one cane.

-- r The Jews celebrated three times a year a solemn assembly to Jehovah, whose feet, in the figurative language of the East,
they likened to fine brass. But it deserves to be remarked, that Nehushtan signifies a serpent as well as a lump of brass, and
the brazen serpent to which the Jews offered incense in the days of Hezekiah was so named. Tezcatlipoca was the supreme deity
of the Mexicans, but the interpreter confounds him here with Zontemoctli.





102 EXPLANATION OF THE

they gave arms similar to their own, to defend themselves with, and in this manner fought with them
until they killed them. The Mexicans celebrated in this month the festival of their first captain,
whom they worshiped as a god, and named Vichilupuchitl '*; and the province of Chalcho sacrificed
to their captain Tezcatlipoca, who was so called.

They celebrated in this month the Festival of the Loaf, which was in this manner. They made a
large loaf of the seed of bledos, which they called tzoalli, and of honey t; and after having made it,
they blessed it in their manner and broke it, and the high priest put it into a very clean vessel, and
took a thorn of maguey, with which he with great reverence took up a morsel and put it into the
mouths of everyone of the Indians, as if in the manner of a communion:j:. They also celebrated in
this same month the festival which they called Xiutecutli, the Saviour of Fire. They celebrated it in
this manner: Four priests took each of them a handful of ocotl §, and descended from the upper area
of the temple, and with certain ceremonie5 which they performed, first towards the east, and then
towards the north and towards the west, and lastly towards the south II, threw the ocotl into a
cauldron which they kept in the temples, where it burned; and this served them with light, as it
never was extinguished either by night or day. a. A Banner.

10. ATEMOZTLI.

Atemoztli commenced on the twentieth of December. They celebrated in this month the festival
of the descent of the waters of the deluge. They kept the festival for this reason: I mean on
account of the earth's having become visible, or on their finding themselves secure from the danger
of the deluge. Atemoztli signifies the descent of the waters, as it rains surprisingly in this month.

II. TITITL.

Tititl commenced on the tenth of January. They here kept the festival of Mixcoatle ~, which


-----
* The month Panquetzalitzli was dedicated to Huitzilopuchtli or Quecalcoatle, to which latter name of the tutelary god of the
Mexicans the name of the month refers. Huitzilopuchtli's name was sometimes lengthened by the addition of other titles into
Teoyaotlatohuehuitzilopuchtli.

+ Torquemada says that the Totonacas, a numerous people of New Spain, consecrated every three years some dongh, which
they kneaded with the hearts of three sacrificed children, of which all the males ahove five-and-twenty, and the females above
sixteen, were obliged to partake every six months. They called this dough Toyoliaytlaquatl, which name signifies Manjar de
nuestro vida, Food of our life. -- Monarquia Indiana, lib. vi. cap. 48.

++ The Jews are said, in former ages at least, to have celebrated a kind of communion. But we will not revive the calumnies of
centuries gone by.

§ Ocotl was a kind of gum.

|| The Jews on the feast of Tabernacles shake a bundle of boughs, "thrice before their face eastward, thrice toward the south,
thrice backward over their shoulders toward the west, thrice on their left side toward the north; lastly thrice upwards and
downwards." -- A View of the Jewish Religion, page 306.

"if The Mexican month Quecholli was also named Mixeoatle. Torquemada says that a bird of beautiful plumage called the
Teoqueehol was ded.cated to the gods, but that the Indians after they became Christians changed its name into that of
Tlauquechol.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 103

means the Serpent of the Clouds. Women likewise, who followed the occupation of weaving and
washing, celebrated a festival in this month to the goddess Y chpuihtl, which name signifies the
Virgin Goddess, who is the same as Suchiquecal. *

12. YZCALLI.

Yzcalli commenced on the thirtieth of January. It was the Festival of Fire, for at this season of the
year the trees, becoming sensible of warmth, shoot forth. It was likewise the Festival of Pilquixtia, or
of Human Nature, which was never destroyed in the various destructions of the world. This month
Utzalli has the same signification as the living principle, or vital power; and accordingly on the
arrival of this month, each mother took hold of her son by the head, and lifting him upwards, addressed
him frequently with the words, Ytzcalli, Ytzcalli, as if saying to him, Hail, Hail. They paint this
month only with a crown, as being the month of vegetation, or rather of returning thanks to Nature,
which is the cause of this vegetation. The year here ended; for they reckoned in it eighteen months,
of twenty days each, as appears by these paintings; and they named the five superfluous days dead
days, for they neither celebrated any sacrifices or undertook any affairs of importance on these days.
They kept every four years another fast of eight days in memory of the three destructions t which
the world had undergone; and accordingly when this period arrived, they exclaimed four times,
"Lord, how is it that the world having been so often destroyed, has never been destroyed 4: ? "And
they named it the Festival of Renovation; and further declared, that at the expiration of this fast
and festival men imitated the froIicksome sports of children, wherefore to represent this festival
they led children by the hands through the dance.

a. A Crown. b. A Tlacochitl with a Quiver. c. A Shield.

13. THE FIVE DEAD DAYS.

The five dead days, in which no sacrifices were performed, commenced on the nineteenth of
February §. These were the days which were over and above the vicenary computation of the days


-----
* Chalchiuitlicue appears to have been the name by which the virgin Chimalman was designated in heaven. She was also
called Suchiquecal, which seems to signify woman, in a general sense, or human nature without reference to sex; and Y chpuihtl, in
reference to the Mexican belief that Quecalcoatle was born of a virgin. Huitzilopuchtli is also said to have been miraculously
brought forth by a woman named Coatlycue, a native of the city of Tulan, who being a devout person and engaged in sweeping
the altars of the gods, perceived a ball of feathers falling through the air, which having taken up and put into her girdle she
became pregnant.

+ The destruction of the province of Tulan, which constitutes all epoch in Mexican chronology, and is the fourth in order of the
catastrophes which had befallen the world, is here omitted.

++ That is to say, How has the human species been preserved?

~ This passage seems to explain in a very simple manner the system of the Mexican intercalation, and serves to illustrate the
text of the Vatican MS. The Mexicans reckoned 365 days to their year; the last five of which had no sign or place appropriated
to them in the calendar; since, if they had been admitted, the order of the signs would have been inverted, and the new year
would not always have commenced with Ce Cipactli. These days, therefore, although included in the computation of the year,
were rejected from the calendar, until at the expiration of four years an intercalation of twenty corresponding signs might be




10.4 EXPLANATION OF THE

of the year; and they always on the completion of the full period of three hundred and sixty-five
days, left out these days, and proceeded to the commencement of the new year in the sign which
entered. *

-----
* The signature of Count Gazama is affixed to the enJ of this First Part, and y ansi gusto Ger' de Spinosa to the end of
the Second. It may here be observed that Spinosa is the name of many Jewish families in Portugal.

-----
effected without producing any confusion in it. It would appear, however, that this intercalation did not actually take place till
at the expiration of 52 years; for it is impossible, except on this supposition, to understand the intercalation of years mentioned
in the Vatican MS. as occurring at the expiration of every period of 52 years, when an entire year was intercalated: but admitting
the postponement of an intercalation of a month every four years during a period of 52 years, such an intercalation would then
become quite intelligible; since thirteen Mexican months, of 20 days each, exactly constitute a ritual year of the Mexicans, which
contained 260 days, and was shorter than the civil year by 105 days; and this is the precise number of months of which the
intercalation would have been postponed. Herrera has observed, in the following passage of his History of the Indies, that the
people of Yucatan computed the duration of the year as exactly as the Mexicans: "Y para acabar estas cosas de Yucatan, no se
esconde, ni aparta tanto e] sol de esta tierra, que jamas vengan las naches a ser majores que los dias, i quando majores vienen a
ser, suelen ser iguales, desde San Andres a Santa Lucia, que comien9an f1. ereeer. Regianse de nache, para conacer Ia hora, por
el Lucero, i las Cab rill as, i los Astilejos: de dia, pOl' el medio dia: i desde el Norte i, poniente tenian puestos a pedasos nombres,
con los quales se entendian i regian. Tenian su ana perfecto, como el lluestro, de trecientos i sesenta i cinco dias, i de estos tenia
el ano doce meses, cinco dias, i seis horas. A estos meses Haman U, que quiere decir luna, i la contaban desde que salia nueva
hasta que no parecia. Tambien contaban el ana de diez i ocho meses, a veinte dias cada mes, al uso de Mexico, i tenian sus
veinte carncteres con que los nombraban, dexnndo de poner nombre a los cinco dias i seis horas que sobran de esta cuenta,
porque los tenian pOl' aciagos. -- Historia de las Indias Occidentales, Dec. IV. lib. x. cap. iv. If the Mexicans were
acquainted, like the inhabitants of Yucatan, with the excess of six hours in the duration of the natural year, their intercalation
every four years might refer to the hours by which those years exceeded the period of 365 days, as the other intercalation which
took place every 52 years might be explained by the days being taken into account which had been omitted in the previous calculation:
and in this manner the Mexican calendar would really have had two distinct intercalations, as stated by the interpreter
of the Vatican MS. Torquemada, however, denies that the Mexicans were acquainted with these superfluous hours 2; and he
further says, relying upon the authority of Sahqgun and his own knowledge of the Mexican mode of computing time, that the
Mexican paintings called Tonalamatl by the Indians, and Calendars by the Spaniards, were in reality arts of divination, and
improperly named calendars; for that the Mexican year contained 365 days, whilst the series of signs employed in the Tonal
arnatl amounted only to 260; the Mexican calendar used only four signs for the notation of days and years, and the Tonalamatl
made use of twenty: and finally, that time was divided amongst the Mexicans into lesser periods, not of thirteen, the number
found in the Tonalamatl, but of five days. In reference to the last argument, by which Torquemada endeavours to prove that
the Mexican paintings to which the Spaniards had given the name of Calendars were not really such, but arts of divination; viz.
that time was not divided by the Mexicans into lesser periods of thirteen parts; -- it is proper to observe, that a Mexican age (a
period consisting of 52 years) was divided by the Mexicans into four equal portions of thirteen years; so that thirteen was a
number used in the Mexican calendar: and if the days had been also so divided, this division would have only been analogous to

, In the Coptic calendar, which was derived from the ancient Egyptian, an intercalation every four years was also admitted.
If colonies bad proceeded from Alexandria to America, it is likely that they would have carried with them the Egyptian mode of
computing time, which was more correct than the old Roman reckoning.

2 Sahagun, in the following passage of the eighteenth chapter of the second book of his inedited History of New Spain, seems
to differ from Torquemada; since he says, without stating his doubt of a fact, which if it had been improbable in itself, or mere
ignorant conjecture, he would certailliy have done: -- "that it was conjectured that when they (the Mexicans) bored holes in the
ears of their male and female children, which custom was observed every four years, they intercalated six days of Nemontemi;
which is the same thing as the bissextile intercalation which we employ every four years." "Hay conjetur. que quando agugeraban
las orejas a los ninos, y ninas, que era de quatro en quatro afios, hechabal1 seis dias de Nemontemi; yes 10 mismo del
bisiesto que nosotros hacemos de quatro en quatro auos."




CODEX TELLER~ANO-REMENSIS. 105

that of the years. Neither was the computation of time and of the duration of the year (which reduced to writing or painting
constitutes a calendar, and which depends on astronomy and the observation of the stars,) so distinct in the beginning, from
astrology and the art of divination, as Sahagun seems tv suppose. The ehaldeans, the ancestors of the Jews, contemplated the
stars from the temple of Belus, and predicted by them the fortunes of men. Diodorus Siculus has preserved some curious opinions
of the ehaldeans respecting the stars; and it is unlucky that the book in which he had recorded various true predictions which
they had uttered to many famous kings and generals should have been lost. We may observe, that the number two thousand
seems to carry with it some strange fatality to religions, the most durable of all human institutions, (because founded on popular
prej udices,) as lesser numbers have been deemed to be fatal to the more ephemeral works of man. For about two thousand years
the fame of the Chaldeans resounded through Asia; for two thousand years the oracles were revered by the greatest heroes and
sages of the earth; for two thousand years the Jewish religion flourished either in Egyptian bondage or in a remote corner of
Palestine, scarcely even known to the other nations of the earth; and perhaps for nearly fifteen hundred years the American
altars, fragrant with incense and crimson with gore, failed only to draw down the indignation of Heaven, that by the continuance
of their sacrilegious rites those might he punished who permitted impiety, absurdity, and cruelty, to cross the threshold of the
Gods. Divination in Mexico was in as general use, and perverted to as mischievous purposes, as ever it was amongst the Jews, and
popular delusion was equally amongst both nations its main spring. It cannot be doubted that the Tonalpouqui, or fortune-tellers
of the Mexicans, -- a class of men highly esteemed by them, -- predicted with the assistance of the Tonalamati, or book of destiny,
the fortunes of children. But how, we may inquire, did the Mexicans become acquainted with that superstitious practice?

Torquemada, who does not allow that the Mexicans borrowed any of their analogous ceremonies and superstitious rites from the
Jews, nevertheless in treating, in the thirty-seventh chapter of the tenth book of his Indian Monarchy, of their art of divination,
expresses himself thus, "Seg"" doctrina falsa de estos diabolicos Rabinos;" by which he clearly shows the channel of his
thoughts. It is an undeniable fact that the Jews have in all ages been inclined to practise divination. Whilst other ancient nations
became famous for their learning; and the all-inquiring minds of the Grecian philosophers made philosophy rest on a solid basis,this
people, turning aside from the contemplation of nature, bestowed an their attention upon dreams, visions, omens, prophecies,
and their absurd and false interpretations: and their minds reverting to the early period of their own history, and to the signs
and wonders performed not only by Moses and by Aaron but by the magicians of Pharaoh, -- it is no wonder that divination,
necromancy, magic, and all kinds of superstition, should have engrossed so much of their attention: nor would it be surprising
if in after-times so credulous a people should have persuaded themselves, or have been persuaded by their priests, that Jehovah
was again present with them in an ark, animating them on to fresh victories, or that the American soil should have become the
theatre of their new exploits, and of an imposition which was this time to make them masters of an hemisphere. On reading
various books of the Old Testament, and especially that of Ezekiel, it is impossible to rise from their perusal and to meditate on
these curious pages of Jewish history, without involuntarily asking one's self the question, What kind of people were the Jews?
What were these visions true and vain which were continually perturbing their imaginations? and how shall we distinguish the true
from the false, since they (who were so accustomed to them) were unable to do so; as the prophet Ezekiel declares in the twelfth
chapter of his book. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the
land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I win
make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and
the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel."
This last line recalls to our recollection the Homeric verse, "BaO'IC' iOt oUAe OV€lpe (Jone; €7r1. lI'1al; AXatwv," where a false vision
is sent to deceive Agamemnon; and appearing to him while slumbering in his tent, induces him to suppose that he had only
to lead on his troops to the immediate conquest of Troy; "~~ 'lap 0'1';"p~(1€1V IIptal'ov 7TOAtV iJl'an K€lVW." It is very
remarkable that the Jews, who have been noted by one Roman satirist in that often quoted passage "Credat Juda",s Apelles,
non ego" for their credulity, should have been stigmatized by another (Juvenal), in his second satire for carrying on the trade
of professed fortune-tellers and diviners in his days in Rome. Beginning so early, they certainly had time to perfect the art
and to become adepts in it many centuries before the fifteenth. But if we critically investigate the progress of this curious
science amongst them, we shan find that the foundations of it were laid at a very early period of their history; since we read
in the forty-fourth chapter of Genesis, of Joseph's policy to stay his brethren in Egypt, and of his causing his divining cup and
every man's money to be put in his sack's mouth, wllence it might appear that they had stolen the money, and had the
policy to take the cup also, in order that he might not divine who the thieves were. And to this apparent theft the messenger
whom he sent after them alludes in the fifth verse of the same chapter; "Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh, and
whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing." It is not a little singular that the Mexicans should have made
use of a cup, in order that, by the mode of divination which Torquemada describes in the following passage of the forty-eighth
chapter of the sixth book of his Indian Monarchy, they might discover stolen goods, and who the thief was, and where





106 EXPLANATION OF THE

they were concealed; since it would argue some acquaintance with the history of Joseph. "Si perdian alguna cosa,
hacian ciertas hechicherias con unos maices, y miraban en un lebrillo de agua, y dicen que alii veian al que 10 tenia, la
casa adonde estaba; y si era cosa viva, y alii les hacia... tender, si era ya rouerta, 6 viva." "If they lose any thing they
practise a certain mode of divination by means of stalks of maize, and look into an earthen pitcher full of water, and
declare that they there see who has it, the house where it is; and if it was living property, that they there learn whether
it is already dead or alive." The Mexicans were not only extremely superstitious, but inclined to pay great respect to
lucky or unlucky omens; such as the screeching of the owl, the sneezing of a person in a company, the entrance of a rabbit
or a hare into a house, (which animals were considered by the Jews as unclean); with many other idle notions too numerous
to m<mtion, but which show that they partook largely of vulgar European prejudices.






----------------------------


CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 107


THE SECOND PART.

PLATE I. *

TONACACIQUA.

TONACACIQUA, otherwise Chicomecouatl, was she who caused famine: they named her Seven Serpents. +

God, Lord, Creator, Governor of the Universe, Tloque, Nauaque, Tlalticpaque, Teotlale-Matlava
Tepeva: -- all these epithets they bestowed on their god Tonacatecotle, who according to their 
account was the god who created the world; and they painted him alone with a crown, as lord of 
all. They never offered sacrifices to this god, for they said that he did not regard them. All the
others to whom they sacrificed, were men once on a time, or demons.

PLATE II.

QUECALCOATLE.

Quecalcoatlet is he who was born of the virgin, who was called on..... §, and in heaven
Chalchihuitztli, which means the precious stone of penance or of sacrifice. He was saved in the

-----
* The letters, b, m, and in, in the margin of the Plate, signify bueno, malo, and indifferente, (good, bad, and indifferent), and
determine by the ruling signs the good or evil fortune of the days.

+ The number seven is mentioned in Scripture in connection with abundance and scarcity. Pharaoh beheld in the dream which
Joseph interpreted to him, seven lean and seven fat kine, and seven full and seven withered ears of corn, emblematical of seven years
of plenty and seven of famine.

§ Two or three words are here obliterated; perhaps" on earth Chimalma,," would complete the sentence.

++ The Messiah is shadowed in the Old Testament under many types; such as those of a lion, a lamb, a roe, the morning star, (or
the planet Venus, otherwise called Lucifer,) the sun, light, a rock, a stolle, the branch 1, the vine, wine, bread, water, life, the way, and
he is there recognized in the triple character of a king, a priest, and a prophet. It is very extraordinary that Quecalcoatle, whom the
Mexicans believed equally to have been a king, a prophet, and a pontiff, should also have been named by them Ceyacatl, or the morning
star; Tlavizcalpantecutli, or light; Mexitli, or the vine, (fur Torquemada says that the core of the aloe, from which the Mexicans obtained
wine, was so called); Votan, or the heart, metaphorically signifying life; and Toyoliatlaquatl, "manjar de nuestra vida," bread,
(for his body made of dough was eaten by the Mexicans): and that the signs Ce Mazad, or one stag; Nahui 011 in, four earthquakes;
1 The branch was a very famous type of the Messiah, which is thuo mentioned by the prophet Zechariah, "Hear now, O Josbua,
the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant,
The BRANCH. For behold the stone I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the
graving thereof, sailh the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day." This passage of the third chapter of
Zechariah is very remarkable; and it is impossible not to connect the branch here personified, as the branch of the house of Israel, as
well as the prophecy of the Lord's slaying the dragon of the sea in the twenty-seventh chapter of Isaiah (which may mean




108 EXPLANATION OF THE

deluge, and was born in Zivenavitzcatl, where he resides. They call this the Fast of the Lords;
it lasted four days, that is to say, from the first day of Ocelotl * to Four Earthquakes. +

This fast was a kind of preparation for the arrival of the end of the world, which they said
would happen on the day of Four Earthquakes, so that they were thus in daily expectation of that
event.

-----
* Tierra is written under the sign of Ce Ocelotl, or One Tiger, which means that that sign was applied to the earth.

+ The sign of Nahui Ollin, or Four Earthquakes, was dedicated to Quecalcoatle, whose second advent, together with the end of the
world, the Mexicans expected would be on the same sign. The sign of the sun in Four Earthquakes, or in its four movements, as later
Spanish writers have wrongly explained temblores to signify, is found in the centre of the Mexican calendar which was discovered some
years ago in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico, and refers no doubt to that belief.

-----
and Orne Tochtli, two rabbits, -- should have been dedicated to him. As also that the fables of Quetzalcoatle, preparing the way for Tlaloc
(which some Spanish writers understand to allude to wind preceding the fall of rain); and of the flint which was thrown from heaven,
which breaking into pieces, the fragments were changed ioto as many heroes, should ha"e existed amongst the Mexicans, the latter of
which assimilates itself to the notion of God's raising up from the stones seed unto Abraham. The Mexican paintings afford some 
curious representation of the flint, or tequepatl, named by Acostafalmell, or the thunderbolt, giving as it were birth to children. And the
Jews still believe that Armillus Harascha, or Antichrist, will, or has been, born from a stone; which idea they may have borrowed from
Christ having called two of his disciples Boanerges, sons of thunder, which appellation some commentators suppose was given to them
because they wished to call down lightning from heaven, on a village that refused to receive the annunciation of the Gospel. That
something else, however, was alluded to by Quecalcoatle preparing the way for Tlaloc," besides wind preceding the fall of rain, may
be inferred from what Boturini says of Tlaloc, in the 98th page of his Idea of a New History of America, "Tlaloc era el secretario
de la Providencia, &c." "The Mexicans believed that Tlaloc was the secretary of Providence, who in his name wrote his laws in
lightning, and published them with thunder." Quecalcoatle was also represented under the figure ofTlatoca0geloti, which name signifies
the lion or the tiger of the human species. Other analogies, extending to all the symbols mentioned above, might be pointed out between
the types referring in the Old Testament to Christ, and the epithets bestowed by the Mexicans upon Quecalcoatle, in whose person
several of the ancient Hebrew prophecies relating to the Messiah are pretended to have been fulfilled. And if more of his history, and
the leviathan, as it seems to be elsewhere called in Scripture; but is certainly not the whale, which is one of the most hannless
inhabitant, ot the ocean), with the paintings contained in the eighty-ninth and ninety-sixth pages of the lesser Vatican MS.: the last of
which represents Queca1coatle in the act of slaying some formidable sea-monster covered with scales. The Jews apply the line in
Scripture, It He shall slay the dragon which is in the sea," to their expected Messiah; and they believe that that will be his last great
exploit, and that the flesh of this sacrificed monster will be eaten at a great feast, to which he will only invite their nation. The stories
of the Rabbis are in general absurd, and the frequent allusions which they make in the Talmud to animals which have no real existence,
betray their ignorance of natural history; which need not, however, excite our surprise, since the Egyptians, a much wiser people,
believed in the phoenix; and even long after Aristotle had composed his celebrated work on Natural History at the request of
Alexander the Great, many Christian philosophers maintained that such imaginary beings did really exist; although, as they argued,
much of the globe being undiscovered, and the torrid zone from its heat separating by an insuperable barrier one half of mankind from the
rest, -- the place of their habitation, like the site of the Terrestrial Paradise (in which they also, as well as the Mexicans, believed; the latter
naming it Xochitlycacan, literally the garden), might remain unknown. The Mexicans, as it appears from the symbol of the
city of Tuchconco contained in the fiftieth plate of the Collection of Mendoza, had formed to themselves an idea of an animal with a
horn rising from its forehead, that, unlike the unicorn, which is a fabulous creature, between a horse and a deer, seems to have been
of the rabbit or of the deer species only. The name of the city, as well as the form of the head of the animal which was its symbol,
seems to point out that it belonged to the fonner class; and the other is merely suggested, because in Mexican paintings the head of the
mazatl, or deer, is often very like that of the rabbit; and it is said. on very vague rumour, that in Thibet a species of deer or antelope
exists with a single horn which grows from its forehead, which is exceedingly wild and difficult to catch. It must be admitted that the
ancient paintings of the Mexicans are replete with Jewish images and conceptions. It has already been observed, that eyes, 'which are
mentioned in several of the prophetical books of the Old Testament as mysteriously belonging to both animate and inanimate objects,
are frequently found in these paintings, divested alike of all use and propriety of situation. Many words likewise occur in the Mexican
language, which are strangely compounded of yx, the eye, as for example, Yxteocalli. On one of their festivals the Mexicans made a
cake with the symbolical representation of eyes, to which perhaps the symbol of the city Cuezcomayxtlahuacan, represented in the
fifteenth plate, No. 19, of the Collection of Mendoza, may refer.



CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 109

Quecalcoatle was he who they say created the world; and they bestowed on him the appellation
of lord of the wind, because they said that Tonacatecotli, when it appeared good to him, breathed

-----
of the actions of his life had been preserved, we cannot tell where those analogies would have ceased. Isaiah says, "Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son." The Mexicans asserted that Quecalcoatle was born of the virgin Chimalillan. And he adds, in the
verse immediately following; "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good:' The cakes,
called Uologopale, which were made of honey and eaten on the festival of Quecalcoatle, might bear some allusion to this incomprehensible
prediction. From the little that has been preserved of the life of Quecalcoatle, it would appear that he was very anxious to
verify, in his own person, some of the ancient prophecies relating to the Messiah; and that for this purpose he went about studiously
performing certain actions, by which they might appear to be fulfilled. The Jews refer the fourth verse of the third chapter of the
Lamentations of Jeremiah, "My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones," -- to the Messiah (which they
perhaps have been the more inclined to do, because Christians declare, that Scripture had foretold that not a bone of him should be
broken). In connection with the former of these predictions, the following passage of the twenty-fourth chapter of the sixth book of
Torquemada's Indian Monarchy, which treats of the life of Quecalcoatle, is deserving of consideration, "llegando a un lugar que
se llama Quauhtitlan, estaba alii un arbol grande, grueso, y mui crecido, y arrirnandose fA. el, pidio a. uno de sus pajes un espejo, y
mirandose en el, vi dose mas viejo de 10 que antes era, y dijo f Ya estoi,·iejo,' y por esto se nombr6 desde entances aquel lugar
Huehuequauhtitlan, que quiere decir junto al arbol viejo, 6 de el viejo; y toruando piedras apedreo el arbol, y todas las metia dentro del
troneo, que permanecieron asi por muchisimos alios. Paso de este lugar, y por todo el camino que iba Ie iban tanendo Bautas, y
otros instrumentos muchas de I., gentes que llevaba; lleg6 a otro que es un cerro junto del pueblo de Tlalnepantla, do, leguas de esta
ciudad de Mexico, donde se sento en una piedra, y puso las manas en ella, y las dejo estampadas que hasta el dia de oi se yen las
senales de todo en ella." It Coming to a place named Quauhtitlan, where was a large, thick and lofty tree, leaning on the trunk of it he
desired one of his pages to give him a mirror. which lOOking into, and perceiving himself older than he before was, he exclaimed, I I have
become old;' whence the place was ever afterwards named Huehuequauhtitlao, which signifies I close to the old tree, or to the tree of
the old mao;' and gathering up stones from the ground, he flung them at the tree I, and lodged them all in the trunk, where they remained
many years. From this place he passed on, and was accompanied on the whole of the way by a great multitude of people, who followed
him playing flutes and other instruments. He arrived at another place, which was a hill adjoining the city of TlalnepantIa, two leagues
distant from this city of Mexico, where he sat clown on a stone, and laid his hands upon it, and left their impression there; the marks of
which are at the present day quite visible." How many incidents, analogous to those which are related in the Gospels of Christ, occur
in this short passage; -- the withered fig tree; the crowd which followed him, strewing branches in his way, and singing hosannas; his
custom of sitting down on the ground and discoursing to the people; the disciples by which he was attended; the halt, lame, and
deformed persons ?i, who pressed round him to be cured; and his laying on of hands, -- all present themselves to the imagination. The
impressions of hands and feet are found in various parts of America engraved upon rocks, and are frequently associated by ancient
traditions with the preaching of some religious missionary, who left that sign behind him. If the Indians had been acquainted with the
following verses of the nineteenth chapter of Job, they could scarcely have exhibited a greater predilection for sculpturing figures and
hieroglyphics, upon rocks, than they did: "Oh that my words were now written. Oh that they were printed in a book; that they
were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth." The signs of One Cane and of Nahui Ollin, or Four Earthquakes, which were both dedicated to Quecalcoatle, -- and
the latter of which alluded, according to Mexican mythology, to the day of judgment and the end of the world, -- were frequently
engra, -- ed by the Mexicans upon stones and rocks; and that of Nahui Ollin occupies the centre of the large stone usually designated the
Mexican calendar, which is fixed to one of the sides of the cathedral church of Mexico, and which also comprises the other signs of
the days of the year. The following extract from the inedited History of Chille, by Rosales, contains a curious account of footsteps,
accompanied with an inscription, which were sculptured on a rock, in Chille: II Plantc Valdivia su campo en e1 valle de Mapocho,

-----
1 Sahagun in the fourteenth chapter of the third book of his Universal History of New Spaill, says, that it was an arrow which
Quecalcoatle fired at the tree: II Y en otro lugar tiro con una saeta a un arhol grande, que se llama Pochutl, y atraves~le con la dicha
saeta, y asi estaba hecha una cruz." "In another place he fired an arrow at a large tree, named a Pochutl, and pierced it through with
the said arrow, which thus formed a cross." Torquemada informs us that the Pochutl was a tree which the Spaniards named the
Ceyba, and that it was very large, and of spreading foliage: "arbol que llaman Pochotl, qlle los Castellanos llaman Ceyba, que es
mui grande, y l11ui copado." It does not appear to have borne any rruit to which the Mexican appellation Pochutl would seem to allude;
since this name probably signifies barren, being derived from ychpochtli virginity, the latter part of which word communicates an
analogous sense to its derivatives, one of which was telpuchtli.

*Quecalcoatle is said to have been attended by many deformed persons and crook-backs, corcovados, on his road to Cholula.




110 EXPLANATION OF THE

and begot Quecalcoatle. They erected round temples to him, without any corners. They said that
it was he, (who was also the lord of the thirteen signs which are here represented), who formed the

-----
qu~ propriamente se llama Mapuche, que quiere dccir valle de gente, por la mucha que en el avia; y de ay toma el esse nombre, mas
103 Espanoles, y el tiempo, han corrompido eJ vocablo, y en lugar de Mapuche, le Haman Mapocho. Dio buelta al valle, mirando los
assic;mtos, y la hermosura de sus campanas, y llanura, que es de los rnejores y mas fertiles valles del reina, fecundado de un rio que
liberal reparte sus aguas por diff'erentes sangrias, para que todos rieguen sus sembrados. Y pareciendole seT el lugar mas acomodado
donde Loncomilla le dezia, pablo la ciudad de Santiago en el sitio donde oy esta; cui a fundazion fue It doze de Febrero de 15'l1;
pidiendo II nuestro Sefior gracia para estender y entabler la fee entre aquella gente; y II catorce Caciques que aBi le dim'on la paz, raga
Ie ayudassen para hazer alli una casa de oracion del dios verdadero, que esta en los cielos, y erio el universe, dcode se celebrassen los
divinos officios; y para persuadirles a ello, les traxo a la memoria la honra que se debe al culto divino, y al verdadero dios; a. que Ie
respondieron, que ya tenian noticia de que avia un dios que abitaba en los cielos; porque avian oydo dezir a sus antepassados, que
antiguamente avia estauo un hombre maravilloso en esta tierra, con barba crezida, y con ojotas calzadas, y manta, al modo que eUos
traian SUB mantas sobre los hom bros; el qual hazia muchos milagros, sanaba enfermos con agua, hazia lIover, y crezer las plantas,
y los sembrados, y con un soplo hazia encender fuego, y otras maraviUas, sanando de repente a los enfermos, y dando vista a los ciegos;
yen Ia lengua de esta tierra hablava con tanta propriedad y elegancia, como si siempre hubiera estado en ella, con palabras mui
dukes, y nuevas para elIas: diziendoles que en 10 alto de los cielos estaba el criador de todas las cosas, y que tenia consigo mucha
cantidad de hombres y mugeres que. resplalldecian como el sol, y que a poco tiempo se fue al Peru; y asi muchos a imitacion del habito
y ojotas que este varon usaba, las traen entre ellos calzadas, y la manta suelta sobre los hombros, 6 prendida en el pecho, 6 par las
puntas anudada: Par donde se infiere que este varon era algun apostol, cuio nombre no saben. Quedo admirado Valdivia de esta
relacion, y conociendo que Dios Ie tomaba a el par iustrumento, para volver a planter Ia fee que el santo Apostolo avia predicado en
este reino; y perdiose la Doticia de ella par la injuria de los tiempos, 6 por los pec.:cados de sus habitadores. Y confirma esta noticia
de aver venido algun Apostolo a este reino a predicar el santo Evangelio, una cosa maravillosa, que hasta oy persevera en el valle de
Taurua, donde esta una piedra de yara y media de alto, y dos de largo, en la qual estan estampadas las huellas de un hombre con
ojotas, que en la piedra deja ympressa,; y sin duda sabre ella se subia II predicar It los Indios de aqueJ valle, y deja las plantas
ympressas; y demas de esto, en Ia frente de la piedra escribio tres renglones, abiertas las Ietras, en la pena, yean caracteres que no
ay quien los entienda, ni sepa explicarlos. Y aviendolos hecho sacar, y copiar fielmente el Padre Joseph Maria Adamo de la compafiia
de Jeflus, missionero de Ia provincia de Cuio, y que a trabaxado much as ailos gloriosamente en la conversion de los Indios
de aquella provincia, las embio a tres padres de la provincia, noticiosos en lengua, al Padre Angelo de Magistris a Cordova, al Padre
Conine al Peru, y al Padre Nicolas Mascardi a Chiloe, y ninguno acerto a leer las, conque hasta ahara no se sabe su significado." ]n
an old Life of Saint Patrick, contained in the Book of Armagh, and lately published by Sir William Betham, the impression of footsteps
visible in a rock in Ireland is also mentioned, which were left there by an angel who frequently appeared to that Saint. "Aliquanrlo
sues custodiens perdidit eas, et angelus veniens ad eum, sues indicavit illi; aliquando etiam angelus illi loquens, multa illi dixit; et
postquam illi locutus est, pedem super petram ponens illsci1'it, in montem Miss coram se ascendit; vestigia, pedes angeli, in petra
huc usque manentia cernuntur, et in iUo loco XXX vicibus ad eum locutus est."

It is highly probable that the mysterious personage who appeared to the Indians of the valley of ?'faurua was a missionary; but
whether he was a Christian missionary or an agent of Jewish proselytism, may be doubted: his pretended miracles were certainly gross
frauds upon the credulity of an ignorant and superstitious people. But the story of his kindling fire with his breath, recalls to our
recollection a passage in Basnage's History of the Jews', in which that writer says that Barchochobas, 'the famous Jewish impostor, who
lived in the reign of the Emperor Adrian, did precisely the same thing, in order to persuade the Jews that he was the Messiah, and the
star which Balaam had seen afar off, and of which be prophesied, as recorded in the twenty-fourth chapter of Numbers, Ver. 15-19.
It And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the mall whose eyes are open hath said: He hath
said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into
a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of
Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edam
shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession fur his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that
shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.': a This man having undertaken to persuade the Jews that he was
the Messiah, did three thing' that facilitated the success of his enterprise: I. He changed his name, and took that of the Son of the Star
or Barchochobas, in order to have it believed that he was the star that Balaam had seen afar off. He maintained that he was one of
the stars of heaven, sent to succour the people, and retrieve them from the oppresfion under which they groaned. 2. It was perhaps
to confirm this notion that he cast out fire and flame from his mouth when he spoke. At least, Saint Jerome has said that he had the
art of deceiving the people by means of some lighted tow, by which he seemed to vomit fire. S. He made choice of a fore-runner, of
the same character with himself, who was very assistant to him in these designs." -- Basnage's Iiistory clj' the Jews, lib. vi. cap. ix.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 111

first man. They celebrated a festival, on the sign of Four Earthquakes, to the destroyer, with
reference to the fate which again awaited the world; for they said that it had undergone four
destructions, and that it would again he destroyed.'" He alone had a human body like that of men,
the other gods were of an incorporeal nature.

" The word olra was undoubtedly followed by vez, in the obliterated text of the MS., the sense of which is here supplied.
p.g.515. All will agree with Saint Jerome, that it was no very difficult thing to deceive the people; and cerlainly, if the Jews had
penetrated, as it may be proved to demonstration that they did, in remote ages to the continent of America, it cannot be doubted that
they would have found it an easy task to deceive the Indians, and firmly to establish amongst them their exploded rites, and the
abolished institutions of the Old Law. But the secret, the consequences of which if openly divulged could not have been calculated,
that the Spaniards did discover, on their first arrival in the continent of America, Judaism in a most monstrous form, mixed
with all kinds of abominations, as of old was the case in Palestine, which like some noxious weed had attained an exuberant
growth, that cast a deadly shade over the fairest provinces of the New World, -- the policy of the age, and of the Spanish court,
(where the highest dignitaries of the church occupied likewise the chief places in the cabinet,) firmly resolved to consign to everlasting
oblivion. It cannot, however, be supposed that the true stale of the case, of which the Pope became immediately apprised,
exercised no influence upon his conduct, and upon that of some of his immediate successors, or might have had no share in paving
the way for the Reformation. Alexander the Sixth was the pontiff who then sat in the chair of Saint Peter: and as, in modern times,
secret articles are sometimes found to have been inserted in treaties, without even the knowledge of all of the high contracting
parties, what secret stipulations might not the court of Rome have made with Spain, when, in the plenitude of long.recognised and
revered power, she granted to her nearly the whole of the New World, or what relurn could have been too great for an obedient daughter
of the Church to have made to show her gratitude for such a girt lOne clause in the bull of Alexander the Sixth, which annexed the
Indies to the Crown of Spain, is very remarkable: it is, that in which a papal ordinance seconded the civil enactment of the Spanish
law, which was immediately framed on the discovery of America, commanding that none but Spaniards should be permitted to visit its
shores: "Ac quibuscumque personis cujuscumque dignitatis, etiam imperialis et regalis status, gradus, ordinis, vel cOllditionis, sub
excommunicationis latoo senten tire pcenfi., quam eo ipso (si contra fecerint) incurrant, districtius inhibemus, ne ad insulas, et terras-firmas
inventas, et inveniendas, detectas, et detegendas, versus Occideotem et Meridiem, fabricando, et construendo unam lineam a Polo Arctico,
ad Polum Antarcticum, sive terrre.. firmre insulre inventre, et inveniendre sint, versus Indiam, aut versus aliam quamcumque partern, qure
linefi. distet a quaJibet insularum, qure vulgariter nuncupa~tur de los Afores, et Caboverde, centum leucis versus Occidentem, et
Meridieru, (lit prrefertur) pro mercibus habendis, vel qudvis alia de causa, accedere prresumant, absque vestrft, ac hreredum et successorum
vestrorum prredictorum licentifi. speciali:" Gomara says, that during the life of Queen Isabella, Castilians were only allowed to pass over
to America, and no Aragonese, except by her licence and express command-" No consentia pasar a elias (Indias) sino a Castellanos;
e si algun Aragones aHa yva, era con su licencia y espreso mandamiento." It is evident, from the provision which was made, that no
Spaniard whatsoever should proceed to America without first obtaining a licence, and registering his name at Seville; that Spain was
very jealous even of her own subjects going thither; and as she absolutely forbade lawyers, surgeons, and clerks, (under which latter
denomination all persons of studious habits and pursuits, and of an inquiring turn of mind, might be included,) as well as Jews, Moors,
and heretics, and persons suspected by the Inquisition, and even the descendants of such, to the third generation, to visit the New
World; it would appear, that, whether or no she wished to conceal from Europe a fact which she feared might shake its institutions, shock
and confound the prejudices of ages, and remodel its laws, she took all the precautions which she could have done if she really had
entertained such a fear. With respect even to the admission of ecclesiastics into America, it was very sparing in the beginning; four
years elapsed after the destruction of the empire of Montezuma, before the first twelve preachers of the Gospel were sent to New Spain:
and the reason of this delay is not satisfactorily explained. Cortes wrote himself to the Emperor, either spontaneously, or, as is much
more probable, at the suggestion of others, who were nearer his person, to request that he would send neither bishops or secular clergy to
that quarler of the globe; but that the charge of converting the Indians should be entrusted to the two regular orders of the Dominicans
and the Franciscans; and that the Pope should be supplicated to grant to him the proceeds of the tylhe, on his cODsenting to take upon
himself the expense of building churches and providing for the minislers of the Gospel. The result oflhis letter was, "that the Emperor
would not permit, during the whole course of his reign, (which lasted longer than thirty years,) that and of the secular clergy should pass
over to America, with the exception of some particular persons, who had been strictly examined, although some others secretly and privily
found their way thither." But the Pope did not equally approve of the plan of Cortes, which proposed the surrendering the tythe, or of
delegating to others than bishops the powers and privileges of the church. The letter of Corles to the Emperor is so curious, that we
here subjoin it, with the observations ofTorquemada upon it, which follow.

"Todas las veCeS, que a V. S. M. he escrito, he clicho a V. Alte<;., el aparejo, que ai en alguoos de los Naturales, de estas ParIes, para
se convertir a nuestra Santa Fe Catolica, y ser Christianos, y he embiauo, a suplicar a V. C. M. para ello, mandase proveer de Personas




112 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE III.

They believed that he who was born on the ninth sign of aIr would be free and rich, and that
although he might be of low origin, he would arrive at great offices in the state.

-----
Religiosas, de buena Vida, y Egemplo: y porque hasta agora han venido mui pocos, 0 casi ningunos, y es eiecta, que haria grandisimo
feuta, 10 torna a traer a la memoria a V. A. Y Ie suplieo 10 mande proveer, con toda brevedad, porque de ello Dios N uestra Seil?f sera
::;crvido, y se cumplira el deseo, que V. A., en este Casa, como CalolicoJ tiene. Y porque con los Procuradores Antonio de Quinones,
y Alonso de A,·il., los Concejos, de las Villas de esta Nueva-Espana, y Yo, embi.mos a V. M. mand.se proveer de Obispos, "otros
Prelados, para la Administracion de los Oficios, y Culto Divino; y entonces parecionos, que asi convenia: Aora. mirandolo bien, hame
parecido, que V. S.. M. 10 debe mandar proveer de olm manera, para que los Naturales de estas Parte~, mas aina se conviertan, y puedan
ser instruidos en las cosas de nuestra Santa Fe Catolica; y la manera, que a Mi en este Caso me parece, que se debe tener, es, que
V. S. M. mande, que vengan, a estas Partes, mucha" Personas Religiosas (como yahe dicho) y mui zelosas de este fin, a la Conversion de
estas Gentes; y que de estos ~e hagan Casas, y Monasterios, por las Provincias, que aea nos pareciere. que eonviene; y que a estos se
les de de los Diezmos, para hacer sus Casas, y sustener sus Vidas; y 10 demas, que restare de elios, sea para las Iglesias, y Ornamentos de
los Pueblo~, clonde estuvieren los Espaiioles, y para Clerigos, que los sirvan: y que estos Diezmos los cobren los Oficiales cle V. M.
y tengan cuenta, y rayon cle elIos, y provean de eUos, a los clichos Ministl'os, e Iglesias, que bastara para todo, y aun sobrara harto, de
que V. M. se puede servir; y que V. A. suplique a su Santidad, coneeda a V. 1l1. los Diezmos de estas Partes, para este efecto,
haciendole entender, el sen'icio, que aDios Nuestro Scoor se hace, en que csta Gente seconvierta, y que esto no se podia hacer, sino par
esta via: Porque avielldo Obispos, !I Prelados, no dfljarian de seguir La costurnbl'e, que pOl' nuest1'OS jJecados oi ticnen algunos, en disponer
de los bienes de la Iglesia, que es gastarlos ell ]Jompas,!J ell otras cosas, '!I en deja1' 11Jaiorasgos a SllS Parientes. Y aun seria otro maior
mal, que como los Naturales dc estas Partes, tenian en sus Templos Personas Religios3s, que entendian en sus Rito~, y Ceremonias;
3J estos eran tan recogidos (assi en lionestidad, como en Castidad) que si algulla cosa,jilera de-esto, a a[gullo, Ie sentian, era ptlllido con
pena de jJfuerte: Si agora vie,~en las cosas de la Iglesia, y Servicio de Dios, en poder de Canonigos, y otras Dignidades, Y sllpiesen, que
aqueUos eran. 1I1iltistros de Dios, '!J los viesen «sar de la pl'cifallidad, que agora, en lluestros tiempos, en esos Rei1ws «san, se1'fa mellospreciar
1luestra £2, y tenerla pOl' cosa de bllrla; y ser'ia tan gran dana, que 710 cret) ap1'oveclJal'ia ningulla olra pl'edicacion, que se les hiciese.
Y pues tanto en esto va (y la principal intencion de V. M. es, y debe ser, que estas Gentes se con vier tan; y los que aca en su Real
Nombre residimos, 1a c1ebemos seguir, y como Christianos tener de eno especial cuidado, he querido en esto, avisar a V. C.l\I. y decir
en ello mi Parecer, el qunl suplico a V. IV£. reciba, como de Persona, Subdito, y Vasallosuio: Que asi, como con las fuer<;as corporales,
trabajo, y trabajare, que los Reinos, y Seuorios de V. M. pOl' cstas Partes se ensanehen, y su Real Fama, y gran poder, entre estas
Gentes se publique: asi de~eo, y trabajare con el Alma, para que V.A. en elias mande sembrar nucstra Santa Fe; porque par ella merezca
la Bienan2:nturanc;a de la Vida perpetua. Y porque para hacer ordenes, y bendecir Iglesias, Ornamentos, Olio, y Chrism a, y otras casas,
no aviendo Obispos, seria dificultoso ir a buscar el remedio de elias, a otras Partes: Asimismo V. M. debe suplicar a su Santidad, que
conceda su poder, y sean su:; Subdelegados, en estas Parte~, las dos Personas principales, que a eUas viniercn; uno de la Orden de San
Francisco; y otro de )a de Santu Domingo, los quales tcngan los mas largos Poderes, que V. M. pudiere; porque por sel' estas Tierras
tan apartadas de la Igl esia Romana, y los Christiallos, que cn elias re::,idimos, y residiercn, tan lejos de los Remedios de nuestras
Conciencias, y como humanos tan sujetos it. pecado, ai Ilecesidad, que en esto su Santidad, con nosotros, se esticnda, en dar a e~tas
Personas mui largos Poderes; y los tales Poderes succedan cn las Personas, que siempre residan en estas Partes, que sea cn el General,
que ruere, en estas Tierras, y en el Provincial de cada una de estas Ordenes."
II Este Capitulo de Carta quadro mucho al Emperador; porque lo 71lismo leacollsejaron en Espana, las Personas, que cOl1sulto sobre esle
Negocio, en particular dos Hermanos, lIaruados los Coroneles, Famosisimos Letrados, los quales, a pedimento, y mandado de su Magestad,
hicieron una Instruccion, y Doctrina mui dacta, y curiosamt:nte ordenada, de como se les a\'ia de dar a entender, a estos Indios las casas
de Iluestra Fe y l\1isterios de ella, por manera de Historia. conforme a la Relacion, que tenian de su capacidari, y (como he clicho)
aconsejaron a1 Emperador, que para su Conversion embiase Ministros, que no recibiesen de ellos, sino sola la simple comida,
y vestuario; porque de otra manen, no harian en ellos fruto alguno espiritual; y asi 10 cumplio con grandisimo cuidado, como adelante
se vera: y no pel'mitio ell todo el tiempo que despues reino (quefue7'on mas de treinta Arios) que pasaselt a. estas Partes Clerigos Seculares,
sino [uese algun Pal'licular, !J mui e:raminalZo: puesto que algunos otros pasa1'ol1 a escondidas, '!I ocultamente. Solo en 10 de los
Diezmol31 y en dejar de venir Obispos, no pOllia a\'er efecto Ia trac;a, que Cortes dava; porque, ni el Summo Pontifice concediera los
Diezmos, de aquella suerte, ni eran roenester para los 1vJinistros, que a1 principio venian3 pues eran Frailes Observantisimos de
San Francisco, y ni elias los recibieran, ni pudieran (aunque quisieran) segun su RegIa, y Profesion, que aunque pudiera hacer
esta dispensacion el Vicario de Christo, eran eUos tan Pobres, y deseosos de serlo, que 710 admitieran Diezmos por 7ling-una 11Wlleta
del lIfulldo."




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 113

After the deluge for a long period of time they sacrificed in this manner, * and did not kill men.

-----
* They merely drew blood from their tongues and ears, which the Spaniards called sacrificing those parts.

The principal reasons which lead us to the conclusion that the Spaniards on their arrival in America discovered judaism, either more
or less tinctured with other idolatrous rites and ceremonies (to which it seems in the course of ages to have given birth), to have been
the prevailing religion of the people of that continent, are the following: First: the admission of the uest informed Spanish historians,
who were ecclesiastics, that the Indians generally throughout the continent of America had some knowledge of the true God: this
was a great admission on their part, because it was opposed to their own prejudices, and to those of the age in which they lived, which
was only inclined to view, in the exact resemblance which many of the Indian rites and ceremonies bore to the Levitical institutions
and the ordinances of the old law, an excess of presumption in Satan which could thus lead him to imitate God. It,;vas likewise
opposed to the prejudices of former ages; we may even say, to those which Christianity itself had imbibed from Judaism, (which,
though forced to admit that in the beginning man was not created without some knowledge of the true God, affirmed at the same time
that that knowledge was speedily lost by the other nations of the earth, and only preserved in the line of their own virtuous patriarchs;)
for the early fathers would not acknowledge that under the Dame of Jove, the god to whom the philosophers of Greece and Rome
attributed every perfection with which it was possible for human conception to invest divinity, the Supreme Being was really adored;
although to surpass the idea which they formed of him, not narratives of miracles and prodigies wrought in favour of one nation in
particular, or of all mankind in general, since they would not aggrandize the notion of preconceived omnipotence, but some new idea,
according to the theory of Locke, infused into the understanding, would.absolutely be requisite. Torquemada affirms in the following
passage of the thirty-third chapter of the sixth book of his Indian Monarchy, that the Indians of America had some knowledge of the
true God: it Par esta manera, y suerte iba la religion, en quanto a los Dioses de tadas las nacianes que avia en tad as las provincias
que avemos Dombrada, y otras que dejamos de nombrar, que corren par muchas leguas, hasta entrar en los reinos del Peru, donde mas,
clonde menos, y casi la maior parte de este orbe, tielle algun conocimiento de el verdadet'o Dios; pero este mezclado, y ofuscado con el
del Demonio, al qual adoraron, y reconocieron, como aDios, segun 10 mas, 0 menos, que del mismo Dios verdadero, Senor Nuestro,
Ie fue permitido." "This was the fashion of their religion, as regards the gods of all those nations which were worshiped in all the
provinces which we have named, and in others which we have omitted to mention, which extend oyer many leagues of territory, until we
come to the kingdom of Peru, with some shades of difference; and the greater part of this continent has some knowledge of the true God;
but mixed up and obscured with that of the Devil, whom they worshiped and acknowledged as God, in different degrees, accordingly as
was permitted by the same true God, our Lord." Torquemada had supposed, in the preceding chapter, that the custom of placing the
images of their ancestors in their houses and temples, had given rise, in some provinces of America, to idolatry; and he corroborates, by
this supposition, the assertion of the interpreter of the Vatican Codex, that the seven tribes that proceeded from the seven caves to
colonize America, worshiped the several founders of their respective lineages. He in another chapter incidentally relates a very
curious fact, that Cabe<;a de Vaca and some other Spaniards travelling through some unknown provinces of America, arrived amongst
certain Indians, who, on being questioned as to their religion, informed them that they worshiped one God, the Creator of llea'l.'en and
eart"; and being further asked from whom they derived that doctrine, they replied, from their ancestors, who had handed it down by
tradition to them, when the Spaniard. bid them persevere in the faith which they professed.
Cogolludo says, in his Iiistorg of Yucatan, "Creian los Indios de Yucathan, que avia un Dios unico, vivo, y vel'dadero, que dezian ser
el mayor de los dioses, y que no tenia figura, ni se podia figurar par ser incorporeo. A este llama ban Hunab Ku, como se haHa ell su
Vocabulario grande, que comiensa con nuestro Castellano. De este dezian, que procedian todas los cosas, y como a incorporeo, no Ie
adoraban con imagen alguna, ni della tenian, (como se dize en otra parte,) que tenia un hijo It quien lIamaban Hun Ytzamna, 0
Yaxcocahmut. Este parece ser el que aquel senor dixo al c1erigo Hamado Francisco Hernandez. No solo supieron aquellos religiosos
(referidos en el capitulo antecedente) 10 que se ba dicho; pero que tambien tenian, y usaban los Indios de Yucathan confession vocal
de pecados, semejante en alga al santo sacramento de la penitencia, y algunas otras ceremollias de la Iglesia catolica. De 10 que se
confessaban, era de algunos pecados graves, y a quien los dezian era el sacerdote, 6 medico, y la Dluger al mariclo, y este a la muger.
El que avia servido de ruinistro de la confession, publicaba los pecados, que se Ie avian clicho, entre los parientes, y esto para que todos
pidiessen aDios le luessell perdonados, para 10 qual hazian oracion particular. En un papel antigua, dize el Padre Lizana, que hallo,
que para este fin no buscaban Dios alg1l11O de los que adoraban, mas que solo llamaban a Dios COli mltchos SUSpi7'OS, dizielldo Kue, que
es 10 mismo que Dios, y oy vemos, que el dezir aDios Ku esta de la misma manera introduzido en esle tiempo, porque en su lengua Ku
es 10 mismu que Dios en nuestra Castellana, y no senala Dios alguno de los que 'Vanamente ado,.aban los gentiles sino el solo Dios, que
10 es verdadero. Aunque e::;te modo de oracion cun esta circ'Wlsta1lcia parece especial de los Indios Yucathecos, pero no 10 de la
confession vocal, que otras naciones de la Nueva Espana la hazian, como refiere Torquemada en diversas partes, y Remesal dize de los
Indios de Chiapa, pero unos ni otros obraban con tan buen fin, como los Y ucathecos. Avia entre estos Indios noticia alguna del






114 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE IV.

TEPEOLOTLEC.

This name refers to the manner in which the earth was preserved after the deluge. The sacrifices
of these thirteen days were not deemed good; they might be interpreted in Spanish, sacrifices of dung. *


-----
* This name is compounded of Tepee a mountain, and Yolotle a heart. The Mexicans believed that the deluge ceased at the sound
of the echo proceeding from the heart of the mountains.

The figure of Tepeolotlec at first appears to be a tiger, but on nearer examination it proves to be a mao clothed in a tiger's skin,
whose head appears between tl,e jaws of that animal, and whose feet are also visible. This mode of representing the human species
disguised almost completely in the animal form, was peculiar to the Mexican school of painting and sculpture. Amongst the drawings
of M. Dupaix will be found a piece of sculpture resembling a bat, but which in reality is a human body immured within the skin of ODe,
of which the face is the only part visible. Tepeolotlec is also said to have been the voice or echo, at the sound of which the waters of
the deluge ceased; and since the Jews attribute very miraculous effects to the daughter voice, which they say they received when
prophetic inspiration was withdrawn from them, a deluge may only mean sin spreading over the face of the earth, Of, understood
literally, water by which sin was cleansed away and ceased, (for the Mexicans, like the Jews, considered water a great purifier; and the
water of regeneration was the name which the inhabitants of Yucatan gave to that with which they baptized their children.) Tepeolotlec
may have been the voice of Totec, who clothed in a raiment of skin ascended the mountain of thorns, which, perhaps, was also named
Tezcatepec, and from theDce called to the people to come and do penance with him, aDd.to repent of their sins. Many ages may create
great confusion in old traditions, especially when the vehicle by which they have been transmitted to posterity has been such an imperfect
one as allegorical paintings. It deserves further to be remarked, that in the Codex Telleriano-Remen,is the figure of Tepeolotlec or
Tescaulutli, (both which proper names signify the "eart of the mountain,) immediately precedes, in the proper order of the Mexican
Calmdar, that of Quecalcoatle instituting sacrifices. It is not easy to explain why the symbols of some of the Apostles should have been
wild and ferocious animals, since the lion of Saint M ark and the dragon of Saint George breathe nothing of Christian persuasion.
t Compare Ezekiel, chapter the fourth, verses 14 &. 1.5.
infierno, y parayso, /) a 10 menos, que en el otro mundo despues de esta presente vida eran castigados los malos con muchas penas en
lugar obscuro, y los buenos eran premiados en deleytosos, y agradables sitios, y en esta razon teniao casas por ciertas, que les obligaban
a no pecar, y saber pedir perdon, si pecaban, y tambien tenian tradicion de que el mundo se avia de acabar. Hablaban can el Demonio,
it quien 11amaban Xibilba, que quiere dezir el que se desaparece, /) desvanece. Tenia" fabulas muy pe1judiciales de la creaciml del
mundo, y alguno, (despues que supieron) las hiziero" escrivir, y guardaball aUlI ya c"ristianos bautitados, y las leia1l en sus juntas. El
Doctor Aguilar re6ere en su informe, que tuvo un cartapacio de estos, que quito a un maestro de capilla, Bamado por sobrenombre
Cuytun del pueblo de Zucop, el qual se Ie huyl>, y nunca 10 pudo aver, paT<! saber el origen de este su Genesis. Recien venido yo de
Espana, oi dezir a un religioso Ham ado Fr. Juan Gutierrez, y era gran lengua de estos Indios, que avia vista otTO escl'ilo semejant.e al
die"o, y que en et iratando de la formacion del primer "ombre se dezia, que avia sido formado de tierra y zacate, I> pajas delgadas, y que
la carne y huessos se avian hecho de la tierra, yel cabello, barba, y pelo, que ay en el cl1erpo, era de las pajas 0 zacate, con que se avia
mezc1ado la tierra. No me acuerdo de mas singularidad, que si entonces yo presumiera aver de escrivir €sto en algun tiempo, fuera
possible huviesse tenido nolicia de otros muchos desaciertos como el referido. Dize el Padre Lizana, que avia assimismo matrimonio
muy natural entre estos Indios,porque jamas se Ies consilltio tener dos mugeres, a elIos, ni a elias dos maridos: mas podia el marido por
algunas causas repudiar la muger, y casarse con otTa, y la repudiada con otro, y asn siempre era una sola la mugel't y 'Uno solo el mando.
Contradize Aguilar en su informe 10 de una rnuger sola, diziendo que teniao muchas, y aunque con di.6cultad en su conversion a la fe,
las dexaron, quedandose con sola la primera." Historia de Yucatlwn, lib. iv. p. 19S. -- It is certainly singular that the Indians of 
Yucatan should have invoked him whom they believed to be the one true and living God, of whom they made no graven image, by the 
appellation of Kue, in order to obtain remission after the act of confession for their sins; since this invocation reminds us of the KVglE
~A"1(J""OY, which was said or sung in churches in the earliest ages of Christianity: and likewise that their Genesis, of which it is a pity that 
we should know so little, contained a history so analogous to the Mosaic account of the first formation of man from the dust of the 
ground; which was perhaps the reason why they afterwards entertained so great a reverence for Moses, that, as Cogolludo informs us in 
the following passage of the fifteenth chapter of the seventh book of his History of Yucatan, a chieftain named Andrew Chi endeavoured 
at a period subsequent to the establishment of the Spaniards in that peninsula, to excite the people to idolatry by declaring that he was 





CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 115

The sign under which No.1 is written, * caused paralysis and evil humours. 2 was appropriated
to drunkards; and 3 was applied to the earth. Tepeolotlec presided over these thirteen days, in

-----
* Cielo is written under the sign Ce Mazatl, or One Stag, to signifY that that sign applied to heaven.

-----
him. Ir El mismo ana el Capitan Palomar, teniente general desta govemacion, condeno a muerte (becho processo por via juridica) a un
Indio natural del pueblo de Zotuta, lIamado Andres Chi, que solicitaba II todos los Indios de aqucl territorio, para que fuessen 11 los
montes a idolatrar, mintiendose otro Moyses, y dizienrlo que 10 era, engafiaba a los de su pueblo, persuadiendoles, que 10 que hazia, era
revelaclo del Espiritu Santo. Para esto pODia un mucacho encubierto en su casa, que de noche Ie hablasse, y dixesse ]0 que queria,
oyendolo los Indios, que ignorantes del embuste, ciegamente se dexaban enganar." "In the same year Captain Palomar, the lieutenantgovernor
of this district, condemned to death by a judicial process, an Indian, a native of the town of Zotuta, named Andrew Chi, who
solicited all the Indians of that territory to go to the mountains to commit idolatry: feigning himself to be another Moses, and declaring
that he was him, he deceived his fellow-citizens, persuading them that what he did was by a revelation from the Holy Spirit. For this
purpose he placed a boy in a concealed situation in his house, who conversed with him by night, and said whatever he pleased in the
hearing of the Indians, who, ignorant of the fraud, blindly suffered themselves to be deceived."

The Indians of Yucatan, besides practising confession, had a particular kind of mass, which Cogolludo takes occasion to notice in the
fourteenth chapter of the eleventh book of his History. "Dixeronle al Padre Estrada, que uno de aquellos apostalas era sacerdote
idolatrico de los olros, que les dezia Missa, y que con aquella su com ida de tortillas, y bebida de pozolla dezia, y que los demas Indios
idolatras les dixeron: 'Esta si que es Missa, que no la que dize tu companero.'" It would appear from the following passage of the
above-mentioned bull of Alexander the Sixth, that the Pope himself was not entirely ignorant of the fact, that one God the Creator,
existing in heaven, was worshiped by the Indians. "Et ut prrefati nuntii vestri possunt opinari, gentes ipsre insulis et terris pnedictis
habitantes, credunt unum Deum Creatorem in ccelis esse." To what god but the God of the Jews, can either the words of the Pope or
the conjectures and suspicions of the Spanish messengers possibly here refer? or why, if by one God the Creator was only meant a
deity whom the Pope believed to have been falsely, like the Olympian Jupiter, invested with that title; and who, like the supreme
divinity of the Hindoos, it were unreasonable to suppose would quickly have been discarded from the minds of the Indians, -- does the
above paragraph serve as a sort of premice to the concluding portion of the sentenc.e Hac ad fidem catholicam amplexandum, et bonis
moribus imbuendum satis apti videntur, spesque habetur, quod si erudirentur, nomen Sal"atoris Domini nostri Jesu Christi, in terris, et
insulis prredictis facile induceretur." Pedro de Ci~a de Leon admits in his Chronicle 'If Peru, that the Indians had some knowledge
of God the Creator, which title he says the all-powerful God did llOt permit the Devil to assume. "No porque (como dixe) estas gentes
ignoren, que ay un solo Dios hazedor del mundo: porque esta dignidad DO permite el poderoso Dios, que el Demonio pueda atribuyr a
si, 10 que Ie es tan ageno." Chronica del Peru, cap. xxiii. Although this passage is somewhat at variance with another which occurs
in the seventy-second chapter of the same work: "Algunos Indios dizen, que en lugares secreto::; habla con los mas viejos este malvado
demonio Pachacama: el qual como vee que ha perdido su credito yauthoridad, y que muchos de los que Ie solian servir, tienen ya
opinion contraria, conosciendo su error; les dize que el Dios que los Christiano~ predican y el, S01£ una cosa, y otras palabras dichas de
tal adversario, y con engafios y falsas aparencias procura estorvar que no reciban agua del baptisrno." a Some Indians affirm that this
malicious demon Pachacama converses with the oldest amongst them in secret places, who, perceiving that he has lost his credit and
authority, and that many of those who were accustomed to serve him, discovering their error, have now adopted a contrary opinion, teUs
them, that the God whom the Christians preach to them and he, are the same, with other statements which such an adversary chooses to
put forth; and with artifices and false appearances he endeavours to prevent their receiving the water of baptism." The extreme
pertinacity which the Indians, both of Peru and Mexico, displayed in adhering to their old religion, frequently laying down their lives in
its defence, and affirming, when reasoned with upon the subject, that if Christianity was good for the Castilians, their own religion was
no less so for them, is a convincing proof that the signs and wonders which the Mexicans believed that Huitzilopuchtli had wrought in
their favour, (to which the hand and stretched-out arm so often occurring in Mexican paintings probably alludes,) and the oracles of
Pachacama, revered in Peru, maintained the greatest ascendancy over their minds; and in this obstinacy, in blindly persisting in a
persuasion which Christians told them was false, it must be confessed that the Indians closely resembled the Jews. The second reason
for believing that Judaism was the religion of the Indians is, that they used circumcision. The third, that they expected a Messiah.
The fourth, that many words incorporated in their languages and connected with the celebration of their religious rites, were obvioul>ly
either of Hebrew or of Greek derivation. The fifth, that Las Casas the bishop of Chiapa, who had the best mean. oi verifying the fact,
was of this opinion. The sixth, that the Jews themselves, including some of their most eminent rabbis, such as Menasseh Ben Israel
and Montecinio, who, though not a rabbi, was a Jew who had visited America, maintained it both by verbal statement and in writing.
The seventh is the dilemma in which the most learned Spanish authors, such as Acosta and Torquemada, have placed their readers
by leaving them no other alternative than to come to the decision whether the Jews had colonized America and established their rites
amongst the Indians, or whether the Devil had counterfeited in the New World the rites and ceremonies which God gave to his chosen





116 EXPLANATION OF THE

which they celebrated a festival; and during the last four of which (where the hands are marked *)
they fasted. Tepeolotlec means the Lord of Animals. +

The four days ofthe fast were in honour of SUCIQUECAL, ++ who was the man who remained in the
earth which we now inhabit. Tepeolotlec is the same as the echo of the voice when it reverberates
in a valley from one mountain to the other. They bestowed the appellation of the tiger on the earth,
because the tiger is a very courageous animal, and they say that the deluge ceased at the reverberation
caused by the echo in the mountains. §

-----
* These hands have not been introduced in the plates, as they have no connection with the original paintings.

+ Tepeolotlec does not literally signify a tiger, but it refers to the earth, the symbol of which was the tiger.

++ The inhabitants of Matalcingo are said to have offered sacrifices in the month Pactontly to the god Suchiquecal, so that this name
was Loth masculine and feminine.

~ A slight transposition of a sentence in the original text has here occurred.

-----
people. The eighth is the resemblance which many of the Indian rites and ceremomes bore to those of the Jews. The ninth is the
similitude which existed between many of the Indian and many of the Hebrew moral laws. The tenth is the knowledge which the
Mexican and Peruvian traditions implied that the Indians possessed of the history contained in the Pentateuch. The eleventh is the
Mexican tradition of the Teoamoxtli or divine book of the Tultecas. The twelfth is the Mexican history of their famous migration from
Aztlan. The thirteenth is the traces of Jewish superstitions, history, traditions, laws, manners, and customs, which are found in the
Mexican paintings. The fourteenth is the frequency of sacrifices amongst the Indians, and the religious consecration of the blood and
the fat of the victims. The fifteenth is the style of architecture of their temples. The sixteenth is the fringes which the Mexicans wore
fastened to their garments. The seventeenth is a similarity in the manners and customs of Indian tribes far removed from the central
monarchies of Mexico and Peru (but still within the pale of religious proselytism) to those of the Jews, which writers who were 1l0t
Spaniards have noticed, such as Sir William Pen, who, recognising a probably fanciful likeness between the features of Indian and
Jewish children, says, "When you look upon them, you would think yourself in the Jews' quarter at Londonn. Their eyes are little
and black like the Jews. Moreover they reckon by moons; they offer the first fruits; and have a kind oHe., t of tabernacles. It is said
their altar stands upon twelve stones. Their mourning lasts a year. The customs of their women are like those of the Jews. Their
language is masculine, short, concise, and full of energy, in which it much resembles the Hebrew. One word serves for three, and the
rest is supplied by the understanding of the hearers. Lastly, they were to go into a country which was neither planted nor known, and
he that imposed this condition upon them, was well able to level their passage thither; for we may go from the eastern extremities of
Asia to the western extremities of America." Pen's Letter on the Present State of the Lands of the English in America, p. 156. -- If Sir
William Pen had had an opportunity of beholding on what purple thrones the sovereigns of Peru and Mexico sat, he would perhaps
have exulted less at the idea of the Jews having miraculously passed from the old continent to the new, either by the division of the
waters of the Euphrates, as foretold by Esdras, or of those of old ocean itself, the only remaining obstacle that could stop the march of
the chosen people of God. We, for our own part, should be almost tempted at the bare mention of such a prodigy to declare ourselves
of the same faith with the Irishman, who, on hearing a similar relation, gaily exclaimed, "I believe it all but the first step," if the subject
itself, the credulity of mankind, was not calculated to excite rather our sorrow than our mirth, at beholding reason so fallen from her
throne, and the great, the good, and the wise of ancient days deemed nought in comparison with an outcast race of jugglers who
still pretend that they have It an oath in heaven," for ever constituting them the favourite people of God, and ratifying for ever the articles
of the old covenant, which comprises all the items of the old law which Christians assert has been long since abolished, and which even
if Christianity had never been established, or the old superseded by the new covenant, it might be argued on the grounds of fitness
ought to have been abolished, since those la,,'s were certainly Dot fit to be everlasting, some of which God himself declares in the
following passage of the Old Testament to have been not good: "Wherefore also I gave them (the Jews) statutes that were not good,
and judgments by which they should not live." And also on the grounds of expediency, because many of the Mosaic laws would have
been quite unsuitable to the present age, and one which the Jews were strictly commanded to obey, enjoins an act which we find
registered in our statute books as a crime to which both legal penalties and infamy are equally attached. "Ve shall not lengthen this
list by adding to it any more general reasons for forming the conclusion that America was in early ages colonized by the Jews, but shall
here insert, as well on account of its importance as an historical document, as because it is but rarely met with in books, the famous bull
of Alexander the Sixth, which vested in the person of the king of Spain, his heirs and successors, the possession of nearly the entire
continent of America.

"Alexander, Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei. Charissimo in Christo Filio Ferdinanda, Regi, et Charissimre in Christo Filire




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 117

PLATE V.

QUECALCOATLE.

After the deluge the custom of sacrificing commenced. *

-----
* It says in the eighth chapter of Genesis, t( Egressus est ergo Noe et filii ejus, uxor illius, et uxores filiorum ejus cum eo:
sed et omnia animantia, jumenta et reptilia, qUa:! reptant super terram secundum genus Sllum, egressa sunt de area. Edificavit
autem Noe aitare Domino: et tollens de cunctis pecoribus et volucribus mundis, obtulit holocausta super altare. Odoratusque
est Dominus odorem suavitatis, et ait ad eUlU: Nequaquam ultra maledicam terrre propter homines. II According to Scripture,
therefore, sacrifices commenced immediately after the deluge; but sin, according to the notions of the Mexicans, commenced
much eariier, for they believed that sin began with time. Noah was called by the Mexicans, Patecatle and Cipaquetona: they
said that he invented the art of making wine, which it is generally agreed was not known before the deluge (since the patriarchs
Noah and Lot were ignorant of its effects), and that he was preserved with six others in the ahuehuete, or ark of fir, (which is one
less than Moses says were saved from the deluge; since eight persons entered the ark,) and that shortly afterwards his
descendants built the tower of Tulan Cholula, partly from curiosity to see what was going on in heaven, and partly from fear of
another deluge; but that Tonacatecutli, becoming incensed at their presumption, destroyed the tower with lightning, and scattered
the workmen. Hence the Mexicans probably bestowed the epithet of Tepeva, or the disperser, on their supreme deity. M. de
Humboldt says that" The people of Mechoacan preserved a tradition, according to which Coxcox, whom they named Tezpi,
embarked in a large acalli, (a word compounded of atl water, and calli a house,) with his wife, his children, and animals and
seeds of various kinds, the preservation of which was valuable to mankind. As soon as the great spirit Tezcatlipoca commanded
the waters to retire, Tezpi caused a vulture, the Zopilote, (Vultur aurea,) to leave the bark. This bird, whose food is carrion, 
did not return, on account of the numher of dead bodies with which the earth only just drying was strewed. Tezpi sent other birds, of
which the Colibri (or humming-bird) alone returned, bearing in its bill the leafy branch of a tree. Tezpi then perceiving that the
earth began to be covered with new verdure, quitted his bark near the mountain of Colhuacan." The ark of Noah rested on
Mount Ararat in Armenia. It should further be observed, that the confusion of tongues, as well as the dispersion of tribes, was
recorded in the traditions of the N ew World. In attempting to explain how the Indians could have become acquainted with events
of such remote antiquity, coeval with the foundation of the earliest monarchies, it would be absurd to suppose that their annals
and native traditions extended backwards to a period unknown to Egyptian, Persian, Greek, or Sanscrit history.
Elisabeth, Regime Castell"" necnon Legionis, Aragonum, Sicili"" et Grannalal, IlIustribus; Salutem, et Apostolicam Benedictionem:
Inter c",tera Divin", Majestati beneplacita Opera, et cordis nostri desiderabilia, illud profecto potissimum existit, ut
Fides Catholica, et Christiana Religio (nostris pr",sertim temporibus) exaltetur, ac uhilib~t amplietur, et dilatetur, animarumque
salus pl'ocuretur, ac Barbar", Nationes deprimantur, et ad Fidem ipsam reducantur. Unde cum ad hanc Sacram Petri Sedem
(Divina favente Clementia, meritis licet imparibus) evocati fuerimus: cognoscentes Vos, tamquam veros Catholicos Reges, et
Prin~ipes (quales semper fuisse novimus, et it vobis prrecJara gesta, toti p",ne jam Orbi notissima demonstrant) ne dum id
exoptare,,sed omni conatu, studio, et diligentia, nullis laboribu5, nullis impensis, nullisque parcendo periculis, etiam proprium
sanguinem effundendo, efficere, ac omnem animum vestrurn, omnesque conatus ad hoc, jam dudum, dedicasse: quemadmodum
recuperatio Regni Grannatro, a Tyrannide Sarracenorum, hodiernis temporibus, per Vos, cum tanta Divini nominis Gloria facta,
testatur: digne ducimur, non inmerito, et dehemlls ilia vohis, etiam sponte, et favorabiliter concedere, per qu", hujusmodi
Sanctum, et laudabile, ac immortali Deo acceptum propositum indies, ferventiori animo, ad ipsius Dei honorem, et Imperii
Christiani propagationem prosequi valeatis. Sane accepimlls, quod Vos, qui dudum animum proposueratis aliquas Insulas, et
Terras-firmas, Remotas, et Incognitas, ac per alios hactenlts, non partas, qurerere, et munire, ut illarum Incolas, et Habitatores
ad colendum Redemptorem Nostrum, et Fidem Catholicam profitendam reduceretis: hacten~s in expugnatione, et recuperatione
ipsius Regni Grannat"" plurimum occupati, hujusmodi Sanctum, et laudabile propositum vestrum ad optatum finem
perducere nequivistis. Sed tandem (sicut Domino placuit) Regno pr",dicto recuperato, volentes desid.erium adimplere vestrum,
dilectum Filium Christophorum Colon, virum utique dignum, et plurimum commendandum, ac tanto negotio aptum, cum Navigiis,
et hominibus ad similia instructis, non sine maximis laboribus, et periculis, ac expensis destinatis, ut Terras-firmas, et Insulas,
Remotas, et Incognitas, hujusmodi per Mare, ubi hacten~s Navigatum non fuerat, diligenter inquireret. Qui tandem Divino





118 EXPLANATION OF THE

Topilcin * Quecalcoatle was born on the day of Seven Canes; and they celebrated on this
same day of Seven Canes a great festival in Cholula t, to which they came from all parts of the

-----
* Topilcin was a title of Quecalcoatle, originally signifying Olt7 SOli, which in later times was assumed by the priest who presided
at human sacrifices.

t A famous temple was dedicated in Cholula to Quecalcoatle, which was much frequented by pilgrims. The inhabitants of
Cholula entertained the extraordinary superstitious notion, that, if their city was ever taken hostile possession of by a foe, and
that they pierced the sides and broke off the plaster of this revered teocalli, water would immediately flow forth and inundate the
city so as to destroy the enemy. Accordingly, in the full belief that Quecalcoatle would take speedy vengeance on the Spaniards,
they admitted them within their walls and demolished, as Torquemada records in the fOltieth chapter of the fourth book of his
["dian Monarchy, nearly all tl,e plastering on the sides of the teoca1li; but no water flowed forth, and the Spaniards made a
dreadful massacre of the priests and the citizens.
Auxilio, facta extrema diligentia in Mari Occeano N avigantes certas Insulas Remotissimas, et etiam Terras-tirmas, qum per alios
hactenus repertre Don fuerant, invenerunt. In quibus quam plurimre Gentes pacifice viventes, et (ut asseritur) nudi incedentes,
neque carnibus vescentes inhabitant: et ut prrefati Nuntii vestri possunt opinari, Gentes ipsre Insnlis, et Terris prredictis
babitantes Credunt Unum Deum Creatorem in Crelis esse, ac ad Fidem Catholicam amplcxandum, et bonis moribus imbuendum
satis apti videntur, spesque habetur, quod si erudirentur, Nomen Salvatoris Domini Nosh'i Jesu Christi, in Terris, et Insulis
prredictis facile induceretur. Ac prrefatus Chl'istophorus, in una ex principalihus Insulis prredictis, jam unam Turrim satis
munitam (in qua certos Christianos, qui secum iverant in custodiam, et ut alias Insulas, et Terras-firmas, Remotas, et Incognitas
inquirerent, posuit) construi, et cdificare fecit. In quibus quidem Insulis, et Terris jam repertis aurum, al'Omatba, et a1im
quam plurimre res preciosre diversi generis, et diversre qualitatis reperiuntur. Unde omnibus diligenter, et prmsertim Fidei
Catholicro exaltatione, et dilatione (prout decet Catholicos Reges, et Principes) consideratis, more Progenitorum vestrorum cia""
memori", Regum, Terras-firmas, et Insulas prmdictas, illarumque Incolas, et Habitatores vobis (Divina favente Clementia)
subjicere, et ad Fidem Catholicam reducere proposuistis. Nos igitur hujusmodi vestrum Sanctum, et laudabile propositum
plurimum in Domino commendantes, ac cupientes, ut iUud ad debitum finem perdueatul', et ipsum nomen Salvatoris nostri in
partibus illis inducatur, hortamur Vos, quam plurimum in Domino, et per Sneri Lavaeri susceptionem, qua mandatis Apostolicis
obligati estis, et per viscera Misericordire Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, attente requirimus, ut cum expeditionem hujusmodi prosequi,
et assumere prona mente Orthodox", Fidei zelo intendatis, Populos in hujusmodi Insulis, et Terris degentes ad Christianam
Religionem suscipiendam inducere velitis, et debeatis: nee pericula, neque Iabores ull0 unquam tempore Vos deterreant, firma.
spe, fiduciaque conceptis, quod Deus Omnipotens conatus vestros f",liciter prosequetur. Et ut tanti negotii Provinciam Apostolic",
Gratire largitate donati liberius, et audatius assumatis, motu proprio, non ad vestram, vel alte~ius pro vobis super hoc nobis oblatre
petitionis instantia, sed de nostra mera liberalitate, et ex certa scientia, ac de Apostolicre Potestatis plenitudine, omnes Insulas,
et Terras-firmas inventas, et illve~iendas, detectas, et detegendas, versus Occidentem, et Meridiem, fabricando, et construendo
unam lineam a Polo Aretico, scilicet, Septentrione, ad Polum Antarcticum, scilicet, Meridiem, sive Terroo-firmm, et Insulre
inventre, et inveniendoo sint, versus Indiam, aut versus aliam quamcumque partem, qure linea distet a qualibet Insularum, qure
vulgariter nuncupantur, de los Asores, et Caboverde, centum leucis versus Occidentem, et Meridiem. Itaque omnes Insul"" et
Terrre-firm"" repert"', et reperiend"" detect"" et detegend", il pr",fata linea versus Occidentem, qu", per aliwn Regem, aut
Principem Christianum, non fuerint actualiter possessre, usque ad Diem Nativitatis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, proximc
pra?:teritum, a quo incepit annus prresens millessimus quadrigentessimus nonagessimus tertius, quando {uerunt per Nuntios, et
Capitanos vestro. invent", aliqure p""dictarum Insularum, Authoritate Omnipotentis Dei nobis in Beato Petro Concessa, ac
Vicariatus Jesu Christi, quo fungimur in Terris, cum omnibus illarum Dominiis, Civitatibus, Cast1'i8, Locis, et Vil1is, Turribusque,
et lurisdietionibus, ac pertinentiis universis, vobis, berredibusque, et Successoribus vestris, Castellre, et Legionis Regihus in
perpetuum, tenore pl'resentium, donamus, concedimus, et assignamus. V osque hreredes, ac Suecessores prrefatos illarum
Dominos, cum plena, libera, et omnimoda Potestate, Authoritate, et Jurisdictione facimus, constituimus, et deputamus. Decernentes
nihilominus, per hujusmodi donationem, conce8siollcm, et assignationem nostram, nulli Christiano Principi, qui actualitcr
prrefatas Insulas, et Terras-firmas possederit, usque ad p,.",dictum Diem Nativitatis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, jus qmesitum
sublatum intelligi posse, aut auferri debere. Et insuper mandamus vobis in virtute Sanct", Obedienti"" ut (et sicut etiam
poUicemini, et non dubitamus pro vestra maxima devotione, et Regia magnanimitate vos esse factures) ad Terras-firmas, et
Insulas pr",dictas, viros, probos, et Deum timentes, Doctos, Peritos, et Expertos, ad instruendum Incolas, et Habitatores prrefatos
in Fide Catholica, et bonis moribus imbuendum destinare debeatis, omnem debitum diligentiam in pr",missis adhibentes. Ac




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 119

country and the cities, and brought great presents to the lords and papas of the temple; and they did
the same on the day - on which he disappeared or died, which was the day of One Cane. These
festivals happened at the expiration of every period of fifty-two years t.

PLATE VI.

QUEQUECOYOTL.

They called the lord of these thirteen days Quequecoyotl:j:, which signifies the old fox. They
here fasted during the last four days to Quecalcoatle of Tula, who is he who was named after
the first Calcoatle §; and now they name him One Cane, which is the star Venus, of which they tell
the fables accredited amongst them. Quequecoyotl is the same as the tale-bearer, the tempted, or
he who suffered himself to be tempted. They here celebrated the Festival of Discord, or rather they
implied by this figure the discord which exists amongst mankind. They believed that those who
were born on this sign (One Rose) would be musicians, physicians, weavers, and principal persons.
Here, in this week of One Rose, when the year of the Rabbit occurred, they fasted to the fall of the
first man, who was accordingly called Quequecoyotl, which signifies the old man.

-----
* Perhaps day has been written by mistake for year; since Quecalcoatle is elsewhere said to have disappeared on the day of
Four Earthquakes.

+ The line which follows in the Spanish text, "Los que nacian en este dia de 7 Calias si era mejor," is unintelligible: serian
mtjores must certainly be the right reading of the MS.; the meaning of which would be,., They believed that those who were
born on the day of Seven Canes would excell." The reason for their so thinking was because Quecalcoatle was born on that day.
t Coyotle signifies a wolf, and is a generic term for any wild animal of the canine species. Hue means old, and its reduplication
forms the superlative of the adjective. Mexican words commencing with It, are frequently spelt by Spanish writers with g or
g; as 'metlan, which signifies the old country, is written guetlan.
§ An abbreviation probahly for Quecalcuatle.

quibuscumquc Personis cujuscumque Dignitatis, etiam Imperialis et Regalis Status, gradus, ordinis, vel conditionis, sub Excommunicationis
latoo sententiro pama, quam eo ipso (si cOlltra fecerint) incurrant, districtius inhibemus, ne ad InsuIas, et Terrasfirmas
inventas, et inveniendas, detectas, et detegendas versus Occidentem, et Meridiem, fabricando, et construelldo unam
lineam a Polo Arctico, ad Polum Antarcticum, sive Terrre-firmre Insulre inventre, et inveniendre sint, versus Indiam, aut versus
aliam quamcumque partem, quoo linea distet a qualibilt Insularum, qUal vulgarit€r nuncupantur de los A~ores, et Caboverde,
centum leucis versus Occidentem, et Meridiem (ut prooferlur) pro mercibus habendis, vel quavis alia de causa accedere proosumant,
absque vestra, ae Hreredum, et Successorum vestrorum prredictorum licentia 8peciali. Non obstantibus Constitutionibus, et
Ordinationibus Apostolicis, cretel'isque contrariis quibuscumque! in illo a quo Imperia, et Dominationes, ac bona cuneta
procedunt Confidentes, quod dirigente Domino actus vestros, si hujusmodi Sanctum, et laudabile propositum prosequamini, brevi
tempore cum frelicitate, et gloria totius populi Christi ani vestri labores, et conatus exitum foolicissimum consequentur. Verum
quia difficile foret prrosentes litteras, ad singula qureque loca, in quibus expediens fuerit defferri, volumus, ac motu, et scielltia
\similibus decernimus, quod illarum transumptis manu publici Notarii inde rogati subscriptis, et sigillo alicujus Personre in
Eeclesiastica Diguitate Constitutro, seu Curire Ecclesiasticre munitis, ea prorsus fides in judicio, et extra, ac alias ubilibet
adhibeatur, qu", prreselltibus adhiberetur, si essent exhibit"" vel ostensre. Nulli ergo omnino homill\lm liceat, hanc paginam
nostrro commendationis, hortatiooi8, requisitionis, donationis, concession is, assignationis, constitutionis, depntationis, decreti,
mandati, inhibitionis, et voluutatis, infringere, vel ei ausu temerario contraire. Si quis autem attentc hoc prresumpserit, indignationem
Ornnipotentis Dei, ac Beatorum Petri, et Pauli Apostolorum ejus, se noverit incursurum. Datum Romoo apud Sanctum
Petrum, Anno Incarnationis Dominicoo 1493. quarto nonas Maii, Pontificatus nostri, Anno primo."





120 EXPLANATION OF THE

They recount a prodigy, that in the year of the Rabbit, on the day of this Rose, a rose sprung up
in that country, which immediately afterwards withered.
1.* Hell. 2. Tatacoada, the god of the Otomies.

PLATE VII.

YSNEXTLl.

They represented her as EVE, always weeping and looking at her husband ADAM. She is called
Ysnextli, which signifies eyes blind with ashes; and this refers to the time subsequent to her
sinning by plucking the roses. + They accordingly declare, that they are still unable to look
up to heaven; and in recollection of the happy state which she lost, they fasted every eight
years on account of this fall, and their fast was on bread and water only. They fasted the eight
days preceding this sign of One Rose; and on the arrival of this sign, they prepared to celebrate the
festival. They say that all the days of their calendar are applied to this fall, because on such a day
sin was committed. They were commanded to bathe themselves in the night, lest they should
grow ill.

1. Dung t. 2. Suchiquecal.

PLATE VIII.

CHALCHIUHTLI.

Chalchiuhtli, who presided over these thirteen days, saved herself in the deluge. She is the
woman who remained after the deluge. Her name signifies, the woman who wears a dress adorned
with precious stones§. They here fasted four days, to death. They paint her holding in one hand
a spinning-wheel, and in the other a certain wooden instrument with which they weave: and in order
to show that of the sons which women bring forth, some are slaves, and others die in war, and others
in poverty, they paint her with a stream, as if carrying them away; so that whether rich or poor, all
were finally doomed to perish.

-----
* I. refers to the sign Ce Xochitl, or One Rose, which was dedicated to hell, probably on account of Suchiquecal having transgressed
by plucking roses in Xochitlycacan, or paradise. 2. refers to Quequecoyotl, who was named by the Otomies, Tatacoada. The
corres'Ponding numbers have been omitted in the plate.
t These roses are else,vhere called" Fruta del arbol," the fruit of the tree.
t Father [labrega says, in his Commentary on the Codex Borgian"" that the mother of the human race is there represented in a state
of humiliation eating cuitlatl (1COn-pO»). The vessel in the left hand of Suchiquecal contains" mierda," according to the interpreter of these
paintings.

~ Torquemada says that she was also styled Chalchiuhtlatonac, which name signifies the queen of heaven, and was invoked by the
Mexicans at the baptism of their children. Sahagun affirms that she was another Juno: but it is probable that she was the same as
Chimalman. The Jews are said, in the eighteenth verse of the seventh chapter of Jeremiah, to have made offerings to the queen of
heaven: "Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem [1] The children gather wood, and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven."




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 121

1. On this sign of One Cane, * they celebrated the other great festival III Cholula to Quecalcoatle,
their first papa or priest. It occurred on the twenty-second of April.

PLATE IX.

TLACOLTEOTLE.

As soon as time commenced, sin began. They fasted on this sign of One Cane, when the year of
the Cane occurred, in recollection of the various times in which the world had been destroyed.
1. Heaven.

PLATE X.

TONATIHU.

Tonatihu signifies the sun: he presided over these thirteen signs. (Wherever, either here or in
any other part of this Calendar, two hands are marked, a festival is celebrated; and where there is
only one, it is a fast.) They believed that those who were born in these days would he principal
persons amongst the people. They said, that if an earthquake or an eclipse of the sun should
occur on the day dedicated to him, which was that of Four Earthquakes, that on such a day the world
would come to an end, which was the fourth destruction which it was fated to undergo,..... figures
disposed in such a manner as to represent a man divided, with his legs and arms apart. t

1. This sign (One Skull +) was a day dedicated to the Devil and to evil. They supposed that those
who were born on this sign would be magicians; for they were much addicted to the magical art of
metamorphosing themselves into the shapes of various animals.

2. They pronounced sentence on this sign (Five Dogs) on adulterers and robbers. 3. Naolin,
which signifies the four motions of the sun. §

-----
* The sign of One Cane was dedicated to heaven, as that of One Rose was to hell, the words cielo and infierno being written under
these two signs in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis.

+ The figure of a man divided in the middle seems sometimes to occur in Mexican paintings, which here being alluded to in the
description of Tonatihu, or the sun, may possibly have reference to the following fable of the creation of the first man by the sun, which
Torquemada, on the authority of Andrew de Olmos, thus rdates as traditionary amongst the Indians of Tezcuco: "Dicen, que estanda
el !ol ala hora de las nueve, hech6 una flecha en el clicho termina, y hic;o un haio, del qual salio un hombre, que fue el primero, no
teniendo mas cuerpo, que de los brac;os arriba, y que despues sali6 de alii la muger entera." -- Monarquia Indiana, lib. vi. cap. xliv. It
cannot be expected that this mutilated passage should admit of any clearer elucidation.

++ Moses Ben Maimonides mentions a superstition, which, as the Jews were acquainted with, it may be supposed they practised, of
divining by a skull.

~ The Mexican sign Ollin is explained "temblor de tierra," an earthquake; and the sun in the sign Nahui Ollin, or Four Earth.
quakes, wasa symbol of the end of the world or of the day of judgment. The ideas originally associaled with the sign Nahui Ollin
were religious, and not astronomical; but,it being a great object with the early Spanish missionaries to efface from the minds of the
Mexicans the remembrance of their former superstitions, which could be more easily accomplished by developing new meanings in the
interpretation of their ancient monuments, than by attempting wholly to consign them to oblivion, the sign Nahui Ollin was referred
to astronomy; and EI sol en qllatro temblores de tierra, became El sol en los gllatTo temblores.



122 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE XI.

MEZTLI.

Meztli was otherwise named Tectziztecatl; because, in the same way as the snail creeps from its
shell, so man proceeds from his mother's womb. They placed the moon opposite to the sun, because
its course continually crosses his; and they believed it to be the cause of human generation Ii<.

1 i-. Tectziztecatl, a kind of sea-snail. 2. The Moon.

PLATE XII.

NAVIHEHECATL.

Navihehecatl presided over these thirteen days, during the four last of which they fasted. They
killed before his image those whom they took... + The merchants celebrated a great festival
to him...., since the deluge. The signification of this name is the four winds; § and they
considered this sign unlucky: and accordingly when it arrived, all the merchants shut themselves
up in their houses: || for they said that it caused them to risk the loss of their property. They
neither danced or indulged in sports of any kind on these days; for if on such a day an accident
happened to anyone, it was sure to prove highly dangerous, and therefore, although they chanced
to be on a journey, they stopped and shut themselves up in the house.

PLATE XIII.

CINTEOTLI.

Cinteotli was the origin of the gods, it signifies abundance.

PLATE XIV.

TLAVIZCALPANTECUTLI.

Tlavizcalpantecutli is the star Venus, the first created light (Civahteltona) before the deluge.

-----
* The Egyptian women prayed in childbirth to Isis, or the moon; and the Jews entertained great respect for the moon, as being
the lesser of the two great lights which God had created.

t No.1. refers to the shell of the snail at the back of the head of the figure, and 2. to the figure of Meztli, or the moon itself.
:I: the concluding portions of these sentences have been obliterated.
§ It is compounded of Nahuifour, and Ehecat! wind.

H The Mexican merchants seem to have exceeded in superstition the other classes of the community, divining by their staffs before
setting out on ajourney, which on their return home they laid up with great care. The Jews were also superstitious about journeys,





CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 123

They say that it was fire, or a star: it was created before the sun. This star, Venus, is Quecalcoatle.
They say this is the star which we call Lucifer, from its light; and they accordingly paint it with
the sign of One Cane, which was the day dedicated to it. He took this name on the occasion of his
departure or disappearance*. Tlavizcalpantecutli is the God of Morning when it begins to dawn; he
is also the Lord of the Twilight on the approach of night; he presided over these thirteen days, during
the four last of which they fasted. It properly was the first light which appeared in the world; it
here signifies the light which diffuses itself over things, or the surface of the earth.

PLATE XV.

MICHITLATECOTLE.

They place Michitlatecotlet opposite to the sun, to see if he can rescue any of those seized upon
by the lord of the dead, + for Michitla signifies the dead below. These nations painted only
two of their gods with the crown called Altontcatecoatle, viz. the God of heaven and of abundance,
and this Lord of the Dead, which kind of crown I have seen upon the captains in the war of Coatle.

PLATE XVI.

PATECATLE.

Patecatle 1\ was the god of these thirteen days, and of a kind of root which they put into wme;
since without this root, no quantity of wine, however much they drank, would produce intoxication.
Patecatle taught them the art of making wine, for wine was made according to his instructions; and
as men when under the influence of wine are valiant, so they supposed that those who were born
during this period would be courageous. They considered these thirteen days all as fortunate; for
Patecatle, the god of wine, the husband of Mayaquel, who was otherwise called Cipaquetona, he
and when proceeding on their travels invoked the angels Michael, Nemuel, and Shaatsiel, to accompany them. This was the practice
of the Jews in former times, which, with many of their other customs, bas probably become lung since obsolete' and forgotten.

-----
* This alludes to the departure of Quecalcoatle to hi, former kingdom of Huetlapallan.

+ Michitlatecotle, the Mexican Lord of the Dead, resembles Satan, or the Angel of Death of the Jews, whom they believe to stand
by all dying persons with a drawn sword. View of the Jewish Religion, page 407. The Mexican proper name Xomunco bears also
some likeness in sound to Munkir, the Angel of Death of the Mahomet"ns.

++ This curious passage deserves to be considered in cOllnection with the first verse of the third chapter of the prophet Zechariah: "And
he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him."

|| Patecatle was the Noah of the New World. He is called by some writers Coxcox, as well "' Cipaquetona. COKCOX was the
name likewise of the king of Colhuacan, in whose slates the Mexicans sought an asylum after their long peregrinations. The engraving 
in the Giro del MOlldo of Gemelli, taken from a Mexican painting in the possession of Siguenza, erroneously said to represent the
universal deluge, but in reality a history of the Mexican migration, may have caused some confusion in these proper names. The same
migration is also represented in an original Mexican painting that formerly belonged to Boturini, in the first page of which is the river,
or the arm of the sea, which Torquemada says he had observed in all the ancient paintings of this migration, and which, perhaps,
was Tlapallan, or the Red Sea.




124 EXPLANATION OF THE

who was saved from the deluge, ruled over them. They placed the eagle and lion near him, as a
sign that their sons would be valiant men.

PLATE XVII.

QUATLE OCELOTLE.

Those who bore these arms of the eagle and tiger were their most redoubted and valiant warriors.

PLATE XVIII.

YTZLACOLIUHQUI, THE LORD OF SIN.

Ytzlacoliuhqui was the lord of these thirteen days. They say he was the god of Frost. + They put
to death before his image those who were convicted of adultery during these thirteen days: this
was the punishment of married persons, both men and women: ?? for, provided the parties were
unmarried, the men were at liberty to keep as many concubines as they pleased §.

Ytzlacoliuhqui was the Lord of Sin, or of blindness, who committed sin In Paradise II; they
therefore represent him with his eyes bandaged, and his day was accordingly the lizard, and like

-----
* He might have been called the Lord of Sin, from offenders being amenable to his laws.

+ Some persons, indulging in an over-eager inclination to adapt heathen mythology to sacred history, have likened Moses to Saturn;
others have confounded him with Bacchus: -- but what likeness, we may ask, really exists between that youthful conqueror, whose praises
were sung at Alexander's feast, anel the hoary legislator of the Jews?

++ Boturini says that Tialoc was the god who punished adulterers, and that those who were sentenced to death by the Mexican laws
for this crime, were called by the common name, without distinction of sex, of Tlazolteominqui; but that Dlen who died for this offence
were designated by the term of Tlazolteotlahpaliuhqui, u el que Ie aplastan la cabeza con una losa," f( he who has had his head smashed
with stones;" this name being given to the man from the punishment which he suffered for his crime, as among the Jews the name of
"he who has had his shoe loosed" was given, according to the law of Moses, to the man who refused to raise up seed to his brother
by marrying his widow. Women who were put to death for adultery were called Tlazolteocibuatl.

~ It says, in the third verse of the eleventh chapter of the First Book of Kings, of Solomon, "And he had seven hundred wives, princesses,
and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart." Solomon's wisdom differeo from the a-w¢>pocruV"I) of the Greeks.

|| Moses sinned, in the opinion of the ancient fathers, in the mountain, when he threw down and broke the tables of stone on which
God had written the commandments.

~ It is singular that the figure of a person with his eyes bandaged, or with a veil over his face, should frequently occur in Mexican
paintings; as also the more curious representation of a hand half covering the mouth or lower part of the faces of other figures.
Moses covering his face with a veil when he descended from Mount Sinai (after his continued conference for forty days and
forty nights with Jehovah, without eating food during that long period of time), in order that the children of Israel might not be
dazzled by his countenance, is an act much applauded by the rabbis. But God's covering the face of Moses when he put him in the
cleft of the rock, while his glory passed before him, is much more celebrated by them; in commemoration of which, a on the feast of
Expiation, or the ehipur, which is the festival mentioned in the sixteenth and twenty-third chapters of Leviticus, and the seventeenth
verse: At the close of the day the rabbi extends his hands towards the people and gives them the benediction of Moses; which the
people receive with great humility and devotion, covering their faces with their hands, imagining that God is behind the rabbi, and
that man for that reason ought not to have the assurance to cast his eyes upon him. Thus the hand of God covered the face of
Moses, whilst that holy legislator humbled himself before his Divine Majesty for the sins of the Israelites; and this, in all probability, is
the real rise of this custom," Religious Ceremollies of All Nations. Although it would appear from the thirty-third chapter of Exodus,
that the hand of God was placed over the eyes of Moses until he entirely removed it on advancing a little beyond the rock where Moses
stood, when his face could no longer be visible to him; still, as the Jews have frequently contradicted the text of Scripture by their
traditions, and as it says in the tenth verse of the thirty-fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 125

the lizard he is naked. He is a star in heaven, which, as they pretend, proceeds in a backward
course, with its eyes bandaged; they considered it a great prognostic. *

All these thirteen days were bad; for they affirmed that if evidence should be adduced in these
days, it would be impossible to arrive at justice: but they imagined that judgment would be
perverted in such a manner that unjust condemnations would ensue; which was not the case in the
days immediately following, when, if evidence was adduced, they supposed that justice would be
made apparent. They believed that those who were born on the sign dedicated to him, would be
sinners and adulterers.

1. ADAM after he had sinned. 2. Het is turned towards the south, which denotes toil.

PLATE XIX.

Women taken in adultery were put to death by being stoned, ++ as appears by this painting. They
were strangled previously to being stoned, and were afterwards thrown into some public place where
all might see them.

PLATE XX.

YXCUINA, THE WIFE OF MIQUITLATECOTLE.

Yxcuina presided over these thirteen signs.
protected adulterers. She was the goddess
She was the goddess who, according to their account,
of salt § and of dissolute persons: they accordingly


-----
* This star was supposed by the Mexicans to exercise an influence in war. If the Jews, who always interpret the text of
Scripture literally, had entertained any such superstitious notions respecting any particular star, they probably would have
defended it by referring to the twentieth verse of the fifth chapter of Judges; "They fought from heaven, the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera."

+ The star is here meant. The south was named Hmztlan, which signifies the place of thorns.

++ Stoning to death was the common punishment for adultery among the Jews; but it was ordained in the ninth verse of the
twenty-first chapter of Leviticus, that the daugbter of a priest who violated her chastity should be burnt with fire. This
punishment must have frequently taken place, as the priests among the Jews were so numerous, and the Scripture represents
the people to have been so corrupt. It is a singular coincidence, that both among the Jews and the Mexicans, burning to death
and stoning should have been the punishment of adultery and the breach of chastity, for a priest who was guilty of the latter
offence was sentenced by the Mexican laws to be burnt alive.

§ Salt was an article higltly esteemed by the Mexicans; and the Jews always offered it in their oblatioDs, it being so ordained
in the thirteenth verse of the second chapter of Leviticus: "And every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with
salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offerings with all thine offerings
thou shalt offer salt." It is probable that the Levites liked salt.

-----
like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face;" they might have maintained that it was the lower and not the upper
part of the face of Moses that the hand of God covered. A veiled face occurs in the twenty-second plate of the Collection of
Mendoza, No. 14, as the symbol of the city Yxquemecan. It is somewhat odd, in tracing up effects to causes, to find that the
history of Moses covering his face with a veil in the Pentateuch, caused Moore more than three thousand years afterwards to write
the poem of The Veiled P"ophet of Khorassan; which is founded on the history of a Jew, who in the early ages pretended to be
the Messiah, and wore a veil to verify the prophecy of Moses, that God would raise up n prophet like unto him; but whose
imposture heing detected, and the people refusing to serve him, the impostor himself disappeared, and his deluded followers
spread abroad a fabulous story of the manner of his death.




126 EXPLANATION OF THE

painted her with her cheeks of two colours; and they put to death adulterers before her image.
She was likewise the goddess of prostitutes, and of immodest women and Impostors. They believed
that those who were born in these days would be profligate.

1. They thought that those who were born on the sign of Five Cipactli, -- if men would be rogues,
and if women prostitutes. 2. Tla~olteotl, the goddess of dirt or of immodesty. 3. The woman who
sinned before the deluge, who was the cause of all evil, and of all deceit.

PLATE XXI.

THE SERPENT QUECALCOATLE.

This is,the serpent Quecalcoatle. In order to show that this is a festival of fear, they paint
this dragon in the act of devouring a man.

PLATE XXII.

YZPAPALOTLE.

He was called Xounco, and after he sinned Yzpapalotle * or a Knife of Butterflies. The signification
of iliis name is a knife of butterflies; and accordingly he is surrounded with knives and wings of
butterflies; for they say that he sometimes appears to them, and that they only see feet resembling
those of an eaglet. He was the lord of these thirteen days: they say that he always carries in his
hands a knife. Y zpapalotle was one of those who fell from heaven with the rest who fell from
thence, whose names are the following: Quecalcoatle, Ochul~luchesi, Tetzcatlipoca, Oaletecotle,
and Hatzcanpantecoatli. These were the sons of Citlaliace and Citlalatonat, of whom they relate a
fable, that being in a garden they ate some roses; but that this recreation lasted only a short time, as
the tree presently afterwards cracked.

1. They considered the day of One House bad; for they affirmed that on such a day demons came
through ilie air from the sky in the shape of women, such as we name witches, who assembled
where the highways met in the form of a cross, and in remote and solitary places: and accordingly,
that wicked women and adulteresses, when they wished to free themselves of their sins, went alone
by night, and without the covering of a veil §, to ilie crosses of ilie highways, where they said that

-----
* Eve is elsewhere called Yzpapalotle, or the goddess of pollution.

+ As they only beheld the feet of an eagle, they were at liberty to represent in any fanciful manner they pleased the rest of
the person of Yzpapalotle.

++ Or of the morning.

~ Peter Martyr says that the women of Yucatan carefully covered their faces with veils, which was also customary with the
Jewish women.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 127

the witches assembled, and sacrificed there with their tongues; and joining hands with them, gave
them the clothes which they wore, which they left behind""; and this was a sign that they left off sin.
2. Death. 3. EVE after she had sinned.

PLATE XXIII.

TAMOANCHA OR XUCHITLYCACAN.

These words may be interpreted "there is the mansion fl'om which they fell, and where they gathel'ed
the roses." In order to show that this festival was not good, and that it was celebrated from fear,
they painted this tree bloody and cracked in the middle, as if it were named the Festival of Toil by
reason of that sin. This place, which is called Tamoancha or Xuchitlycacan, is the place where
those gods were created whom they feared: it signifies the Terrestrial Paradise; and accordingly they
relate that those gods being in that place, transgressed by plucking roses and branches from the
trees; and that on this account Tonacateutli and his wife Tonacacigua became highly incens,ed, and
cast them out of that place; and that thus some of them came to the earth, and others went to hell,
and that these were those who excited their fears.

1. They believed that those who were born on Thirteen Eagles would be valiant men, 2. The Tree.

PLATE XXIV.

XOLOTLE.

Xolotle saved himself before the deluge; he presided over these thirteen days. They say that he
was the god of twins, and of all things which grow double, which we call twins, or when Nature
produces any monsters out of her common course. + They believed that he who was born in these
days would be a tale-bearer, ++ or a rogue.

PLATE XXV.

TLALCHITONATIO.

Tlalchitonatio § signifies properly the world. The real passage of the rays of the sun lies between


-----
* The putting off the old clothes seems to have been a sign of their putting of!' the old man, or former evil habits.

+ Xolotle signifies in the Mexican language play or sport; and Clavigero says that the Axolotle, an ugly lizard of the Mexican
lake, was so named on account of its ridiculous and monstrous shape. The European doctrine of the lusus natur," seems to have
traversed the Atlantic.

++ It says in the sixteenth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, "Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among
thy people." Liars and tale-bearers were held in great abhorrence by the Mexicans. Quecalcoatle is said to have invented the
custom of piercing the tongue and ears through with a sharp wooden skewer, as a remedy against the sin of lying and of listening
to lies.

§ The Mexicans bestowed very sublime epithets on their supreme deity, Tonacatecutli, which name signifies the Lord of




128 EXPLANATION OF THE
light and darkness; and accordingly they painted the sun over his shoulders, and death beneath his
feet. They say that is the warmth or heat which the sun communicates to the earth, and they therefore
affirm that when the sun sets, it goes to give light to the dead.

1. They believed that he who was born on the sign of Six Winds would be rich and prudent.
2. The Sun. 3. The Earth. 4. Darkness.

PLATE XXVI.

CHALCHlUHTOTOLI.

Chalchiuhtotoli II is the same as the devil or Tetzcatlipoca before the deluge, whose name signifies
a smoking mirror, or one that casts forth smoke. I-Ie was the lord of these thirteen days. This is
the likeness of Tetzcatlipoca; they paint him in this manner, for they say that they never see the
devil, but only the feet of a cock or of an eagle.

PLATE XXVII.

1. The sign of Seven Eagles was a day applied to the moon, and unlucky for all such as became
ill on that day of diseases of the heart, which they affirmed would be incurable. Women who suffered
from certain indispositions sacrificed to the moon on this day for the recovery of their health.

Flesh; viz. Tlaclitonatic, the Creator of Light; Teotl, God; Tloque-N abuaque, the Self-existing; I palnemoani, the Giver of Life;
Moyocayatzill, the Almighty; Titlacahua, the God whose servants we are; Tlacahuepan, the God of Sacrifice; Tetzcatlipoca, he
who appeared on the smoking mountain of the mirror; Telpuctli, the Ever-young; which last appellation Torquemada compares
with the following passage in the Psalms; "Todas las casas se acaban, y como vestidura se envejecen, perc vos, Sefior, permaneceis
en un mismo ser, y vuestros ailos no descaecen;" and Yaoteotle, the God of Armies or of Hosts, which resembles the
ineffahle name Yah, or Ya, of Jehovah, for teotle simply signifies God, and is added to the proper name Yao, of which it does not
form a part. It deserves to he remarked, that the Mexicans likewise applied the term Ineffable to their supreme god Tonacatecutli:
and in the same way as the Jews were accustomed to represent the Deity by the symbol of a human eye within a triangle, so they
appear to have typified the divine intelligence by a mirror or an eye placed upon three sticks transversely crossing each other.
The Peruvians, whose religion was derived from the same source as that of the Mexicans, believed in one supreme Deity, the sole
creator and governor of the universe, whom they named Viracocha, and Pachacamack or Pachayachachik. which signifies the
creator of heaven and earth, and called Usapu, or Wonderful; and it is not a little singular, that the Ingas, as Acosta testifies,
should have waged sanguinary wars to compel the surrounding nations to acknowledge Viracocha, and to embrace a religion
which God himself had revealed: "Narrant porro lngarum reges, cum creteras hujus orbis gentes bellis infestarent, hanc sure
expeditionis unicam et palmariam causam asseruisse, quod requum esset mortales in ulliversum omnes sibi subjici aut subjugari,
ut ex quorum familia patri&que omnes orti essent, quibusque vera et genuina "eligio a Deo patifacta vig,,·et." -- Acosta De Natura.
Novi Orbis, lib. I. cap. xxv.

-----
* Chalchiuhtotoli is a proper name compounded of Tototl, a bird, and Chalchiutli. a precious stone of penance, and signifies
the bird that wears the precious stone of penance. The figure of this bird frequently occurs in the Mexican mythological paintings,
where it is always represented with a chain of jewels round its neck. It is also sculptured on the top of the Latin cross which
M. Dupaix discovered among the ruins of Palenque. It is more probahle that this god was the same as Tlaloc, than that he was
TetzcatJipoca; at the same time it must be observed, that the symbol called the smoking mirror was common to three of the
Mexican gods; to Tetzcatlipoca, Quecalcoatle or Huitzilopuchtli, and to Chalchiuhtotoli.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 129

2. This painting shows their manner of sacrificing with their ears *, and the way m which they
carried the bag containing the incense to offer to the Devil, corresponding to the sacrifices which
they made to him.

PLATE XXVIII.

CHANTICO OR CUAXOLOTLE.

Chantico presided over these thirteen signs, and was the lord of Chile or of the yellow woman t.
He was the first who offered sacrifice after having eaten a fried fish; the smoke of which ascended
to heaven: at which Tonacotle became incensed, and pronounced a curse against him that he
should be changed into a dog, which accordingly happened, and they named him on this account
Chantico, which is another name for Miquitlatecotle. From this transgression the destructions of the
world ensued. He was called Nine Dogs, from the sign on which he was born. Chantico or
Cuaxolotle is the symbol which the country people of Xolotle § wear on their heads.
1. They believed that he who was born on the sign of One Wind would be healthy by his nativity;
but that if he grew ill, it would cause him severe pains of the side, and cancer, for those were the
diseases applied to this day. 2. Fire. S. Water.

PLATE XXIX.

QUECALCOATLE.

Quecalcoatle is here represented in a golden house. This sacrifice to Quecalcoatle accordingly
corresponds with the preceding. The day of Nine Dogs was applied to magicians, who were such
persons as transformed themselves into the shapes of various things, such as beasts, serpents,
and other similar things; they therefore feared this day exceedingly, and shut themselves up in
their houses, in order not to be witnesses of such metamorphoses occurring in the city II.

-----
* Piercing the tongue and ears, which the Spaniards called sacrificing those parts of the body, because it was a religious
austerity attended with great effusion of blood, was according to Mexican tradition a remedy invented by Quecalcoatle against the
sin of lying. The Mexican laws punished liars with the greatest severity.

+ The complexion of the Mexican women was naturally tawny; and in some paintings of the Collection of Mendoza their
faces appear to be painted with yellow ochre. Perhaps by Chile, or the yellow woman, might be meant the Indian female race
generally, in opposition to women inhabiting the other parts of the globe.

++ It is said in the Vatican Manuscript that his crime consisted in his temerity in sacrificing without having previously fasted.
It may here be observed that the Jews were not accustomed to offer sacrifices of fish. Compare Tobit, chap. viii. ver. 2.

~ The symbol of the city of Xolotlan in the Collection of Mendoga is the head of a dog.

|| The following account of two of these magicians is taken from Torquemada. "The first and holy bishop of Mexico, Brother
Juan de Zumarraga, seized one of these conjurors, whose name was Ocelotl, and put him on board a ship with the intention of
sending him to Spain as a very mischievous person; but the ship was lost near the port, and nothing more was heard of him.
That holy man Brother Andrew de Olmos seized another, a disciple of the before-mentioned, and kept him in jail; when the same
Indian informing the said Father that his master could release him from prison, the Father told him that he might release him if he
could; but he did not do it, as in fact he could not. It is true that some time afterwards, handing him over to the said holy
bishop, and not being sufficiently attentive to his custody, he released himself and disappeared."




130 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE XXX.

XOCHIQUECAL.

Xochiquecal was the wife of Cinteutle, or the sin of the first woman '*; she presided over these
thirteen signs.

Women who employed themselves in washing, weaving, and spinning, celebrated a festival in her
honour, for she was the first who spun and wove.

1. The day of One Eagle was applied to soldiers, for they said that on such a day many eagles
came through the air and changed themselves into the figures of boys: this was to inspire them with
courage to go to war and to die in it, which was what they most desired, for by this means they went
to heaven. This festival lasted during these thirteen days. They affirm that the fall or descent of
the demons from heaven occurred on the sign of One Eagle: they believed likewise that women who
were born on this day would be prostitutes.

PLATE XXXI.

THE DEVIL TEMPTING EVE BEFORE SHE SINNED.

They also celebrated on the sign of Seven Cipactli the same festival of the coming of the eagles.
1. The Devil in the act of tempting EVE before she sinned. 2. The smoking Mirror.

PLATE XXXII.

YZTAPALTOTEC.

Yztapaltotec is a flint or the knife of the warrior, or of the unhappy or afflicted, or rather it signifies
the bloody knife of the mournful + Yztapali. It signifies properly the soil or the surface of the earth.

They paint the figures behind, which are twenty t, each different from the other; for as on each of
these festivals, dances and sacrifices were celebrated, so they were obliged to appear dressed in the
manner of the idol. Yztapaltotec presided over these thirteen days. They paint him here surrounded
with knives, or within a large knife, which is the same as a sword or fear.

1. They believed that he who was born on the sign of One Rabbit would be long-lived.


-----
* It would appear from this passage that Xochiquecal, besides being the proper name of the first woman who sinned, was a
peculiar term in the Mexican language by which to express original sin.

+ "Mournful" is not the precise meaning of the Spanish word dolorido, nor did any English word present itself entirely corresponding
to it in signification; dolorido alludes to the painful austerities practised by Totec, who was accustomed to go about in
a raiment of human skins, calling to the people to come to him and do penance on the Mountain of Thorns.

1 These are the large figures represented in the Mexican calendar under the signs of the days of the year.



CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 131

2. They thought that those who were born on the sign of Five Herbs!lf would be merchants, and rich.

s. Toil. to which the corresponding figure-j- 13 fire or purification immediately following. They
here kept a fast in commemoration of the fall of the first of the human race. This idol is represented
with his mouth open ready to devour.
The year of Six Canes commenced on the twenty-fourth of February.

PLATE XXXIII.

FIRE.

Heaven was created on the sign of One Cane t, animals on that of One Flint, and the earth on that
of One Rabbit; the earth in the proper acceptation of the term. or its surface, which is full of trouble
and affiiction.


-----
* The absurd sense in which some of the Jewish rabbis understand the twenty-second verse of the sixty-fifth chapter of
Isaiab, "For as the days ofa tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands," affirming
that when the restoration of the Jews shall take place, their lives will be lengthened in duration so as to equal that of trees. and
that those who die at a hundred will die young, -- makes it probable that if the Jews invented the signs of the Mexican calendar,
the sign Malinalli, which is composed of the jaw-bone of a man with grass growing out of it, would refer to the fourteenth verse
of the sixty-sixth chapter of Isaiah, which they say alludes to the resurrection, where it says, "Your bones shall flourish like an
herb," which verse they commonly repeat at funerals.

+ That is to say, the figure which accompanies it on the opposite page; for in the Mexican paintings two pages are seen at the
same time, which from the flat manner in which they unfold appear to be only one.

++ The Cane was dedicated to heaven, either on account of its being the symbol of Quecalcoatle, or because they kindled by
means of it the new fire, by inserting the one end into a cylindrical hole bored in a plank, and turning the other round with
extreme rapidity between the hands. This agrees with what is stated in the Vatican MS., that the first sign after the commencement
of time began with the second figure, which was One Cane Chaos preceded the creation of heaven, and Yzpactli seems
to have been the sign which presided over the elements when the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the
face of it.






132 EXPLANATION OF THE

THE THIRD PART.

PLATE I.

THE eight tribes that proceeded from the seven caves, were the Chichimecas, the N onoalcas, the
Michiuacans, the Couixcas, the Totonacas, the Cuextecas, the Olmecas, and the Xicalangas.

a. Vichilupuchitl. 1. Tonanicaca"'. 2.Tezuactepetl. S. Ayaualulco. 4. Culhuacan. 5. Puchutla. 6. Tototepetl.

PLATE II.

1. Mechuaca. 2. 'l'lacauacaltepetl t. S. Maxuquetepetl. 4. Tentutepetl. 5. Pantepetl. 6. Tlataltepetl.

PLATE III.

1. Hecatepetl. 2. Coacalco. S. Tlacaxupantepetl. 4. Hulmetepetl. 5. Xilotepetl. 6. C;unpango.

PLATE IV.

1. Coatepetl. 2. Suchetepetl t. S. Tezalco.

PLATE V.

1. Tolpatlac. 2. Pantepetl. S. Ayaualulco. 4. Yaualultepetl. 5. Tezcatepetl. 6. Viztepetl.
7. Tetepantepetl.


-----
* The country of our grandmother.

+ This name signifies the mountain of sacrifice. The pyramid, or temple of Cholula, was designated by the Indians, Tlachihualtepetl,
in allusion to the sacrifices performed on it; and Tetzcatlipoca wa:s named Tlacahuapan, or the God of Sacrifice, in whose honour a
famous temple was erected in Tezcuco.

++ Tecontepetl has been printed by mistake for Suchetepetl, in the Spanish text.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 133

PLATE VI.

1. Coatepetl. 2. Tecontepetl. S. Piazcontepetl.

PLATE VII.

1. Vixatitan. 2. Yxcuepaliztepetl. S. Texcala. 4. Coaonepantepetl"'.

PLATE VIII.

1. Tequepayuca.


-----
* The place of reckoning the faggots. -- The priests, whose office it was to burn the bodies of the dead, were named Coacuiles,
whence coao came probably to signify afaggot. It may be inferred from certain passage. in the Old Testament, that the Levites when
about to prepare for the solemnity of a burnt sacrifice, laid the faggots in a certain order; and it would appear that this custom was
observed by the Mexicans in their burnt sacrifices.





134, EXPLANATION OF THE

THE FOURTH PART.

PLATE 1.

IN the year of Eleven Canes according to their computation, and 1399 accord'ing to ours, when the
Mexicans had elected ACH1APICHITLY 'If, and after the war of Chapultepec, in which they were
rendered subject to Culhuacan, in which state of servitude they continued for the space of one
hundred years, they determined to become their own masters; which resolution they put into
execution, and marched under their leader, and, as they affirm, set fire to the temple of Culhuacan.
And this was the first war which they waged against others.

1. Culhuacan. 2. ACAMAPICliITLY.

PLATE II.

In the year of Five Rabbits according to their calculation, and 1406 according to ours, ACAMAPICHITLY
died, and VITZILIHUITLY was elected king. ACAMAPICHITLY had given two of his
daughters in marriage; the one to the lord of Coatlichan, and the other to the lord of Culhuacan.

-----
* The origin and history of the Mexican kings is enveloped in much obscurity. The Collection of Mendoza only mentions eight;
while Gomara gives a long list of sovereigns who preceded Acamapichitly upon the throne. This difference may perhaps be reconciled
by supposing that the Mexican kings became possessed through maternal inheritance of the state of Culhu3can, and that the sovereigns
enumerated by Gomara were their ancestors in the female line, -- kings of Culhuacan, but not of Mexico, -- which would also explain why
Cortes continually calls the Mexicans the people of Culbus, when he evidently does not mean to confound them with those of
Acolhuacan. From the following passage of Acosta', History of America it will appear how much credit that learned writer thought
was due to histories of their country written by the Indians themselves, and how little to accounts published by the Spaniards:
H Postquam vero ab Hispanis in IndiA diutius agentibus, lodi navis literis legendi et scribendi artern edocti fuissent, gestorum
5uorum multa commentaria edebant, cum singulari gaudio ac arlmiratione a magnatibus Hispanis plurimis lectitata: et quidem qui
Mexicanorum historiam evolvit, is nullo lahore facile deprehendit merom earn Hispanorum cammentum esse, non ipsorum Indorum
collectionem." Since: these histories written by the Indians were read by many Spanish noblemen, it is evident that they must have been
composed in Spanish; but numerous as they are said to have been, none of them have ever been published except the Peruvian 
Monarchy, by Garcilasso de la Vega, whose mother was an Indi.n of the royal race of the Ingas, but whose father was a Spaniard, and
who cannot strictly speaking be called an Indian historian. Baron de Humboldt says, that some valuable works relating to the ancient
history of Mexico, in the Mexican language, are still preserved in Mexico, especially one by Chimalpain, the publication of the original
text of which, with an accompanying translation, would, at the same time that it removed all doubts as to its authenticity, throw
much new light on the antiquities of America. With respect to the censure which Acosta has passed on the Spanish writers on the
affairs of America, it may be observed that it cannot apply to the Indian Monarchy of Torquemada, which was not published when
Acosta wrote his History, and which the author says he employed twenty years in composing.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 135

And on the death of ACAMAPICHITLY, the Mexicans determined to go to Azcapucalco, which was
one of the capital cities of that country, to request a king to govern them; but in the mean time
agreeing to return home and to elect from among themselves a king, they acted in conformity with
this resolution, and the election fell on a certain person named VITZILIHUITLY, who became their
first king.

1. ACA~fAPICHITLY.

PLATE III.

VITZILIHUITLY allied himself in marriage with a grand-daughter of ACAMAPICHITLY, the
daughter of the princess of Coatlichan, by whom he had no sons: he therefore took two slaves; the
one named the Painter, and the other the Embroideress, by whom he had sons.
1. They are supposed to go. 2. VITZILIHUITLY. S. The Painter. 4. They return.

PLATE IV.

In the year of Thirteen Rabbits, and 1414, VITZILIHUITLY died, and CHIMALPOPOCA his son was elected king.

1. VITZILIHUITLY. 2. CnUfALPOPOCA, which name signifies A smoking shield. 3. The Smoking Shield.

PLATE V.

In the year of Twelve Rabbits, and 1426, CHIMALPOPOCA died, and YTZCOHUATL was elected
king. During the reign of YTZCOHUATL the Mexicans revolted, as they no longer chose to obey
the state of Azcapucalco, and they remained free and exempt henceforward from servitude to the
two cities"'. The general who captured Azcapucalco was named MAxTLE and ECLIPSE.

1. CHIMALPOPOCA. 2. YTZCOHUATL, the signification of which name is A serpent armed with
knives. 3. MANTLE and ECLIPSE.

PLATE VI.

In the year of Thirteen Flints, and according to our calculation 1440, YTZCOHUATL died, and
HUEHUEMOUTE~OMA was elected king. None of the sovereigns who ruled over Mexico, either 
before or after his time, placed on their heads a crown such as the God of Abundance wears and the

-----
* Culhuaean and Aze.pue.leo.



136 EXPLANATION OF THE

Lord of Hell, except this MOTE~olll:A, and the other whom the Marquis found when he conquered the
country. It was a sign of their being great lords.

1. YTZCOIIUATL. 2. HUEHuEMoTEucHc~oMA.
PLATE VII.
In the year of Seven Canes, and 1447 according to our calculation, it snowed so heavily that lives
were lost. In the year of One Rabbit, and 1404, so severe a famine occurred that the people died of
starvation. In this year Tezcuco revolted, which had been a district subject to Coatlichan. This
revolt was brought about by the intrigues of the Mexicans; and accordingly, in the same year, the
Mexicans added to the confederacy the state of Tlacuba; and from this year, Tezcuco, Tlacuba, and
Mexico, which had before been dependent states, remained in possession of the sovereign authority
over all the cities of the lake; which said cities the Marquis found at the head of the rest on his
arrival in the country.
1. Snow. 2. Famine. 3. NECAUALCUIIUTLY.
PLATE VIII.
In the year 1456 the state of Guaxocingo seized on the province of Atlixo, and banished from
thence the people of Guacachula, to whom this province and city had belonged.
1. They represent by this symbol the binding of their years, which occurred at the expiration of
every period of fifty-two years. 2. The year of Two Canes, or 1455, was fertile, and is therefore
represented by the symbol of green branches.

PLATE. IX.

In the year of Five Rabbits, and according to our calculation 1458, after the Mexicans had
acquired sovereign rule, they reduced to obedience the province of Chicoaque, which is situated
to the north of Mexico, and is near Panico. This was the first province which they subdued. In the
year of Seven Flints, and 1460, an earthquake occurred. It deserves to be remarked that, since,
according to their belief, the world was again to be destroyed by earthquakes, they recorded in their
paintings, each year, the omens which occurred.

PLATE X.

In this' year the Mexicans subjected the province of Coatlaxtla, which is twenty leagues distant
from Vera Cruz, leaving every city in their rear conquered. This was in the year of Eight Houses,




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 137

or in 1461, which provmce is the same as Guacacualco, which }S III that district where the
Spaniards found the Indian slave MALIN ALE, whom they constantly name MARIN A. In the year
of Nine Rabbits, or 1462, the Mexicans fought a battle with the Xiquipilcans, who inhabit a city in
the valley of Matalcingo. This year an earthquake occurred.

PLATE XI.

In the year of Twelve Houses, or in 1465, whilst the Chalchese were absent on an expedition
against the provinces of Tlascala and Guaxocingo, the Mexicans entered their province in their
rear and conquered it, which. from that year remained subject to them. All the old people say
that from the year 1465, in which the war occurred between the Mexicans and the Chalchese, the
custom of sacrificing prisoners taken in war commenced; for until that period they sacrificed animals,
and only drew blood from the bodies of men.

PLATE XII.

In the year of One Cane, or III 1467, the Mexicans and the Tlaxcaltecas fought a great battle on
the borders of Texcuco, on a mountain called Tliluquetepec, which signifies the black mountain.
In the year of Three Houses, or in 1469, HUEHuEMouTEuHc~oMA died, and AXAYACATZIN was
elected king.

1. An earthquake. 2. HUEIlUEMOUTEUHE~OMA. 3. AXAYACA1'ZIN. 4. Face of Water.

PLATE XIII.

In the year of Six Flints "', or of 1472, the Mexicans commenced making hostile incursions into
the valley of Matalcingo, which was their first entrance into Toluca.


-----
* In this year of Six Flints, Nez.hualcoyotl the celebrated king of Tezcllco died, who was succeeded by Nezahualpilli the father
of Cacamatzin. This prince was a poet, a statesman, a philosopher, and a warrior, and his son resembled him; but a shade of
cruelty seems to have perl'aded the character of uoth. Torquemada (who considers Nezahualcoyotl the Solomon of the New World)
likens him also to David. in the attachment which he formed for the wife of one of his bravest generals. Temictzin, and in the method
which he devised of getting rid of him, by sending him to the army, and secretly desiring that he should be placed in the hottest part
of the battle. It is impossible, on reading the following account of the stratagem on this occasion adopted by Nezabualcoyotl,
not to fancy that the Mexicans might have had a tradition of that which ages before had been successfully practised by David.
"Despues que fueron creciendo, en numero, estas Poblat;ones, y poder de los Reies Mexicanos, y Tetzcucanos, fue tambien tenido
por grande autoridad ca5ar los Unos con los Otros; y asi sucedia, que aunque acostumLraban tener muchas Mugeres, no legitimaban
sino aquella, que avian recibido de una de estas partes, y el Hijo maior, que de esta Senora nacia, hacian Heredero de sus Estados;
y aunque esto corrie en general, por la maior parte de esta Nueva-Espana, se guardb mas en particular en el Reino de Tetzcuco. Y
aunque Ne9ahualcoyotl, que en esta sa90n Reinaba en el, tenia muchas Mugeres, en las quales avia avido los Hijos, que dejamos
referidos, y otros algunos mas, no tenia por legitima ninguna de ellas, por ser Hijas de sus Vasallos, y Criados; y pareciendole ser ya
tiempo de buscar Muger, de quien pudiese dejar legitima sucesion, comen~o a pensar el modo, que tendria, para averla. Sucedio, pues,



138 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE XIV.

In the year of Seven Houses, or in 1473, Mexico and Tlatelulco went to war, when the Mexicans
proving victorious, the others remained in a state of subjection, and never again had a king.

-----
que andanclo metido en estos cuidados, adolecio de eoferrnedad de melancolia, y llego a estar de manera, que nada Ie daba gusto, ni
contento, y viendole los Privado3 de su Casa, trislc, y melancolico, y deseosos de que no 10 estuviese, Ie persuadieron a que dejase Ia
Ciudad, y los negocios de el Govierno, y se fuese 11 alguna parte, donde tomanda placer, olvidase sus triste~as. Aceptolo el Rei, y dijoJe.,
que queria venirse a est a Ciudad, y parte de Tlatilulco, donde tenia uno de sus Famosos Capitanes, Uamado Temictzin, de quien mas se
fiaba, y que mucha queria; porque (como decimos en otra parte) desde el tiempo del Emperador Techotlala, 3\"ja en todos los Pueblos,
y Ciudades grandes, Tetzcncanos, Alexicano~, y Chichimecas rebueitos, y mezclados, y mandbles, que Ie diesen aviso de estD, en seeretD,
y ocultamente, sin que el Rei.MotecuIH;uma, ni los Senores de la Ciudad 10 supieseo, por escusnr ruidD, y cumplimientos publieos.
Higose asi, y avisado E'ste Capitan, aderegble su Casa, y Jardines, para aver de recibirle. Vinose Negahualcoyotl por Agua, y metiose
en Casa de Temietzin, can la poea Geote, que trajo de su servicio, y en su Compania. Fue recibido de Temietzio, con grande
revereneia, teniendose par dichoso, y bienaventurado, de que su Rei quisiese hacerle aquel favor, y merced.
H Este Tcmictziu, aunque era Vasallo del Rei Negahualcoyotl, era tambien Descendiente de Sangre Real, porIo qual, y par ser grande
Amigo de Totoquihuatzio, Rei de Tlacupan, Ie dio una de sus Hijas, por Muger, pero quando 1a recibib, tenia la Nifia solo siete
Anos, aunque ya en esta sagon era de diez y siete, a la qual Temictzin no avia tratado COLllO a Muger, sino criado como a Hija; y asi
la Moga se estaba DonceHa, como quando de sus Padres Ia avia recibido, porque hasta entonces no Ie avia hecho falta, por tener otras,
como tenia, las quales Ie servian en este ministerio. Llegose la hora de comer, y para aver de servirle la hora de comer, y para aver
de servirle la comida, Ie parecio a Temictzin seria bien, que la Doncella, su Muger, fuese Ia que sirviese en el Combite, tanto por ser
Hija nel Rei, quanto por ser tan grande Rei, a quien servia. Salio la Moc;a, con el primer servicio, y poniendolo delante Negahualcoyotl,
hi~ole una mui grande reverencia: Puso el Rei los ojos en eUa, y fuele mui agradable la honestida(1 de sus Ojos, la gallardia de su
Cuerpo, y herrnosura de su Rostro; y pareciendole ser cosa nueva, salir Muger a adrninistrar la vianda (par ser costumbre, que los
llombres sin'iesen it la mesa) pregunto, que quien era aquella Doncella? y fuele respondido, que M uger de Ternictzin, su Criado, y Hija
del Rei Totoquihuatgin, Comio el Rei; pero ya otro del que a la lnesa se avia sentado, por aver puesto los ojos cn la Doncella, y
aversele aficionado; y despues de aver comido, quedando solo) dio orden, can un Privado _suio, que inquiriese de su Casamiento,lo
que avia, pOI-que queria saber 10 cierto de aquel caso; y como Temictzin avia recibido esta Doncella, por Muger, y si 10 estaba, 0
ya se avia aprovechado della. Todo esto paso en secreto, y con el mismo, Ie fue respondido, que hasta entonces Temictzin, la trataba,
como a Hija, sin aver cuidado de mas.

"Estuvose el Rei algunos pocos Dias en esta recreacion, y ma~ por ragon de gogar de la vista de Matla1cihuat~in (que asi se llamaua
esta DonceUa) que ya Ie tenia robado el Cora~un, que por estar en este Jardin, y holgura (que para tcnerlas mlli a placer, rnejores, y
mas cumplidas, las tenia en su Casa) y aunque ya Matlalcihuatgio, era su maior pena, y cuidado, como era prudente, y Sabia,
jamas 10 quiso dar it eotender. Fuese a Tetzcuco, can el rnismo secreto, que "ino, y ya Ile\-aba Nec;ahualcoyotl pensado de a, -- er esta
Doncella, par su Muger (pues par otra via, ni modo no Ie era licito, ni bien contado averla) y tam bien llevaba tra9ada la manera,
como entregarse de ella, si el Tiempo no Ie era contrario; y fue, que a pocos dias despues de aver lIe-gado, ordeno de embiar Gente,
contra una Provincia, que se Ie avia rebelado, y junta Ia Gente, embio a Hamar a. Temictzin, y encareciole 10 mucho que Ie estimaba,
la confianga, que de el hacia, y el credito con que 10 trataba, y que par esto avia determinado de embiarie contra los Rebelados, dandole
el Exercito, que avia hecho, para que fuese a:mjetarlos, y que Ie pedia acudiese en el caso, can las veras, que de el esperaba.
Temictzin, que no sabia el intento del Rei, y entendiendo que era por honrarle, aventajandolo a los otros Principales Capitanes de su
Reino, agradecioselo con la maior humildad, que pudo, ofreciendose de hacer 10 que Ie mandaba. Dispuso su Gente, ordeno s1.1
Jornada, y fuese en seguimiento de ella. El Rei, que por este modo ordenaba su casamiento, Barno a dos de sus rnui Fieles, y Leales,
que iban en la Jornada, y llevaban cargo de Tlacateccas (que eran como acompanados de General) y dijoles, can grande encareeimiento,
que quando estuviesen en 10 mas fuerte de la Batalla, pusiesen a Temictzin en el maior riesgo de ella, para que los Enemigos Ie
acometiesen, y viendole cn el peligro, Ie dejasen, para que en el Illuriese, y que sllccerliendo asi, como pens aba, Ie cmbiasen luego a
dar aviso de 10 hecho. Prometieronlo asi los Tlacochcalcas, y llega~do contra los Rebelados, dieronse la Batalla, y aunque quedaron
venciclos, murio en ella Temictzin, como el Rei 10 avia ordenado: De 10 qual tuvo aviso Inui presto. El que huviere leiclo las Sagradas
Escripturas, hechara de ver, ser este caso el mismo (0 !Joco menos diferenciado) que el que Ie succedio al Rei David, en el adulterio,
que tuvo con Bersabe, Muger de el Fidelisimo, Leal Vasallo suio Urias; pues para encubrir el pecado, y adulterio que contra el
avia comelido, Ie embio It la Guerra, y mando al Capitan Joab, que 10 pusiese en 10 mas fuerte de la Batalla, y alii 10 dejase morir,
como sucedio, y despues de muerto, se caso con Bersabe, Mllger que avia sido del Inocente Urias.



CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 139

PLATE XV.

In the year of Ten Canes, or in 1475, the province of Coatlaxtla, which had been subdued by the
Mexicans in former years, revolted, which they proceeded to reduce again to obedience.

In the year of Eleven Flints, or in 1476, the Mexicans conquered the province of Oquila. In this
year there was an eclipse of the sun.

PLATE XVI.

In the year of Twelve Rabbits, or in 1478, the Mexicans conquered Xiquipilco.

PLATE XVII.

In the year of One Flint, or III 1480 according to our computation, an earthquake took place.

"Teniendo, pues, aviso el Rei Nec;ahualcoyotl, de 10 hecho, y que eRta muerte no se Ie podia atribuir a el, por aver sido t~n ell
secreta, embio luego sus Embajadores.1 Rei Totoquihuatgio, pidiendole a su Bija Matlalcihuatgin, par Muger; pue. aunque 10
avia sido de Temictzin (ya Difunto) sabia, que estaba Doncella, y que mas la avia tratado, como a Bija, que como a Muger.
Totoquihuatc;in, que vida mejorado el Estado de su Hija, en esta ocasion, otorgo con 1a peticion de Nec;ahualcoyotl, yembiOle a
decir, que no solo gustaba de recibirle por.Yerno, sino tam bien de estimarle por Senor. Trataronse las Bodas, y vinieron Embajadores
al Rei Motecuhguma, que era Tic, del Desposado, y a atros Senores Mexicanos, los quales, todos vinieron en el ca~amiento; y
entregaron la Doncella 11 Negahualco)'otl, la qual recibio par su legitima Muger. Dicen sus Historias (como se vi! en las Pintu,"s
de sus Libras) que quando la llevo a Tetzcuco, Ie fueron acompauando los Reies de Mexico, y Tlacupao, cada qual, can los
Senores de su Corte. Y que alia duraron las Fiestas, )' Regocijos de las Bodas, espacio de quatro Meses. Y a un Ana despues de
averse casado con esta Senora, nacia de ella Nec;ahualpilli, que fue el que Ie suceedio, en su Reinado.

"Estaba Ne«;ahualcoyotl, en este tiempo, ocupado en hacer sus Ca:sas Reales, y Palacios, que rueron llamados Hueitecpan (que quiere
decir el Gran Palacio) porque aunque los Reies, sus Antecesores, avian tenido sus Casas mui cumplidas, y gran des, no cran de tanta
Magestad, como el Senorio, que tenian, pedia; pero Nec;abualcoyotl, que sabia la Grande Authoridad de un Rei, y el en si la
representaba, quiso, que las Casas de Stl asistencia, mostrasen con su grandec;a, 10 misrno que seotia de su autoridad. Acabadas la:5
cosas, con muchos cumplimientos (como Yo las vide, antes que comengaran a derribarlas los Espanoles, para aprovecharse de los
Materiales, en el Edificio de sus Casas) hi go lIamamiento de todos los Senores, sujetos a su Imperio, y los de Mexico, y Tlacupan,
para que se haIlasen a la Estrena de ellas (porque asi era costumbre, entre eIlos.) Fue mui de ver, todo 10 que en orden de esto huvo;
los Gastos fueron mui grandes, las Fiestas, muchas, los Combidados, bien hospedados, y todos mui contentos, (Ie ver la Prudencia,
y buen Govierno del Rei. Quando fue tiempo, de despedirlos, higoles a todos un Com bite General, donde fueron rvidos, mui
conforme a sus Reales Estados, y Personas. Despues de aver comido, mando a sus Cantores, que viniesen a regocijar los estremos, y
finales de la Fiesita; y como era Hombre de grande Eotendimiento, y mucha, y profunda Consideracion, viendo tanto Rei, y Senores,
y Capitanes Valerosos juntos, y que las cosas de esta vida se acaban, quiso darselo a. eotender a todos, para que movidos de e5ta
consideracion, usasen de elIas, como de Censo, que es al quitar, y mando it sus Cantores, que cantascn un Cantar, que el. mismo avia
compuesto, que comengaba asi: XoclLitl mamani in huelmetitlan, &c. que quiere decir: Entre las Coposas, y Sabioas, ai frescas, y
010r05as Flores. y prosiguiendo adelante, dice: Que auoque por algun tiempo estan frescas, y vistosas, Hegan a sagon, que se
marchitan, y secan. Iba prosiguiendo en decir, que todos los Preseotes, avian de acabar, y 00 a\·ian de tomar a Reinar j y que
todas sus Grandegas, avian de tener 6n, y que sus Tesoros, avian de ser Poseidos de otros; y que no avian de balver a gogar de e5to,
que una vez dejasen, y los que avian cornengado a comer con gusto, fenecieron la Fiesta con lagrirnas, oiendo las palabras del
Cantar, y viendo ser asi verdad, 10 que decia."




140 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE XVIII.

In the year of Four Canes, or in 1483, AXAYACATZIN died, and Tlfopc was elected king. In
this year the first stone was laid of the great Cu"' which the Christians found on their arrival in the
country. In the year of Five Flints, or in 1484, the city of Cinacantepect revolted, which had been
subject to the Mexicans, who marched against it, and caused such a massacre that scarcely a man
was left alive; for they dragged them all to the Cut of Mexico, to sacrifice them upon the great Cu,
which was not as yet finished. All the old people say that this was the first sacrifice of men which
occurred in that country, for till that period they had only sacrificed animals and birds§. This

-----
* Torquemada says that this temple was erected on the site of one more ancient; and as the temple founded by Solomon is said in the
Old Testament to have been enriched out of the spoils taken in war, so the temple of Huitzilopuchtli in Mexico was rendered
sumptuous in the same manner. The same historian says, in the forty-sixth chapter of the second book of the Indian MOllarchg, that
the first Montezuma, returning a conqueror from a war in which he had been engaged, enlarged and adorned this temple with the spoils.
u Y de buelta de esta guerra ensancho el templo, y casa de su major dios Huitzilopuchtli, y la adorno de much as casas de los despojos
que trajo desta guerra." Bernal Diaz asserts, in the ninety-second chapter of his True History of the Conquest of New Spain, that the
foundations on which the greater temple of Mexico stood had been laid more than a thousand years before the arrival of the Spaniards
in that country; and that they found, on digging them up and partitioning for building the ground which they occupied, gold, silver,
pearls, chalchiuitles, and other precious stones in consideraLle abundance amongst them, which gave rise to a law-suit between those
who claimed this treasure on the part of the king, and some of the tenants of the soil; which was decided in favour, as it would appear,
of the king, and appropriated for the expenses of building the church of Saint James in Mexico, for the reason alleged by Bernal Diaz,that
the nobles of Guatemuz the last king of Mexico, who was still living, affirmed" that all the citizens of Mexico who lived at that
period (the period of laying the first foundation of the temple,) threw those jewels and whatsoever else was found in the foundations into
them; and that it was so recorded in the books and paintillgs of their antiquities." We shall extract the entire of this curious passage
from the history of Bernal Diaz, because he gives a much greater antiquity to the city of Mexico than other historians assign to it, and
fixes the epoch of its foundation at the beginning of the sixth century. Where so much is involved in mystery, much must also be doubtful;
but other Spanish writers hare significantly remarked, that the temple of Huitzilopuchtli was twice rebuilt, like that of Jerusalem, which
was in fact three times rebuilt, although some commentators on Scripture deny that the temple which Herod built was a new temple,
because it dues not agree with their interpretation of the prophecies. H Y porque ay muchos Cues pintados en reposteros de conquistadores,
e en uno que yo tengo, que qualquiera dellos al que los ha visto, podra colegir la manera que tenian par de fuera; mas 10
que yo vi y entendi. e della huvo fama en aquellos tiempos que fundaron aquel gran Cu, en el cirniento del avian ofrecido de todas los
vezinos de aquel1a gran ciudad, oro e plata y aljofar e piedras ricas, e que Ie avian banado con mucha sangre de Indios que sacrificaron,
que avian tornado t::n las guerras, y de toda manera de di\'ersidad de sernillas que avia en toda la tierra, porque les diessen sus idolos
victorias, e riquezas, y lllllChos frutos. Diran aora algunos lectores muy curiosos; que como pudimos alcanc;ar a saber que en el
cimiento de aquel gran Cu echaron oro y plata, e piedras de cha1chiuis ricas, y semillas, y 10 roeiavan con sangre humana de Indios que
sacrificavan, aviem/o sabre mil anos que sefabrico, y se Idzo'? A csto doy por respuesta, que desde que ganamos aquella fuerte y gran
ciudad, y se repartieron los solares, que luego propusimos, que en aquel gran Cu aviamos de hazer la iglesia de nuestro patron e guiador
Senor Santiago, e cupo mucha parte de solar del alto Cu para el solar de la santa iglesia, y quando abrian los cimientos para hazerlos
mas fixQs, hallaron mucho oro y plata, y chalchihuis, y perlas, e aUofar, y otra5 piedras. Y assi mismo a un vezino de Mexico, que Ie
cupo otra parte del mismo soiar, haUo 10 lllismo::y los oficiales de la hazienda de su Mngestad demandava1l1o pOl' de su lJIlageslad, que
1e 't'el/ia de del'ec/to,!J sobre ello Iw'l)o ple!lto, e 110 se me acuel'da 10 que passo; mas de que se inJormaran de los caciques y pl'incipales de
jJle~'ico, y de Guatemuz, que eulonces era 't1ivo, G dixeron, que es verdad, que todas los t'ezinos de Mexico de aqueZ liempo echaron en los
cimielltos aquellasjo!Jas. e,odo 10 demas, e que assi 10 tenian pOl' memoria en sus libras, Y l)iJlturas de cosas aUliguas, e pOl' esta causa
Sf quedo para la obl'a de la Santa 19lesia de Senor Santiago." -- Historia Verdadel'o de la Conquisla de la Nueva-Espana, cap. lxxxxii.

+ The signification of Cinacantepec is the mountaiu cif bats. The sculptured head of this animal is found among the monuments of M. Dup.ix.

++  Cu, pronounced Su, was a name which the Spaniards gave to the great temple of Mexico, or to the largest teocalli inclosed within
its walls. They borrowed this word from the language of the island of Hayti or St. Domingo.
§ I t deserves to be remarked, that although Peter de los Rios frequently refers to the traditions preserved in the recollections of the
old inhabitants of the country, he never in a single instance appeals to the testimony of ancient Mexican painting3; from which omission




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 141

chastisement and slaughter was to strike terror, in order that, whilst prosecuting the conquest of the
country, others might fear them.

1. TI~OpC. 2. A Face of Water. 3. AXAYACATZIN.

PLATE XIX.

In the year of Seven Rabbits, or in 1487 according to our computation, TI~OpC died, and
AHUITZOTL was elected king. In the year of Eight Canes, or in 1487 according to our computation,
the great Cu of Mexico was completed. The old people affirm that in this year four thousand'"
men were sacrificed, who were dragged from the provinces conquered by the Mexicans. + The
number four hundred is signified by each of the branches painted above in black.

1. Tlfopc. 2. AUUITZOTL, which is the name of an aquatic animal famous In Mexican mythology.

PLATE XX.

In the year of Nine Flints, or in 1498, the Mexicans conquered a city of Thiapa called
Cabelilotepec, and the city of Cuxcaquatenango. In the year of Ten Houses, or in 1489, a very
large comet, which they name Xihuitli, appeared.

1. The comet. +

may be inferred their great scarcity, as well as from the fact of his having undertaken the laborious task of copying out an entire
Mexican Calendar, together with so many other historical paintings. Acosta thus describes the proscription which these paintings
underwent three hundled years ago in the province of Yucatan, which was equally carried into effect in all the other provinces of South
America: "In provincia Yucatan qua episcopatus Honduras est, librj sunt repeTti, quorum folia certa forma cornplicata et colligata
videbantur. In his Indi. tum divisiones temporum, tum planetarum motus, ut et animalium ac rerum naturalium aliarum natufM
proprietatesque, una cum rerum gestarum exemplis, ope rosa tliligentil1 descripserant. Cum vera concionatorum quispiam ad populum
subinde vociferaretur. Ii bros eos mere magicos et nigromanticos existere, adeoque ut universim collecti exurerentur, urgeret, facile quod
volujt, impetravit. Quod tamen factum non Indi solum, sed ipsi quoque Hispani ut qui terna iliius secreta et abdita vehementer
sciturirent, paulo post gra\'issime doluerunt." -- Acosla, India Occidentalis Ilistoria, lib. vi. cap. 7. It is not at all surprising that the
Spaniards should have been curious to learn the secret history of Yucatan, where they found the cross adored, the doctrine of the
Trinity known, and many rites analogous to those practised amongst Christians established.

-----
* Pedro de los Rios, in estimating the number of prisoners sacrificed by Ahuitzotl at only four thousand, has omitted to reckon the
two Mexican numerals in the painting, resembling in figure purses, each of which signifies eight thousand. These numerals wen,; called
Xiquipilli, which name means a purse. In the Ottoman dominions they reckon large sums of money by purses, which amount to a
certain sum in specie, and bear a fixed value.

+ Acosta says that the conquests of this king extended over New Spain as far as Guatimala, which province was Soo miles distant
from Mexico; and Torquemada estimates the number of prisoners sacrificed by Ahuitzotl at the dedication of the great temple, at
seventy-two thousand three hundred and forty-four. This enormous butchery of human victims some Mexican hi storians appear to have
considered as an act merely of a religious nature, in accordance with the manners of that age and people; for Acosta says that Ahuitzotl
was "mitis et humanus supra modum," and the interpreter of the Collection of Mendoza, that he was a man of "alegre condicion."
If this was really the case, and superstition could so mar a naturally good disposition, how true is that line in Lucretius, by which his
enemies have endeavoured to prove him an atheist, who only rejected the Roman mythology because he thought it contained fables
unworthy of the gods.

++ The comet is represented 10 the plate by the symbol of a caterpillar; in allusion, perhaps, to its supposed pernicious influence in
causing blights.



142 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE XXI.

In the year of Twelve Canes, or in 1491, the people of Tlacuva sacrificed a lord of Huaxotzingo
named TOToTACAQUE, whom they had taken prisoner in war. In the year of One House, or in
1493, the Mexicans conquered the provinces of Atlicapa and Xicochimalco*.

PLATE XXII.

In the year of Two Rabbits, or in 1494, the Mexicans conquered the city of Mictla, which is in the
province of Huaxaca. In this year an earthquake occurred. In the year of Four Flints, or in 1496,
the Mexicans conquered the city of Cultepec, where, at present, are the mines. In this year there
was a great eclipse of the sun. +
1. The sun.

PLATE XXIII. ++

This daughter of MouNTEco~1A, after she had sons by the lord of Tequantepec, informed her
husband that her father never would have given her to him as a wife, except for the purpose of

-----
* Atlicapa y Xicochimalco is the right reading of the Spanish text. The latter name signifies a wasp on a shield, which symbol is
found in the painting.

+ Baron de Humboldt infers from this painting that the Mexicans were informed of the real cause of eclipses: which would not be
at all surprising, considering the many other curious things with which they were acquainted, the knowledge of which they must have
derived from the West. It is proper to observe, that in the 127th page of the Vatican MS., where a representation of the same eclipse
occurs, the disk of the moon does not appear to be projecting over that of the sun. The Vatican MS. appears to have been copied
from a Mexican painting similar to, but not the same as Pedro de los Rios copied, whose Dotes and interpretations the Italian interpreter
had before his eyes, and strictly followed.

++ Two paintings with their explanations, containing an account of the reruarkable events that occurred during the last five years of
the reign of Ahuitzotl, have been here torn out. Their loss is however supplied by the Vatican MS. These events appear to have been
the inundation of Mexico, mentioned by Acosta, (who says that it was represented in a Mexican painting preserved in the Vatican
library, and seen by a brother of his own Company of Jesus, who highly gratified the librarian by explaining the meaning of it to him,)
and some triumph gained by Montezuma, as general of the Mexican armies, during the life-time of Ahuitzotl, who, it is singular, should be
painted bearing two banners in the form of a cross, and wearing a human skin, which confirms what would otherwise be deemed an
incredible account of Torquemada: "Este acto y maDera de vestidura, dicen que us6 aquel famosa y excelente rei Motecuhcuma en
alguna fiesta, y no debi6 de ser ill solo, sino que debi6 de venir corriendo 1a costumbre de mas atras, de atros sus antepasado5 y reies
comarcanos, para 10 qual guardaban algun cautivo que fuese senor y principal, para que su piel ajustase en 10 noble de la sangre con la
del rei, que se la vestia, y bailaba con ella un rato, haciendo sus ademanes y contenencias reales en 5ervicio de sus dioses, al qual
espectaculo dicen que concurria todo el pueblo, y de muchas partes de la coma rca, como aver cosa particular y rara, que siempre 10 son
las acciones de los reies." -- Monarquia Indiana, lib. vii. cap. 20.

The spectacle of a king performing a dance as an act of religion, was witnessed by the Jews as well as by the Mexicans; for it says in
the sixth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel: "So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the
city of David with gladness. And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and
fatlings. And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the
house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with thffsound of the trumpet. And as the ark of the Lord carne into
the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and sbe



CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 143

contracting ties of amity with him, and of having the opportunity of entering into his country and of
subduing it; which when he became aware of, he took such precautions that no Mexican was in
future admitted into his country until the arrival of the Spaniards, who conquered it. In the year of
Ten Rabbits, or in 1502, AHurfzoTL died, and they elected MOUNTECOMA as king, whom the
Marquis found on his arrival in the country. In the year of Eleven Canes, or in 1503, there were
heavy falls of snow in Tlachquiaco, in the province of Mixteca. 1. MOTEUC~O~IA.
PLATE XXIV.
In the year of Thirteen Houses, or in 1505, there was a great famine in the Mexican province, and
they went as far as the province of Pango for bread. In the year of One Rabbit, or in 1506, so
many rats appeared in the province of Mexico, that they devonred the grain sowed in the fields, and
the inhabitants were consequently obliged to get up by night and to carry torches through the fields.
In this year MOUNTECUMA caused a man to be shot to death with arrows in this manner. The old
people say that this was for to appease the gods; since, during a period of two hundred years, they
had always been afflicted with famine in the year of One Rabbit. In this year they had been
accustomed to bind their years, according to their mode of reckoning; but as it had always proved
disastrous to them, MOUNTECUMA changed it to that of Two Canes.
PLATE XXV.
In the year of Two Canes, or in 1507, there was an eclipse of the sun and likewise an earthquake,
and eighteen hundred soldiers were drowned in the river of Tucac, which is beyond Ytzuca on the
road to Mixteca, whilst engaged on a military expedition against the provinces. In this year the
temple of the New Fire was completed (for they always kindled new fire at the expiration of every
period of fifty-two years). This temple was situated on the mountain Visasthl, four leagues distant
despised him in her heart." And in the twentieth verse of the same chapter: "Then David returned to bless his household; and
Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, 'How glorious was the king of Israel to-day, who uncovered himself
to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!' "
The early Spanish writers, many of whom believed that both the Mexican and Peruvian governments, laws, and commonwealths,
were modelled after the Jew", (though the reason they assign for this being the case is absurd, viz. that Satan was jealous of the
institutions which God had given to his chosen people, and therefore determined to imitate them in the New World,) have not failed to
point out some curious traits of resemblance to Hebrew usages, in certain public acts performed by the king, or Inga, and in the
external marks of reverence which those monarchs received from their subjects. These consisted in the king's presiding at sacrifices;
in his dancing on great religious festivals; in his being consecrated to the regal dignity by the hands of the high priest with a pretended
holy unction; in his being invested with a crown and bracelets, as the insignia of majesty; in his wearing a signet fastened to his arm;
in his keeping, as a matter of state, many wive3 and concubines; in his rending his garments on receiving the intelligence of any national
calamity, such as the defeat of his armies; in his saluting with a kiss the general who brought him tidings of a victory; in his
employing regular couriers for the dispatch of news of a public nature; and in the ceremonies with which his subjects were accustomed
to enter the palace, taking off their s,ndals as on approaching the temples of their gods; and when speaking to the king not presuming to
look him in the face, but keeping their eyes fixed on the ground; and finally, in the ceremony of burning incense and precious perfumes
at his funeral.




144 EXPLANATION OF THE

from Mexico: it was named Cabeculihnacan, whence the new fire was transported over the whole
country; for they affirmed, that whosoever on that day kept in the old fire in his house would
meet with a thousand misfortunes. In the year of Four Houses, or in 1509, they perceived a light
by night, which lasted longer than forty days. Those who saw it say that it was discernible
throughout all New Spain, and that it was very great and very brilliant; that it was situated in
the East; and that, ascending from the earth, it reached the skies. This was one of the prodigies
which they beheld before the arrival of the Christians; and they thought that it was Quecalcoatle,
whom they expected. *

In this year the city of Cocola t, which is SIX leagues distant from Huaxaca, rebelled against
the Mexicans, who marched against it, and left not a single inhabitant alive, as the old men say
who chanced to be present on that occasion. 1. Mexpanitli. +

PLATE XXVI.

In the year of Five Rabbits, or in 1510, there was an eclipse of the sun: they take no account of
the eclipses of the moon, but only of those of the sun; for they say that the sun devours the moon


-----
* A slight transposition of the original text has here occurred.

+ Cocala, or Zozola, was a province from which the Mexicans obtained gold, to which Cortes, shortly after his arrival in Mexico,
dispatched, with the consent of Moteccuma, Spaniards, accompanied with many Indians, to make inquiries after that precious metal.

++ The numerical reference has been omitted in the plate; but Mexpanitli was the name of that part of the sky where the light
appeared. The sky itself is represented by the planets, and the light which they believed to ascend from the earth appears in the
painting to proceed from a mountain. The signification of Mexpanitli is the place of Mexi, or Quecalcoatle. With respect to the
number of days during which the light was visible, it must be observed that forty was a favourite number with the Jews, because Moses
was forty days with God in the mountains in remembrance of whose fasting they occasionally fast, eating very little, for forty days. A fast
of this duration was also kept by the Mexicans, which was rigidly observed by Nezahualcoyotl the king of Tezcuco. In inflicting
punishment the Jews also have regard to this number, which they take care never to exceed; and therefore stripes must be only 
thirty-nine. M. de Humboldt, noticing this curious passage of the ruanuscript of Lc Tellier, which the extreme badness of the handwriting
might in some places have prevented him from deciphering, says: "Cette lumiere qui paroissoit s'elever de la terre meme, etoit
peut-etre la IUOliere zodiacale, dont la vivaeite est tres-grande et tres-inegale sous les Tropiques. Le peuple regarde comme nouveaux
les phenomenes les plus commun!i, des que la superstition se plait a y attacher un sens mysterieux." The appearance of this light
might otherwise be accounted for by the eruption of some of those volcanoes with which New Spain abounds.

It has been observed above that the great light which was visible to the Mexicans some short time previous to the destruction of their
city, and which appearing to ascend from the earth reached the skies, and lasted, as the Spaniards pretend, for the exact space of forty
days, was probably some volcanic eruption, which was afterwards converted into a prodigy, portending the approaching destruction of
the Mexican empire. In order to show the probability of this supposition, the following account of the volcano of ?~fasaya, situated in
the province of Nicaraugua, is here inserted, from the fourteenth book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy. This province can hardly be
considered a part of New Spain, although contiguous to it: but a traveller, in a recent narrative of a Land Journey from Vera Cruz to
Mexico, states, that he ouserved in the whole progress of it indications that the soil of New Spain had been the frequent theatre of mighty
volcanic eruptions, as the rocks themselves seemed in Illany places to be merely lava. Many other prodigies are related to have preceded
the fall of Mexico, equal both in number, in magnitude, and in impossibility, to those declared by Josephus to have attended the
destruction of Jerusalem. Strange voices are said to have been heard in the air, and the serene vault of heaven to have been disturbed
by the mimic combats of armed hosts. The sister of Montezuma, who was dead and buried, is pretended to have come to life, and many
other signs and wonders to have happened. In general, nothing is more easy than to relate a prodigy or to attest one, and nothing more
rare than to witness one. If human virtue and excellence, which, according to the opinion of the most famous of the ancient philosophers,
is the most moving spectacle that the Deity can behold, bas never yet (except in the case of two Jews) been able to reverse
the decree of death pronounced on all of human race; wholy absurd is the supposition that Providence would disturb the whole order of




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 145

when an eclipse. of the moon takes place. In the year of Six Canes, or in 1511, the Mexicans
conquered the city of Y cpaltepec: they employed ladders in the ascent, as the city was situated on

-----
nature, In order to bring about some comparatively insignificant object, when it is admitted by all philosophers and theologists that
Nature always proportions her means to the end. It is surprising that the author of Salathiel sbould attach credit to those omens of the fall
of Jerusalem, which Greek and Roman authors would have recorded if they had not thought that the bare mention of them would disgrace
the page of history, and tarnish the lustre of the philosophic age in which they lived. 'The following description of the volcano of Masaya
will be interesting to naturalists, because its authenticity may be relied upon; nor is that portion of it least curious, in which mention is
made of the birds which frequented its terrific crater, since it agrees with what ancient writers have said of Etna. These birds kept of
course out of the reach of whatever could affect animal life, but still their nature must be very extraordinary: at the same time, we do
not attach so much implicit credit to this account as Doctor Johnson, the most learned and credulous man of his age, did to the story of
swallows at the approach of winter" conglomerating together," and flinging themselves into some pond, and there reposing in the mud
till the genial solar rays again called them forth into life and activity. This was certainly a curious... way of accounting for the absence of
swallows in the winter; and the fable of the phoenix visiting Egyptian Thebes was not half so romantic.

"De las cosas, que se han dicho en los Capitulos pasados se conocen las maravillosas obras de la Naturalec;a, que por secreta
beneplacito de Dios, ha obrado, y obra cada Dia, en los estranos efectos de estos Vo1canes; pero aunque estas cosas pueden causar
espanto, dire aqui de otro que parece, que excede Sll consideracion a todas las cosas, que de semejantes Lugares pueden decirse, que es
et de Masaya, en In Provincia de Nicaragua; porque aunque hai muchos en esta granJe, y estendida Tierra, ex cede a todos eUos, y aun
entiendo, que a todos los que hasta et Dia de oi se han visto en el Munde; porque pienso lIO haver otro su semejante, ni tan espantosa.
.A este Volcan lIamaron a los principios, los Nuestros, el Infierno de In Provincia de Nicaragua, 0 el Intierno de Masaya, porque 10 situo
Dios, en aquella Provincia, que despues, los que la moraron, la llamaron de Masaya. En una parte de esta Provincia, cerca de poblado,
y tres leguas de dos mui grandes Lagunas (de que despues haremos mencion) esta una Sierra levantada, no en mui alta distancia, aunque
el Cerro es redondo, y todo el sitio de su contorno, es cabernoso, y retumba andando, por ella, como si estuviese hueca: La subida de
esta Sierra es rasa, y no mui trabajosa, porque se puede ir hasta 10 alto a Cavallo, yes poco mas de media legua, el camino, que hai desde
10 llano, a su Cumbre. Esta Cumbre, 0 Cabega de Sierra esta toda abierta, y su abertura es del mismo tarnano, y grueso de su Cabec;a,
y tiene esta abertura, en redondo, mas de mil y quinientos pasos; esta abertura, y hueco, con sus paredes, en 10 alto, y en 10 baja, es tan
patente, y manifiesto, como 10 es una Plac;a grande de una Ciudad de estas de las Indias, u de Espana; pOl"que sin ninglln impedimento
10 bana el Sol todo, como baoa, y clarifica los Campos mui escombrados. Esta abertura, y hueco va casi a un peso hasta abajo, aunque,
segun dice el Padre Frai Toribio, que la vio, que es de hechura, 0 forma de sombrero, buelto 10 de arriba a bajo; de manera, que 10
extremo, y bajo de esta hoi a, e:3 un suelo, y Plac;a, poco menos anebo, que el bueco de la abertura, por 10 que va disminuiendo en Ia
forma, que decimos de sombrero, buelta la faida acia arriba. Hai desde 10 alto de esta Sierra al suelo, que esta dentro de ella, que haee
manera de plac;a, docientos, y mas estados (segun cuenta el Obispo de Chiapa, que 10 vio, y se 10 certi6caron otros Companeros) la Piasa
es mui liana, como si de proposito la hicieran a mano; pero no hai que maravillar, pues es hecha de la Mano Poderosa de Dios, yaunque
la bana el Sol, no tiene ierva verde, porque el calor del Fuego debe de abrasarla. Alii en aquello alto de aquel Volcan estan unos
Teocales,o Altares, sobre los quales lIamaban a sus Dioses, y ofrecian saerificio los Indios, de aquellas Provincias; y quando les faltaba
el Agua, para los Temporales, en Tiempo de secas, en lugar de los Sacrificios ordinarios, despefiaban par alli abajo Ninos, y Muchachos,
para que fuesen par Agua, y los moradores de aquella Provincia crelan, que luego que alii ofreciesen aquellos Niuos havia de Hover, los
quales, antes de Ilegar it. bajo, iban hechos muchos pedasos.

It Esta quasi enmedio, aunque algo a un lado mas acostado de la Pla~a, un poc;o redondo, como si fUeI"a hecho a mano, y
puedese andar todo a la redonda, y it todas partes, por el buen espacio, que hai de suelo; la boca de este po~o tiene (segun
dice el Padre Frai Toribio) de traves un buen tiro de Ballesta; y segun el Obispo de Chiapa, veinte y cinco, (, treinta pasos,
que sera 10 mismo, poco mas, (. menos; y 10 que parece de hondo son mas de treinta estados. En este parejo de hondura esta
el Fuego, il Metal, que se ve, y es de la misma manera, que Metal derretido, de que se funden los Tiros de Artilleria, (, las
Campanas; desde 10 alto de aquella Pla~a se ve bien el Fuego, (, Metal, que abajo anda, y esta treinta y cinco, il quarenta
brac;as de este suelo, que Ia hoi a haee, y hat hasta arriba a. la Cumbre, do~ientas y veinte: Esta. este Metal siempre moviendose,
y hierve espantosisimamente, yanda un hervor, enmedio, que parece, que viene del profundo dellnfierno, yen espacio, y tiempo,
que puede deeirse un Credo, se levanta una ola como una Torre, y repentinamente se deshace, y desbarata, y da tan gran golpe,
y hace tan grande ruido, como quando quiebran las olas de la Mar de tumbo, y nunca cesa aquel espantoso, y bravo hervor, y
ruido tan furioso, y hecha de sl parte de aquel metal, como chispas, que se pegau por las paredes, dos, y tres estados en alto,
las quales luego se apagan. Dentro,de este po~o, andan muchos Pajaros, y Aves pequenas, y a 10 que parece, no mucha
distancia apartados, que no hace poco espanto tambien esto. Todo 10 dicho se vi) desde arriba, tan c1aramente (dice el Obispo
de Chiapa) como si estuviesen los que 10 ven, y ello, juntos en \In llano; verdad es (dice luego) que como aquella hondura sea
tan grande, y desde la abertura, hasta 10 bajo, vaian las paredes casi por nivel tajadas, no sin gran riesgo, y peligro de caer nos



164 EXPLANATION OF THE

a steep rock. In this year there were heavy falls of snow, and three earthquakes occurred. In the
year of Seven Flints, or in 1512, the Mexicans conquered the cities of Quimichintepec and Nopala,

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acercamos para verla it la vera de 1. abertura. Los Indios Naturales, ni sus antepasados (dice el Padre Frai Toribio) que Ie
dijeron, no haverle visto hacer mudan~a, salvo, que aquel Metal sube, y baja, y quando mas lIueve, mas se inflama, como In
Fragua del Herrero bien encendida, quando Ie hechan Agua; y hasta tanto acontece subir (prosigue luego) que hinchandose,
como la Caldera, que Ie dan mucho Fuego, Ilega hasta aquella pla~a, y,uelo donde comien~a la boca de este po~o, y Iuego
dice: 10 vi esta boca del Infierno el a50 de mil y quinientos y quarenta y quatro, en principia del Me, de Agosto, y havia
subido aquel Metal hasta 1. pla~a, y aun vertio un poquillo encima, acia Ia parte de Oriente, y iii. tornaba bajaudo dos, 0 tres
estados, y entonces estaba mui de v~r aquel espantosisimo Fuego, y vila de Dia, y de N ache, que es mas de vcr, y esta tan
claro, como de Dia, y en una Noehe, que dormi encima de Ia boca, COUlO el ruido es tan grande, despierta muchas veces a los
que ani duennen, y todas las veces, que despel'taba, me paraba a mirarla, y siempre me parecia cosa nueva, Y fiui espantosa.
H Lo que de todo esto parece ser mas admirable, es, que siendo aquel Fuego, 0 Metal, no llama, sino brasa, y cstando tan
hondo, solo el balta, 0 resplandor, que de ez sale, se sube a las Nubes encima, pal' linea recta, '!I se ve, y resplandece treinta
leguas la Mar adentro, y pareee llama, que arde. Y prosigue el Obispo de Chiapa en Ia Relaeion, que haee de este Volean,
dieiendo: Para go~ar bien de verla, y ver quanta es su claridad, eonviene subir, y dormir en 10 alto de Ia Sierra una Noche, y
asi 10 hice io, porque con el Sol de Dia no se ve quanta es su claridad; estuvimos toda unn. noche ciertos Frailes, y io, y resamos
Maitines, sin otra Iumbre mas de Ia que nos comunieo el resplandor del Volean, y vimos ser tanta Ia claridad, que hacia, quanta
hace el Dia en las mauanas nubladas; y estando mi Compafiero, y io, en un Pueblo, que Haman los Indios Nindiri, legua y
media del Volcan, y andanclonos paseando, juzgabamos, que con nuestros Cuerpos haciamos tanta sombra de 130 parte contraria,
donde teniamos el resplandor del Volean, como Ia bieieramos, si tuvieramos Ia Luna de oeho Dias; par aquella parte. Esto
dice este Apostolieo Obispo; y a esto afiade el Venerable Padre Fmi Toribio: El estremado, y much a Fuego, que siempre and a
en aqueIla hoia, da tanta claridad, qu.e de Noche se ve a leer 'Una Cm'ta cerca de una legua; y otros quieren decir, que de mas
Iejos, y todo puede ser verdad; porque quando llueve, can el Agua, y can las N ubeA, que se bajan, haeen reverberar el
resplandor, y que repercuta acia abajo, y con esto da mas claridad en sus alderredores, mas io Ie vi casi en todo el Tiempo de
las Aguas, y pareceme, que apenas se podia bien leer una Carta, mas de Ia distancia dicha. Estii. este Volcan cinco leguas de
la Mar del Sur, y vese su claridad veinte, 0 veinte y cinco legll.us la Jfar ademio. Para ver aquel Fuego, que alIi sale, ponense
:l mirarlo desde arriba encima de unas Penas, y m11'an para abajo, como quien mira una profunda Cueva. Estas SOll palabl'as
de este Bendito Padre.

H Visto 10 que dejamos dicho, de las Causas Naturales, de que el Fuego se engendra, en los Volcanes, podemos creer, que
aqueste se causa de los gl'andes movimientos de las Aguas de dos Lagunas mui grandes, que tiene en su vecindad, y eercania;
porque desde medio Dia abajo, y algunas veees antes de medio Dia, hai en elIas ordinarios, y recios vicntos, tanto, que se
Ievantan tantas, y tan altas olas, como en la Mar quando hai Borrasea, y Tormenta. Estos golpes, y movimientos, como estl?:n
dos, y tres Ieguas del Volean, deben de entrar, par algunas Cuevas, 0 Cavernas en el, yesto cngendrar Viento, y el Viento
encender la Picdra-agufl'e, y haver alIi mucho del Betull, ia dicho, que 10 sustenta; y con esta agitacion, y permanencia hacerse
Fuego continuo, que es el que en aquell. hoia, 0 po~o permanece. Quando aquel Fuego rebienta (que debe de ser quando hai
grandes lluvias, por las ragones dichas de los otros Volcanes, 0 pOl' otra alguna causa o('ulta) sube a. 10 alto, con grande
estruendo, y furor, y l1eva consigo grandisima cantidad de Piedra Pomez, y. las mas livianas de elIas las avienta distancia de
quatro leguas, poco mas, (, menos, y con eUas, y con Ia ceniga, que va a. bueltas, que es a manera de rescoldo, quema la Tierra,
que alcanga en sus alderredores; en el Vallecillo, que hace en su contol'ltO este Volcan, hai de esta Piedra liviana, 0 Pomez,
que parece como las escorias de las Fraguas de los Herreros, y esto en mas de un millon de carretadas, en tanta manera, que no
se puede andar, sino sabre eIlas; y porque quanta mas pesada es Ia Piedra, tanto menos Ia aparta de 51, de aqui es, que en 10
alto de Ia Sierra esto. todo Ileno de 1. Piedra mas pesada, y aspera, que son como 1a eseoria, que deeimos, que sale del Hierro
purifieado en In Fragua, y esto en tanta eantidad, yell. toda tan aspera, que casi en toda Ia Sierra apenas se halla Tierra
desocupada de aquellas Piedras, donde se pueda facilmente aeostar un Hombre. Esta Piedra, que estil sohre esta Sierra, no es
distinta una, de otra, como son las Piedras Pomez, que caen en eillano, 0 Valle domle este Monte, 0 Volean esta sentado, sino
que estan pegadas unas con otras, y hechas Pena asperisima, y no parecen al'rojadas del Fuego, sino naeidas en los mismos
lugares, donde parecen, como suelen estar en los mal Palses, y Sierras asperas las Peuas pic;arrenas, que son como puntas de
Diamantes, it de Alesnas; y porque (como ia dije) quanta mas pesado es 10 que de 51 heeha, tanto men as 10 avienta; de aqui es,
que junto it Ia boca tiene grandes peda~os de Piedra, 0 Metal (segun io no dudo que sea) no de la aguda, y pi~arrefia, sino casi
lisa, y de color de Hierro, y mas pareee Cobre, que Hierro; y para Argumento, que aquelll1etal sale, 0 sube mui tierno quando
10 despide, es ver, que aquellos peda~os estan resquebrajados, como suele abrirse, 0 resquebrajarse un gran peda~o de masa del



CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 147

which are situated towards the province of Tototepec. In this year the stones apparently smoked
to such a degree that the smoke reached the sky.

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Pan, que comemos, quando Ia masa de mui levada, se avinagra, (. aceda, porque parece, que se l'esquebraja, embeviendose en 51,
o enjugandose poco it poco quando se iela; yesto hace mucha fuersa para creel', que aquel es Metal de Hierro, 0 Cobre, del
qual aquel Fuego se sustenta, si aca solo es, aunque es casa mui dudosa. Concuerda con esto 10 que arriba heroos referido de
los demas Volcanes donde sale Metal, 0 cosa, que 10 parece; y puedese creer, que la Tierra de esta Sierra es jugosa de jugo,
que engendra esta materia, que produce este Fuego, y que se engendra en los poros de estas Piedras esponjosas, 0 Pomez; y
quando se acaba de consumir el humor, 0 jugo de elias, convirtiendose en aquel Metal, 0 Fuego, entonces quedan livianas, y las
puede arrojar tan lejos, y las que no estan del todo gastadas, no tanto, sino mas cerca.

"Ignorando las ragones, y casas naturales, arriba referidas, de como estos Fuegos se engendran, todo el Vulgo, de los
Espafioles, que aquel Volcan han visto, han tenido imaginacion, que aquel Metal, 0 Fuego, que ani se sustenta, es Plata, u Oro,
o otra casa de valor; pOl'que como dice San Ambrosio: Al codicioso todo 10 que ve, y oie se Ie antoja Dinero; y pOl' esta causa
se ofrecieron algunas Personas al Rei, diciendo, que a. Stl costa querian saber, e inquirir 10 que alIi havia, pidiendo las aibricias
de ser Minas de grande importancia; otros, de callada, trabajaron de hacer cierto instrumento, para cntrar dentro, y se ocuparon
un Ano en hacerlo, y hecho, acordaron de entrar quatro juntos, y pOl' curiosidad fue un Fraile, con elIos, y al tiempo de entrar
en un Vaso de madera, que tenian hecho, para el efecto, viendo tanta hondura, y pareciendoles cosa mui peligrosa, temieron;
pero el Fraile, con mas temeridad, que esfuerc;o, quiso entrul' solo, y tomando una Cruz en la una mano, y un martillo en Ia otra,
para quebrar alguna piedra, si la huviese pOl' las paredes del poso, que Ie fuese estorvo, 0 impedimento, para bajar abajo, hisose
bajaI', y lIego sano, y bueno al suelo de la pIasa, y paseose pOI' ell" mui it su placer, con risa, y goso, escarneciendo de los que
no havian osado ser sus compafieros; lIevaba sus sogas Iargas, y al cabo una buena cadena, y en ella un Capacete de hierro
para coger de aquel Metallo que cupiese, y hechando abajo SUB sogas, y en elIas la Cadena con el Capacete, lIego al Fuego, y
todo 10 que entro de la Cadena, y vaso dentro de el, 10 corto, como si fuera con cuchilIo; no saco nada el Fraile, pero consider?>
mui de espacio todas la. cosas, que havia de este Metal, que ardia, y Fuego, hondura del po~o, y 10 demas, que havia en ill; y
10 que despues alirmo, fue, que aquel Metal (0 10 que es) que alii parece estar ardiendo, no estil quedo, sino que es un rio de
elIo, que pasa de camino, como si 10 fuese de A~ua, y que aquel Rio de Metal, il Fuego es tan ancho como una calle de las de
csta Ciudad de Mexico, que son mui anchas, pero despues tornaron a entrar ciertos Espaiioles, con mas instrumentos de Hierro
mas fuer(es, para coger del Metal, y tambien los corto, y derritio el Fuego. EI Padre Frai Toribio dice, que el Ano de 1538,
entrarOll diez, 0 doce Espanoles, en aquella Hoia, y Plac;a, poniendo arriba un cahestrante, y bajaban uno a uno, metiendose en
un cesto, y mui atados, y con otras muchas diligencias (y dice, que con todo fue una mui gran locura, y que se pusieron a mui
grande riesgo, y peligro) y que desde aquella PIasa donde estil la posa tornaron a poner otro cabestrante con una soga, y pOI'
remate una gruesa cadena de Hierro, con un servidor de 01'0, para coger de aquel Metal, que en todo su seso pensaban, que era
Oro, diciendo, que a ser otro Metal, 10 gastara, y consumiera el ardentisimo Fuego de aquella hOl'naga, porque el Fuego gasta.
todos los l\ietales, sino es el Oro. Durmieron aHa bajo una noche, pOl'que como iii diximos, hai po]' todas partes ii Ia redonda.
de la boca donde anda el Fuego buen espacio; metieron su soga, y cadena, y en lIegando la Cadena al Metal, luego la torcio, y
corto, y quedose alia el servidor; y de creer es, que no tardo mucho en derretirse; y en la punta de la Cadena salieron pegados
eiertos granos de aquel Metal, que alii hierve, y lIevados illos Plateros, nunca conocieron, que Metal fuese, y puesto sobre una
Vigornia, 0 Iunque, y dandole con el martillo, que estaba aeerado, no 10 pod ian ablandar; antes el Metal entraba por el Acero,
como si se metiera pOI' cera, que es mucho de considerar. Esto dice el Padre Frai Toribio. Mas Animo pareee, que mos(ro
(segun dicen algunos) el otro condenado it muerte, que entro en el Monte Etna, que estos que bajaron it esta PIasa, del qual
dicen los que escriven sus maravilIas, que ciel'to Rei de Sicilia, quel'iendo inquirir 10 que havia dentI·o de aquel Volcan, obligo a
un condenado a muerte, a que entrase dentro, y que si saliese, con vida, 10 dejaria ir libremente; el qual alentado, con la vida,
que se Ie prometia, saliendo con ella, de aquella boca, se metio en un cesto, con cornida delltl'O, y con ciCIto artifieio, que para
ello hicieron, bajo hasta inerelble hondura, la qual no se presumia; y estando todo el Dia dentro, al poncr del Sol 10 sacaron,
y dijo, que en los lad os, y paredes del Monte havia much os nidos de Aves, y que pOI' toda aquella hondura pOI' donde baja,
nunca vido cosa, mas de que oio grandes ruidos, y estruendos de Aguas, que pOI' 10 mas bajo corrian; y esta es la verdad de
aquel Fuego, que las Aguas de la Mar, que pOl' alii estiln cerca (como sea Isla) con sus golpes, y movimientos continuos
engendran el Viento, y el Viento enciende la Piedra-asufre, y asi se hace aquel Fuego; pero digo, que aunque fue Illucho el
Animo de este condenado a muerte, 10 fue maior el de estos, que entraron en este de Masaya, porque eran libres, y se ponian
voluntariamente al peligro, y esotro era condenado, y asi, como asi, estaba sentenciado a muerte, y mas cierta. la tenia pOl' otra
via, que entrando en aquella boca de aquel Monte.

"POI' 10 clicho vemos no haverse conocido nada de estc Fuego, 0 Metal, y asi quedall todos hasta oi, con Ia clllda,;:, 80~pccha,




148 EXPLANATION OF THE

PLATE XXVII.

In the year of Eight Houses, or in 1513, the Mexicans conquered Tototepec, a province eighty
leagues distant from Mexico, situated on the coast of the South Sea. In this year there was such
an earthquake, that the people who witnessed it say, that so great was the number of birds which
flew from the east to the west, that they darkened the sun; and that some of them having been
taken, they were found to have no entrails, and the entire cavity of their bodies to be full of feathers
and dirt. In the year 1514, or of Nine Rabbits, the Mexicans conquered the province of Hayocingo,
which is that which so long defended itself against them; they pretended accordingly that they came
to serve them, bringing chains of gold. In the year of Ten Canes, or in 151.5, the Mexicans
conquered Ytzlaquetlaloca.

PLATE XXVIII. *

PLATE XXIX.

In the year of Eleven Houses, or in 1529, Nuno de Guzman set out for Yalisco on his march to

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que de antes tenian, si es Plata, Oro, Cobre, 0 Hierro, 0 otra cosa de valor aquella materia, que pOl' alli corre; y estan mui engaiiados,
en esta imaginacion; porque no debe ser atra cosa, sino que aquel Fuego se encienne, yarde. Y CODserva naturalmcnte, con la
Piedra-agufre, y jugo, (, betun de aquellas Piedras-pomez, y can ella especie de Metal, que tiene color de Cobre, (, Hierro, y no de
atra manera: y todo esto se puede colegir de 10 que de los atros Volcanes havemos clicho. La que me podia a mi ser de maior
admiracion, era 10 que el Religioso havia clicho, que era Rio que pasaba de camino, y se pudiera duclar de esto, sino concertara con
ello, 10 que los Autores escriven a. cerca de los Volcanes, arriba nombrados; Y tiiendo aquello verdad, 10 puede ser esto; porque no hai
mas rac;on para creer 10 uno, que 10 otro: que por probar e::;ta verdad en este, he traido a consequencia esotros; y cstan tan mal
acreditadas las casas de las Indias, que como se digan, y presenten desnudas, y sin camisa, las tienen por sueflo, 0 por patraiia, y por
csto es rnenester vestirlas, can otras cosas, que hai en las otras partes del M undo, que son sus semejantes, para que con vestido, que
en otros se ha visto, se conozcan estas, alas quates tam bien les viene: y se debe creer, que aquel Rio de Fuego, y Metal encendido,
va a parar par sus canos, y venas por debajo de Tierra a otros Volcanes, que hai muchos par aquella Tierra, cerca, 0 lcjos, y par
ventura, va a dar ilIa Provincia, donde tienen los Espanoles poblada la Villa de San Miguel, qllarenta leguas de esle sitio, donde hai
Volcan, y Volcanes, y debe correr adelante otras cinqucnta, a la de Guatemala, clonde estan los otros dos, que digimos; aunque todos estos
son de la manera del de la Isla de Sicilia, obscuros, y con bocas estrechas, por las qunles hechan humo, y de quando en quando rebientan,
y hechan I?uego, y desparcen, y oerraman la cenic;a, por mucha di'itanci~ de Tierra. Podemos colegir de 10 clicho, que los Volcanes
de que hablaron los Antiguos, y oi aun viven, como los de Sicilia, tienen su Fuego, y Metal, 0 betumen, de que se mantieuen, como
aqueste de Masaya, salvo que como eslan cerrados, y no tienen mas de aquellas bocas estrechas, no se ve, par ellas, el Metal, 0 Fuego,
que ticnen, y asi este nos ensena 10 que en los otros hai, aunque en eUos no 10 "emos. Tambien se debe colegir no ser maldvilla, que
crien Aves, y tengan sus nidos en las paredes dentro del Monte Etna, pues en cste sc ven bolar tan cercanas al Fuego: cierto se debe
tener aquesto por una de las maravillas de el.lVlundo, abrado con particular Mano de la Omnipotencia de Dios: y podemos tambien
colegir, para confirmacion de nuestra Fe, un Christiano argumento, yes, que pues Ia Naturalec;a obra un Fuego, asi tan perpetuo,
que es cosa mui creedera haver Fuego infernal, para punicion, y tormento de los dafiaclos, como la Fe expresamente nos 10 dice, y
ensena, c1 qual ha de ser eterno, constituldo por la Divina J usticia, e infalible Providencia de Dios. De este argumento trata el
Glorioso Padre San Agustin, en los Libros de la Ciudad de Dios. Un quarto de legua de la boca de este, algo mas bajo, en la misma
Sierra estil otro Volciln iii ciego de la Tierra, que ha caido en el, que antiguamente (segun afirman los Indios) ardia, como este; y
tendJi\ de hondo en 10 que ha quedado por cegar, hasta seis, 0 oeho estados, segun de arriba parece,"

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* The explanation of Plate xxviii. is wanting, the MS. having lost some leaves; but it appears from the painting that Nezahualpilli
the king of Tescuco died in the year 1516, or Eleven Flints. His successor is omitterl in this history.




CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 149

subdue that territory: they pretend that a serpent descended from the sky, exclaiming that troubles
were preparing for the natives, since the Christians were directing their course thither".
In the year of Twelve Rabbits, or in 1530, three earthquakes occurred. In the year of Thirteen
Canes, or in 1531, there was an eclipse of the sun.

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* Superstition and credulity abounded in Europe in the sixteenth century amongst all orders; but as ignorance is the soil in which
those noxious weeds best thrive, it may be presumed that the Spanish settlers in America, who were composed of illiterate soldiers
and the dregs of the people, were nearly as credulous and superstitious as the Indians themselves. If Cabeza de Vacca, a military
adventurer, could take credit to himself, and persuade his countrymen to believe, that he bad raised a man from the dead; if other
Spanish solrliers, with hands dripping with blood and hearts thirsting after gold, could profess to cure the sick, u rezando, soplando, y
santiguando," by praying, blowing upon them, and making the sign of the cross, -- what attention ought to be paid to all the prodigies
which grave historians state on the authority of the Spanish soldiers and natives, to have preceded and followed the destruction of the
Mexican empire, some of which must be rejected from the contlicting evidence of those who if the alleged facts had really taken
place must have witnessed them, and others on account of their great absurdity? To the first class belongs the apparition of Saint
James, who according to Gomara saved the Spanish army from annihilation, by dealing death and destruction amongst the Indian
foe. The saint is said to have appeared on a grey steed, and therefore must have been conspicllous to the whole army, or at least to
a part of it: but Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a distinguished officer who served under Cortes, who many years after the conquest of
Mexico wrote a history of that event, says, remarking on the relation of Gomara: If I acknowledge that all our exploits and victories
are owing to our Lord Jesus Christ; and that in this battle there was such a number of Indians to everyone of us, that if each had
thrown a handful of earth they might have buried us, if by the great mercy of God we had not been protected. It !Day be that
the person who Gomara mentions as having appeared on a mottled grey horse, was the glorious apostle Saint James or Saint Peter;
and that I, as being a sinner, was not worthy to see him. This I know, that I saw Francisco de MorIa on such a horse, but as an
unworthy transgressor did not deserve to see any of the holy Apostles. It may have been the will of God that it was so as Gomara
relates; but until I read his Chronicle, I never heard among any of the conquerors that such a thing had happened." To the second
class, the extraordinary circumstances which accompanied the de3truction of QuauhtemaUan by a hurricane, in which six hundred
persons perished, and which Gomara (disbelievingly it must be confessed) relates, must be referred: "They beheld a cow pacing
through the squares and streets with one horn broken, and a rope hanging from the other, which attacked those who went to carry help
to the house of Donna Beatrix, and twice threw down a Spaniard who persisted in the attempt, who with difficulty escaped from being
trampled in the mire. Another Spaniard and his wife had fallen on the ground, and over them lay a large beam. A strange negro
chanced to pass by, whom they entreated to lift up the beam, and to assist them to rise. The negro inquired whether the man who
had fallen was Morales, who, on hearing that he was, lifted up the beam, assisted the husband, left the woman to be suffocated, and
scampered away through the water and the mud. They also speak of strange and fearful things that they saw and heard in the air.
It is possible: but fear distorts every thing. Many believed that the negro was the Devil, and the cow a woman of the name of
Augustina, the wife of Captain Francisco Cava, and the daughter of one who bad been whipped for witchcraft and lewdness in
Cordova, who had bewitched and caused the death of Don Pedro Portocarrero in Quauhtemallan, because he forsook her for another
mistress." The miracles performed by the Spanish soldiers are thus related by Gomara; and it would be wrong to omit that they
received credit not only in America, but in Spain. In Barcia's Collection of American historians, an entire treatise is found, the
object of which is to prove that Cabeza de Vaca did really raise a man from the dead. "En tierra de Avavares curo Alonso del Castello
muchos Indios a soplos, como Saludador, de mal de cabeza por 10 qual Ie dieron Tunas, que son buena fruta, y carne de venado, y
arcos y flechas. Santiguo assi mesmo cinco tullidos que sanaron, no sin grande admiracion de los Indios, y aun de los Espafioles: Ca
los adoravan como a personas celestiaies. A fama de tales curas acudian a eUos de muchas partes, y los de Susola Ie rogaroD fuesse con
ellos a sanar un herido. Fue Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, y Andres Dorantes, que tambien curavao. Mas quando llegaron aHa
era muerto el herido, y confiados en Jesl1 Christo que obra sanidades, y por conservar sus vidas entre aquel10s barbaro!! 10 santiguo, y
soplo tres vezes Alvar Nunez, y revivio, que fue Milagro. Assi 10 cuenta el mismo." u Alonso del Castillo cured many Indians of the
headache in the province of Avavare3, by breathing on them like the Saviour; in return for which they presented him with Tunas,
wruch are a good fruit, and with venison, and bows and arrows. He made the sign of the cross likewise over five cripples, who
recovered, to the great astonishment of the Indians, and even of the Spaniards; for they (the Indiaos) adored them as celestial personages,
and through the fame of such cures, flocked to them from many parts. The people of Susola requested him to go with them to heal a
wounded man. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, and Andres Dorantes, who also wrought cures, went; but when they arrived at the place,
the wounded man was dead; confiding, however, in Jesus Christ, who works cures, and in order to preserve their own lives amongst
those barbarians, Alvar Nunez made the sign of the cross over him, and breathed three times, when he came to life, which was a
miracle. It is related in this manner by himself." -- La Istoria de las Indias, fo. xxiv.



]50 EXPLANATION OF THE
PLATE XXX.
In the year of One Flint, or in 1532, the first bishop of Mexico, Brothel' Don J U A N DE
C;:UMARRAGA, arrived. In the year of Two Houses, or in 1533, an earthquake occurred; and they
pretend that the star which they name Sitlal-choloha smoked, which is that which we call Venus,
of which they make great account. In the year of Three Rabbits, or in 1534, Don ANTONIO DE
MENDOS:A arrived as Viceroy of New Spain. They say that the star smoked.

PLATE XXXI.

In the year of Four Canes, or in 1535, the star smoked. In the year of Six Houses, or In 1537,
the negroes of the city of Mexico meditated an insurrection, the chief conspirators of whom were
hung. The star smoked, and an earthquake occurred; the greatest that I have seen, although 1
have seen many in these parts.

PLATE XXXII.

In the year of Seven Rabbits, or in 1538, many of the people died of the small-pox. In the year
of Eight Canes, or in 1539, they commenced entrusting the wands of the magistracy to the Indians
of Mexico. The star smoked. In the year of Nine Flints, or in 1540, Don ANTONIO DE MENDOyA
made a part of the aqueduct which comes from Capultepec to the city". He caused the fountain
to be cleared out, in order to convey the water from a deeper spring, and inclosed it in the manner
in which it at present is.

PLATE XXXIII.

In the year of Ten Houses, or in 1541, the Indians of Yalisco revolted, and were reduced to
obedience by Don ANTONIO DE MEND0S:A. Don PEDRO DE ALVARADO t, whom the Indians
named Tonatihu, which signifies the Sun, died in retreating from the Indians. In this year of
Eleven Rabbits, or in 1542, an earthquake occurred.

1. PEDRO DE ALVARADO. 2. Tonatihu.


-----
* The hill of Capultepec, or of grasshoppers, which was so named from its extreme verdure, was the site of the country palace of
the kings of Mexico. Ancient cypresses of excessive growth, and the recollections of past times, still contribute to give an interest to
the spot. Acosta says, that in his days two statues, the one of Montewma and the other of his son, were still standing by the side of
the fountain.

+ Gomara, describing the character of Pedro de Alvarado, says, that he was cruel to the Indians, gallant to their wives, and faithless
to his fliends: and that dying from contusions which he had received by falling from a steep rock, being asked where he suffered pain,
he always replied in his soul, "Preguntado que Ie dolia, respondia siempre que In alma.t1 He nevertheless adds, that he flied "con buen
sentido, y juyzio de Christiano."




CODEX TELLERlANO-REMENSIS. 151

PLATE XXXIV.

In 1544 and 1545 there was a great mortality among the Indians. 1. Violent tempests which blew down the trees.

PLATE XXXV.

In the year of Five Houses, or in 1549, the first bishop of Mexico, Brother JUAN DE <;UMARRAGA,
died <1>. The year 1549, when the bishop died, was the year of Atamal, when they ate unleavened t
bread: for it should be observed, that every eight years on the year ofthe Flint the people all fasted
four days, during which period they ate nothing but bread steeped in water and without salt: the
fast was accordingly always, as I say, on this sign; but although it always fell on the four signs of
the:Flint, still it sometimes occurred in the year of Four Flints, and sometimes in that of Nine
Flints, and again in that of One Flintt, which was when the bishop came to the country.

PLATE XXXVI.

In the year of Six Rabbits, or in 1550, many Indians died in New Spain of the measles.

PLATE XXXVII.

In the year 1555, according to the computation of the Mexicans, three hundred and sixty-four
years had elapsed since they quitted their own country; when in the year thirteen hundred and
seventy-six they arrived at Mexico, I mean at the site which their city at present occupies.

PLATE XXXVIII.

The year Twelve Tecpatl, or 1556, was that of the fast (of Atamal). If this calculation is duly
considered, it will be found that in the year of One Rabbit, whenever this year occurred, famine and
mortality followed: and accordingly, in the year 1558 the greatest frost that the natives recollect

-----
* The death of the bishop is not signified by the skull placed near him, but this symbol seems to refer to the first syllable of his
name; for zan, or tzom, is a skull in the Mexican language, by which abbreviation the Indians might have intended to express the proper
name Zumarraga.

+ Unleavened must here be understood to mean, bread differing from that in common use, and which was only eaten on festivals.
Salt seems to have been the chief thing omitted in the preparation of it.

++ Reference to any Mexican painting in which the four signs of the year follow each other in their proper order, will show that four,
nine, one, and twelve, are the years of the Flint, which succeed to each other at intervals of eight years.



152 EXPLANATION OF THE

occurred, and scarcity in many places; they consequently regarded the year of One Rabbit,
whenever it chanced to be that year, as very ominous. It is for able astrologers to consider whether
certain conjunctions of the stars and planets may not take place on such years; -- with such precision
do they compute the period of a day from the middle of one day to another day at mid-day; and
their year, like ours, contains three hunured and sixty-five days.

PLATE XXXIX.

They here (in the year of Two Canes) bind their years and commence their reckoning of another
cycle of fifty-two years: this year began always on the twenty-fourth of February; I mean the new
year. In the year of Five Rabbits, on the day in which the sign of One Rose entered, they
celebrated the festival; and in the year 1562, on the twenty-third of July, this festival occurred.
They record a prodigy, that on the day in which this sign of One Rose entered, a rose appeared in
the province of Mixteca, which was called after this highly-valued name.


SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS.

IN the year 1547, in the month of April, on the first day of Easter, the <;apotecas of Coatlan and
Tetapa revolted: they were reduced to submission on the twenty-third day of January of the same
year.

In the year 1549 the Capotequillas and Uijes took up arms: they marched against the city on
the nineteenth of November, on the day of Saint Isabel; and on the same day the Indians were
defeated.

The bridge on the road going from Yucuan to Mixteca was built in the year 1554.

The bridge on the royal road going from Mexico to Puebla was built in the year 1540.
In the year 1550, on the twenty-sixth of February, the CONTRERAS assassinated the bishop of
Nicaragua.

In the year 1551, on the thirteenth of August, Don LUIS DE VELASCO entered as viceroy. Don
ANTONIO DE MENDOZA departed at the same time as viceroy to Peru, having governed New Spain
for the space of seventeen years. The said Don ANTONIO died in Peru, in the city of Lima, in the
year 1552, on the second of July ofthe said year.

In 1552, on Saint Lawrence's day, (which is in August,) the Lord of Tezcuco was created a Knight:
he was knighted by privilege, and not on account of any act of valour which he had performed.

In the year 1551, in the month of December, the first bishop of Yalisco died.

In the year 1552, in the month of August, water proceeded in such abundance from the
volcanoes in New Spain, that inundations took place in many parts, and numbers of people were
drowned, especially in Villarica and in the port of Saint Juan de Lua; as the water rose thirty
feet above the island. At this same time and month, a similar disaster happened in the island
of Saint Domingo, which did much damage in the port of Saint Juan de Lua. Sixteen ships were



CODEX TELLERIANO-REMENSIS. 153

lost. They say that the number of those which were lost in the port of Saint Domingo was thirteen,
besides the others which were lost.

In the year 1541, on Sunday, on the twenty-fifth of July, at eleven o'clock in the day, the Marquis
FERDINAND PIZARRO was assassinated in the city of Lima.

In the year 1519 Don FERDINAND CORTES entered New Spain III the month of October of the
said year.

In the year -1521, on the day of Saint Hypolitus, which is the thirteenth of August, the city of
Mexico was taken.

In the year 1547, on the fourth of December, Don FERDINAND CORTES, Marquis of the Valley,
died in Castille.

In the year 1555 a mule belonging to the bishop of Mechuacan foaled, and another belonging to
a factor; and another mule was born with six feet.

In the year 1553, on the twenty-fourth of November, a person was saved for the first time by the
brotherhood of the city of Mexico "'.

In the year 1554, on the twenty-third of July of the said year, the entrance of the first archbishop
into Mexico took place. On the twenty-third of March, on the day of Saint Peter the Martyr,
three ships were lost on the coast. of Florida; all on board perished except Brother Mark and Brother Dominic.

In the year 1555, on the tenth of September, the first bishop of Guaxaca died.

In the year 1557 the second bishop of Tlaxcala died, on the fourteenth of October, at seven o'clock
at night.

-----
* The" hermandad," or brotherhood of the city of Mexico, probably signified the members of the Inquisition, who were styled the
Holy Brotherhood. The Inquisition was not established in the city of Mexico at so early a period as in the West Indian Islands; that is
to say, a separate office was not allotted to it in Mexico till some years after; but since delegates from the office at Madrid took
cognizance in the mean time of offences that came within the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, its absence could scarcely have been felt.
That the Inquisition was very active immediately after its establishment in Mexico, we learn from the following passage of the twentyfourth
chapter of the fifth book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy: "EI ario de 1571, lIeg6 a esta Nueva-Espana y Ciudad de Mexico
el Santo Olicio de la Inquisicion con sus oficiales, y vi no par inquisidor Don Pedro Moia de Contreras, que despues fu~ Ar~obispo de
esta metropolitana, y hombre de gran govierno, como parecera en su lugar. Ha sido este santo tribunal en esta Nueva-Espana de
grandisimo bien y provecho; y ha limpiado la tierra, que estaba contamioadisima de J udios, y hereges, en especial de gente Portuguesa,
6 a 10 menos de J udios mezclados can ellos de los tiempos quefueron admitidos en 01 reino de Portugal." "In the year 1571, the Holy
Office of the Inquisition, with its familiars, arrived in New Spain and the city of Mexico; Don Pedro Maia de Contreras, who was
afterwards archbishop of this metropolis, and a man skilled in the affairs of government, (as will appear in its proper place,) came as
inquisitor. This holy tribunal has been of the greatest utility and advantage in New Spain, and has purified the soil which was most
contaminated with Jews and heretics, especially Portuguese, or at least with Jews mixed with them, f1'01'11 the time when permission was
given to them to enter the kingdom of Portugal." It is very extraordinary how the Jews, who on the discovery of America were forbidden
by an express law to proceed thither, should have become so numerous in New Spain in half a century; or that they should have had the
temerity, having already had experiellce of the sevedty with which the Spanish laws were put in force against them, to infringe those
laws; or that it should have been possible for them so long to escape detection from the vigilance of the Spanish clergy, to whose hands
such large powe.r was entrusted in the New World, and to whom confession, as they well knew, revealed all kinds of secrets. Neither
is it likely that the Jews discovered in New Spain were of the number of those who bad been previously expelled from Spain, and who it
is said were received into Portugal; since the greater part of those Jews sought an asylum at Constantinople, where their descendants
still remain; or that they would so soon again have tmsten themselves to the mercy of a nation by whom they had been so barbarously
treated. It is more probable that these Jews had been long,ettled in America, and that they formed a part of the native population.




[155]


THE TRANSLATION OF THE EXPLANATION OF THE MEXICAN

PAINTINGS OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. *

How truly Saint Paul, in his First Epistle to the Romans, observes that men, by the light of
reason, attain a partial knowledge of the invisible things of GOD, is demonstrated in the natives
of New Spain, who, although so barbarous a people and of such inferior understandings, believed,
according to their paintings, in the existence of nine superior causes, which we call heavens 1', to
which they attrihuted all the effects of the universe, in which they placed the First Cause, the cause
of all the rest. These nine causes or heavens they distinguished by the comets:1: which they ohserved;
and from the colour of the comet each cause or heaven received its appellation 

-----
* The paintings of the Vatican Codex, No. 3738, resemble, by being merely copies of ancient Mexican paintings, those of the
Collection of Mendoza: the outlines of the figures are done with a pen, and the extremely coarse style of the original drawing is not
at all exaggerated in the plates. From the method which has been adopted in every instance in copying the Mexican paintings
contained in the present work. by means of transparent paper, the greatest correctness has been the result; and the minute hieroglyphics
of the Dresden MS. have been no less closely imitated in this manner than the larger figures of the paintings of Veletri, &c.
It is singular that Acosta should have mentioned, in the nineteenth chapter of the second book of his Natural History of the Indies, this
Vatican Codex, describing the inundation which befell Mexico in the reign of Ahuitzotl, in consequence of that king's having introduced
water into the city by a new aqueduct. He says: a Et hooc imago hodie quoque in fastis Mexicanis quos Ramre in consecrat! Vaticani
bibliothec~ ostendunt depieta visitur. Hane ae similes historias quidam e societate Pater, isti qui horum librorum curator est, ali quando
ita percensuit; qui quidem re istA suaviter afficiebatur, ut qui pridem il10rum explicationern certam desiderasset." It deserves likewise
to be noticed, that the only paintings to which Acosta can refer are those which are contained in the Third Part of this Codex, which
are of an historical nature, and not accompanied, as the others are, with any interpretations, and which therefore the librarian might have
wished to have had explained. The inundation above alluded to is represented in two of these paintings, one of which, since it
interupts the order of the years, and differs from the rest in the signs of the years being placed under instead of over the historical events
to which they refer, was probably afterwards inserted, perhaps by the Father of the Society to whom the librarian showed the Codex.
The explanation alluded to was also, it is to be presumed, of a verbal nature, as it no where occurs in the pages of the M S. This
defect is however supplied by the interpretation which accompanies a similar series of historical paintings in the manuscript of Pedro de
los Rios, which is preserved in the Royal Library at Paris, under the title of the Codex Tellriano-Remenis.

+ It is singular that the Mexicans should have believed that there was this precise number of heavens: that such was their opinion may
be further proved from Boturini, who says that king Netzahualcoyotl built in Tezcuco a tower of nine stories, emblematical of the nine
heavens, in which to worship the Creator of the universe. -- Idea de una Nueva Iiistoria, page 79. The solemn dance of the Mexicans
described by Clavigero seems likewise connected with astronomical notions as well as with religion, and intended to represent the motion
of the heavens as imagined by the ancients, and explained by Aristotle in his treatise De J. Mundo, cap. ii. The old idea of a firmament,
and of the possibility of heaven's falling, and involving the earth in a common destruction, was also entertained by the Mexicans, as is
evident from the questions put by Nicaragua to Gil Goncalez: nearly similar accounts of which are given by Gomara, and by Peter
Martyr in the fourth chapter of his Sixth Decade, page 396, vol. v. of Hakluyts, Early Voyages. To this notion the Mexican sign
N ahuiollin, or the sun in the sign of Four Earthquakes, may refer. This sign occupie5 the centre of one of the two large stones discovered
in the principal square of Mexico in the year 1790, and described by Don Antonio de Gama, in a short treatise published in Mexico
in ?17ge.

+ The Mexicans and Peruvians entertained the same notions of the baneful influence of comets as were formerly prevalent in Europe.
The appearance of a comet was recorded in the Mexican paintings by the symbol of a worm or caterpillar placed under the sign of the
year in which these phenomena occurred, to denote blights and famine 





156 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VA,TICANUS.

PLATE I. *

1. Homeyoca, which signifies the place in which exists the Creator ofthe universe, or the First Cause,
to whom they gave the other name' of Hometeuli, which means the God of threefold dignity, or three

-----
* Since the interpretation of the first painting in the Vatican Codex is very brief, and it does not appear to have been the
intention of the interpreter to have done more than merely to affix the names of the nine. heavens to the corresponding nnmber of
symbols contained in the first page, -- without offering any explanation of those which follow in the second, we may be permitted to
attempt to supply by conjecture what is here wanting, and also to suggest a slight alteration in the interpretation. The referring
the nine symbols contained in the first page to the nine heavens involves some difficulties; since in this case the entire number of
heavens would be eleven, as two symbols designated Ylhuicatl, or heavon, occur in the next page. On the supposition, however,
that the first heaven, signified by the blank space immediately surrounding Hometeuli, [1] or Tonacatecutli, in which that supreme
deity of the Mexicans is represented as dwelling, has been omitted, that the symbols of the foul' ages have been inserted between
Homeyocan and the inferior heavens; and that the seven symbols named Ylhuicatl, together with Tlalticpac, the last in order of
the heavens, are to be reckoned along with Homeyocan, the highest heaven, -- these difficulties would be removed, the number of

-----
1 Hometeuli, perhaps, instead of being the name of the supreme god of the Mexicans, may signify the heaven to which the two
leaders of the Aztec migration, Mexi and Tecpactzin, were translated after death; since ome means in the Mexican language two,
and teuti is a ?c1tiif. The signification of Trinity cannot be given to the proper name Ometeuli; and it would be interesting to
discover the exact epithet by which the Mexicans designated the god whom they believed to be "unus trino" and" Tinus uno."

The doctrine of the Trinity has been impugned, not only by the modem Unitarians, but by the Arians of old; the co-existence of
the Son with the Father from all etemity was opposed to the prejudices of the latter, who contended that to believe, it was
necessary first to be able to comprehend, and who were too well versed in the school of Aristotle not fully to understand the
difference which exists between that which is above reason, and that which appears to contradict it, which to deny priority in
time to a cause in relation to an effect, or to declare that to be begotten does not imply a subsequent to a prior existence, they
maintained to be the case. They also asserted, citing the words of Christ himself in the New Testament, in reply to the person
who called him" good Master," "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God;" that he disclaimed
the perfect equality with God which the Athanasian Creed lays down as an article of faith, and that that equality and co-existence
were the invention and doctrine of the centuries which immediately succeeded to the establishment of Christianity. What reply
can Protestants make to this last objection of the Arians, who themselves affirm that so vital a doctrine of the Catholic religion as
that of transubstantiation was an error which crept into the church in the early days of Christianity? The worst argument that has
been used to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, and one that displays the greatest ignorance, is that by which reasoners, like
Doctor Warburton in his "Divine Legation of Moses," seek to address common-place arguments to unreflecting minds: viz.
that if this doctrine had not been revealed to man by divine inspiration, it would never have entered human contemplation; since,
laying aside the consideration of whether such a belief was entertained by the Indians, who on this admission cannot be supposed,
from the rude state of science amongst them, to have been the inventors of it, but rather to have derived it, with the knowledge of
many other Christian mysteries, from some more civilized region of the globe. It is allowed that the Hindoos have for ages believed
in the doctrine of the Trimurti, or of a Trinity; and to this belief they were probably led by those speculations on the divine
nature and essence in which the Brahmins loved to indulge, who, considering the many attributes inseparable from the essence of
the Deity, and necessary to his perfection, which they typified by the many arms with which they represented his image, contemplated
with superior veneration the three great powers which more immediately control the destiny of the universe, his
creating, preserving, and destroying energies, which they therefore symbolized by three majestic heads or countenances combined
and united to one body with many arms: and hence it is probable that the Asiatics derived their notion of three persons in one
God, and that the doctrine of the Indian Trimurti originated. Since the signification of Ometeuli is literally the two chiefs, or
two lords, who in all probability were supposed by the Mexicans to reside in the highest heaven, or Homeyocan (so named,
perhaps, after them), with Tonacatecutli or Tetzcatlipoca; it may be curious to know (the Jews disbelieving in the doctrine of the
Trinity) in what sense they understand, or who they suppose are alluded to, by the two anointed Olles mentioned in the fourteenth
verse of the fourth chapter of Zechariah: "Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole
earth."



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 157

Gods, the same as Olomris. They call this place in which he resides Zivenavichnepanillcha *
which signifies.......; + and by another name, Homeiocan, that is to say, the place of the Holy



-----
* Pedro de los Rios says that Quecalcoatle was born in Zivenavitzcatl, which name has some resemblance to Zivenavichnepaniucha.

+As the passage which is omitted is curious, and the original letters could not be deciphered, a fac-simile of the entire context
is here given, in order that the right signification of it may be ascertained.

[---------------]

-----
heavens would be complete, and each would have its corresponding symbol. The remaining eight symbols in the second page,
it is to be supposed, refer to the Mexican notions of a place of suffering or purgatory, and the troubles which awaited them in its
eight different states. The insertion of the symbols of the four ages between Homeyocan and the inferior heavens, is perhaps emblematical
of the existence of Tonacatecutli, being prior to time as well as to the heavens. That these symbols denote ages and not
heavens, may be further proved from their names and their nature: Teotl signifies, in the Mexican language, both the sun and an age,
and the image of the sun surrounded with rays was the symbol of the latter; two pointed rays of light, substituted for the image
of the sun, accordingly enter into the composition of the three first symbols; the fourth differed, both in name and character, from
the others. Since these paintings illustrate the religious opinions of the Mexicans, and the person who copied them appears to
have prefixed them to the calendar, with the view of explaining their notions on the subject of the immortality of the soul, and of
a future state of rewards and punishments, and also their historical traditi'ons respecting the four ages or epochs of the world, with
their belief in Quecalcoatle, and some other circumstances connected with his history, -- this note will not perhaps appear unnecessarily
long if we again notice in a summary manner the contents of the.first plate. Homeyocan, the heaven of heavens, or the
highest heaven, in which the Mexicans supposed Tonacatecutli to reside, occupies the upper part of this plate; next follow the
four symbols of the four ages of the world, the last of which is that of Quecalcoatle, or the age of Flints and Roses, which with the
Mexicans would be the present age. It should also be observed, that they entertained the singular notion of a fifth age, the
.commencement of which was to date. from the re-appearance of Quecalcoatle, or from the destruction of the world for the fourth
time by earthquakes, which they supposed would occur on the sign Nahuiollin. The age of Quecalcoatle is not named Teotl, the
appellation by which the three preceding ages are distinguisbed, nor is it symbolized like them by a ray of the sun, because in this
nge no destruction of the world, no extinction of the sun or creation of a new one, were supposed to have taken place. The
catastrophe which befell the province of Tulan was that which gave rise to a new epoch; this age was called Yztapal Nanazcaya,
which is here interpreted the heaven '!f roses; the signification of Yztapal is aflint: the symbol of this fourth age was characterized
by two flints encompassed with branches, or inserted in a cane, between which the head of Miquitlantecotli, the God of Hell or of
the Dead, is placed; and in a following plate, representing ti,e fourth age, it will be observed that these two flints, decorated with
flowers or branches, again occur, alluding perhaps to the commencement of penance by Quecalcoatle, or indicating the epoch of
some remarkable event in his life. The heaven next in order to Homeyoca was the green or light azure heaven, to which succeeded
the green and black or dark azure heaven. The names of the five heavens following are unaccompanied with any
explanation. The symbol distinguishing the fifth heaven is the head of the goddess Chalchiuitlicue, the mother of Oue,calcoatle;
this goddess may always be recognised by the symbol of Atl, or water, upon her head, denoting that she presided over that
element. Ylhuicatl Tunatiuh, the name of the sixth heaven, signifies the heaven '!f tl,e sun. The name of the seventh heaven is
perhaps Ylhuicatl Cillalicoe, instead of Tetlalicoe, and its signification would then be the heaven of the stars; since citlal, in the
Mexican language, is a star. Ylhuicatl Tlalocaypanmeztli, the name of the eighth heaven, signifies the heaven of the God Tlaloque
and of the moon, or of Paradise and of the moon. The ninth and last heaven was called Tlalticpac, which is here interpreted the
earth, because the earth is contained immediately within its compass; Tlalticpac was likewise an epithet which the Mexicans bestowed
on their supreme deity Tonacatecutli, which signified creator generally, although its etymology refers more immediately to
the creation of light, or the work of the first day. The symbol of the ninth heaven resembles in its square form those of the
superior heavens.,The eight remaining symbols contained in the lower part of the plate, it has already been observed, refer to the
Mexican notion of a place of hardship and toil where departed souls went immediately after death.

The following description, [1] from Clavigero's _History of Mexico,_ of the funeral rites of the Mexicans, may enable us to guess

-----

1 This description is borrowed from the Indian Monarchy of Torquemada, which writer Clavigero chiefly consulted 111 composing
his _Ancient History of Merixo._




158 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

Trinity", who, according to the opinion of many of their old men, begot, by their word, CIPATEN A L
lind a woman named Xu~no; and these are the pair who existed before the deluge, who begot

-----
their signification in part, which the names attached to them will serve further to indicate. "However superstitious the
Mexicans were in other matters, in the rites which they observed at funerals they exceeded themselves. As soon as any person
died, certain masters of funeral ceremonies were called, who were generally men advanced in years. They cut a number of
pieces of paper with which they dressed the dead body, and took a glass of water with which they sprinkled the head, saying
that that was the water used in the time of their life. They then dressed it in a habit suitable to the rank, the wealth, and the
circumstances attending the death of the party. If the deceased had been a warrior, they clothed him in the habit of
Huitzilopochtli; if a merchant, in that of lacateutli; if an ariist, in that of the protecting god of his art or trade: one who
had been drowned was dressed in the habit of Tlaloc; one who had been executed for adultery, in that of Tlazolteotl; and a
drunkard, in the habit of Tezcatzoncatl the god of wine. In short, as Gomara has well observed, they wore more garments after
they were dead than while they were living. With the habit they gave the dead a jug of water, which was to serve on the
journey to the other world; and also, at successive different times, different pieces of paper, mentioning the use of each. On
consigning the first piece to the dead, they said, By means of this you will pass without danger between the two mountains
which fight against each other. With the second they said, By means of this you will walk without obstruction along the road
which is defended by the great serpent. With the third, By this you will go securely through the place where there is the
crocodile Xochitollal. The fourth was a safe passport through the eight deserts; the fifth through the eight hills; and the sixth
was given in order to pass without hurt through the sharp wind; for they pretended that it was necessary to pass a place called
Itzehecajan, where a wind blew so violenlly as to tear up rocks, and so sharp that it cut like a knife, on which account they
burned all the habits which the deceased had worn during life, their arms and some household gods, in order that the heat of
this fire might defend them from the cold of that terrible wind. One of the chief and most ridiculous ceremonies at funerals
waR the killing a techichi, a domestic quadruped, which we have already mentioned, resembling a little dog, to accompany the
ueceased in their journey to the other world; they fixed a string ahout its neck, believing that necessary to enable it to pass
the deep river of Chiuhnahuapan, or New Waters. They buried the techichi, or burned it along with the body of its master,
according to the kind of death of which he died: while the masters of the ceremonies were lighting up the fire in which the
body was to be burned, the other priests kept singing in a melancholy strain. After burning the body they gathered the
ashes in an earthern pot, amongst which, according to the circumstances of the deceased, they put a gem of more or less value,
which they said would serve him in place of a heart in the other world. They buried this earthen pot in a deep ditch, and
fourscore days after made oblations of bread and wine over it." -- Clavigero's History of Mexico, vol. i. p. 322. On reference
to the plate, after the perusal of this description by Clavigero, and on examining the symbols above alluded, to, it will appear
probable that that marked 4, represents the river of New Waters, named Chiuhnahuapan, and the dog; that 5. signifies the
passage of the two mountains which fought against each other; that 7. means the sharp wind, called by Clavigero Itzehecajan,
or The place of the wind of ?mzors or flints, and here named Yee Hecaya or the place of the three winds, which consists of the
usual Mexican hieroglyphic for wind, although badly copied with the pen, and knives or flints to denote its sharpness. The
other symbols do not exactly agree with Clavigero's account. That called Teocoylqualoya, the divine wolf devouring a ?hem t,
might also be the place of the crocodile Xochitonal. 8. resembles the stone lancets with which the Mexicans, in imitation of
Quecalcoatle, offered their own blood to propitiate the gods.

-----
* Amongst the many arguments which might be brought forward to show that Christianity had in very early ages extended
itself to America, one of the strongest and most convincing is the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity was known in Peru, New
Spain, and Yucatan. This fact rests on the authority of very respectable writers. Acosta, in his Natural and Moral History of
the Indies, distinctly asserts it; [1] and the celebrated Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa, as cited by Torquemada, says that he had

-----
1 Acosta repeats the assertion in the following passage of the last chapter of his Iiistory: "Certissimum siquidem est, Indos
occidentales ideo potissimum doctrinam Evangelic.m promptius agnovisse, quod antea multis tributorum ac servitutum, ut et
superstitiosorum cultuum onel'ibus ferendis assueti essent. Jugi enim Sathanici jam pridem certum fastidium cooperant: ideo
de mitioribus et placidioribus diis qurerendis dudum apud se consilium inierant. His ita hrerent}bus et nutantibus, cum sana de
Deo religio offerretur: ejus leges illico "'quas, tolerabiles, ac gratiosas esse, facile ex collatione videre poterant. Eosdem etiam
res persrepe arduas ac gravissimas facile captare ideo potuisse certum est, quod ante it Diabolo de multo gravioribus instituti
essent. Qui ex Evangelica quoque doctrina plura sufFuratus, pro suis vendi tarat Indis: cujusmodi sunt, crena Dominica,
Confessio, adoratio trium in uno, et unius in tTino, et similia alia. Hrec cum antea in mendacio suscepissent: multo facilius



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 159

Tocatiutle, as we shall presently relate. * 2. Hometeuli. 3. Teotl Tlatlaucha, which signifies the
Red Heaven. 4. Teotl Cocaucha, the Yellow Heaven. 5. Teotl Y ztaca, the White Heaven.


* No further mention is made of Tocatiutle.

-----
heard it from a person worthy of credit whom be bad charged to make inquiries into the religion of the inbabitants of the
Peninsula of Yucatan. A distinguished writer also of the present age, the Baron de Humboldt, says that the Muyscas, the
ancient inhabitants of the plains of Bogota, likewise believed in the existence of a Trinity. The words of Acosta are these:
It Hoc vero loco id ante omnia attendendum est, stygium Plutona pro cultus sui majestate cumulanda, ipsa quoque saneta
Trinitate introductG. veteratorie ahuti voluisse. Tribus eniro superius dictis solis simulachris hrec nomina Iudi indiderant,
Apointi, Churiunti, et Intiquaoqui, quod est, pater et dominus solis, filius ipse so], et frater solis. Hrec eadem nomina tribus
simulachris, Chuquulla, id est, isti deo qui in plaga seu regione at;ris, ex qua tonitrua, pluvioo et nix prodeunt, agere credebatur,
quoque imponebant. In Chuquisaca idolum nobis aliquando monstrabatur, ante quod Indi preces funderent. Id Tangatanga
dicebatur. Hoc credebatur deus, qui in uno trinus, et in trino unus existeret/'-Acosta, lib. v. cap. xxviii. The passage
alluded to in Torquemada is the following, which is taken from the forty-ninth chapter of the Fifteenth Book of his Indian
Monarchy: "The Bishop of Chiapa, brother Don Bartholomew de Las Casas, relates in bis Apologg, which is preserved in 
manuscript in the convent of Saint Dominic in Mexico 1, that when he disembarked on the coast of Yucatan, for on that occasion
eadem in veritate amplecti poterant. Sic Deus plerumque hostem suum armis propriis jugulat, et caput ei prrecidit. Sic Deus
Sathanam nolentem quoque compulit, ut de vero Christi et salvifico verbo, testaretur, vaticinareturque, ex signis illis, qum in
Peru aliisque locis apparuerant: sicut' id ipso magorum ore proditum scimus. Sed et hoc notum universis est, non commode
in iis locis versari Sathanam, in quibus sincel'am Christi Ecclesiam collectam pernovit. Cessarunt hodie omnia oracula, lingua,
visiones ac apparitiones, alias apud incredulos frequentes ac solennes." The reason which this learned writer assigns for the
Indians more Teadily allowing themselves to be converted to Christianity, reminds us of the argument which the Apostles chiefly
used with the Jews to induce them to accept the new covenant and to become Christians: viz. that the burthen imposed upon
them by the old law was intolerable. With respect to the dreams, visions, and apparitions which are said to have been so
frequent amongst the Indians, they furnish strong evidence of what hold Jewish superstitions had taken of their minds; for
what nation ever dreamed like the Jews, or beheld such numerous visions? It cannot either be doubted that if the Jews had
succeeded in establishing their institutions in America and reviving the old law, reducing at the same time a great portion of the
Indian population under their domination, and thus restoring the sceptre to Judah, that their rabbis would have taken care that
this new order of things should be accompanied with all the signs which the prophet Joel had foretold in his second chapter
should mark the Jewish millennium. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men sball dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also
upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." It is remarkable that the figure of the sun and moon turned into blood
frequently occurs in the Mexican paintings. A material difference in sentiment prevails between Jews and Christians, as to the
period when this gift of prophecying and seeing visions was to be conferred; the Jews affirm that it will be in the latter days,
and that it is to come; Christians, that it was in the apostolic age, and is past; the latter relying upon many passages in the
New Testament, and amongst others on the fifth verse of the eleventh chapter of Saint Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians,
where that Apostle seems to speak of women prophesying as a very common thing in his days, although we may fairly demand
why have not those prophecies been transmitted to posterity, -- since to suppose that they were either unimportant, or that,
proceeding from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they did not possess as much authority as those uttered by the Apostles
themselves, would be to contradict all received doctrine. The following are the words of Saint Paul: "But every woman that
prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head."

-----
1 This account is so curious that it is here inserted in the original Spanish, together with some other passages of the Indian
Monarchy, in which mention is made of paintings and even of books discovered amongst the Indians, which the Spanish
missionaries supposed treated of Christian doctrines.

"El Ohispo de Chiapa Don Fr. Bartolome de las Cases, en una su Apologia, que escrita de Mano, se guarda en el Convento



160 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

6. Yztapal Nanazcaya, the Heaven of Roses. 7. * Ylhuicatl Xoxoucha, 'the Green Heaven.
S. Ylhllicatl Yayaucha, the Green and Black Heaven. 9. Ylhuicatl Mamaluacoca. 10. Ylhuicatl
Huixtutlat. 11. Ylhuicatl Tunatiuh.

-----
he passed through that kingdom on account of its vicinity to his own diocese, he found there a respectable ecclesiastic (un clcrigo
honrado) of mature age, who understood the language of the Indians; and as he himself was hastening to the capital of his
diocese, he requested and charged this ecclesiastic, in his name, to proceed into the interior of the country, visiting the Indians,
taking with him a certain plan of instruction which he gave him, in order to preach to them. And he says that at the erid of
a year or thereabouts, this ecclesiastic wrote to him that he had met with a principal lord, who, on his questioning him respecting
the faith and ancient religion which prevailed in that country, informed him that they knew and believed in God who resided in

-----
* The Mexicans seem to have confounded together, in their tradition of four ages and four destructions of the world, the
fictions of Greece respecting the four ages; the traditions of the Hebrews relating to the fall of man, the loss of paradise, and the
deluge; the belief of Christians in the accomplishment of prophecy in the downfall of the four great empires of antiquity, and
the Jewish accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem.

+ Huixtutlan appears to be compounded of huey old, ix rays or splendour, til or to our mother, and tiall place or residence;
and to signify the heaven of our ancient mother sUT1'ounded with glory. Yz or y,~ seems peculiarly to mean rays of light
01' of the sun, which may have been thus named from their pointed shape and their resemblance to the knives or razors which the
Mexicans formed of the stone which they called yztli, which possesses one affinity to light in being perfectly transparent, and
was the substance of which the ancient Mexicans formed their mirrors. Yzpatli is another word compounded of yz, which is
elsewhere explained to be the moon surrounded with splendour, and to be emhlamatical of the creation as regards the work of the
first day or the production of light. It is the first of the twenty signs of the Mexican days, and is represented by the head of
a serpent surrounded with rays. This sign is sometimes called Cipactli and TeocipactZi. Tlaltigpaque is also compounded of
iz, and was an epithet which the Mexicans bestowed on their supreme deity, Tonacatecutli; believing that light had been
created at his word. Yz or yx also signifies the eyes, undouhtedly frOID their relation to light, as in the proper name Yznextli,
which is interpreted eyes blind with ashes.

------
de Santo Domingo de Mexico, cuenta, que desembarcando el en la Costa de Yucatan (porque ala sa~on entrava aquel Reino pOl'
cercanla en los Terminos de su Obispado) hallo alii un Clerigo Honrado, de madura edad, que sabia 1a Lengua de los Indios; y
porque el pasava de paso ii. la Cabe~a de su Obispado, deja rogado, y encargado a este Cleligo, que en su Nombre anduviese la
Tierra adentro, visitando los Indios, con cierta forma, e instrueeion, que Ie dio, para que les prediease. Yal cabo de un Alio, poco
menos, dice, que Ie escrivio este Clerigo, como avia hallado un Senor Principal, que inquiriendole de su creencia, y Religion Antigua,
que por aquel Reine solian tener, Ie dijo, que eUos conocian, y crelan en Dics, que estava en el CieIo, y que aqueste Dics era Padre,
y Hijo, y Espiritu Santo; y que el Padre se llamava Y gona, que avia criado los Homhres, y todas las cosas; y el Hijo tenia pOl'
Nombre, Baeab, el qual nacio de una Doncella Virgen, lIamada Chibirias, que estil en el Cielo con Dios, y que la Madre de Chibi
rias, se llamava Ischel; y al Espiritu Santo lIamavan Eehuah. De Bacab (que es el Hijo) dicen, que 10 mato Eopuco, y 10 higo
at;otar, y puse una Corona de Espinas, y que 10 puse tendidos los Bl'a(jos en un Palo, y no entendian, que estava c1avado, sino atado,
y alii murio; y estuvo tres dias muerto, y al tercero torno a vivir, y se subia al Cielo, y que alia esta COil su Padre; y despues
de esto, luego vino Echuah, que es el Espiritu Santo, y harto la Tierra, de todo 10 que avia menester. Preguntado, que querian
signifiear aquellos tres Nombres, de las Tres Personas 1 dijo, que Ygona queria decir, el Gran Padre, y Baeab, Hijo del Gran
Padre, y Echuah, Mercader. Y a la verdad, buenas Mercaderias bajo el Espiritu Santo, al Mundo; pues harto la Tierra,
que son los Hombres Terrenos, de sus Dones, y Gracias tan copiosas, y Divinas. Y preguntado tambien, como tenian noticia.
de estas cosas? Respondio, que los Senores 10 ensefiavan a sus Hijos; y asi decendia, de mauo, E!n mano, esta Doctrina.
Y afirmavan aquellos Indios, que en el tiempo Antiguo vinieron a aquella Tierra veinte Hombres, y el Principal de ellos se
llamava Cocolcan, y que tralan las Ropas largas, y Sand.lias, pOI' Calgado, las Barbas grandes, y no tralan Bonetes sobre
sus Cabegas; y que estos mandavan, que se confesasen las Gentes, y que aiunasen. Esto escrive el Obispo de Chiapa;
Pero aiiade luego: Si estas cosas son verdad, parece aver sido en aquella Tierra nuestra Santa Fe, sabida; pero como en
ninguna parte de las Indias, avemos tal nueva hallado, puesto que en la Tierra del Brasil, que poseen los Portugueses, se
imagina hallarse rastro de Santo Tomas Apostol; pero como aquella Nueva no volo adelante, ciertamente la Tierra, y Reino de
Yucatan dil a entender cosas mas especiales, y de major antiguedad, pOI' las grandes, admirahles, y exquisitas maneras de



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICAN US. 161
PLATE II.
1. Ylhuicatl Tetlalicoe. 2. Ylhuicatl Tlalocaypanmeztli. 3. Tlalticpac, the Earth. 4. Apano
Huaya, the Passage of the Water. 5. Tepetli Monanamycia, the Mountains which join. 6. Y ztepetl,
Heaven; and that this God was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and that the Father was named Y ~ona, who had created
men and all things; and that the Son was called Bacab, who was bom of a virgill named Chibirias, who was in heaven with
God; and that the name of the mother of Chibirias was Ischel; and that the Holy Ghost was called Echuah. Bacab the Son,
they said, was put to death by Eopuco, who scourged him and put a crown of thorns upon his bead, and placed him with his
arms stretched out upon a beam of wood, to which they believed that he had not been nailed but tied: and that he died there, and
remained during three days dead; and that on the third day he came to life and ascended into heaven, where he is with his Father:
and immediately afterwards Echuah came, who is the Holy Ghost, and filled the earth with whatsoever it stood in need of.
Edificios antiquisimos, y Letreros de ciertos Cal'acteres, que rn atm ninguna parte. Fillalmente, secretos sou estos, que solo
Dios los sabe. Estas son Palabras formales del Obispo de Chiapa; y 10 cierto es, que aquello, no se tuvo por cierto.
"Otra cosa conto un Religioso, mui conocido, por verdadero Siervo de Dios, y Fraile de S. Francisco, llamado Fr. Francisco
Gomez, que pOl' ser todavia vivo, y mui viejo, pierde la Memoria, que en esta Historia se debia a sus fieles, y largos trabajos,
en esta Vifia del Sefior; yes, que viniendo el, de Guatemala, en compania del Varon Santo Fr. Alonso de Escalona, pasando
por el Pueblo de Nexapa, de la Provincia de Guaxaca, el Vicario de aquel Convento, que es de la Orden de Santo Domingo, les
mostro unos Papeles pintados, que avian sacado de unus Pinturas antiquisimas, hechas en unos Cueros largos, rolliyos, y mui
ahurnados, donde estavan tres, 0 quatro cosas, tocantes a nuestra Fe; y eran la Madre de Nuestra Senora, y tres Hermanas,
Hijas suias, que las tenian por Santas; y la que representava a Nuestra Senora, estava con el Cabello cogido, al modo que 10
eogen, y atan las Indias, y en el nudo, que tienen atras, tenia metida una Cruz pequefia, por Ia qual se clava a entender, que era
mas Santa; y que de aquella avia de nacer un Gran Profeta, que avia de venir del Cielo, y 10 avia de parir sin ajuntamiento de
Varon, quedando ella Virgen; y que it este Gran Profeta, los de su Pueblo, 10 avian de perseguir, y querer mal, y 10 avian de
matar, crucificandolo ell una Cruz. Y asi estava pintado Cl'ucificado, y tenia atadas las Manos, y los Pies en Ia Cruz, sin
Clavos. Estava tambien pintado el Articulo de la Resurreccion, como avia de resueitar, y subir al Cielo. Decian estos Padres
Dominicos, que hallaroD estos Cueros, entre unos Indios, que vivian acia Ia Costa dellVlar del Sur, los quales contavan, que sus
Antepasados les dejaron aquella Memoria.

"Otro Religioso, llamado Fr. Diego de Mercado, Padre Grave, y que ha sido Difinidor, de esta Provincia del Santo Evangelio,
y uno de los mas egemplares, y Penitentes de este tiempo, conto, y diD firmado de su Nombre, que en Arios atras, platicando
con un Indio Viejo Otomi, de mas de setenta Arias, sobre las casas de nuestra Fe, Ie dijo aquel Indio, como eUos, en su
Antiguedad, tenian un Libro, que venia sllcessivamente, de Padres, a Hijos, en las Personas Majores, que para 10 guardar, y
ensenar tenian dedicadas. En este Libro tenian escrita Doctrina en dos Colunas, por todas las Planas del Libro, y entre Coluna,
y Coluna estava pintado Christo Crucificado, con rostro como enojado; y asi decian ellos, que renia Dios; y las hojas bolvian,
por l'everencia, no con la mano, sino con una Barita, que para ella ternan hecha, y guardavanla. con el mismo Libra. Y preguntandole
este Religioso, al Indio, de 10 que con tenia aquel Libro, en su Doctrina, no Ie supo dar cuenta en particular, mas de
que Ie respondio: Que 8i aquel Libro no se huviera perdido, viera como la Doctrina, que el les ensenava, y predicava, y la que
alli se contenia, era una misma; y que el Libro se pudrio debajo de Tierra, donde 10 enterraron los que 10 guardavan, quando
vinieron los Espauoles. Tambien Ie dijo, que tuvieron noticia de la Destruccion del Diluvio, y que solas siete Personas se
salvaron en el Area, y todas las demas perecieron, con todos los Animales, y Aves, eeeto las que alli se salvaron. Tuvieron
tambien noticia de la Embajada, que hi~o el Angel, a Nuestra Seriora, por una Metafora, diciendo, que una cosa fiui blanca,
como Pluma de Ave, caiil del Cielo, y una Virgen se abajo, y la cogio, y metio en su Vientre, y quedo prenada; pero no sabian
decir, que se higo, 10 que pario. Lo que estos digeron del Diluvio, atestiguaron tambien en Guatemala, los Indios Achies,
afirm.ndo, que 10 tenian pintado, entre otras sus Antiguallas, las quales todas los Frailes, con el Espiritu, y Celo, que llevavan
de destruir la Idolatrla, se las quitaron, y quemaron, teniendolas por sospechosas.

"Tambien se hallo, que en algunas Provincias, de esta Nueva-Espana, como era en la Totonaca, esperavan la Venida del Hijo
del Gran Dios (que era el Sol) al Mundo: y decia, que avian de venir, para renovarlo en todas las cosas. Annque esto no 10
tenian, ni interpretavan en 10 Espiritual; sino en 10 Temporal, y Terreno: como decir, que con su Venida, los Panes avian de ser




162 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

the Mountain of Razors. 7. Yee Hecaya. 8. Pacoecoe Tlacaya. 9. Telllimina Loya, the Place
of shooting with arrows. 10. Teocoylqualoya. 11. Yzmictlan A pochcaloca~

Being asked what the significations were of the three names of the three persons, he said, that Y~ona signified the great
Father, and Bacab the Son of the great Father, and Echuah the merchant; and in truth the Holy Ghost brought precious
merchandize into the world, since he filled the earth, that is to say, mankind who inhabit it, with his gifts and graces, which are
so ahundant and divine. Being questioned also as to the manner in which they hecame acquainted with these things, he replied,
that the lords instructed their sons in them, and that thus this doctrine descended from one to the other. These Indians
likewise affirm, that in ancient times twenty men came to that country, the principal person of whom was called Corolan; and
that they wore long vests, and sandals as shoes, had large beards, and wore no covering upon their heads; and that they enjoined
these people to practise confession, and to fast. The Bishop of Chiapa thus writes, but he immediately aftenvards adds: If these
'things are true, it would appear that our holy faith had been known in that country; hut as we have not found this to be the
case in any part of the Indies, -- except that in the kingdom of Brazil, which is in the possession of the Portuguese, traces are
supposed to have been found of Saint Thomas the Apostle, the tidings of which however have flown no further, -- certainly the
land and kingdom of Yucatan gives us reason to hope more especial things, on account of the large, wonderful, and exquisite
fashion of its ancient edifices; together with inscriptions in certain characters which have no where else been discovered.
Finally, these are secrets which God alone knows. These are the formal words of the Bishop of Chiapa. That which is certain
is, that these things are uncertain." In further confirmation of the truth of a portion of this curious relation, the testimony of
Stephen de Salazar may be adduced: and although his account may appear in some measure to contradict that of Las Casas, where
he says that the doctrine of the Trinity was known in Chiapa; still, if the proximity of Chiapa to the peninsula of Yucatan be
taken into consideration, and the great extent of the former province, it,viII neither appear singular if the doctrine of the Trinity
was known in Yucatan, that it should also have been known in the province of Chiapa; or that the Bishop of the diocese might
have remained ignorant of the fact. The words of De Salasar are these: "The cl!iefs and men of rank in the province of
Chiapa were acquainted wit" the doctrille of the most Holy Trinity. They called the Father Icona, the Son Vacah, and
the Holy Ghost Estruach: and certainly these names resemble the Hehrew; at least Estruach, that of the Holy Ghost, does, for
Ruach in Hebrew is the Holy Ghost'." -- Garcia: Origen de los Indios, p. 122.

The similitude of many words of the Indian idioms to Hehrew had also struck Las Casas, and induced him to believe that
mas purificados, y substanciales, y las Frutas mas sabrosas, y de major virtud; y que las Vidas de los Hombre" avian de ser
mas largas; y todo 10 demas, egun esta mejoria. Y para a\can~ar esta Venida del Hijo del Gran Dios, celebravan, y ofr.. cian
a cierto tiempo del Ana, un Sacrificio de diez y acho Personas, Hombres, y Mugeres, animandolos, y amonestandoles, que
tuviesen a buena dicha ser Mensageros de la Republica, que los embiava al Gran Dios, para pedirle, y suplicarle, tuviese por
bien de embiarles a su Hijo, para que los librase de tantas miserias, y angustias: majormente de aquella obligacion, y cautiverio,
que tenian de sacrificar Hombres: que (como en otra parte se dijo) 10 lIevavan por terrihle, y pesada carga, y les era intolerable
tormenta, y dolor, y 10 hacian, cumpliendo el mandato de sus falfos Dioses, por el temor grande, que les tenian.
"Estos Casas ultimos, cuenta el Padre Fr. Geronimo de Mendieta; pero aunque tl, con las Personas, que se 10 contaron, son
de grandisima opinion, y credito, es 10 cierto, que todos estos Hombres, Moradores de esta Nueva-Espafia, estavan ignorantes de los
Misterios altos de nuestra Santa Fe, de los quales carecian, no par falta de averlos, en el Mundo, y ser yil su Predicacion hecha,
en ez; sino pOl'que, por culpas que cornetian, les avia hecho Dios indignos de tan granlles Mercedes; y 10 mui cierto, y averiguado
cs, que In noticia del Vel'dadero Dios Nuestro, entr~, can In entrada de los Espafioles, que profesan su Santa Lei, y Evangelio,
como dejamos dicho, y probado en los Capitul05 atras referidos."

, Cogolludo in the sixth chapter of the fourth book of his History of Yucatan corroborates in the following words the relation
of Las Casas. "No se sabe can certidumbre, que la predicacion evangelica huviesse passado:l dar Iuz a las gentes de esta
America, antes que a nuestros Espaiioles fuesse manifiesta. Si alguna cosa pudo, y causa admiracion, fue In credencia particular,
que entre todas las demas naciones de estos dilatados reynos tenian los Indios de Yucathan, que por 10 menos haze dificil
entender, como pudo ser, sin averseles predicado los misterios de la ley evangelica, y para prueba de esto dire 10 que refiere el
Padre Remesal en su Hista, -- ia. Dize pues, que quando el Obispo Don Fr. Bartolome de Las Casas passo it su obispado, que
como se di"o en el libro tercero, fue el afio de mil y quinientos y quarenta y cinco, encomendo a un c\erigo, que.hallo en
Campeche, lIamado Francisco Hernandez (yes de quien queda hecha memoria en la fundacion de la Ciudad de Merida, y otros
capitulos) que sabia la lengua de los Indios, que los visitasse con cierta instruccion de 10 que les avia de predicar, y U poco



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 163

PLATE III. & IV.

The second place in which these unfortunate people believed was Hell, where they affirmed that
the souls of those who died by the hands of justice, or by disease, or by any other kind of natural or
some of the tribes of New Spain were descended from the Jews, as Torquemada asserts in the ninth chapter of the first book of
his Indian Monarchy, where he says that, examining some papers containing clauses of the will of that prelate, he found a long
train of argument on this curious subject, concluding with these remarkable words: "Loquela tua manifestum te facit/' "Your
speech betrays you." The following account is also taken from Torquemada; which in some of its circumstances tends to
corroborate the relation of Las Casas. "Another fact is stated by an ecclesiastic well known as a true servant of God, and
brother of Saint Francis, named Brother Francis Gomez, who on account of his being still living and very old, does not receive
that place in this History to which he is entitled by his faithful and long-continued labours in this vineyard of the Lord. It is,
that returning from Guatemala in company with that holy man Brother Alonzo de Escalona, and passing through the town of
Nexapa in the province of Guaxaca, the vicar of the convent belonging to the order of Saint Dominic showed them some sheets
of paper containing drawings which had been copied from some extremely ancient paintings, on long pieces of leather rolled up
and much smoked, wherein were contained three or four matters appertaining to our faith, namely the mother of Our Lady with
three sisters, her daughters, whom they reputed saints. She who represented Our Lady had her hair tied up in the manner in
which the Indian women tie and fasten their hair, and in the knot behind was inserted a small cross, by which it was intended to
show that she was the most holy, and that a great prophet would be born of her, who would come from heaven, whom she
should bring forth without connection with man, still remaining a virgin; and that his own people would persecute that great
prophet, and meditate evi! against him, and would put him to death, crucifying him upon a cross; -- and accordingly he was
represented in the painting as crucified, with his hands and feet tied to the cross and without nails. The article of the resurrec
tion, how he had to return again to life and to ascend into heaven, was likewise painted. The Dominican Fathers said that they had
found these skins among some Indians who inhabited the borders of the coasts of the South Sea, who stated that they had received
these memorials from their ancestors." -- Monarquia Indiana, lib. xv. cap. xlix. It may here be observed, that the province of
Chiapa bordered, with a very extensive line of coast, on the South Sea. With respect to the belief of the Muyscas in a Trinity,
which has been already mentioned, it is noticed by Baron de Humboldt in the following curious passage, which is extracted from
his celebrated work, entitled American Monu.ments: "Le commencement de chaque indiction etoit marque par un sacrifice
dont les ceremonies barbares, d'apl'cs Ie peu que nOllS en savons, paroissent toutes avair eu rapport ~ des idees astrologiques.
La victime humaine etoit appelee Guesa, errant, sans maison, et Quihica, porte, parce que sa mort annongoit pour ainsi dire
l'ouverture d'un nouveau cycle de cent quatl'e-vingt-cinq Iunes. Cette denomination I'appelle Ie Janus des Romains place aux
portes du ciel, et auquel N uma dedia Ie premier mois de l'ann~e, tanquam bicipitis dei mensem. Le Guesa etoit un enfant que
ron arrachoit a Ia maison paternelle. 11 devoit necessairement ttre pris d'Ull certain village situe dans les plaines que nous
appelons aujourd'hui les Llanos de San Juan, et qui s'ctendent depuis la pente orientale de la Cordill~re jusque vel'S Ics rives du
Guaviare. C'est de cette m~me contree de l'Orient qu'etoit venu Bochica, symbole du solei!, lors de sa premiere apparition parmi
menos de nn ano Ie escrivia el c1erigo, que avia hallado un senor principal, que preguntandole de su religion antigua que
observaban, Ie dixo: que ellos conocian, y creian en Dios que estaba en el cielo, y que aqueste Dios era Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu
Santo, y que el Padre se llamaba Yzana, que avia criado los hombres, y el Hijo tenia pOI' nombre Bacab, el qual naci/) de una
doncella virgen, llamada Chiribirias, que estil en el cielo con Dios, y que ]a madre de Chiribirias se Ilamaba Yxchel, y al Espiritu
Santo lIamaban EcllVah. De Bacab, que es el !-lijo, dizen que Ie mata, e hizo agotar, y puso nna corona de espinas, y que 10
puso tendido los bragos en un palo, y no entendian que estaba c1avado, sino atado, y alii muria, y estuvo tres dias muerto,
y al tercero dia torno it vivir, y se subio al cielo, y que esta allit con su Padre. Y despues de esto luego vino Echvah, que es
el Espiritu Santo, y harto la tierra de todo 10 que avia menester. Preguntado, que que!'ia significar aquellos tres nomb!'es
de las Tres Personas, dixo, que Yzona queria dezir el Gran Padre, y Bacilb, Hijo del Gran Padre, y Echvah, Mercader.
Chiribirias suena Madre del Hijo del Gran Padre. Ai'iadia mas, que pOI' tiempo se aviall de morir todos los hombres, pero
de la resurreccion de la carne no sabian nada. Preguntado tambien como tenian notici'a de estas cosas, respondio, que los
sefiores 10 ensenaban a sus hijos, y assi decendia de mana en mana esta doctrina. Afirmaban, que en el tiempo antiguo
vinieron 11 esta tierra veinte hombres, y el principal de ellos se !lamaba Cozas, y que estos mandaban que se confessassen las gentes,
y q'Ue ayunassen. Por esto algunos o.1funabon el dia que c01'l'e$ponde aZ Viel'nes, dizielldo avia rnuerto en U Bacau.H




164 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

violent death, were conducted; the souls of those who perished in war excepted, which passed to
heaven. In this region of hell they supposed that there existed four gods, or principal demons, one

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les Muyocas. Le Guesa etoit t:leve avec beaucoup de sain dans Ie tempJe de soleil a Sogamozo, jusq'a l'ilge de dix ans: alors on Ie
faisoit sortir pour ie promener par les chemins que Bochica avait suivis, a l'epoque QU, parcQul'ant les m~mes lieux pour instruire Ie
peuple, il les avait rendus celebres par ses miracles. A Page de quinze ans, lorsque Ia victime avait atteint un nombre- de Sunas egal
it celui que renferme I'indiction du cycle Muysca, elle etoit immolee dans une de ces places circulaires dont Ie centre etoit occupe par
une colonne elevce. Les Feruviens connoissoient les observations gnomoniques. Ils avoient surtout de Ia veneration pour lea colonnes
erigees dans Ia ville de Quito, parce que Ie soleil, a. ce qu'ils disoient, 'se pla~oit immediatement sur leur sommet, et que les ombres
du gnomon y etoient plus courtes que dans Ie reste de l'empire de l'Inca.' Les pieux et les colonnes des Muyscas, representes dans
plusieurs de leurs sculptures, ne servoient-ils de m~me pour observer Ia longueur des ombres equinoxiales ou solsticiales? Cette
supposition est d'autant plus vraisemblable que, parmi les dix signes des rnois, nous trouvons deux fois, dans les chiffres ta et suhuza,
nne corde ajoub~e a un pieu, et que les Mexicains connoissoient l'usage du gnomon fHaire. Lors de la celebration du sacrifice qui
marquoit l'ouverture d'une nouvelle indiction ou d'un cycle de quinze annees, la victime, Guesa, etoit menee en procession par Ie
Suna, qui donnoit son nom au mois Iunaire. On Ia conduisoit vers In colonne qui paro'it avoil' servi pour mesurer les ombres
solsticiales ou equinoxiales, et les passages du soleil par Ie zenith. Les prQtres Xeques, suivoient la vic time: ils etoient masques
comme les prQtres Egyptiens. Les uns representoient Bochica, que est l'Osiris ou Ie Mithras de Bogota, et auquel Olt attribuoit
trois t£tes, paruque, semblable au Trimurti des Hindoux, il rellfermoit trois personnes qui ne jormoient qu'une seule divinit6:
d'autres portoient les emhWmes de Chi a la femme de Bochica, Isis, ou la lune; d'autres ctoient couverts de masques semblables ii.
des grenouilles, pour faire allusion au premier signe de l'annee, ala; d'autres enfin representoient Ie monstre Fomagata, symbole
du mal, figure avec un ceil, quatre ore illes, et une longue queue. Ce Fomagata, dont Ie nom, en lang'ue Chibcha, signifiejeu ou
masse fondue qui bouillonne, etoit regarde comme un mauvais esprit. 11 voyageoit par l'air, entre Tunja et Sogamozo, et transformoit
les hommes en serpens, en lezards, et en tigres. Seion d'autres traditions, Fomagata etoit originairement un prince cruel.
Pour assurer Ia succession a. son frere, Tusatua, Bochica l'avoit fait traiter, In nuit de ses noces comme Uranus I'avoit eit'; par
Saturne. Nous ignorons quelle constellation portoit Ie nom de ce fantome; rnais M. Duquesne croit que les Indiens yattachoient
Ie souvenir confus de I'apparition d'une comete. Lorsque la procession, qui rappelle les processions astrologiques des Chinois et
ceIle de Ia rete d'Isis, etoit arrivee a I'extremitc du Suna, on lioit In victime ala colonne dont nous avons fait mention plus haut:
une nuee de fleches la couvroit, et on lui arrachoit Ie crour pour en faire offrande au Roi solei I, it Bochica. Le sang du Guesa
etoit l'ecueilli dans des vases sacres. Cette ceremonie barbare presente des rapports frappans avec celIe que Ies Mexicains celebroient
it la fin de leur grand cycle de cinquante-deux ans." Further proofs of the doctrine of the Trinity having been known in
America, and of Christianity having been established in that continent before the arrival of the Spaniards, may be found in the
fifth book of Acosta's Natural History of the Indies, and especially in the twenty-eighth chapter, the title of which is "De festis
1l0nnullis Cuscanorum solennioribus et quod Sathaliasfestum sacrosanctte Trinitatis temulm'i sategerit."

"It is not known with certainty that the annunciation of the Gospel had crossed over to enlighten the people of America before
that continent became known to the Spaniards. If any thing is calculated to produce astonisbment, it is the particular belief
which the Indians of Yucathan, above all the other nations of these extensive kingdoms, entertained; which renders it at least
very difficult to comprehend how that was possible, without the mysteries of the evangelical law having been preached to them;
in proof of which I shall cite what Father Remesal relates in his History. He affirms then, that when the Bishop Don
Bartholomew de las Casas proceeded to his bishoprick, which as has been observed in the third book was in fifteen hundred and
forty-five, he commissioned an ecclesiastic whom he found in Campeche, whose name was Francis Hernandez, (who is the person
who is mentioned in the chapter which treats of the foundation of the city of Merida and in other chapters,) who was well acquainted
with the language of the Indians, to visit them, carrying with him a sort of catechism of what he was about to preach to them;
and that nearly at the end of a year the ecclesiastic wrote to him that he had met with a principal lord, who, on being questioned
respecting the ancient religion which they professed, told him that they knew and believed in the God who was in beaven, and
that this God was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that the Father was named Yzona, who had created men; and that the
Son was called Bacab, who was born of a virgin of the name of Chiribirias, and that the mother of Chiribirias was named Yx chel,.
and that the Holy Ghost was called Echvah. Of Bacab, the Son, they said that he was put to death, and scourged and crowned
with thorns, and placed with his arms extended upon a beam of wood, to which they did not suppose that he had been nailed,
but that he was tied, where be died, and remained dead dUling three days, and on the third day came to life and ascended into
heaven, where he is with his Father; and that immediately afterwards Echvah, who is the Holy Ghost, came and filled the earth



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 165

of whom was superior, whom they called Zitzimitl, who is the same as Miquitlamtecotl, the great god
of hell. Y zpuzteque, the lame demon, was he who appeared in the streets with the feet of a cock.
N extepehua' * was the scatterer of ashes. Contemoque signifies he who descends head foremost; an
allusion being made to the etymology which learned men assign to the name of the Devil, which
signifies" deorsum cadens," which mode of descent after souls they attributed to him from this name
and Zon t. Y zpuzteque is he whose abode is in the streets, the same as Satan, he who on a sudden

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* Tepehua signifies a scatterer or disperser, and was an epithet which the Mexicans applied to Tonacatecutli.

+ Contemoque is derived from C01l or %011 the head, and temoque falling or descending. ll... {3oAoc is the name to the etymology
of which allusion is here said to he made, which some learned men may derive from 8,a(3aAAw in the sense of motion, and not of
accusation.

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with whatsoever it stood in need of. Being asked what signification he assigned to the three names of the three persons, he
said, that Yzona signified the great Father, and Bacab the Son of the great Father, and Echvah the Merchant. Chiribirias he
nnderstood to mean the mother of the son of the great Father. He further added, that all mankind would in course of time
perish; but they knew nothing of the resurrection of the flesh. Being questioned likewise as to the manner in which they
became acquainted with these things, he replied that the lords instructed their sons in them, and that thus the doctrine was
handed down from generation to generation. They declared that in ancient times twenty men had come to that country, the
chief of whom was named Cozas, who commanded the people to use confession, and to fast, for which reason some of them fasted
on the day corresponding to Friday, affirming that Bacab had been put to death on that day." Cogolludo further observes in the
same chapter of his History of Yucatan, that other circumstances besides their religious creed induced the Dominicans to believe
that Christianity had been preached to the inhabitants. "No solo 10 referido parece denotar aver tenido noticia de nuestra Ie los
Indios de Yucathan, sino 10 que supieron de ellos los religiosos de nuestro Padre Santo Domingo, quando estuvieron en Campeehe,
passando con el obispo ii. Chiapa, como se dixo, porque les dilleron, como los primeros Espanoles hallaron entre estos Indios
bautismo, con vocablo en Sll lengua, que en la nuestra significa, nater otTa ve:z:; y oy dia el santo bautismo se les da a enteuder
con aquel nombre. Creian que recibian en cl una entera disposicion para ser buenos, no recibir dauo de los demonios,'y conseguir
la gloria que espel'aban. Dabaseles de edad de tres anos, hasta doze, y ninguno se casaba sin el, porque segun afirma el Padre
Lizana, dezian que el que no avia recib1dole estaba endemoniado, y que no podia hazer cosa buena, ni ser hombre 0 muger de
buena vida. Elegianle para darle dia que no fuesse aciago, y los padres ayunaban tres dias antes, y se abstenian de las mugeres."
 -- Cogolludo, Historia de Yucathan, lib. iv. cap. vi. It is to be regretted that the same writer has to record in the following terms
the extensive destruction of ancient monuments and paintings which immediately followed the arrival of the first Spanish
missionaries in Yucatan, which it is to be presumed would have thrown some light on the history of its ancient colonization by
Cozas and his companions, whose name hears some resemblance to Cozoi, the epithet by which the four divine personages of
whom the Mexicans entreated rain were designated, from whom he might have received that appellation. "The ecclesiastics of
this province, whose care accelerated the conversion of these Indians to our holy Catholic faith, animated with the zeal which they
felt for their interests, not only destroyed and burned all the idols which they worshiped, but likewise all the books (todos los
escritos) which they possessed, composed after their peculiar style, by which they were enahled to preserve the memory of past
events, and whatsoever else they imagined might furnish occasion for the practice of superstition or any pagan rites. This is the
reason why some particular facts which I wished to notice in this work cannot be ascertained; but even the knowledge of their
historical annals has been denied to posterity, for nearly all their histories were committed to the flames without any attentiol1
being paid to the difference of the matter of which they treated. Neither do I approve of that suggestion, nor do I condemn it:
but it appears to me, that secular history might have been preserved in the same manner as that of New Spain and of other conquered
provinces has been preserved without its being considered to be any obstacle to the progress of Christianity. I shall,
however, in consequence, be able to say little more than that which has already heen written of their religious usages in the time
ofpaganism." -- Historia de Yucathan, lib. iv. cap. vi. Hmore of the historical paintings and monuments of Yucatan had been
preserved, we should probably have been able to have determined whether Bacab and Quecalcoatle were only two different names
for the same deity, who was worshiped alike by the Mexicans and the people of Yucatan. Torquemada informs us, on the
authority of Las Casas, that Quecalcoatle had been in Yucata.n, and was there adored. The interpreter of the Vatican Code.v
says, in the following curious passage, that the Mexicans had a tradition that he, like Bacab, died upon the cross, and he seems
to add, according to their belief, for the sins of mankind: "E certo da condolersi della cecita di questa miserabile gente, sopra
la quale, dice St. Paolo, che s' ha da rivelare I' ira di Dio, perche la sua verita eterna f~ intervenuta per tanto tempo nell' ingiuz-



166 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

appears sideways. It appears that they have been acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, although
clearer arguments in proof of this fact are adduced in the course of the following pages. They say

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tizia d'attribuire a questi demoni quello che e suo; perche essendo lui il vero Creatore del universo, e quello che ha fatto la
divisione dell' acque, che adesso attribuiscono questi poveretti al demonio; che quando c piaciuto a lui mand" il celeste ambasciatore
ad annuDziare aHa Vergine, che aveva ad esser madre del suo Verba Eterno, il quale, come trovasse il monda corrotta, 10
reformo, facendo penitenza, e morendo sulla -croce per Ii peccati nostri, e non il misero Quetzalcoatle, al quale questi 'I1lise,.i attribuiscono
quest' opera." This tradition, which rested solely upon the authority of the anonymous interpreter of that MS., acquires
the most authentic character from the corroboration which it receives from several paintings in the Codex Borgianus, which
actually represent Quecalcoatle crucified and nailed to the cross. These paintings are contained in the fourth, seventy-second,
seventy-third, and seventy-fifth pages of the above-mentioned MS.; the article of his resurrection, burial, and descent into hell, appears
also to be represented in the seventy-first and seventy-third pages of the same MS.

As in the tradition current in Yucatan of Bacab and his crucifixion (which both Remesal and Torquemada have recorded, the latter
on the authority of Las Casas himself, and which it deserves particularly to be noticed, each author has accompanied with some new
circumstance in his relation, Remesal informing us that the name of the respectable ecclesiastic who gave the information to Las
Casas was Francis Hernandez, and Torquemada that it was Eopuco who scourged and put to death Bacab), so in these Mexican
paintings many analogies may be traced between the events to which they evidently relate, and the history of the crucifixion of Christ
as contained in the New Testament. The subject of them all is the same, -- the death of Quecalcoatle upon the cross, as an atonement
for the sins of mankind. In the fourth page of the Borgian MS., he seems to be crucified between two persons who are in the act of
reviling him, who hold, as it would appear, halters in their hands, the symbols perhaps of some crime for which they were themselves going
to suffer. It is very remarkable that, although Quecalcoatle strictly enjoined honesty, temperance, and chastity to the Mexicans, he
still should have been esteemed by thieves as their patron god, as we learn from the following passage of the twenty_second chapter of the
fourteenth book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy: "Entre las casas de abuso que estas gentes usaban, era una, que en su falsa ciencia
judiciaria havia un signo, que se llamaba Ceacatl, del qual decian, que los que naciao en el, si eran nobles, havian de ser mui inquietos; y
si gente eomun y baja, havian de dar en ladrones, por arte supersticiosa y mala de los que entre ellos lIamaban Temacpalytotique_· Estos
en numero soli an ~er quince, (, veinte; y quando querian robar alguna casa, hacian la imagen de Ceacatl, 0 Ia del Dios Qlletza1cohllatl, y
iban todos juntos bail.ndo adondc querian hacer el hurto, y ibalos guiando el que llevaba la figura, "idolo de este falso dios (que bien
fal~o era, pues iba guiando a gente tan mala como esta) y otro que tambien llevaba un brar;o de alguna,muger, que havia muerto de el
primer parto." "Amongst the abuses which these nations practised, one was, they had il dign in their false judicial astrology which
they named Ceacatl, of which they said that those who were born on it, if they were nobles, would be turbulent, and if they were low
and common people, would become thieves, addicting themselves to the superstitious and wicked art of those whom they called
Temacpalytotique: these were generally fifteen or twenty in number, who, when they wished to rob any house, mane an image of
Ceacatl, or one of the god Quetzalcohuatl, and went in a body dancing to the place where they intended to commit the robbery; and he
who carried the figure or the idol of this false god (who assuredly was false, since he led such a worthless band as these) preceded them
leading the way, and likewise another who carried the arm of a woman who had died in her first childbed." Torquemada in recording this
superstitious practice of the Mexicans, does not attempt to explain in what it might have originated; regarded simply in the light of a
superstition, the Mexican belief that one of their principal gods favoured and protected thieves is not more open to the keen shafts
of satire than those fables of classical antiquity, against which the early fathers launched all their wit and learning, and often sullied with
exceptionable passages their otherwise pure and spotless pages. In the seventy-second page of the Borgian MS., Yzt.pal Nanazeaya, or
the fourth age of the Mexicans, that of Flints and Canes, memorable for being the era of the birth of Quecalcoatle and of the destruction
of the province and city of Tulan, seems to be represented. Quecalcoatle is there painted in the attitude of a person crucified, with the
impression of nails buth in his hands and feet, but not actually upon a cross, and with the image of death beneath his feet, which an
angry serpent seems threatening to devour. The skulls above signify that the place is Tzonpantli, a word which exactly corresponds
with the Hebrew proper name Golgotha. The body of Quecalcoatle seems to be formed out of a resplendent sun, and two female
figures with children on their backs are very conspicuously presenting an offering at his feet. The Mexicans sometimes added the
epithet of Tlat%olli to Tzonpantli, when the signification of both names became, The place of precious death or martyrdom; tlatzolli
meaning in the Mexican language, precious or desired. The seventy-third page of the Borgian MS. is the most remarkable of all: for
Quecalcoatle is not only represented there as crucified upon a cross of the Greek form, but his burial and descent into hell are also
depicted in a very curious manner; his grave, which is somewhat in the shape of a cross, and strewed with bones and skulls symbolical
of death, resembles likewise that kind of building which the Indians of New Spain constructed in the courts of their temples, which they
called tlacho, and in which they played the religious game of the ball, instituted perhaps in commemoration of him. The head of the
devouring monster on the left signifies his descent into hell, and thot he had been swallowed up in death, which could only dismember,
but could not cause his body wholly to corrupt or decay away, since he reassumes his perfect form in hell, and seems to compel
Mictlantecl1tli, the lord of the dead, to do him homage. Mictlantecutli, it may be observed, wos a different personage from Zontemoque,




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 167

that these four gods or demons have goddesses, and they affirm the same of all the gods of heaven;
that each has a goddess-not as a wife but as a companion: perhaps there may be some allusion to
the former presiding over hell, the region of the dead, and the latter over hell, the place of punishment for the wicked. The Mexicans,
like the early Christians, seem sometimes to have personified death and hell; and Milton has followed their example, unwisely gilding
error with poetry. Quecalcoatle is again represented as crucified in the seventy-firth page of the Borgian MS., and one of his hands
and both his feet seem to bear the impression of nails; he appears rrom the phonetic symbol placed near his mouth to be uttering an
exclamation, and his body is strangely covered with suns. If the Jews had wished to apply to their Messiah the metaphor of the sun
of righteousness, they would perhaps have painted him with such emblems; and perverting in like manner another expression of
Scripture, -- "I am alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end;" have painted the signs dedicated to Quecalcoatle
bifore and after the signs allotted to the twelve tribes of Israel, as seems to be the case in the seventy-fourth page of the Borgian MS.,
where the skull or symbol of death placed over the other signs may signify that he had redeemed themfrom it. The two signs dedicated
to Quecalcoatle were Ehecatl, or the wind, and the green feathered serpent which occupy the first and the last places amongst these
signs. The seventy-first page of the same MS. seems to represent a cross overshadowed by the wings of a cherub, beneath which
Quecalcoatle is reclining, whilst the figures on the sides and the mutilated human limbs around, may bear some allusion to the punishment
of his enemies. The eagles which are represented in the same page, remind us that that bird is sometimes mentioned in the Old
Testament as an instrument of divine wrath, as in the eleventh verse of the forty-sixth chapter of Isaiah, -- "Calling a ravenous bird
from the East, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have
purposed it, I will also do it." Since the Jews interpret the Old Testament in so very different a manner from Christians, and contend
that the Messiah is spoken of under innumerable types which the latter refuse to recognize, because they have not been noticed by
the Apostles, we may reasonably demand whether the eagle was one of them, and whether the representation of Quecalcoatle, borne
upon the wings of an eagle, which occurs in the fourth page of the Borgian MS., may not allude.jn some manner to the fourth verse
of the nineteenth chapter of Exodus, -- "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought
you unto myself." It is remarkable that in these Mexican paintings the faces of many of the figures are black, whilst the nails on the
hands. and feet of others are long, and more like the talons of birds than human nails, and that the visage of Quecalcoatle is frequently
painted in a very deformed manner. Even here Jewish absurdity and the perversion of ancient prophecy seem to betray themselves. The
Jews esteemed long nails as the symbol of the divine ordinance, "Be ye fruitful and multiply;" and it is therefure probable from this
as well as from other reasons which are enumerated in the following passage, taken from a little work treating of their religion, that they
would have added them to the representations of their heroic or mythological personages. u They look so attentively to their nailes,
because of their great fruitfulnesse, for though they cut them every Friday, yet they quickly grow againe. Some say, they doe it by reason
of the garments which God gave to Adam in Paradise, which were naile coloured. Some say they doe it by reason of the wunderfull
difference which is between the nailes and the flesh, of which wonderfull difference a wonderfull consideration proceeded from the first
man. For when Adam saw the world covered with darknesse, he cryed out, 'O miserable man that I am, for whose sin the world is
become darke.' Here God put a most clear minde into mao, that be should strike two flints one against the other, by the stroke whereof
fire came forth, and he lighted a candle by it; and when he saw himselfe stark naked, but onely upon the ends of his fingers that were
covered with nailes, falling into a wonderfull admiration be praised God therefore, as it is found in a book, called Rabi, cap.41." The
verse in the Old Testament, "All faces shall gather blackness," may explain the reason why figures with such faces often occur in
Mexican paintings: and as regards the deformity of features which the Mexicans attributed to Quecalcoatle, the words of Isaiah in the
fifty-second chapter of his Prophecies, which the Jews believed to refer to their Messiah, and which they might have understood in an
exaggerated sense, must also be recollected: "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: so shall he
sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which
they had not heard shall they consider:" and the prophecy contained in the firty-third and following chapter, which is more frequently
cited: "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." If some persons,
recollecting that Christ disproves in the twenty-second chapter of Saint Matthew the Messiah to he David's son, by putting the question
to the Pharisees, -- "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" should contend that the passage first quoted from Isaiah cannot
refer to the Messiah, because God would not call his son and equal his servant; this objection may be answered by citing the eighth
verse of the third chapter of Zechariah, -- "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy rellows that sit before thee: for they
are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant The BRANCH." By the branch the Messiah is here signified, as is
unequivocally declared in the twelfth and thirteenth verses of the sixth chapter of the same Prophet, -- "And speak unto him, saying,
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he
shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his
throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Notwithstanding the reserve which
the early Spanish historians imposed upon themselves in treating of Quecalcoatle, (who,e name in fact would scarcely have heen handed



168 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

the four fates, * or goddesses of hell, that the poets feign, Alethio, Megara, Thesiphonte, and
Proserpine.

-----
* It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the Furies are here confounded with the Fates; that the latter were but three in number,
and that Proserpine was the wife of Pluto and the queen of hell.

down to us but for the preserration of a chance copy of the first edition of the Indian Monarchy of Torquemada, from which a second
edition was printed at Madrid in INS,) we are still enabled to give some description of his busts, some of which, it may be supposed,
were very deformed and others much less so. Herrera says: "En Chulula, republica cerca de Mexico, adoraban un famosa idola, que
era dios de las mercaderias, porque cran gran des mercaderes, i oi riia son clados a tratos. Llamabanle Quatza1coatl: i estaba en una gran
p1a«;a, en un templo mui alto; tenia al rededor de 5i oro, plata, plumas, Topas de valor, en figura de hombre, la cara de pajaro, con el
pica colorado, i sabre eluoa nesta, i berrugas, con unas rengleras de dicntes: i la lengua defuera: en la cabec;a una mitra de papel
puntiaguda; i pintada una hoz en la mano, i muchos adcrec;os 'de oro en las piernas, ~orque hacia ricos a los que queria: i su nomhre
significaba culebra de pluma rica." -- Historia de las Indias Occidentales, dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. xv.

"In ellulula, a republic in the neighbourhood of Mexico, they worshiped a famous idol, who was the god of merchandize; for they
were great merchants, and at present they are addicted to traffic. They called him Quatzalcoatl. He was placed in a large square, in a
very lofty temple. He was surrounded with gold and silver, feathers, and precious apparel, and was of the shape of a man, with the face
of a bird with a scarlet bill, over which was a crest, with warts and rows of teeth: he had a protruding tongue: on his head he wore
a mitre, terminating in a point; a sickle was painted in his hand, and many golden ornaments were fastened to his legs, for he enriched
those whom he pleased. The signi6cation of his name was, 'the serpent of rich plumage.' || In Yucatan, Echuah was probably the
god of merchants, although Quecalcoatle was revered in that character in Mexico. The sickle mentioned by Herrera seems to have
been distinguished by the Mexicans by the appellation of Xiuhatlatli, erroneously supposed elsewhere to have been a warlike weapon
for impelling dart,; because the representation of it as if employed for that purpose frequently occurs in the mythological paintings of
the Mexicans, but which (since no Spanish authors notice such a military weapon as customary amongst the Mexicans or any other
Indian tribes) it is to be presumed was rather a symbol of divine than civil warfare. It may be interesting to compare Herrera's
description of the bust of Quecalcoatle with the following account transmitted to us by Acosta of the three principal images of
Tezcatlipoca, Huitzilopuchtli, and Tlaloc, which were adored by the Mexicans: "Primarium Mexicanorum idolurn, ut diximus,
Vitzlipuzli erat, ex ligno crelatum forma viri, in sella, qure supra arceram seu lecticam fundabatur, considentis. Ex hujus utrisque
lateribus, baculu~, colubrino capite prreeminens, porrigebatur. Per sellam autem, significabatur, eum eo gestu in crelo residere. Idoli
prreputiurn undiquaque livescebat. Per transversum nasum livida macula ab una aure usque ad alteram ducta erato Caput ejus crista
pretiosissima, 'I'ostro avium. simili, tegebatur. Hujus apex aut extremitas levigato auro obducta erato Ipsum idolum lreva ma.nu
rotundam candentemque parmam, quinque albis pennis in crucis morem decussatis, gerebat: ex cujus summitate palma ramulus ex auro
factus, prominebat. In latere ejus quatuor tela cooapicua erant, qure Mextcani ipsi crelitus missa prretendunt, ut iis facillura ilia, de
qui bus suo loco dicemus, designaret. Ad dextram fulcrum quoddam, anguis forma statutum erat, granis ac striis creruleis undiquaque
exsculptum. Omnibus et singulis his ornamentis, quorum adhuc multo plura erant, sure peculiares interpretationes conveniebant, qure
apud Mexicanos tales erant. Vitzliputzli nomen idem est, ac inversa, et conspectu pulchra crista seu penna. De templi vero insigni
OInatu, ac sacri6ciis,jejuniis, et ceremoniis, idolo exhibitis, in sequentibus mentio fiet. Dictum idolum in aram editiorem locatum
pannis intcgebatur, et insuper ornamentis variis, ex auTO, pennisque, ac pennatis clypeis, opera exquisitissima ct ingeniosissima
fabrefactis, cingebatur. Cujus quidem veneratio ut esset illustrior, ante tjus faciem perpetuQ G01'diin suspendebatur. Juxta hujU5
sacellum, aliud quoque aditum, non usqueadeo excultum erat. Hoc aliud idolUn1 T1aloc vocatum condebatur, quod Vitzliputzli semper
proximum statuebatur, ut quod ejusdem cum illo potentire particeps esset. Prreter hrec etiam tertium quoddam idolum colebatur apud
Mexicanos, quod remittendis peccatis destinabatur. Hoc Tezcathlipuca vocabatur. Id ex nitente nigro saxo exculptum, vestibus
pretiosis habitu Mexicanorum sartis tegebatur. Aures ejus al1reis, labra verb inferiora argenteis anoulis transmissis, conspicl1a erant.
His interdum virides, nonnunquam crerulere pennm, extema facie Smaragtio!; aut cyanos referentes, inserebantur. Capilli pars inferior
filo aUTeo innexa erat: in cujus extremitate auris aurea, furno quodam volitante (is autem idea precum, a peccatoribus fusarum, ac ab
idolo exaudiendarum erat) insignis, figebatur. Intra "ero aures geminas Clenodiorum magna vis conspiciebatur. Ex collo etiam
clenodium, totum pectus anterius integens, suspensum erat':' &c. &c. 

Both a fan and a sickle were sometimes placed in the hands of Quecalcoatle, as it would appear from a bust which is preserved in
the British Museum, the countenance of which is mutilated though not deformed, and the curve of the sickle in the right hand broken off.
Reasons are given in another place for assuming this bust to be one of Quecalcoatle; but it would seem that the Mexican artist intended
to give an expression of youth and beauty to the face; nor is it surprising that his image should not always have been sculptured with
a deformed visage, according to the description of Torquemada: "Su imagen tenia la cara mui fea, y la cabec;a larga, y mui barbado."
" His image had a very ugly face, a large head, and a thick beard:" since the same motives which induced some Spanish writers, whilst
openly reviling the other Mexican gods, to speak almost in respectful terms of Quecalcoatle, -- viz. a regard for the excellence of hi,




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 169

1. Miquitlantecotli, * the god of hell, otherwise called Tzitzimitl, who is the same as Lucifer.
2. Miquitecacigua. S. Yxpuzteque, the lame demon who appeared in the streets with the feet of

-----
* The infernal gods of the Mexicans, or those who according to their notions presided over hell, may be immediately recognized in
their paintings by a kind of spike projecting from the back of their heads, and usually painted of a red colour to represent perhaps the
point of a lance bathed in blood; this symbol is.common to Miquitlantecotli and the other gods of hell.

-----
moral precepts, and the exemplary conduct of his life, -- might have inclined the Mexicans occasionally to represent him wilh a sweet and
benignant expression of countenance. Torquernada, in the sixth book of his Indian Monarchy, thus eulogizes Quecalcoatle: "A la
verdad el sefiorio de este Quetzalcohuatl fue suave, y no les pidio en servicio sino cosas ligeras, y no penosas, y les enseno las que eran
virtuosas, prohibiendoles las malas, nocivas, y danosas, enseiiandoles tambien it. aborrecerlas." "In truth, the dominion of Quetzalcohuatl
was sweet, and he exacted no service from them but easy and light things, instructing them in such as were virtuous, and prohibiting such
as were wicked, evil, and injurious, teaching them likewise to abhor them." The passage in the New Testament, "Come unto me, ye
that are heavy laden," &c. seems to have occurred to the recollection of Torquemada when writing these lines, if he did not borrow
them from the writings of some of the more ancient missionaries, many of whose works he acknowledges came into his hands. He has,
however, fallen into the same inconsistency as several other Spanish authors, such as Gomara and Herrera, who sometimes praise
and at other times spea.k in terms of execration, of Quecalcoatle, whose name seems, by the tacit consent of the Spanish historians, to
have been allowed speedily to sink into oblivion, without any attempt being made to clear up his most mysterious history. In Mexico, it
is probable that great pains were taken by the monks and clergy to root out the remembrance of him, and that legendary tales relating to
his life were not allowed to be inserted in books published either in that city or in Spain. It is certainly very remarkable that Bernal
Diaz, who wrow a circumstantial account of the conquest of New Spain, and whose memory seems scarcely ever to have failed him,
should, in describing the city of Cholula and its famous temple, have declared that he had forgotten the name of the idol to which it was
dedicated; althgugh it appears, from what he says a few chapters afterwards, that he had not forgotten the number of steps of which the
staircase leading to the upper area of that temple consisted: "Dire que en Cholula el gran adoratorio que en el tenian, era de mayor altor
que no el de Mexico, porque tenia ciento y veinte gradas." -- Historia Verdadera de la COllquista de la Nueva.Espafia, cap. lxxxxii.
pag. 71l. Since Bernal Diaz could not have been really ignorant of a fact which was so notorious to all Spaniards at all conversant with
the history of the Mexicans, -- that both the city and the temple of eholula were dedicated to Quecalcoatle, -- it is possible that what has
been asserted by a Spanish author, who wrote in Mexico in the seventeenth century, may be true; that he possessed a MS. copy of Bernal
Diaz's History which differed materially in many passages from the printed edition. If, however, the printed edition be in this place
correct, it is probable that Bernal Diaz dissimulates his knowledge, either in compEance with the wishes, or in obedience to the com..
mands, of others, of some portion of the religious history of the New,;y orld. The pas$age in which he professes to have forgotten the name
of the idol to which the temple of Cholula was dedicated is the following: "Tenia aquell. ciudad en aquel tiempo.obre cien torres
muyaltas, que eran cues, e adoratorios, donde estavan sus idolos, especial el cu mayor era de mas altor que el de Mexico, puesto que
era muy suntuoso y alto el cu Mexicano, y tenia otros cien patios para el servicio de los cues, y segun entendimos, avia alii un idolo Oluy
grande, el nombre del no me acuel'do, mas ent1'e ellos tenia gran de'IJocion, y venian de muchas partes a Ie sacrificar, y tenia como a
manera de novenas, y Ie presentavan de las haziendas que tenian."

M. Dupaix discovered in the province of Tlascala, which bordered on Cholula, a bust which so exactly corresponds wilh the
description given by Herrera of the image of Quecalcoatle, which was adored in that city, that we cannot refrain from referring to the
53rd plate of the Second Part of his Monuments, which contains a representation of it under the number '11l3. The bird's face was
perhaps only a mask or vizor, symbolical of his absence; or it might have been the bill of the Huicil.n, and have alluded to the proper
name Huitzilopuchtli, and to the bird which invited the Mexicans out of the bush to set out on their pilgrimage from Aztlan. It
deserves to be remarked, that both the hands of this figure seem to be pierced by nails, the heads of which are visible. The tradition
current in Yucatan, that Eopuco crowned Bacab with thorns, appears also to be preserved in its head-dress. A crown of thorns of
another fashion may perhaps be recognized on the head of another piece of ancient sculpture 'discovered by M. Dupaix. This figure, in
relievo, is represented in the 9th plate of his jlfonuments, Part the Third, No. 13; and the crown seems to be formed out of the
thorny leaves of the aloe. If such testimony as that of Las Casas, Remesal, De Salagar, and Torquemada, may still, from the importance
of the subject, stand in need of further corroboration before belief can be yielded to the traditions of Yucatan, which even went so
far as to affirm that Bacab had been crucified by Eop"co, it is afforded,by the discovery which M. Dupaix made of a cross in a temple,
when investigating the ruins of the ancient city of Palenque, which was situated on the borders of Yucatan. Although, in anticipation
of the objection which some persons may be inclined to make, that the finding of a cross on the cqnfines of Y,llcatan, was no proof
that the people of that province believed as a matter of faith in the crucifixion of an individual, we shall insert a passage from
Cogolludo's History of Yucatan, which is very remarkable, as the cross there mentioned had the image of a person crucified sculptured
upon it: "En medio del palio, que haze el clauslro de nuestro Convenlo de la Ciudad de Merida, ay una cruz de piedra, que sera del




170 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

a cock as he is here represented; he is the same as Satan, or the adversary. 4. N exoxocho.
5. Nextepeua, the scatterer of ashes. 6. Micapetlacoli. 7. Contemoque, he who descends head
foremost from the sky. The signification of this name is the same as that of Diabolus, viz. deorsum
cadens, falling downwards; for they say that he descends for souls as the spider lowers itself with its
head downwards from the web". 8. Chalmecaciuatl.

-----
* The following is a curious passage extracted from the forty.fifth chapter of the sixth book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy;
"Otros dijeron que Tezcatlipuca avia decendido del cielo, descolgandose por una soga que avia hecho de tela de araiia, y que andando
por este mundo, desterr6 Ii Quetzalcohuatl que en Tulla fue muchos anos senor." "Others relate that Tezcatlipuca descended from
heaven, letting himself down by a rope which he had formed of spiders' webs, and that directing his course through the world, he
banished Quetzalcohuatl who had been ruany years king in Tulla." In another chapter Torquemada makes Quecalcoatle joint king of
Tula with Huemac. The daughter of Ruem"c, according to Sahagun, fell likewise a victim to the temptation and fraud of Tetzcatlipuca.
If the Mexicans imputed the temptation and persecutions of Quecalcoatle to an evil spirit, it is more probable that they believed Contemoque
to have been the cause of them than Tezcatlipoca, who was one of their supreme deities; and who if not the same as
Ton.catecutli, was supposed to reside with him in the ninth or highest heaven. It is evident from the plate, that Tezcatlipoca was not
one of the infernal gods of the Mexicans, although some authors have confounded him with Miquitlantecotli, since their symbol wax the
head ora lance, whilst his was a smoking mirror, as it is explained by the interpreter, which was likewise common to Quecalcoatle and
Chalchiuhtotoli; they inhabited hell, and he appears to have presided over limbo I.

I Assuming this to be the case, as the plate seems clearly to indicate, the belief of the Mexicans, that children were more immediately
under the protection of Tezcatlipoca, must seem very extraordinary; as it would almost imply some acquaintance with the tenth verse
of the eighteenth chapter of Saint Matthew, "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven
their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."

gruesso de una sesma por cada parte de los quatro lados, y como una vara de largo, y se echa de vh estar su longitud quebrada, y faltarle
algun pedac;o. Tiene sacado de medio relieve en la misma piedra una figura de un santo crucifixo, como de media "ara de largo.
Entiendese aver sido una de las que en el tiempo de la infidelidad de los Indios se haHaron en la Isla de Cozumel. Avia muchos anos
que estaba en 10 superior de la iglesia, y se dezia, que desde que la pusieron alIi, no daba casi rayo alguno, y que de antes soli an caer
muchos en el Convento. Cayose can algua temporal, y la baxaron a Ja iglesia, doude algun tiempo la vimos arrimada al pie del altar de
la capilla de el Capitan Alonso Carrio de Valdes, con poca decenci.. Aviendo sido electo Provinci.1 el Reverendo Padre Fr. Antonio
Ramirez, por dezirse 10 que se dezia de esta santa cruz, y colocarla mas deceutemente; hizo labrar un assiento de piedra de silleria, y sobre
el unas gradas, en medio una col una de altura competente, en cuyo remate hizo fixar el de la cruz, quedando derecha, y la efigie del
santo crucifixo a la parte Oriental; dorados los remates de la CfUZ, que son labrados de vistosas molduras. Por la voz comun, asi de
religiosos como seculares, y par no afirmar cosa de que no ay total certidumbre, se puso a las espaldas de ella un rotulo, que dize: Esta
cruz se "0110 ell Cozumel sin tradicio7l. Aviendo,abido Don Eugenio de Alcantara (que murio beneficiado del partido de Hoctun, y fue
de los ministros doctrineros, que mas lengua han sabido de estos Indios; curiosissimo en averiguar antiguallas suyas, grande eclesiastico,
y zelosissimo de que fuessen "erdaderamente Christianos,) que andaba yo ocupado en estos escritos, me dixo no una vez sola, que podia
escrivir con seguridad, que esta santa cruz la tenian los Indios en Cozumel en tiempo de su infidelidad, y que avia aiios, que se lle\'o
11 Merida, porque aviendo oido a muchos 10 que se dezia de ella, avia hecho particular inquisicion can Indios muy viejos de por alla, y se
10 avian afirmado asst. Podia hazer dificultad la efigie del santo crucifixo que tiene; pero considerado 10 que se ha dicho en este libro,
que creian estos Indios, que el Hijo del Dios a quien Ilamaban Bacab, avia muerto puesto en una cruz, tendidos los bra90s, no parece tan
dificil de entender Ie tuviessen figurado, segun el credito de religion que tenian." -- Historia de Yucatlw1I, lib. iv. cap. ix. "In the
middle of the court formed by the cloister of our convent in the city of Merida, there is a stone cross, the thickness of the four several
sides of which is about six inches, and their length a yard; its length has evidently been diminished by a part having been
broken off. The figure of a saint crucified, of about half a yard in length, i. sculptured in mezzo-relievo on the same stone. It is
understood to have been one of the crosses which in the times of Indian paganism were disco-"ered in the island of Cozumel. Many
years ago it stood:n the upper part of the church; and it is reported that, from the period when it was placed there, scarcely any Bashes
of lightning struck the convent, although it had often been struck befvre that time_ Being blown down in a storm, they carried it into
the lower body of the church where we saw it for SOllie time leaning against the foot of the altar of the chapel of captain Alonso Carrio
de Vald~s, with little decency. The reverend father, brother Antonio Ramirez, on being elected Provincial, both on account of that
which was rumoured of this cross, and in order to place it in a more decent situation, caused a foundation, composed of stones, to be




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 171.

PLATE V.

This was the third place for souls which passed from this life, to which the souls alone of children
who died before attaining the use of reason went. They feigned the existence of a tree from which
milk distilled, where all children who died at such an age were carried; for the Devil, who IS so
inimical to the honour of GOD, even in this instance has wished to show his rivalry: for in the same
way as our holy doctors teach the existence of limbo for children who die without baptism.. or without
the circumcision of the old law, or without the sacrifice of the natural mau, so he has caused these
poor people to believe that there was such a place for their children; and he has superadded another
error-the persuading them that these children have to return from thence to re-people the world
after the third destruction which they suppose that it has to undergo, for they believe that the world
bas already been twice destroyed.

1. Chichiualquauitl, * which signifies the tree of milk which nourishes children who die before
attaining the use of reason.

-----
* The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus seems to be here guilty of some inadvertence, in saying that the Mexicans believed
that the world had been only twice destroyed. A reason may be assigned for all apparent contradiction which occasionally
occurs in the course of the following pages, respecting the precise number of destructions which they supposed that the world had
undergone, since the destruction of the province of Tulan may sometimes be reckoned, and sometimes omitted as a catastrophe
which did not affect the entire world: but even this supposition would not explain a difference of two in the estimate of the total
number of these destructions; as in other places 'it is said that the world had undergone four destructions, and would again be
destroyed; except we admit that the destruction of the world by fire may have beell represented prospectively instead of retrospectively
in the Mexican paintings; and that hence may have originated a mistake on the part of those who did not understand
the right interpretation of these paintings in computing this number, and the occasion of confounding the fifth age, which the
fourth destruction of the world was to usher in, with the fourth destruction itself. The Mexicans certaiuly believed that the
world would again be destroyed by fire, that it had been inundated by water; and the age of wind probably refers to the first
great catastrophe which befel the earth in cOllsequence of the Sill and disobedience of our first parents. The curse pronounced
against Adam, which is supposed to have operated so great a change in its state, and to have converted it from a garden into a
wilderness, seems to be alluded to in the Peruvian tradition of Con, and of the people he created, which is thus related by
Gomara: "Inch6 Ia tierra de omhres y mugeres que cri6, y di6 les mucha fruta y pan con 10 demas a Ia vida necessaria. Mas
empero por enojo que algunos Ie hizieron, bolvio Ia buena tierra que les avia dado, en arenales secas y esteriles, como son los de
la costa, y les quit6 la lluvia, ca nunca despues aca llovio alii. Dex61es solamente los rios de piadoso, para que se mantuviessen
con regadio y trabajo." "He filled the earth with men and women whom he had created, and gave them fruits and bread in
abundance, with every other necessary of life. But nohvithstanding, on account of some offence which they were guilty of
towards him, he changed the good soil which he had given them into dry and barren sands, like those situated on the sea-coast,
and deprived them of rain; for never from that period did rain fall again in that country: out of compassion alone he left them
the rivers, that they might support life by means of irrigation and toil." On the supposition that the destruction by winds
was the first in order of the destructions which the Mexicans conceived that the world had undergone, and that it referred to
some great change operated in the soil of the earth, affecting vegetation and its productive powers, Ehecat!, or the sign of
wind, which is gellerally the forerunner and cause of blights and famine, was a not ill-chosen symbol of the diminished
fertility of the earth, and the sterility inflicted upon it by a divine malediction.

constructed for it, with steps up to it, and a pillar in the middle of sufficient height, on the top of which was fixed the cross in an upright
position, with the image of the crucified saint turned towards the East, its extremities being gilt and worked with beautiful mouldings.
With the general consent both of the ecclesiastics and of the laity, and in order not to affirm aught which was Dot entirely certain, an
inscription was placed on the back of it, which says, 'This cross was found in Cozumel, with.out tradition.' Having become
acquainted with Don Eugenio de Alcantara (who died possessing the benefice of Hoctun, and was one of those teachers of the Gospel





172 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

PLATE VI.

Tezcatlipoca, * here represented, was one of their most potent deities: they say that he appeared
in that country on the top of a mountain called Tezcatepec, which signifies the Mountain of
Mirrors. They paid him great reverence and adoration, and addressed him in their prayers with
the appellation of Titlaclahuan, which means, Lord, whose servants we are. They paint in his
hands a certain sort of weapon, + together with a shield and a quiver of arrows; and at his feet
a serpent and a heap of fire, denoting that he is the creator of the elements: alluding, perhaps, to
the error of the Manicheans, who considered these wretched portions of matter as the principle of
visible things. They believed him, likewise, to be the originator of wars; as they affirm that he was
one of those who fell from heaven. The old people of the country say, that those who entered where
his idol stood, "cecidebant in facies suas," fell on their faces and thus adored him; and that they
took a little earth from the ground, which they swallowed with the greatest reverence, and addressed
him "Lord, since we are thy servants, grant us all which we may stand in need of." ++

2. Tezcatlipoca. S. Serpent. 4. Water. 5. Fire.

PLATE VII.

This is the first age which they record, in which Water reigned, till at last it destroyed the world
which these two first of the human race had peopled, whom the great triune God had in the


-----
who was most versed in the languages of these Indians, and very curious in verifying their antiquities, a great ecclesiastic, and most desirous
of their becoming true Christians,) when engaged in the composition of this History, he told me, not once only, that I might safely write
that the Indians of Cozumel possessed this holy cross in the time of their paganism, and that some years had elapsed since it was brought
to Merida; for having heard from many persons what was reported of it, he had made particular inquiries of some very old Indians who
resided there, who assured him that it was the fact. The image which it.bears of the crucified saint may cause some difficulty; but if
that which is said in this book be considered, that these Indians believed that the Son of God, whom they called Bacab, had died upon
a cross, with his arms stretched out upon it, it cannot appear so difficult a matter to comprehend that they should have formed his image
according to the religious creed which they professed."

* This proper uame is compounded of the following words, Teua the name of the mountain on which this god is said to have
appeared to the Mexicans, tlil dark, and poca smoke, with reference no douht to the manner in which he manifested himself.

+ The name of this weapon was Xiuatlatli, which appears to have been used to propel a spear with greater force; it was
peculiar to the New World. The Mexicans displayed much ingenuity in their warlike weapons, but they did not employ
poisoned arrows against their enemies like many other Indian tribes. They used, in the diversion of the chase, a weapon called
by the Spaniards a cerbatana, which was a kind of tube through which they blew with the breath a ball, and hit a mark with
great exactness. Cortes, in his letter to Charles the Fifth, says that Montezuma gave him some of these tubes painted so
exquisitely with birds and flowers, that he could not describe to the Emperor their perfection. This appears to have been an
invention of African origin.

++ Torquemada, describing the adoration which the Mexicans paid to Tezcatlipoca, says, "quien de los que saben alga de historia,
y leen en ella los errores de los antiguos, no dira que este es Jupiter tan celebrado de todos ellos 7" "who at all conversant with
history, and who has read the errors of the ancients, will not say that this was Jupiter so celebrated by them 7" He has
preserved a prayer which the Mexicans addressed to this God, which commences, "O Almighty God, who givest life to those
who invoke thee by the appellation of Titlaclahua, deign to grant me all that is necessary for my maintenance, both meat and
drink." "O Dios todo poderoso, que dais vida a los hombres que as llamais Titlaclahua, hacedme esta tan serialada merced, de
darme todo 10 necessaria para el sustento de la vida, asi del Cumer, como del beber."



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 173

beginning placed in it. This age, according to their computation, lasted four thousand and eight
years; and on the occurrence of that great deluge, they say that men were changed into fish: these
large fish they named Tlacamichin, which signifies Men-fish. Most of the old people of Mexico say
that a single man and a single woman escaped from this deluge, from whom, in course of time,
mankind multiplied. The tree in which they saved themselves was called the Ahuehuete "'; and they
say that this deluge happened in the tenth sign, according to their computation, which they
represented by VI?ater, which on account of its clearness they place in their calendar. They say that
during the first age men ate no bread, but only of a certain kind of wild maize which they call
A tzitziutli. They name this first age C;oniztalt, which signifies the White Head; others say that not
only did these two who were preserved in the tree escape, but that seven others remained hid in it
certain cave, and that the deluge having passed away, they came forth and restored the population of
the earth, dispersing themselves over it; and that their descendants in course of time worshiped
them as gods, each in his own nation; and thus the Tepanechi adored one whom they called Hulhueteotlit;
and the Chisbimeche, Quetzalcouatl; and the Culhue, Tzinacouatl, -- for from these their
generations had descended. § For this cause they held lineage in great account, and wherever they
chanced to be, they said "I am of such a lineage II." They likewise worshiped their first founder,
and offered him sacrifice, and called him the Heart of the People, to whom they made an idol, which
was preserved in a very secure place, and covered with vestments; and all their descendants deposited
in that place rich jewels, such as gold and precious stones. Before this idol, which they called their
Heart, wood was always burning, with which they had mixed copal or incense.

In this first age, giants, of whom the accompanying figure is the representation, existed in that
country, who were those whom they called Tzocuillicxeque, of such vast stature that a monk of the
order of Saint Dominic, named Brother PETER DE LOS RIOS, who is the person who copied the
greatest part of these paintings, relates that he beheld with his own eyes a molar tooth ** from the jaw 

-----
* Ahuehuete is the Mexican name for the fir. The manner III which this man and woman escaped IS not vcry clearly
explained in the text, but the plate shows that it was in an ark or boat.

+ In allusion perhaps to its great antiquity, or because silver is of that colour.

++ If this proper name were written Huehueteotli, it would signify the ancient God.

§ Those missionaries who, as Torquemada informs us, supposed that Quecalcoatle was an Irishman, because he was called
Cuculcan in Yucatan, and wore a hood and a vest covered with red crosses, and ate raw flesh, -- a practice which they seem to
think was common amongst the ancient Irish, (although Ireland was a country renowned for its learning and the resort of scholars
from all parts of Europe, when Spain under the Goths had actually forgotten the use of letters,) -- might as well attempt to prove
that he was a Carthusian monk, because the Carthusians were originally so named from the paper covering which they wore on
their beads: the Italian word cartoccio being defined by Pacciolati in his L"'icoll to be "involucrum chartaceum quo a
pharmacopolis aliisque institoribus pulveres ac similia clauduntur;" and Quecalcoatle is said to have worn a pointed paper mitre,
and is so represented in Mexican paintings.
II The Jews were great genealogists.

~ Clavigero mentions a very precious emerald with a bird carved upon it, and worshiped by the Indians as the Heart of the
People, which was destroyed by a missionary. The signification of the name of Votan, who was the Quecalcoatle of the
Chiapanese, was a Iteart.....

*!t< The science of geology:, which has made such considerable advances in England during the bnlhant reIgn of HIS present
Ma' esty seems destined to promote the cause of truth. The bones of elephants and of unknown species of animals, which for
thousands of years have ceased to exist, are no longer considered even by the common people. as indubitable proofs of the
existence of giants in days of yore; and although Torquemada says, "Se dice que huvo gran notICIa en el Peru de unos.glgantes
que vinieron il aquellas partes, cuios hues os se hallan oi dia de disforme grande~a cerca de Manta y de Puerto VIeJo; yen





174 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

of one of these giants, which was discovered by the Indians of Amaquemecam whilst repairing the
streets of Mexico in the year 1556, which he himself weighed, and found to be three pounds wanting
one ounce: he presented it to the Viceroy Don LUIS DE VELASCO; and other persons saw it; whence
an opinion may be formed of the size of these giants, and likewise from other bones which have been
found in those countries. They relate of one of the seven, whom they mention as having escaped
from the deluge, that the earth becoming populous he went to Chululan, and there began to build a
tower, which is that of which the brick base is still visible. The name of that chief was Xelua; he
built it in order, should a deluge again happen, to escape upon it; its base is eighteen hundred feet
in circumference"'. When it had already reached a great height, lightning from heaven fell and
destroyed it. This event struck terror into the Mexicans, whose chief was named Quemoquet; and
on this they deliberated together, whether they should ask advice of their god Toseque, who
commanded them to fast eight years, the four first on bread and water, and the other four on bread
of the seed of Bledos; and many of them completed this fast, and at its termination the earth
swallowed them up; and those who remained, availing themselves of this history, have recorded it,
together with the destruction of Tula, which happened shortly afterwards: ?? They still sing, in their
dances and festivals, the song which commences with Tulanianhlllulaez~, in which they recite the history.

PLATE VIII.

1. Apachihuilliztli. 2. Each of these circles stands for a mita, or year. 3. Each of these branches 
equals four hundred years, and the sum of all is four thousand and eight years. 4. Chalchiuitlicue.
5. Water. 6. Tzocuillicxeqlle, which means a giant.

Ecacocoe. They paint in this manner the second age, which they say lasted four thousand and
ten years, at the conclusion of which they record that the world ended by the force of very violent
winds, and that men were changed into apes. They say that one man and one woman escaped from
this deluge || within a stone. This deluge happened in the sign which they name One Dog, which is
proporcion avian de Ber aquelloB hombres mas que tres tanto majores que los Indios de aora. Dicen que aquellos gigantes vinieron
por mar, y que hicieron guerra a los de la tierra, y que edificaron edificios sobervios, y muestran oi un po~o hecho de piedras de
gran valor. Dicen mas que aquellos hombres haciendo pecados enormes, y especialmente usandolo contra natura, fueron
abrasados, y con Bumidos con fuego que vino del cielo," -- we may be permitted to doubt the fact.


-----
* M. Dupaix gives a drawing of this pyramid, or Teocali, in its present state, with an accompanying scale of measurement.
Clavigero says that he had ascended it on horseback, and that it was half a mile in circumference at the base; and according to
M. de Humboldt it is hollow. There can be little doubt that the principle of the arch was understood by those who constructed
this vast monument, and that it was built on the same plan as the other Teocalis of New Spain.

+ The first syllable of Quemoque was probably hue, signifying old or great, of which the reduplication, forming the
superlative of the adjective, is found in the proper name Quequecoyotl. This name, as well as that of Moquihuix, has some
resemblance to Moses; the symbol of the latter was the head of a man with a remarkable ornament or memorial attached to
the nose, of very frequent occurrence in the Mexican paintings. This symbol is represented in the nineteenth plate of the
Collection of Mendoza, under the number 20.

++ The original text is difficult to be understood in this place.

~ Tulanianhululaez seems to be a metrical lille resemhling in measure the Aneiplwnaria, accustomed in ancient times to be
sung in convents.

11 Deluge is the literal translation of the Italian, which means destl'ltctjall in a general sense.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 175

found in their calendar; for from such an accident they took occasion to invent those figures which
preside over all the days of the month and of the year, as will presently be seen. In this age, as in
the first, they ate no bread, but only forest fruits, called Acotzintli. This age they named
Coneuztuque, that is the Golden Age.

1. The sign of One Dog. 2. Citlaltotonametle.

PLATE IX.

'l'lequiyahuilli, the third age, they say took its origin from a man and woman who escaped in a
subterraneous cavern '* when the world was destroyed for the third time by fire. This age lasted
four thousand eight hundred and one years. The fire happened in the sign which they name Nine
Earthquakes, which they place in their calendar. In this age they ate no bread, but only the fruit
of the Izlucoco. They call this age Tzonchichiltuque, which means the Coloured or Red Age.

1. The sign of Nine Earthquakes. 2. Xiuitecotle. 3. Tlequiyahuilli.

PLATE X.

The fourth age, according to their calculation, is that in which the destruction of the province of
Tulan took place, which they say was destroyed on account of the vices of the inhabitants; and
accordingly they represent in their paintings men occupied in dances: and in consequence of these
vices a very severe famine befel them, and in this manner the province was destroyed. They say
that this famine continued five thousand and forty-two years. + They add, moreover, that it rained
blood, and that many died of terror. They call this age the age of Black Hairt. The entire
people were not destroyed, but only a considerable portion of them.

1. Sochiquetzal §; that is to say, the Holding up of Roses. ||

These miserable men hence invented certain dreams, the result of their own blindness, relating that
a god of the name of Citlallatonac, which is the sign seen in heaven called Saint James's or the
Milky Way, sent an ambassador from heaven on an embassy to a virgin of Tulan called 

-----
* The stone Of rock, in the hollow of which a remnant of the human race was saved when the world was destroyed by winds, would
have afforded no security against fire; this pair therefore retreated into a subterraneous cavern.

+ A slight mistake h.s been here made in reckoning up the Mexican symbols of number.

++ In opposition, perbaps, to that of White Hair, the name by which the first of the four ages was distinguished. As by the metaphor
of white hair age and antiquity were denoted, so black hair may have been the symbol of youth and of that which was modern.

~ This proper name is more probably the same as Suchiquecal. This goddess of the New World seems to have had many epithets
bestowed upon her; and being called ChiOlalman, it becomes also a matter of conjecture whether she might not have been Tocateutle
mentioned above, which latter name bears much similarity to the Greek appellation of 6eO'ToxoS", which was assigned to the Virgin Mary,
because she was the mother of the Messiah. -- The signification of teutle in the Mexican language exactly corresponds with that of 9!0,.

|| This plate refers to the fourth age of the Mexicans, or that of Quecalcoatle, and was probably designated Y ztapal N anazcaya, or
the Age of Roses. Y ztapal signifies a flint knife; and two knives of this description, partly cuncealed by branches of the rose tree, are
represented in the plate: these symbols denote the commencement of penance which began with Quecalcoatle. The subject of the
painting seems to be the annunciation to Chimalman, who is here named Sochiquetzal, that she should be the mother of Quecalcoatle.



176 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

Chimalman, * (which name signifies a shield,) who had two sisters, the one named Tzochitlique, and the
other Conatlique; and that the three being alone in the house, two of them on perceiving the ambassador
of heaven died of fright, Chimalman remaining alive, to whom the ambassador announced that
it was the will of this god that she should conceive a son; + and having delivered to her the message,
he rose and left the house: and as soon as he had left it, she conceived a son, without connection with
man, who was called Quetzalcoatle, who they say is the god of air; and his temples are round in
the manner of churches t, although till that time such was not the fashion of their temples: he was
the inventor oftemples ofthis form, as we shall show. He it was, as they say, who caused hurricanes,
and in my opinion was the god who was called Citaladuali, and it was he who destroyed the world by
winds. § This painting is here wanting, || together with another, which represented that as soon as
this son of the Virgin was born he possessed the use of reason. The son of the Virgin, Topilcin
Quecalcoatle, knowing that the vices of men were necessarily the cause of the troubles of the
world, determined on asking the goddess Chalchiuitlicue~, who is she who remained after the
deluge with the man in the tree, and is the mother of the god Tlaloque, whom they have made
goddess of water, that they might obtain rain when they stood in need of it; and accordingly Quecalcoatle
commenced offering sacrifices to obtain rain, as a period of four years had elapsed since
The proper name Sochiquetzal is here interpreted the lifting up of roses. A curious tradition of the Mahometans 
respecting the birth 
of Christ may here be noticed: they say that he was the last of the prophets who was sent by God to prepare the way for Mahomet,
and that he was born of the Virgin by the smelling of a rose. The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus has made a mistake in
calculating the number of years signified by the Mexican symbols; these symbols added together amount exactly to five thousand two
hundred and six years. It is singular that this famine, by which may be meant generally a state of suffering and affiiction, from which,
according to the belief of the Mexicans, mankind were relieved by the coming of Queca1coatle, should have nearly conesponded in its
duration with the period of time which, according to the Septuagint, intervened between Adam and the birth of Christ. Boturiui,
commending the exact chronology of the ancient MexiCans, says, "No pagan nation refers primitive events to fixed dates like the
Indians. They recount to us the history of the creation of the world, of the deluge, of the confusion of tongues at the time of the Tower
of Babel, of the other epochs and ages of the world, of their ancestors' long travels in Asia, with the years precisely distinguished by
their corresponding characters. They record in the year of Seven Rabbits the great eclipse which happened at the crucifixion of
Christ onr Lord; and the first Indians who were converted to Christianity, who at that time were perfectly well acquainted with their
own chronology, and applied themselves with the utmost diligence to ours, have transmitted to us the information, that from the creation
of the world to the happy nativity of Christ, five thousand one hundred and ninety.nine years had elapsed, which is the opinion or
computation of the Seventy." -- Idea de una nueva Iiistoria general de la America Septentrional, p. 6.

-----
* Gomara says that Chimalmatlh was the mother of Quecalcoatle. -- La Conqui,ta de Mexico, fol. cxx.

+ The painting represents the ambassador or angel announcing this message to Suchiquecal, who was Eve, or the woman "",hose
seed was to bruise the serpent's head, which prediction seems to be alluded to in the seventy.fourth page of the lesser Vatican MS.,
which immediately follows another, representing Quecalcoatle slaying the beast whose power was in its tail. It is singular that
Suchiquecal should appear to be receiving a nosegay from the ambassador; since the Mahometans have a tradition that Christ was
born of the Virgin Mary by the smelling of a rose. This age was called the Age of Roses.

++ This style of ecclesiastical architecture must have been extremely ancient. Irish antiquarians have doubted whether the round
towers near several of the old cathedrals in Ireland were not the remains of pagan superstition.

~ Perhaps the order in which the Mexican ages should follow each other, which seems to have been inverted, should be this, viz.
the Age of Water first, then the Age of the Earth or Fire, then that of Quecalcoatle, and lastly that of Winds.

|| The subject of the fourth plate is the destruction of the world by winds, which is perhaps the painting here supposed to be wanting.
The symbolical image of the SUll, the Flints, and the Green Feathered Serpent, sufficiently denote that the deity who is there designated
Citlaltotonametle, is Quecalcoatle. If the former name was Citlaltotonateotle, its signification would be the star bird divillity,. and
it is possible that a mistake may have occurred in transcribing it.
"if Chalchiuitlicue was the name by 'which the virgin Chimalman was designated in heaven; she was also called Chalchiuhtlatonac,
which signifies the queen of heaven, and Suchiquecal, which seems to mean woman in a general sense, or hUrna!l nature, without
reference to sex; since Y snextli was also called Suchiquecal, and the inhabitants of the valley of Matalcingo are said to have offered
sacrifices to the god SuchiquecaJ.


EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 177

it had rained. They paint this goddess in the midst of a lake, wearing a crown, with a wood near her,
to signify Tulan, * and with a censer before her to denote the commencement of sacrifice; she was
clothed in blue: they dressed themselves in the same fashion when they celebrated her festival.
I cannot omit to point out in this place the cunning of our adversary, who so long ago devised
this falsehood amongst these poor people, in order that if at any time they should attain the
knowledge of the origin of the mystery of our redemption, which was when the angel Gabriel was
sent by God to Our Lady the Virgin Mary on that divine embassy, when she displayed to him the
most profound humility, calling herself servant when the angel called her lady; whence Saint
Bernard says, that she conceived the true Son of God without connection with man, -- they might
attribute it to the Father of Lies, falsified and counterfeited in this false god Citlallatonac, and in his
ambassador and in that virgin. The said Quetzalcoatletopiltzin, (which name means Our Dearly
Beloved Son -1-,) perceiving that neither sin nor the troubles of the world ceased, they affirm of him,
that in the same way as he was the first who commenced offering up prayers to the gods and
performing sacrifices to them, so likewise that he was the first who did penance, in order to
propitiate the gods to pardon his people. They say that he sacrificed himself, drawing forth his
own blood with thorns, as a new kind of penance. He was accustomed to throw into the flames
gold, gems, and incense; as it appeared to him that, since the troubles of his people had ensued
. from the little reverence which men felt towards the gods, as not only did they not serve them or
offer to them such things as are held in estimation in the world, but that their intent was to
give themselves up to the pleasures and recreations of this life, + and to commit many other sins,
contrariwise it might be possible for him to appease them by means of these sacrifices, and above
all, by his own blood. By these offerings therefore, and by other acts of penance, he appeased the
gods to such a degree, that at the expiration of a long period, during which he had continued engaged
in the practice of penance, a lizard appeared scratching the ground, giving him to understand that
the scourge of Heaven had ceased, and that the earth would with joy produce its fruits, which quickly
came to pass; and accordingly they relate, that on a sudden such abundance followed, that the
earth, which had remained so many years barren, bore many kinds of fruit; and from that event
they took four of their superstitious signs, which they have continued to use to the present time. The
first sign is that by which they represent ungrateful men under the similitude of a stag; -- and would
to God that they had been under no other error than that, since the beast of burden, to which they
are compared by the Psalmist, is a viler animal. For the second sign, which was intended to
represent sterility, they painted a stone with a withered ear of maize upon it. The third, the

-----
* Tulan, signifies in the Mexican language, rushes. The symbol of this city was a Bunch of Rushes, which has some similitude to
a wood in Mexican paintings.

+ Quelzalcoatle signifies precious or dear, and Topiltzin 0111' son. The high esteem in which the green feathers of a bird named
the Huitzilan were held by the Mexicans, (bunches of the feathers of which were called quetzalli,) attached the idea of something highly
valuable or precious to this name. Vide Clavigero's History of Mexico, page 250 (note). It is an extraordinary thing, that in course
of lime this name or epithet of Quecalcoatle should have become a title of high dignity, with which the chief priest who presided over
human sacrifices was invested. -- Clavigero's HistoTY of Mexico, page 278.

++ The Mexican religion was peculiarly austere: unlike the religion. of antiquity, and those which still prevail in Asia, with the
exception of the Lamaism of Thibet, which some learned men have supposed to be an offshoot of Nestorianism it permitted not even
the slightest levity in the service of the gods; cruel and sanguinary in the extreme, it notwithstanding professed to inculcate
rigid morality.



178 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

meanmg of which was abundance of water, was typified by a lizard. And the fourth, denoting
abundance, was represented by a green ear of maize. Mankind, perceiving that through Quecalcoatle
so fortunate an rera had commenced, began to imitate him; and, following his example, to
practise penance, * and to make offerings to the gods, not only of their temporal possessions, but also
of what belonged to them in a corporal sense, and of their own blood, as has been already said. For
the more due performance of these rites, Quetzalcoatle invented temples, or Quis, which were the
common places of prayer amongst these people: he founded the four'1" here represented: in the
first of which the princes and nobles fasted; and in the second the lower classes of the people: the
third was designated the House of Fear, or, by another name, the House of the Serpent, in which it
was unlawful for those who entered to lift their eyes from the ground: the fourth was the Temple of
Shame, where they sent all sinners and men of immoral lives. When using reproachful language
towards each other, it was a common expression to say, "Go to Tlazapulcalco!"

The Mexicans wished to attribute to their own industry that style of lofty architecture in the
temples which are found in this country, which they called Quis; and they say that after their
arrival here, as we shall presently relate, they invented them; adducing in confirmation of this the
fact, that in those provinces where they were unable to penetrate, the ancient method of sacrifices was
still practised, which were not performed in temples, but on certain altars: ?? or mounds of earth in
mountains or in groves, as in the Scriptures, where it is said of a certain good king, that the people
were not allowed to offer the sacrifices of the high places or of the groves, as lately was the custom
amongst the Mixis, which are a nation of this country, adjoining the state of Oaxacadi, where, when
LUIS DE LIONE TOMANO was governor, in the year 1555, he caused several of these groves to be
cut down. The Mexicans may possibly have added height and that particular moue of ascent and
platform § to the four different kinds of houses or temples invented by Quetzalcoatle, and on this
account have wished to attribute still more to themselves.

PLATES XI. and XII.

1. Quetzalcohuatl. 2. A thorn. 3. A censer. 4. Macatl, a stag, which they say is the emblem
of ungrateful men. 5. Tetl, a stone, the symbol of sterility. 6. GuetzpaUi, a lizard, the symbol
of water. 7. Centli, corn, the symbol of abundance. 8. Caquancalli, the house of fasting for the
holy. 9. Xecaualcalco, the house of common fasting. 10. Cauacalco, the house of fear. 11. Tlaxapocalco,
the prison-house of sorrow.


-----
* Humility was also esteemed a virtue by the Mexicans. Accordingly, those who went to announce to Montezuma, who was already
aware of the fact, his election to the imperial dignity, found him occupied in sweeping the court of the temple, and even took from his
hands the broom. -- Mollarquia Indiana, cap. Ixviii. lib. ii.

+ The Mexicans, like the Jews, manifested a predilection for certain numbers. These numbers were 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 18, 20, 40,  
and 52. Amongst the Chiapanese the number 7 was held in high esteem, and their week consisted of that number of days.

++ It is a remarkable fact, that the Brazen Altar in Leviticus, an engraving of which may be found in the old editions of Prideaua's Connection,
is a model in miniature of the Mexican Teocallis: they are quite alike, except that the ascent to the Teocallis was by stairs
consisting of steps, and the ascent to the Brazen Altar was by an inclined plane.

~ That this was not the case is fully proved by the researches of M. Dupaix.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 179

Amongst those who began to follow the example of Quetzalcoatle and his austerities by their own
acts of penance, Totec it< is very famous, who, on account of his having been a great sinner, first stood
in the House of Sorrow called Tlaxipuchicalco, where, having completed his penance, he ascended
the mountain Catcitepetli, (which signifies the mountain which speaks,) which mountain was covered
with thorns: there continuing his penance, he cried from thence, reproving very strongly his people
of Tulan, calling to them to come and to do penance with him, for the enormous guilt which they
had incurred, in forgetting the service and sacrifices of their gods, and in having abandoned
themselves so much to pleasure. They say that Totec was accustomed to go about clothed in a
human skin; and so it has been the custom till these times, when GOD illuminated their darkness
by the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them. In the festivals likewise which they celebrated to
Totec, men clothed themselves in the skins of those whom they had slain in war, and in this manner
danced and celebrated the festival of the sign dedicated to him, (for from him they say wars ori.
ginated), and accordingly they paint him with these insignia, viz. a lance, banner, and shield. They
held him in the utmost veneration; for they said that he was the first who opened to them the way
to heaven; for they were under this error amongst others; they supposed that only those who died
in war went to heaven, as we have already said.

1. Tlacaxipehualliztli t. 2. Totec. S. Machicaztli-totect. 4. A banner. 5. A shield. 6. A
thorn. 7. Catcitepetli, the mountain which speaks.

PLATE XIII.

Whilst Totec still continued doing penance, preaching and crying from the top of the mountain
which has been named, they pretend that he dreamed each night that he beheld this horrible figure
with its bowels protruding, which was the cause of the great abomination of his people. On this,
praying to his god to reveal to him what the figure signified, he answered that it was the sin of his

-----
* It is a singular thing that Torquemada, who was so well acquainted with the Mexican mythology, should say so little of Totec,
occupying as he does the place next to Quecalcoatle in the Mexican calendar. This silence on the part of Torquemada must either be
attributed to the oblivion in which half a century had already involved many of the religious traditions of the Mexicans, which is not
improbable; since Acosta, who was a contemporary historian, is equally silent respecting him, -- or to the manuscript copy of the Indian
Monarchy, which served for the impression of the first edition, having been mutilated (borrado) previously to licence being granted to
publish it. Two writers have declared that this was the case: one of them, the editor of the second edition published in the year 172S
at Madrid, and the other an American Spaniaro, nearly a century before, who had an original copy of the manuscript of the India"
Monarchy in his possession. The editor of the second edition complains that the first chapter of the second book, which he calls Clave de
la Idea de esta Obra, had been entirely omitted; nor did he think it convenient, as he himself says, to request licence to print it, althougn
he adds, "Ja parecia cesavan las causas del Tecato," "Reasons for secresy seemed no longer to exist."

This deity (Totec), who was variously designated Xipe, Chipe, and Thipe, which names are in fact the same, and signify shorn or bald,
is represented very frequently in Mexican paintings. One of the Mexican month:; was named after him: he twice occurs in the calendar
as presiding over the lesser divisions of the days of the year, and is there named Thipetotec, and Y ztapaltotec. And what is said above,
of persons clothing themselves in human skins in his honour, is confirmed by a curious historical painting in the Codex Vaticanus, repre.
senting Montezuma himself, as a priest and generalissimo of the Mexican armies in the reign of Ahuitzotl, attired in this dress; and what
is no less remarkable, bearing as his banner a cross.

+ The name of the month dedicated to Totec; the literal meaning of which is the stripping off of skins.

++ The lance of Totec was so called.




180 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

people "if, and that he should issue an order to the people, and cause them all to be assembled,
charging them to bring thick ropes and to bind that miserable spectre, as it was the cause of all
their sins, and that, dragging it away, + they should remove it from the people; who, giving faith
to the words of Totec, were by him conducted to a certain wild place, where they found this
figure of Death, ++ which having bound, they dragged it to a distance, and drawing it backwards,
they fell all into a cavity between two mountains, which closed together; and there they have
remained buried ever since; none of them having effected their escape, with the exception of the
innocent children who remained in Tulan: and accordingly they represent in their paintings the
people going forth dancing and jesting, and the Devil leading the way, directing the mintut, §
or dance: and this was the cause of their ruin and destruction.


PLATE XIV.

1. Macaxoguemigui, sin. 2. Tulan. 3. The Tultecas.

The two masters of penance were Quetzalcoatle and Totec, who was called by another name Chipe;
who, having taken the children and innocent people who had remained in Tulan, proceeded with
them, || peopling the world, and collecting along with them other people whom they chanced to find.


-----
* The angel made nearly a similar answer to the prophet Zechariah, who inquired of him the meaning of the vision in which he beheld
a female figure in an ephah. When he replied, "This is wickedness." Abstract sin, both in the vision of Totec and in that of Zechariah,
was represented under a bodily form; and the difference of sex is scarcely worth remarking. It is in the fifth chapter of Zechariah that
the following curious passage occurs, ver. 5-8: "Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine
eyes, and see what is this that gOOlh forth. And I said, What is it I And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said, more.
over, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth
in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. ADd he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead
upon the mouth thereof."

+ Isaiah says, in the eighteenth verse of the fifth chapter of his Book of Prophecies, "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords
of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope."

++ Torquemada says that the Tultecas were destroyed by the pestilence caused by the phantom of a child with a putrid head; which
fable probably refers to the great pestilenee which befell Jerusalem during the days of the siege.

§ Mintut is a Mexican dance mentioned by Torquemada.

|| Many circumstances seem to point out Phoenicia, Palestine, and Egypt, as the countries of the Old Continent from which colonies
passed over to America. In briefly adverting to some of the reasons which have induced us to adopt this opinion, it is unnecessary to
preserve any particular order in the notice of analogies, which here comprised in a note might easily be multiplied into a volume. In
connection with the universally received tradition of the Mexicans, that their ancestors had come by sea from distant countries ('r partes
muyestranas," and "tierra muy lejos." as Montezuma designates them in his speech to Cortes), a similarity between the names of places
in the New Continent and those of the Old at once presents itself. Aztlan, Tulan, and Chohla, or ehurula as Cortes, and Chiurula as
Peter Martyr, call that city, resemble Asia, Tyre, and Jerusalem: and if these names are not exactly alike, it must be recollected that
the genius of the Mexican language, by excluding certain letters from its alphabet, would not allow of a closer approximation between
them. Omitting here all consideration of the religion of Palestine, faint traces of that of Egypt and of the ancient worship of Osiris and
Isis are found in the Mexican adoration of the sun and of the moon; and the symbol of the eye in the Mexican temples, placed on three
pieces of wood, horizontally crossing each other, recalls to our recollection the famous symbol of the eye placed on a sceptre, sacred in
Egypt to Osiris or the sun. Isis or the moon, whom the Egyptians invoked in cases of illness, the Mexican women are also said to
have put up prayers to, in certain indispositions; and the goddess Miaguil, fabled by the Mexicans to have had four hundred
breasts, and Quecalcoatle believed by them to support the heavens on his shoulders, as would appear from a curious representation of
this deity in the Manuscript if Vienlla, remind us of that 'goddess of ancient mythology whose fruitfulness was typified by the many
breasts surrounding her bust, and of Atlas who sustained the starry firmament. The exact likeness to the head of a rhinoceros occurring
in one of the Mexican paintings preserved in the Bodleian Library, either as an ornament or a religious symbol of a temple, seems to



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 181

They further add, that journeying in this manner with these people they arrived at a certain
mountain, which not being able to pass, they feign that they bored a subterraneous way through

-----
confirm what Boturini asserts of the people of New Spain preserving recollections in their ancient paintings of the Old Continent, from
which their ancestors had migrated; and Azdan, the name of the country from which they proceeded to colonize the N ew World, (compounded
of tlan, country, and at,) would serve likewise as an argument of their Asiatic origin.
The dress and costume of the Mexicans, and their sandals, resemble the apparel and sandals worn in early ages in the East,
especially by the Jews: and the serpent with which the Mexican priests ornamented their heads and persons, was perhaps a
fashion introduced from Egypt into the New World; since we know from ancient monuments still in existence, as well as
from the testimony of historians, that a part of the insignia of the highest pontifical dignity, as well as of the royal power in
Egypt (for the kings of Egypt were of the sacerdotal order, and although not uniting in their own persons ostensibly the
character of high priests, were still supreme in the Egyptian hierarchy), was that most dangerous species of serpent the asp,
twined round their heads, -- an emblem (as Herodotus or Diodorus Siculus says) of how formidable is the power belonging to
kings, and that their persons ought to be held in fear by their subjects. On the supposition that in very early ages, before all
traces of former superstition and ancient ceremonies had become extinct, (and the most respectable writers on ecclesiastical
history affirm that in Egypt such traces long continued, and that even the primitive Christians adopted some of the Egyptian
symbols to explain their mysteries; for instance, the scarabreus or beetle,) a colony had proceeded from Egypt to the New
World, -- it would not have been surprising, whatever might have been the religion of the colonists, that they should have
conveyed along with them some of the rites, ceremonies, and traditions of Egypt: and the Mexican priests might, in imitation
of the sovereigns of that country, have worn on their heads a serpent as a sacred symbol. A strong argument, however, of the
religion of the Mexicans not being of Egyptian origin, is the total absence of all traces "du culte de lingam," or of homage
paid to the procreative power in the Mexican paintings, as M. de Humboldt observes; and the positive testimony of the best
informed writers, even of those whose pens have exhibited that religion in its truest and most odious colours, proves that they
never violated decency and decorum in their religious rites and ceremonies. Boturini and Torquemada both point out this
essential difference between the Mexican mythology and that of the Greeks, Romans, ancient Egyptians, and modem Hindoos.
The Mexicans never attributed to their deities sensual desires, lust, or even the passion of love; and so exalted an idea did they
entertain of their divine nature, that, as Clavigero observes, they would have read with equal horror and disgust the fabled
amours of the Olympian gods. He should, however, also have observed, that whilst beneficence was the characteristic of the
Grecian deities, stern misanthropy was the prevailing feature of the religion of the Mexicans. It is almost unnecessary in this place
to adduce passages from ancient authors, to show that some of the West Indian islands and a portion of the continent of America,
as it is highly probable, were known to the ancients; and conseqnently that there would have been nothing extraordinary in
colonies having passed from the Old World to the New at a period antecedent, as well as immediately subsequent, to the
Christian era: and this supposition is not inconsistent,vith another, equally probable, that America was also colonized by
Europeans in a much more recent age. Diodorus Siculus gives a very curious account in the fifth book of his Universal History, of
the discovery by the Carthaginians of a large and rich island situated in the ocean far beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which
they would not allow their own subjects to colonize lest Carthage should be drained of its population, nor the Tyrrhenians from
motives of political jealousy to occupy.

Although the Spanish historians of the sixteenth century, who were little disposed to admit (chiefly on account of the state
in which religion was found in the New Continent) that America had ever been colonized from the West, have unanimously
agreed that this island was one of the Canaries, and the writers of other countries have adopted their sentiments, we,
for the reasons which follow, may be allowed to venture a different opinion in regard to this island, which is chiefly founded on
what Diodorus Siculus relates of its discovery, where, treating of the ancient Carthaginian navigations, that eminent historian
says: "0, 8' OUlI <l>Ol.lII.K£1; 8,a Tac 7fPOE'Pl1/levaC atTtaC epeVlIWII'TEC,."v €KTOC TWlI O'T7J~WV 7rapaAlUV, Kat 'Trapa TllV Af{3vrW 7TAeOvTEt;
~., '-' 0 ~ '- \11" O~·, ''-. 0 lnr av€f'wv f'Eyal\.wv a1rl)VEX '1O'a1l em 1TOl\.VV O( WKEavov. X€lp.au €VT€C 0 Em 'lTO"J\«C l1fL€par., 7TpOCTflvex l1uav '1'''\1 7rpOel.pllf'€Vt) Vl1CJlf,
Kat Tl)l1 £1,8al,uov,all aVT7JC Kat cj>V(JU} Ka'T07TTElJO'"aVT€C, a7Tacn -YVWP'f'0V E1Toulaav. 8,o Kal TUPPl1VWV fJaAaT'TOKpaT01Jl1'rWlI, Kat 7r€f'7r€lV
fie aV,.flv a.7rOlKlaV €7n{3a"Aof'€VWV, 8l€KWAUaQv aUTOUC KaPX118oVlOL, «1'0 f'EV EuXa{3oUf'€vOl. f'l1 8,« nfV «PETt", T'1C v7jo'ou 7foAAm. 'TWV
EK TllC KapX118ovoc elC €K€Ul7JV f'€TaaTWC1lV, a}Ja 8f 1f'pOC Ta 7rapa{3oAa TlJC 'TVXlJC Ka'T'aO'K€Va£::Of'€~Ot KaT'acf>vYlJ~, €~ Tt 71'€pt T'lJlI
KapXlJ8o~a OAOO'X€P€C 7rT'au1p.a O'Vp.(3at~ot. 8v~lJ(J€(JOat -yap aVTovc OaAaT'TOKpaTov~Tac d.7rapat 7ra~OtKlOVC €ie d.)'VOOUf'€~lJV V7tO TWV. " V71'€P€XOVTW~ ~lJ(JOli.
"The Carthaginians, for the above-mentioned reasons, exploring the line of coast situated without the Pillars (of Hercules), and
sailing along the shores of Africa, were driven out of their course by violent tempests, so as to encounter a long sea voyage;
and having been tossed about for a considerable time on the ocean, they arrived at the said island, and beholding its richness



182 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

it, and so passed 'if. Others say, that they remained shut up, and that they were transformed into
stones: -- and other such fables.

1. Quetzalcohuatl. 2. Chipe, otherwise called Totec.
T. b bl II d A. Votan I'", else,vbere sal'd to have gone by the road which his brethren the 
 hIS pro a y a u es to a secret passage to men ca. "
Culebras had bored, and to have arrived in Europe.

-----
and the fertility of its soil, made it generally known to all. The Tyrrhenians accordingly, who were powerful by sea, were
desirous of sending a colony thither, but were prevented by the Carthaginians, who, on the one hand, adopted precautionary
measures lest many of their own citizens should emigrate to that island, on account of its excellence; and on the other, reserved
it as a place of refuge against the stroke of fortune, should Carthage at any time experience some great reverse; since they,
being possessed of naval superiority, would be enabled to sail away with the entire population to an island the existence of which
would be unknown to their more powerful foe." If this island was Madeira or any of the lesser Canary Islands, it is surprising
that Diodorus sbould not have noticed its vicinity to Africa, but should have given us to understand that the Carthaginians
arrived at it after a long voyage across the ocean; which, considering with what speed a vessel proceeds in a storm, could only
have been the case on the supposition that it was situated many thousand leagues from the shore. It may here be observed,
that the words of Diodorus Siculus imply length of space as regards the distance of the voyage, as well as length of time as
regards its duration; for the words, 7rOAAa( ~I"€pa( signify an indefinitely long period of time. If it be said that the
Carthaginian vessel or vessels might have been driven to and fro by the winds, and need not have proceeded in a straightforward
direction, and that thus much time and sailing might have been employed in navigating but a small portion of the
ocean; it may be replied, that if this was the case, and their ships had been driven in a circuitous course, it would have been
extraordinary that they did not discover the other Canary Isles; and that Diodorus Siculus does not mention them. With respect to
the fear which the Carthaginians are said to have entertained, lest, if this island was permitted to be colonized, many oftheir citizens
would have been inclined to emigrate; it is singular, since Sicily, Malta, Majorca and Minorca, Spain and Gades, had been
colonized by the Carthaginians, and their policy led them to establish colonies in every island and maritime station favourable
to commerce, that this fear should have been felt, and that precautionary measures should in consequence have been adopted. It
can only be accounted for by supposing that the newly discovered island was so vast in magnitude, and its riches so alluring, that
the Carthaginian senate feared that at some future time the question might he agitated, not whether some Carthaginian citizens
should emigrate, but whether the site of Carthage should not itself be changedl; and from affection to their native country, they
might have provided against the danger, by decreeing that Carthaginian citizens should not colonize it: -- on this supposition it would
become highly prohable that this reputed island was either one of the larger West India islands, or a portion of the continent of
America; perhaps the peninsula of Yucatan. That the Phrenicians as well as the Carthaginians visited the shores of America, and
exchanged their merchandize with the Indians for gold and silver, is also probable: and perhaps the famous ?Myl'l'hine vases of antiquity
and the mysterious Tyrian dye were, the one the product of the cochineal or of the shell fish found on the coast of Yucatan 2,
I Two Punic wars already past, and the vicinity of so formidable a rival as Rome, in whose senate was pronounced the sentence
"Carthago est delenda," might have induced a faction in Carthage to propose emigration, which to prevent, the more powerful
party might have passed a law, that no colonization sbould be allowed to the part which the others recommended. The fact may
not be generally known, that in the reign of Charles the Second the Dutch seriously meditated emigration to the Philippine or
some other islands in the Indian Archipelago. The original supposition, bowever, that the Carthaginians might have felt
disposed to emigrate, must be considered to refer merely to what may have been possible, without being equally probable; and
their jealousy of the Tyrrhenian or Etrurian power must have been long before the age of the Punic wars.
2 Cardinal Lorenzana, describing in a note the natural productions of the province of Guaxaca, after observing that its mines
were no longer worked, says: "Todo el trabajo se emplea en la grana (, cochinilla, que se cria en los Tunales () Higueras finas
de este pais, pegaudose el gusanillo a las palmas de las hojas, que han de estar ruuy limpias y sin espinas. Los gusanos,
(, cochinillas mad res, se fomentall cor.. el calor de el cuerpo como el gusano de la seda; a su tiempo se esparcen par las hoj as
de el Nopal, y alii hacen su cria. Esta cochinilla es de mucho aprecio; pero mas singular es el caracol que se pesca en las
costas de Nicaragua, y Santiago de Veraguas, que cria dentro una ampollita de licor, que es la verdadera Purpura () Mnrice pues
siu mas que pasar un hilo par aquel humor, queda perfecta mente tenido, y labandolo, se refina mas. Se coje en las crecientes
de la luna, y despues de apravechado, se arroja en la playa, y en otra creciente buelve a dar el licor." -- Ca.·ta de Relac;o"
de D. Fernalldo Co,'tes, p. 306.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 183.

PLATE XV.

Of Quetzalcoatle they relate, that proceeding on his journey, he arrived at the Red Sea, * which
is here painted, and which they named Tlapallan; and that entering into it, they saw no more of him,

---
* It would appear on the first perusal of this passage, that what is here said refers to the journey undertaken by Quecaleoatle
and Totec, together with the Tultecas, in search of a new habitation, and that Quecalcoatle had disappeared from them on arriving
at Tlapallan; but this was not the case, for it was not till after Quecaleocatle had resided some time with the Tultecas, and instituted
many religious rites among them, and built four temples or Teocallis, that he resolved to absent himself from them, and
proceeded on his journey to Tlapallan, or the country of the Red Sea.

and the other a manufacture from the transparent Mexican stone called the Y ztli. Scarcely any reason can be imagined for the
Carthaginian. preventing the Tyrrhenians colonizing the newly discovered country, except that it might have been extremely
rich in mines of gold and silver; which precious metals, especially the latter, which the Carthaginians obtained in great
abundance from Spain, they were very jealous of the monopoly of. It certainly deserves to be remarked, that if the ancient
traditions of the Old Continent warrant the belief that America was known to the Carthaginians, much more do those of the
New World lead us to suppose that it had been visited and colonized in early ages from our quarter of the globe. Bernard de
Sahagun, one of the first preachers of the Gospel in New Spain, says that he found it to be an universally received tradition
amongst the natives, confirmed by the testimony of all their historical paintings, that a colony [1] had arrived before the Christian
rem on the coast of America from a region situated to the north-east, called Chicomoztoc; which first touching on the shores of
Florida, proceeded across the Gulf of Mexico and landed in the Peninsula of Yucatan or the adjoining province, where they
immediately founded the city of Tulancingo, and shortly afterwards that of Tula, about fifty miles distant from the former city.
He also says that this famous city was situated four hundred miles from Mexico, and that it had been destroyed a thousand
years before the arrival of the Spaniards in America; that Quecalcoatle was its king at the period of its destruction, and that
great ruins of it continued to exist in his day.

The archbishop of Mexico, Cardinal Lorenzana, afterwards archbishop of Toledo, who published an edition of Cortes's Letters in
Mexico in the year 1770, which he illustrated with notes, would have derived some instruction from the perusal of the History of
Sahagun, and certainly would not have assumed it as an undeniable fact, that America had never been colonized from its European
side, or that the ancestors of the Mexicans had migrated from the north-west; neither would he have put a different construction
on that passage in the speech of Montezuma to Cortes, where he declares that his ancestors came from the East, than the words
of that monarch fairly admit 2. We shall omit in this place to adduce any arguments collateral to that of generally received
tradition 3, to show that communications must have subsisted in early ages between the two continents, reasoning from the facts

1 Sahagun says that this colony declared that they had crossed the ocean in search of Tamoancha or the terrestrial paradise.
It is singular that the Copts should have believed in the existence of the terrestrial paradise.

2 The archbishop says, in a note subjoined to Montezuma's speech, "Los Mexicanos por tradicion vinieron por el Norte de la
Provincia de Quivira, y se saben ciertamente sus mansiones." This information he perhaps derived from the examination of some of
the confiscated papers of Boturini, which remained in Mexico in the Vice-regal archives, some of which he says were submitted to
his inspection.

3 Antonio Galvan says, that a Portuguese boasted, that having in the year 1448 been driven by a tempest over the Atlantic, he
arrived at an island (which Garcia says some believed to be New Spain) in which he found seven cities, with seven bishops who
understood Portuguese. Garcia treats this story as mere fiction; but admits that at the time of the first colonization of America
by the Spaniards, there was a rumour of seven cities, the situation of which could never be discovered. Since the voyage from
the Canary Islands to the West Indies may be accomplished in less than a fortnight, as Acosta expressly states: "A mi me
acaecio, pasando a Indias, verme en Ia primera tierra poblada de Espanoles en quince dias, despues de salida de las Canarias, i sin
duda fuera mas breve el viage, si Ie dieran velas a Ia brisa fresea que corria; asi que me parece cosa mui verisimil, que aian en
tiempos pasados venido a Indias hombres vencidos de 10 furia del viento, sin tener ellos tal pensamiento." The return of the
Portuguese to Europe was a much more extraordinary event than the shipwreck of his vessel on some part of the coast of America



184 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

nor knew what became of him, except that they say that he desired them, at the time of his departure,
to restrain their grief and to expect his return, which would take place at the appointed time; and

-----
of coins of several of the Cresars having been found in different parts of America, [1] of the discovery of the ancient hulk of a ship
by labourers excavating a mine, of the curious method of ascertaining the weight of gold employed in Cumana, of metallic money
found in use amongst some of the more civilized states of America, of arches employed in the American buildings, of ancient
inscriptions noticed by several authors, and the colony of Jews settled near Carthagena, so singular an account of which is given
by one of their own race, a Portuguese Jew named Antonio Montecinio 2. It is also unnecessary tu enter into any long disquisition
as to whether the island of Ophir might not have been one of the West India Islands, and where the fleet of Solomon, after
quitting the Red Sea navigated; whether, instead of sailing to the left, and trading with those countries by sea, which, it should
be observed, the Jews already traded with by land by means of caravans and camels, called by the Arabian poets, "the ships of
the desert" it might not have coasted along Africa as far as the Cape, trafficking with Ethiopia by the way, and getting into the
strong current of the ocean which runs from East to West, naturally favouring a passage from Africa to America. have so crossed
the Atlantic. We know from history that the ships of Solomon were three years on their voyage, and that they brought back
or of the West Indian Islands; and this remark is generally applicable to all navigations which might have been performed over
the Atlantic in earlier ages under similar compulsory circumstances; since many persons it is probable would have been
driven by storms on the continent of America before one could have been able to effect his return to Europe. An ignorant.
mariner might even have supposed that he recognized bishops amongst some of the Indian priests, who on certain festivals
dressed in the same costume as their idols, whose habit very much resembled that worn by bishops; as Gomara informs us in the
following passage of his Iiistory rtf the Indies: "Entre sus muchas Guacas, assi lIaman los idolos, avia muchas can baculos y
mitras de obispos; mas la causa della aun no se sabe: y los Indios quando vieron obispo con mitra preguntavan si era Guaea
de los Christianos." "Amongst their many Guacas, (for this is the appellation which they give to their idols,) there were many
with croziers and bishops' mitres, the reason for which is not yet known; and the Indians, when they first saw a bishop with a
mitre, asked if he was the Guaca of the Christians."

1 Coins of Augustus and Claudius are said to have been discovered in America; the first of which, according to Marineus,
was sent by the Consentine Archbishop Don Juan Rufus to the Pope. Vide Garcia's Origin of the Indians, cap. xix. lib. 4. Many
inferences have been drawn from the assumed fact, that the Indians were altogether unacquainted with iron: the first and principal
of which is, that wanting an article of such indispensable utility, their progress in civilization could have scarcely raised
them above the savage state; the second, that communications could never have existed between the Old and New Continent in
ages anterior to that of Columbus. This mode of reasoning betrays carelessness and great disregard to alleged facts, as
respectable writers affirm that the Indians were acquainted with iron; and Garcia says that the Indians of Paraguay had iron
money, in shape resembling the shell of a tortoise. Neither would it follow, that, because the Indians did not employ iroll in the
mechanical arts, the state of the arts amongst them and of society must necessarily have been rude and barbarous. The
instruments which they used were generally of stone or copper, to which they had the secret of giving a temper like iron.
Torquemada, in the thirty-fourth chapter of the thirteenth book of his Indian Monarchy, gives a long account of the way in
which the Mexicans manufactured their stone knives, which constituted amongst them an art by itself, which he designates
admirable and marvellous; and Peter Martyr says, in the fourth chapter of his Fifth Decade, speaking of some of these stone
knives, "I stroke with all my force upon iron barres, and dented the iron with my strokes without spoyling or hurting of the
stone in any part thereof." So inclined are some writers to oppose their own theories to facts, that it is almost surprising they
have not construed the silence of authors, respecting the use of wheel carriages in America, into a fresh proof of the barbarism
of the Indians, without waiting to consider whether there were animals in that continent to draw them. That the Indians,
however, moved great weights by means of rollers placed under them, is evident from what Peter Martyr says of the method
they employed to transport from the mountains to Mexico the vast beams of cypress of which the palace of Montezuma was
constructed.

2 This account was published by Menasseh Ben Israel, a Jew of acknowledged learning and probity, and high priest of the
Jewish synagogue at Amsterdam; he published it under the title of Spes Israel, and dedicated it to the English parliament in
the days of Cromwell, for which he received the thanks of that puritanical assembly. It was replied to by Spizelius, who,
arguiug in the way in which it was the fashion in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to discuss all questions
connected with the ancient history of America, and the manners and customs of the Indians, viz. by flat denial offacls alleged,
dIsproved the entire relation of Montecinio.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 185

accordingly they expect him even to the present time: and when the Spaniards came to this country
they believed that it was he; and even at a later period, in the year 1550, when the Zapotecas

-----
gold, ivory, peacocks, and apes; although some writers have argued that, ivory and peacocks not heing found in any of the West
Indian islands, and the elephant not existing in America, the island of Ophir mnst either have heen Ceylon, or some island of the
Indian Archipelago. Without entering into the question of whether Ceylon abounded in gold in former days, as we know it did
in ivory, or whether a voyage to the Philippine Islands from the straits of the Red Sea is much shorter than to the West Indies
from the same place, it is sufficient to ohserve that the Bible informs us that silver was as stones in Jerusalem in the days
of Solomon; and it would be curious to know whence such an abundance of that metal could have been obtained, since it is
certain that the relative scarcity of silver compared with gold is greater in the East than in Burope; or in other words, that silver
is more abundant in the West of the globe than in the East. If, therefore, silver was so common in Jerusalem in the days of
Solomon, it is likely that he imported it in his ships (although it is not expressly mentioned); and since silver is found in greater
abundance in America and the West Indies than in any other part of the world, the supposition that the ships of Solomon might
have crossed the Atlantic and visited the New World, and brought both gold and silver from thence, although highly improbable,
is not so chimerical as it would at first appear. With respect to the importation of ivory and peacocks, those articles of luxury might
as easily have been procured on the coast of Africa as in Asia. And as to the objection, that Ophir could not have been anyone
of the West Indian islands, because the Jews were not accustomed to the sea, and would not undertake long voyages, since the
fleet of Solomon was in all probability entirely manned by the hired subjects of his ally Hieram king of Tyre, and the naval skill
and enterprise of the Tyrians were celebrated in the earliest ages, -- this objection must also lose part of its weight. Returning to
the consideration of from what part of the Old Continent colonies may have proceeded to the New World: if we may venture an
opinion on this interesting subject, it would be, that America was in early ages colonized from Egypt. But the absence of all well
supported and material analogies between the religion of Mexico and that of ancient Egypt, and the mere fortuitous occurrence of
others, afford no grounds for presuming that the colony carried with them the religion of Egypt. On the contrary, it seems not
improbable, from the mixture of Jewish ceremonies and Christian doctrines discovered amongst the Indians, that they were Coptic
monks, and Christians of that persuasion, who, flying from the persecution of the Saracens, arrived in America. The history of the
Coptic or of the Abyssinian church, informs us that Jewish ceremonies, laws and customs, entered largely into its ritual: circumcision
it strictly enjoined; stoning to death was customary; fasts and mortifications exceeded all bounds; and the perforation of
the nostrils, and the insertion of a sharp piece of wood or metal, to which allusion seems to be made by some authors as an
Abyssinian custom, might have been resorted to by them as an act of penance, which became afterwards amongst the
Mexicans an ornamental fashion. The motto, likewise, which appears to have belonged to the ecclesiastical state of
Abyssinia, "vicit leo triM.s Jud",," might lead us to suppose that that church had originally been formed out of Jewish
proselytes, although we cannot be unacquainted with its other allusion. It is a certain fact, that America had been colonized
from Africa previously to the arrival of the Spaniards in that continent; since negroes were discovered in some of its provinces by
Balboa, and by others. Their presence in that continent in a considerable body, where they carried on perpetual hostilities with
the neighbouring Indian tribes, is very unsatisfactorily accounted for by the supposition of a chance shipwreck; and we may here
remark, that whilst questions of little importance, as regards the history of America, are discussed at great length by Spanish
writers. the most curious facts are often passed over in total silence; nor is it easy to explain the motives for this reserve.
Mention having been made of a colonization of America, whether accidental or not, by negroes, it deserves to be noticed that
in a Mexican painting which once formed a part of the historical museum of Boturini, a facsimile of which is contained in the
present work, and which represents the migration of the Mexicans from Aztlan, the country of their ancestors, a figure very like
that of a Negro paddling a canoe occurs: the thick curly hair on the head is very remarkable, as the hair of the Indians is
naturally straight; and it seems to have been the intention of the Mexican painter decidedly to indicate that peculiarity. It is
unnecessary to add, that in the lithographic plate the likeness to the original painting has been scrupulously preserved. M. de
Humboldt, in illustrating with his interesting observations a plate in Gemelli Carreri, the subject of which is the same migration,
observes, that a palm is growing near the Teocalli, and that that tree does not grow in the northern climates, from which the
Mexicans were generally believed to have migrated, but in southern regions, such as Egypt, Palestine, and Judea, in which latter
country they were famous for their stately beauty. On the supposition that colonies had proceeded from these countries to
America, the following names of places in the New Continent, which the Mexicans said were called after the names of places in
the country which their ancestors had formerly inhabited, might seem to have some correspondence with the names of other
places situated within the territory of these three kingdoms. Omitting Aztlan in this enumeration, which name does not correspond
with that of any province or city, but with Asia, Tulan, as has already been observed, resembles Tyre; Churula is like Jerusalem;
Tlapallan, (the country of the Red Sea,) might refer to Egypt; Chicomoztoc, (the seven caves,) to the seven months of the Nile,




186 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

revolted, they alleged, as the cause of their insurrection, the report that their god, who was to
redeem them, had already come. * Quetzalcoatle was born on the sign which they call One Cane;

-----
* "ebe gia era venuto il suo dio ehe aveva da redimerli." -- It is certainly remarkable, as connected with the expectation
which the Mexicans entertained of a future red"eemer, that Quecalcoatle should have been called by them by the other name of
Me~itli. Cortes, in describing to the Emperor Charles the Fifth the horrors which the Mexicans sustained during the last days
of the siege, and Gomara, in repeating the same history, both mention that they consoled themselves in their last sufferings with
the hopes of going to heaven to Quecalcoatle. Quecalcoatle was worshiped by the Mexicans under the name of Huitzilopuchtli,
which name was corrupted by the Spaniards into Ochilobus, so that the accounts of Cortes and Gomara perfectly agree. In
Cholula this god was known by the peculiar appellation of Quecalcoatle, which signifies the green feathered serpent. With
respect to the appellation Me~itli, (the Spanish ~ thus marked being always pronounced like z,) it is very remarkable that it is
precisely the same as the Hebrew name n'w; for tli does not form a part of that proper name, but is a common termination to
Mexican names. This name, from which XptUTOC in Greek is derived, signifies anointed, and is peculiarly applied by Christians
to Christ. The following passage, translated from the second section of the seventh chapter of the Third Book of Garcia's
Origin of the Indians, shows that the attention of that learned writer had been drawn to this coincidence: "In New Spain the
word Mesico is found, which, as Brother Stephen de Sala~ar remarks, is Hebrew, and is therefore introduced in the second
Psalm, and signifies his anointed: and although there in that province it is the name of a city, and here in the Psalm the name
which the Jews bestowed on their kings and priests, and on Christ our Lord, who, as they expected, was to come and redeem
them, still I do not attend to this difference, as this name might easily have been given to a city; since the leader who
conducted those who peopled Mexico was named Megi, or as others write Mexi; and the city and nation were afterwards called
after him, in the same way as we see that many cities, provinces, and nations have been named after those who peopled or
founded them, or to whom they owed their origin, as we shall presently point out. The word Mesi should be noted as being
really Hebrew, and it agrees surprisingly with the name of the chief, head, or captain of the Mexicans."
(which name Sahagun thinks may have reference to the ships in which the colony which proceeded in search of Tamoancha
came, rather than to the country which they left;) and Colhuacan and Teocolhuacan, (the hill of God,) to the hill on which the
temple of Jerusalem was founded. It may here be observed, that the particle teo, in the Mexican language prefixed to the
names of persons, places and nations, and meaning divine, as in Teocipactli, Teocolhuacan, Teochichimeca, corresponds exactly
withjeru in Hebrew, which signifies, in the same manner, Itoly or divine, and is prefixed to Hebrew words, as in Jerusalem, (the
City of holy peace,) Jerubabel, and many other proper names. If it he objected to the supposition that has been advanced,that
Coptic Christians might have passed in early ages to America, -- that if Christianity had ever been established in the New
World, it never could have degenerated or become confounded with idolatrous superstitions; sacred as well as profane history
show the invalidity of the ohjection. The Jews, the chosen people of God, were continually relapsing into idolatry, though for
many ages exclusively the favoured people of the earth. The awful thunders of Mount Sinai, the presence of the Deity, the
thick cloud resting on the monntain, the mysterious absence of Moses conferring amidst lightnings with Jehovah, could not
prevent that infatuated people from calling upon Aaron to make t1,em a molten calf; and their first high priest, the brother of
their prophet, himself countenanced and assisted in idolatry. When the ambassadors of John the Fourth, king of Portugal, first
visited Abyssinia, in what a degraded state they found that ancient Christian church, religion. has been spared a blush by much
of the history of the Ethiopian church, and many of the Coptic writings, having heen destroyed; but let those who doubt what is
here asserted, peruse Ludolfus's Historia Et"iopica, and the account of the Ethiopian church by Damian a Goez, and they will
see what changes ages may effect in doctrines and institutions, however excellent they may have been in the beginning.
Montezuma himself, in a very remarkable reply which he made to Cortes, who had reproached him on account of his religion,
seems plainly to intimate to him his belief that the religion of Mexico, such as the Spaniards found it, had become greatly
corrupted in the course of ages, and that it was not originally polluted with barbarous rites: he seems also to suppose that it had
been the same as that of the Spaniards, as the following extract from Cortes's Letter to Charles the Fifth will show: "Y todos,
en especial el dicho Muteczuma, me respondieron, que ya me habian dicho, que ellos no eran naturales de esta tierra, y que habia
muchos tiempos que sus predecesores habian venido a ella, y que bien crcian que podrian estar errados en algo de aquello.que
tenian, por haber tanto tiempo que salieron de su naturaleza; y que yo, como mas nuevamente venido, sabria mejol' las cosas que
debian tener, y creer, que no ellos; que se las dijesse, y hiciesse entender, que ellos harian 10 que yo les dijesse, que era 10
mejor." "All, especially the said Muteczuma, replied, that they had already informed me that they were not of the native race of
that country, and that a long period of time had elapsed since their forefathers came to settle in it, and that they could easily





EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 187

and the year In which the Spaniards arrived commenced on the sign of One Cane, according to
their ancient computation: whence the occasion arose of their believing that the Spaniards were 

-----
believe that they might have erred in some matters of their former faith, since it was so long since they bad quitted their mother
country; and that I, as having more recently arrived, should be better acquainted with the things which they ought to yield their
faith to and believe, than they themselves; and that I should tell them these things and cause them to comprehend them, and that
they would do that which I desired them, which was better." An infinite variety offacts connected with the customs, religious rites
and ceremonies, and opinions of the Indians, are utterly inexplicable, except on the supposition that America had in early ages been
colonized by Christians; and not a few others are difficult to be accounted for, unless we suppose that colonies had proceeded to
that continent from Egypt. In the first class may be reckoned the Christian doctrines and traditions discovered in America; in the
second, the discovery of Greek crosses in many provinces of New Spain, and of brass money, in the shape of a cross, or of the Greek
letter (T); the art of embalming, which in Peru was c"arried to the highest perfection; the pyramidal shape of the Mexican Teocallis,
some of which, for example the temple of Chollula, and that discovered by M. Dupaix amongst the ruins of the city of Palenque,
were, like the Egyptian pyramids, hollow in the interior; the use of the Temazcalli or vapour-bath, which was very general in New
Spain; but above all, the invention of the Mexican calendar, which nearly agreeing with the Coptic, especially in an extraordinary
intercalation of a month every four years, displayed an exact knowledge of the duration of the year, -- which it is impossible to suppose
their own proficiency in astronomy enabled the Mexicans to attain, and for which the Copts were indebted to the ancient Egyptians.
The Mexican calendar seems likewise to have borrowed certain numbers which it employed, from the Coptic: four was a number in
high esteem in the Abyssinian church, because it was that of the Evangelists; five was that of the dies quinta, or day of jejunium,
or fasting, amongst the primitive Christians, which the Copts esteemed equally with or more than the sabbath: the number eight was
also much prized, because the ceremony of circumcision took place on the eighth day after the birth of the infant; this Jewish rite
adopted by the Copts, was performed originally with a stone knife, as is evident from the twenty-fifth verse of the fourth chapter
of Exodus, and from other passages in Scripture; which circumstance induced Garcia to suppose that the reason why the Tecpatl,
or flint knife, was held in such reverence by the Mexicans, was on account of its connection with circumcision; and Torquemada
says that the Totonacas, a numerous nation of New Spain inhabiting a mountainous country to the east of Mexico, near the
sea-coast, circumcised their children on the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth day after their birth, and that the high priest, or the
priest next to him in rank, performed the ceremony with" stone knife. Monarqnia Indiana, lib. vi. cap. xlviii. It deserves also
to be remarked, that in the Mexican calendar the number eight, in connection with the sign of the Flint, was much esteemed.
Nine was the number of the saints who first announced the Gospel in Abyssinia'; thirteen was that of Christ and the Apostles;
and fifty-two, a number associated in the Mexican calendar with festivities and rejoicings, and with the ceremony of kindling new
fire, in consequence of the commencement of a new cycle of fifty-two years, (for at the expiration of every period of fifty-two
years a new cycle commenced with the Mexicans,) nearly corresponded with the number of the Jewish year of jubilee, which was
fifty, which it is probable was also esteemed in the Abyssinian church. A strangely superstitious notion, entertained likewise by
the Coptic Christians, of the efficacy of holy fire to drive away demons, and their mode of procuring it from Christ's sepulchre at
Jerusalem, reminds us of the Mexican ceremony above alluded to, of kindling new or holy fire, which was always performed by
the priests by means of a cane inserted in a cylindrical hole bored in a plank, which they turned round rapidly in their hands so
as to produce ignition by the friction. The mad superstition of the Copts, as Ludolfus terms it, was founded on the belief that
fire, in the first instance, had proceeded from the holy sepulchre, and that after the resurrection of Christ it still continued to
appear i" his tomb: accordingly, at stated periods of the year a monk descended into the holy sepulchre, and with many
ceremonies drew forth the fire, which he distributed to persons deputed from the various surrounding monasteries and convents to
receive it. Ludolfus, in the commentaries to his Ethiopian History, takes occasion, in explaining the Arabic name for this fire, to
give the following description of it: "The Eastern Christians call it light, but the Latins usually name it holy fire, which all
Eastern Christians, Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Copts, and Abyssinians, believe descends from heaven. They wait for it
during some hours on the vigil of Easter, running round the holy sepulchre with mad shouting. A monk, in the mean time,
who is generally an Abyssinian, and who is let down into the holy sepulchre, having testified, by kindling his own lamp, that the
fire had descended, all tumultuously hasten to him mid kindle their lamps; and men as well as women convert them to the
purposes of a detestable superstition. They accordingly become objects of ridicule to the Latins and Turks, who behold with
laughter this tumult, which shonld rather cause them to weep." -- Ludolji ad AEthiopicam Historiam Commentarins, page 302, note. 
Nine was also the number of the Mexican divinities or saints who presided over the lesser periods of thirteen days in the
Mexican calendar, to each of whom a separate sign or day was allotted.



188 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

their god; because they say that he had foretold that a bearded nation would arrive in those countries,
who would subject them; and they did not comprehend how the Devil, who invented all that, could

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In Ireland, at the present day, a custom prevails of kindling fires throughout the country on the eve of a certain festival, and
many travellers have described it as a remnant of pagan superstition. Since, however, little doubt can be entertained of the Irish
church having held very early intercourse with that of the East, this custom may perhaps have been derived from thence I: but
even tradition has ceased to associate it with religion, and it serves merely as a diversion to country-people and boys. The
effect is not unpleasing, in the dusk of the evening, to see these small fires blazing on the hills. The nuns of Kildare were
likewise famous for having preserved for several centuries in their convent a holy fire, which the Irish annals bitterly complain
that the English, on their arrival in the country, caused to be extinguished. -- We shall close these observations by pointing out
a curious analogy between the Mexican names, Papa and Teopixqui, which served to distinguish their higher and lower order of 
priests, and the modern Greek and Spanish appellations Papa and Obispo. Teopixqui was a title of high ecclesiastical dignity
amongst the Mexicans, and is compounded of teo, divine or holy, and opixqui, which nearly resembles obispo; it was inferior,
however, to that of Teoteuctli. Papa was the name by which it would appear that all priests of inferior rank were designated by
the Mexicans, and Papa is the term by which a modern Greek priest is still called. If it could be proved that Papa was not a
general appellation in the early ages for priests, both of the Latin and Greek church, there would be strong grounds for supposing
that Ireland had originally belonged to the latter church, and that its inhabitants had been converted by Greek missionaries to
Christianity; for the Irish monks were certainly called Papas, as the two following passages, the one from Dicuil's treatise De
MellsurJ Orbis Terr"" and the other from lonas's History of lcelalld, considered in connection with each other, evidently show.
lonas, an Icelandic historian, giving an account of the first colonization of Iceland by the Norwegians under Ingulfus, in the
year eight hundred and seventy-four, says: "But Ingulfus found and possessed Island altogether barren and desulate, on
every side beset with very thicke woods, and scarsly fertile of any but birches, so that hee was faine every where to open the
woods with the axe for journeyes and habitation. Yet in the meane space we might gather by certayne signes, I know !lot what
mariners had sometimes touched upon certayne shoares of the countrey, but not inhabited them; for Infulgus found little sacring
bels and wooden crosses, and other things made by the workmanship and arte of the Irish and Brytains, but no token of culture
or habitation. Whereupon it is likely that Irish or Scottish fishermen, as are the English at this day, accustomed to fish neere
Island, as sometimes it cometh to passe, went ashoare, and so by chance left sacring bells and crosses, the utensils2 of Christian
religion; for at that time the Irish were instructed in Christianisme as they say, and those whosoever were the ancient Islanders
they called Papa or Papas, from whom, as seemeth probable to me, the iland of EaRt Island, called Papey, derived the name,
because they were often wont to touch there, or their monuments, such as I sayd were chieBy found there. This side of Island,
to such as sayle from England, Ireland, and Scotland, is most exposed towards the north-west. Moreover what and from whence
I The following CUl'lOUS passage occurs in the Life of Saint Patrick, lately published by Sir William Betham, from a very
ancient MS., which clearly proves that to kindle holy lire was a Christian as well as a pagan custom: "Sanctus ergo Patricius
sanctum Pasea celebrans, incend-it divinum ignem valde lucidum et benedictum, qui in nocte refulgens a cunctis pene plani campi
habitantibus visus est." In another passage of the same Life the epithet benedictus is applied even to the smoke of the holy fire
kindled by Saint Patrick: "Kannanus episcopus quem ordinavit Patricius in primo Pascha Rifferti virorum Feicc; qui portavit
secum ignem primum benedictum, ac ceriales lucernas primus Patricii de manibus portavit domi, ut accenderetfumum benedictum
in oenlos ac nares hominuID gentilium, et regis Loigairi, et majorum illius." -- Liber Ardmaclue. Vita S. Patricii. It is singular
that to fumigate the nostril'S of persons of distinction with smoke from a censer, should have been equally a custom with the
Mexicans, Jews, and Christians: -- this mark of honour amongst Christians was only paid to ecclesiastical dignitaries, who should
excuse Homer for introducing in some scenes of the Iliad the Father of gods and men quaffing nectar and ambrosia from a golden
goblet, rather than inhaling the smoke and steam of bloody altars.
2 The former of these utensils were certainly made of brass or metal, and perhaps, occasionally, the latter also; and being
considered by the early Christians of such indispensable service for the due performance of their sacred rites, the clergy themselves,
hke Quecalcoatle, might have thought it not beneath their dignity to learn the art of working in metals. It is said of a certain
bishop, in an old Life of Saint Patrick, elsewhere referred to, that he understood the trade of a smith, and made altars: "Asicus
sanctus episcopus faber ",reus erat Patricio, et faciebat altaria." It would appear from the same Life of Saint Patrick, that the
graves of the primitive Christians were distinguished from those of Pagans by crosses being placed over them; and Gomara
informs us that brass crosses were found placed over graves in the province of Yucatan.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 189
know what was at a future time to happen; because there were no grounds for inferring this, except that
as wars have been so common and natural amongst men, from the beginning of time when sin began,
these Pap'"' or Papp'"' came, I cannot sufficiently speake, unlesse peradventure from the ilands of Scotland 1, whereof one is named
Pappa, and another Westrapappa, as we may see in the mappes." -- Purchas's Pilgrimes, vol. iii. page 657. The following
account by Dicuil should be compared with that borrowed from lonas, as they tend mutually to corroborate each other; and
no doubt can be entertained but that the Pap'"', whose crosses and sacring bells were discovered by Ingulfus and the Norwegians
in the year eight hundred and seventy-four, were Irish monks, who at a period as early as the eighth century, and perhaps long
before, had 'passed over to Iceland; for we know from Dicuil, who completed his treatise De Mensura Orbis in the year eight
hundred and twenty-five, as he declares himself in these closing stanzas to his work, -- 

"Post octingentos viginti quinque peractos
Summi annos Domini, Terrre, retherm, ~arceris atri,
Semine triticeo sub ruris pulvere tecto,
Nocte bobus requies largitur fine laboris."
That thirty years at least before that time, monks who had returned from Iceland to Ireland, gave him a descliption of that island. Since
it was not till nearly a century after the arrival of those monks in Ireland that the Norwegian colonies landed in Iceland, the deserted
state in which they then found that island may be accounted for, on the supposition that the Norman rovers had in the intermediate
time infested it, and massacred or driven away the monks. The passage which we here insert from Dicuil is very interesting, as his
own relation takes us back a thousand years, and proves that at that early period the Northern Ocean had been explored nearly as far as
the pole; and the authorities of more ancient writers which he quotes, show that in preceding centuries the art of navigation had made
considerable progress. It is hardly necessary to'remark, that in proportion as that art can be proved to have advanced in the ages
immediately succeeding to the Christian era, that the improbahility of America having been colonized in those ages by Christians, is
diminished. "Plinius secundus in secunda libro edocet quod Pytheas Massiliensis, sex dierum navigatione in septentrionem a
Britannift thulen distantem narrat. De eftdem semper desertA, in eodem xiiii. Etymologiarum libro, Isidorus infit: Thule ultima
insula Oceani inter septentrionalem et occidentalem plagam, ultra Britanniam, a sale nomen habens, quia in ea mstivum solstitium sol
facit. Priscianus de eMem in Periegesi manifestius quam Isidorus inquit: -- 
Oceani tranans hic navi bus mquor apertum,
Ad Thulen venies, que nocte dieque relucet
Titanis radiis, CUn;t curru scandit ad axes
Signiferi, boreas succendens lampade partes.
JJe eadem manifestius et plenius quam Prisciallus, Julius Solinus de BritanniA. loquens, 10 Co!lectaneis ita scripsit. Thule ultima 10
qua, restivo solstitio sole de Cancri sidere faciente transitum, nox nulla, brumali solstitio perinde DuHus dies.
"Trigesimus nunc aonus est a quo nuntiaverunt mihi clerici, qui a kalendis februarii usque kalendas augusti, in iliA. insula manserunt,
quod, non solum in restivo soh;titio, sed in diebus circa illuu, in vespertina hora, occidens sol abscondit se quasi trans parvulum
tumulum: ita ut, nihil tenebrarum in minimo spatio ipso fiat; sed quicquid homo operari voluerit, vel pediculos de camisil abstrahere,
tanquam in prresentil solis potest: et si in altitudine montium ejus fuissent, forsitan nunquam sol absconderetur ab illis. In medio
illius minimi temporis, medium noctis fit in medio orbis terrm; et sic puto, e contrario in hiemali sol~titio, et in paucis diebus circa
illud, aUl'oram in minimo spatio in Thule apparere, quando in medio meridies fit orbis terne. Idcirco mentientes falluntur, qui circum
earn concretum fore mare scripserunt, et qui a vernali requinoctio usque ad autumnale continuum diem sine nocte, atque ab autumnali,
versl vice, usque ad veroale requinoctium, 8ssiduam quidem noctem, dum illi navigantes in naturali tempore magni frigoris earn
intrabant, ac manentes in ips~, dies noctesque semper prreter 50lstitii tempus, alternatim babebant: sed navigatione unius diei ex ina
ad boream, congelatum mare invenerunt. Sunt alire insulm multre in septentrionali Britannim oceano, qure a septentrionalibus
Britannim insulis, duorum dierum ac Doctium rectA. navigatione, plenis velis, assiduo feliciter vento, adiri queunt. Aliquifl probus
religiosus mihi fetulit quod, in duo bus restivis diebu~, et unA. intercedente nocte, navigans in duorum naviculA. transtrorum, in
unam iIlarum introivit. lUre insulre sunt alire parvre, fere cunene simul angllstis distantes' fretis, in quibus, in centum ferme annis,
eremitre ex nostra Scottil navigantes habitaverunt. Sed, sicut a principio mundi desertm semper fuerunt; ita nunc, causa latronum
Nortmannorum, vacure anachoretis, plenre innumerabilibus ovibus, ac diversis gencribus multis nimis marinarum avium. Nunquam
1 Ireland was called Scotia major, or simply Scotia, formerly; and the Gaelic tribes, it is probable, from the similarity of the
Gaelic language to Irish, were of Irish origin. Perhaps the Pap'" proceeded from the island of Columb-kii.




190 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICAN US.
and mankind are so ambitious of usurping the dominions of others, he might have chosen to utter this
prediction, in order that when any other nation should subject them, he might take credit to himself,
eas insulas in libris auctorum memoratas invenimus." The age in which Dicuillived ha:; already been mentioned; that he was an Irishman
may be proved from this passage in bis treatise: "Circum nostram insulam Hiberniam sunt insulre, sed alire parne atque aEre minimre."
"Around our island of Hibernia there are islands, some of which are sman, and the rest quite insignificant." On the supposition that
priests, whether of the Latin or Greek church, were formerly designated Papas, and that the crosses which had been left in Iceland by
the Irish monks were Latin crosses, may we not imagine, without exceeding the bounds of probability, that the same kind of crosses
discovered in Yucatan had been carried there also by Irish monks? especially as M. de Humboldt informs us that the first Spanish
monks and missionaries gravely discussed the question of whether Quecalcoatle was an Irishman. In respect to the Greek crosses which
were found in that continent we have already expressed an opinion that they were taken there by Coptic monks. The zeal of the
Irish monks in the early ages of Christianity in the cause of conversion was quite incredible. These pious men in pursuit of their object
despised alike the dangers of sea and land; and the extreme shores of Italy, as far as Tarentum and Sicily, and Iceland, even Greenland,
it is highly probable were visited by them before the tenth century. The establishment of Chri3tianity in Greenland in the ninth
century, and the subsequent foundation of the monastery of Saint Thomas in that island, deserve to be particularly noticed here; for
although the name of the monastery affords no indication of the country of those by whom it was founded, since Saint Thomas was
esteemed the general patron of foreign conversions, still its existence during many centuries in the very precincts of the New World is
very remarkable, and renders it extremely probable that missionaries had proceeded from it to many different parts of America; for
Saint Thomas seems to have possessed a kind of ubiquity in that continent, and wherever the Spaniards arrived they imagined that
they discovered traces of that Saint. Garcia in discussing the probability of the Norwegians and Danes having colonized America,
says, "La Peyrere proves against Arngrim lonas, that it (Iceland) had been peopled already (before the year eight hundred and sixtyfour)
from ancient times; not only because the natives called the English and Scotch, who landed accidentally on it,. hores, Papas,
inasmuch as they called the sea-coast Papey, but likewise because being the Thule of the ancients, no doubt could be entertained of its
having been peopled. George Hickes' accordingly makes mention of the chronology of this island, and of the events connected with
its history from the year seven hundred and forty of the Christian era to that of twelve hundred and ninety-five, mixing them up with
the affairs of Denmark and Norway; and at least it is evident that in the year eight hundred and thirty.. four, Lewis the Pious nominated
Ansgarius to the Archbishopric of Hamburg, extending his jurisdiction over Iceland and Greenland, where he affirm. that a door had
been opened to the Gospel, which appointment was confirmed by Gregory the Fourth on the following year, according to Pontanus."
Origen de los Indius, page 266. The following account of the monastery of Saint Thomas, founded in Greenland, is taken from the
relation of the discoveries of two distinguished Italian voyagers, Nicholas and Antonio Ze,no, inserted in the first instance by Ramusio,
in his Collection of Voyages, and afterwards translated and published in English, by Hakluyto. "M. Nicolo remaining now in Bres,
determined in the spring to go forth and discover land; wherefore arming out three small barkes in the month of July, he sayled to the
northwards and arrived in Engroneland, where he found a monasterie offriers of the order of the Predicators, and a church dedicated to
Saint Thomas, hard by a hill that casteth forth fire like Vesuvius and Etna. There is a fountaine of hot burning water, with the whiche
they heate the church of the monastery and the fryers' chambers; it commeth also into the kitchin so boyling hot that they use no other
fire to dresse their meate, and putting their breade into brasse pots without any water, it doth bake as it were in an hot oven. They
have also smal gardens covered over in the winter time, which being watered with this water are defended from the force of the snow
and colde, whiche in those partes being situ3te farre under the pole is very extreme, and by this meanes they produce flowers and
fruites, and herbes of sundry sorts, even as in other temperate countries in their seasons, in such sort that the rude and savage people
of those partes, seeing these supernatural effects, doc take those fryers for gods, and bring them many presents, as chickens, flesh, and
divers other things, and have them all in great reverence as lords. When the frost and snow is great they beate their houses in manner
before said, and will, by letting in the water or opening the windowe., at an instant temper the heate and cold at their pleasure. In
the buildings of the monasterie they use no other matter but that which is ministred unto them by the fire; for they take the burning
stones that are cast out as it were sparkles or cinders at the fierie mouth of the hill, and when they are most inflamed cast water upon
them, whereby they are dissolved and become excellent white lime, and so tough that being contrived in building it lasteth for ever; and
the very sparkles after the fire is out of them doe serve, instead of stones, to make walles and vautes, for being once cold they wil never
I Hickes was a learned Englishman of the seventeenth century. He pu blished IlIStitutiones Grammati"" Llnglo-Saxonica, and Antiqua
Literatura Septentrionalis Thesaurus.
° This relation was published by Francesco Marcolini, in Venice, in the year 1558, together with the Persian Voyage of M. Caterino
Zeno. The little volume in which it is contained is very rare; and considering that in it the Zeno family lay some claim to the honour
of having discovered the northern coasts of America before Columbus had sailed to the southern, on grounds which three such excellent
ancient cosmographers as Ramusio, Ortelius, and Hakluyt, have judged to be plausible, it deserves to be rescued from oblivion





EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 191

saying, that long ago he had prophesied it to them; -- and in fact so it happened: they adored him as
a god, as will be seen; * for they believed it certain that he had ascended into heaven, + and was that
star which is visible at the north of the sun before the break of day, which is the planet Venus; and
they represented him accordingly, as has already been shown.

1. Quetzalcoatl. 2. Tlapallan, which signifies the Red Sea.

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* Superstitious nations are too ready to ascribe to prophetic inspiration things which have been foretold, merely because they were
highly probable, and which accordingly afterwards came to pass. Seneca says, in the chorus of one of his tragedies --

It *** Venient Annis
Secula seris, qui bus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tell us, Typhisque novas
Detegat orbes, nec sit terris ultima Thule."

+ This prophecy, whether the magnitude of the event predicted, or the distance of time previous to its accomplishment be considered,
will bear comparison with any delivered by the famous oracles of old.

++ Quecalcoatle, according to the opinion of some authors, received the other appellation of Huitzilopuchtli, from the belief which
the Mexicans entertained that he had ascended into heaven, and was seated on the left hand of Tonacateculli. Huitzilopuchtli is 
compounded of Hui~ilan or Huitzilan, the name of a bird of beautiful plumage, (from which the Mexicans obtained the green feathers
called Quecalli, which they so highly prized,) and Opuchtli, the left hand.

dissolve or breake, except they be cut with some iron toole; and the vautes that are made of them are so light, that they need no
sustentacle or prop to holde them up, and they will endure continually very faire and whole. By reason of these great commodities,
the fryers have made there so many buildings and walles that it is a wonder to see. The coverts or roofes of their houses, for the most
part are made in manner following: first they raise up the wall up to its full height, then they make it enclining or bowing in by little
and little in fourme of a vaut. But they are not greatly troubled with raine in those parts, because the climate, as I have saide, is
extreme cold; for the first snow being fallen it thaweth no more for the space of nine months, for so long dureth their winter. They
feede of the flesh of wilde foule and of fish; for whereas the warme water falleth into the sea, there is a large and wide haven, which by
reason of the heate of the water deeth never freeze all the winter, by meanes whereof there is such concourse and flocks of sea foule
and such abundance of fish, that they take thereof infinite multitudes, whereby they maintaine a great number of people round about,
which they kepe in continuall worke both in building alld taking of foules and fish, and in a thousand other necessarie affaires and business
about the monasterie. Their houses are built about the hill on every side, in forme round and twenty-five foote broad, and in mounting
upwards they goe narower and narower, leaving at the top a little hole, whereat the aire commeth in to give light to the house, and
the flare of the house is so hot that being within they feele no cold at all: hither in the summer-time come many barkes from the islands
their about, and from the cape above Norway and from Trondon, and bring to the friers al maner of things that may be desired, taking
in change thereof fish, which they dry in the sunne or in the cold, and skins of divers kindes of beasts, for the which they bhve woode
to burne, and timber very artificially carved, and come, and cloth to make them apparell; for in change of the two aforesaid com.
modities all the nations bordering round about them covet to trafficke with them, and so they, without any travell or expences, have
that which they desire. To this mon.sterie resort fryers of Norway, of Suetia, and of other countreys, but the most part are of Islande.
There are continually in that part many barks, which are kept in there by reason of the sea being frozen, waiting for the spring of the
yere to dyssolve the yce. The fishers' boates are made like unto a weaver's shuttle: taking the skins of fishes they fashion them,"ith
the bones of the same fishes, and sowing them together in many doubles, they make them so sure and substanciall that it is miraculous to
see howe in tempests they will shut themselves close within, and let the oea and winde carry them they care not whether, without any
feare either of breaking or drowning; and if they chance to be driven upon any rocks, they remain sound without the least bruse in the
world; and they have as it were a sleeve in the bottome, which is tyed fast in the middle, and when there commeth any water into the
boat they put it into the one-halfe of the sleeve, then fastening the end thereof with two pieces of wood and loosing the band beneath,
they convey the water forth of the boat, and this they doe as often as they have occasion without any perill or impediment at all.
Moreover the water of the monastery being of sulphurious or brimstonie nature is conveyed into the lodgings of the principall friers
by certaine vesselles of brasse, tinne, or stone, so hot that it heateth the place as it were a stove, not carying with it any stinke or other
noysome smell; besides this, they have another conveyance to bring hot water, with a wall under the ground, to the end it sbould not
freeze unto the middle of the court, where it falletl) into a great vessel of brasse that standeth in the middle of a boyling fountaine, and
this is to heate their water to drinke, and to water their gardens; and thus they have from the hill the greatest commodities that may




192 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

PLATE XVI.

This they say is the representation of that tower which we have already mentioned that they
built in Chulula, which the old men say was constructed in this manner. Those Indians who were

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be wished; and so these fryers employ al their travaile and studie for the most part in trimming their gardens, and in making faire
and beautifull buildings, but especially handsome and commodious. Neyther are they destitute of ingenious and painful artificers for
the purpose, for they give very large payment; and to them that bring them fruits and seedes they are very bountifull, and gi"e they
care not what; so that there is great resort of workmen and masters in divers faculties, by reason of the good gaines and large allowance
that is there. The most of them speake the Latine tongue, and specially the superiours and principals I of the monastery. And this
is as much as is known of Engroneland, which is all by the relation of M. Nicolo, who maketh also particular description of a river
that he discovered, as is to be seene in the carde that I drew. And in the end, M. Nicolo not being used and acquainted with these cruell
coldes, fel sicke, and a litle while after returned into Frisland, where he dyed. He left behind him in Venice two sons, M. Giovanni and
M. Toma, who had two sonnes, M. Nicolo the father of the famous Cardinal Zeno, and M. Pietro, of whom descended the other
Zenos that are living at this day. Now M. Nicolo being dead, M. Antonio succeeded him both in his goods and in his dignities and
honour; and albeit he attempted divers wayes and made great supplication. he could never obtaine license to returne into his countrey;
for Zichmoi being a man of great courage and valour, had determined to make himself lord of the sea, wherefore using alwayes the
counsaile and service of M. Antonio, he determined to send him with certaine barks to the westwards, for that towards those parts
some of his fishermen had discovered certaine islands very rich and populous, which discovery M. Antonio, in a letter to his brother
M. Carlo, recounteth from point to point in this maner, saving that we have changed some old words, leaving the matter entire as
it was.
H Sixe and twentie yeeres agoe, there departed four fisher boats, the which a mightie tempest arising, were tossed for the space of many
dayes very desperately upon the sea, when at length the tempest ceasing, and the wether waxing faire, they discovered an island, called
Estotiland, lying to the westwards, above one thousand miles from Frisland, upon the which one of the boats was cast away, and sixe men
that were in it were taken of the inhabitants and brought into a faire and populous citie, where the king of the place sent for many interpreters;
but there was none could be found that understood the language of the fishermen except one that spake Lnline, who was also
cast by chance upon the same island, who, in the behalre of the king, asked them what countrymen they were? and so understanding
their case, rehearsed it unto the king, who willed that they should tary in the countrey: wherefore they obeying his commandn'lent, for
that they could not otherwise doe, dwelt five years in the island, and learned the language; and one of them was in divers parts of the
island, and reporteth that it is a very rich countrey, abounding with all the commodities of the world, and that it is litle lesse then Island,
but farre more fruitful, having in the middle thereof a very high mountaine, from the which there spring foure rivers, that passe through
the whole countrey. The inhabitants are very wittie people, and have all artes and faculties as we have; and it is credible that in time
past they have had trafficke with our men; for he said that he saw Latin bookes in the king's librarie, which they at this present do not
understand. They have a peculiar language and letters or caracters to themselves; they have mines of all maner of metals, but especial
they abound with gold; they have their trade in Engroneland, from whence they bring furres, brimstone, and pitch: and he saith that to
the southwards there is a great populous countrey, very rich of gold. They sow corne, a.nd make beere and ale, which is a kinde of
drinke that North people do lise as we do wine. They have mighty great woods; they make their buildings with wals, and there are
I The Irish monks who followed the rule of Saint Columbus, who were very numerous, as that Saint was indefatigable in founding
monasteriest studied with great diligence the Latin language, in imitation of the example of their patron, and in obedience to his
precept to cultivate the sciences: accordingly the light of learning still shone in his celebrated monastery of Iona for many centuries after
the rest of Europe had been plunged in darkness. Some modern writers, amongst others, Dr. M'Cullogh, are inclined to be more
sceptical ihan Gibbon was, as to the contents of the famous library of that monastery; they cannot reconcile to their ideas of probability,
the supposition that it might have contained some of the long lost works of antiquity, or that the libraries of monasteries in general
were places in which such discoveries were likely to be made: if so, it might be asked, from whence did the mass of ancient learning
which we still possess, proceed? for Universities were an institution of later ages. But if monasteries were likely places in which to find
the valuable works of former days, the monastery of Iona was eminently so; neither should the boast of its having possessed a
coolSiderable number of Arabic MSS. throw any discredit on the account which has been transmitted to us of its other contents; since
'these MSS. might easily have been brought from Spain, between which country and Ireland considerable intercourse in former ages
.ubsisted, the Irish laying claim to Milesian or Spanish descent, and where it is highly probable the monks of Iona sometimes went.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 193

under that chief who had escaped from the deluge, named Xelua, made bricks out of a mountain in
Tlalmanalco called Cocotle: and from Tlalmanalco to Chulula, Indians were placed to pass the bricks
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many cities and castles. They build small barks, and have sayling; but they have not the loadstone, nor know not the use of the 
compasse. Wherefore these fishers were had in great estimation; insomuch that the king sent them with twelve barks to the southwards, to a countrey
which they call Drogio: but in their voyage they had such contrary weather, that they thought to have perished in the sea; but escaping
that cruell death, they rell into another more cruell, for they were taken in the countrey and the mogt parte of them eaten by the savage
people, which fed upon mans flesh, as the sweetest meat in their judgments that is. But that fisher with his fellowes shewing them the
maner of taking fish with nets, saved their lives; and would goe every day a fishing to the sea and in fresh rivers, and take great abundance
of fish, and give it to the chiefe men of the countrey; whereby he gate himself so great favour that he was very well beloved and honoured
of every one. The fame of this man being spread abroad in the countrey, there was a lord thereby that was very desirous to have him
with him, and to see how he used bis miraculous arte of catching fish, in so much that be made warre with the other lord with whom he
was before; and in the end prevaling, for that he was more mightie and a better warriour, the fisherman was sent unto him with the rest
of his company: and for the space of thirteene yeres that he dwelt in those parts, he saith that be was sent in this order to more than
twenty-five lords i for they had continuall war amongst themselves, this lord with that lord, and he with another, onely to have him to
dwell with them; so that wandering up and downe the countrey, without any certaine abode in one place, he knew almost all those
parts. He saith that it is a very greate countrey. and as it were a new world; the people are very rude and voide of all goodnesse;
they goe all naked, so that they are miserably vexed with colde; neither have they the wit to cover their bodyes with beasts skins which
they take in hunting; they have no kinde of mettal; they live by hunting j they carry certaine lances of wood, made sharpe at the
point; they have bowes the strings whereof are made of beasts skins: they are very fierce people; they make cmell warres one with
another, and eate one another: they have governours and certaine lawes very divers among themselves; but the farther to the southwestwards
the more civiltie there is; the ayre being somewhat temperate, so that there they have cities, and temples to idols, wherein they
sacrifice men and afterwards eate them. They have there some knowledge and use of gold and silver."

It is unnecessary to insert here what follows in the original relation, of an expedition undertaken by Zichmni against Estotiland, in
consequence of the report of the fisherman who had contrived to escape from the savages. The relation itself is in fact extremely brief, 
occupying in the entire but a few pages of Hakluyt; and it was compiled in the first instance by Francisico Marcolino, from
fragments of letters written by Nicolo Zeno to his brother Antonio, to induce him to go to him at Frisland, and from the
latter at Frisland to his brother Carlo, who remained in Venice. It does not appear how Marcolino became possessed of their
correspondcnce: -- reasons however, for its not having been sooner published, and for much of it having been lost, may be found on
the one hand, in the fact that it took place seventy or eighty years before the art of printing was invented; and on the other, in the extreme
jealousy of the Venetian government, which had much reason at that time, for the preservation of its own rich commerce in the esta_
blished channel, to divert the attention of the other states of Europe from naval enterprizes; and certainly none to encourage them to
embark in them, by allowing its citizens to publish interesting relations of voyages to the west; especially as it was the opinion of learned
men of that age, who knew nothing of the existence of America, that a short passage to Asia might be cli5covered by navigating the
Atlantic, -- which would have deprived Venice of its monopoly of the trade of the East. This they inferred from the spherical shape of
the earth: and accordingly when America was discovered, it was called India; and Columbus supposed that he had reached some
portion of the territories of the Great Cham of Tartary. There is certainly something improbable in the account which Marcolino gives
of the book which Antonio Zeno composed, and of many of the letters which he wrote to his brother Carlo having been torn and
destroyed by himself when a child. But the exception which might hence be taken to the relation itself must be very slight, since two
such eminent cosmographers as Hakluyt and Ortelius, not to mention Ramusio, have given their testimony in its favour; and it likewise
contains very strong internal proofs of authenticity. The terms, indeed, in which Marcolino speaks of his inability to give a detailed
narrative of the voyages and discoveries of Nicolo and Antonio Zeno, seem suggested by real regret at the recollection of the loss of the
materials which would have enabled him to have executed the task. "AU these letters," he observes, "were written by M. Antonio to
Messer Carlo his brother; and it grieveth me that the booke and divers other writings concerning these purposes are miserably lost: for
being but a chikl when they came to my hands, and not knowing what they were, as the maner of children is, I tore them and rent them
in pieces, which now I cannot cal to remembrance but to my exceeding great griefe. Notwithstanding, that the memory of so many
good things should not bee lost, whatsoever I could get of this matter I have disposed and put in order in the former discourse, to the
ende that this age might be partly satisfied, to the which we are mo,e beholding for the great discoveries made in those partes, then to any
other of the time past, being most studious of the newe relations and discoveries of strange countries made by the great mindes and
industrie of our ancestours." The original relation of Marcolino here terminating, Hakluyt takes occasion, in the following terms, to
signify his own opinion of its veracity, and to cite that of Ortelius to the same effect: "For the more credite aDd confirmation of the
former historie of Messer Nicolas and Messer Antonio Zeni, which for some fewe respects may perhaps bee called in question, I have
heere annexed the judgment of that famous cosmographer Abraham Ortelius, or rather the yealding and submitting of his judgment
thereunto, who in his Theatrum Orbis, fol. 6, next before the map of Mar del Zur, borroweth proofe and authoritie out of this



194 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

and cement from hand to hand; and thus they built this tower, that was named Tulan Culula,
which was so high that it appeared to reach heaven. And being content, since it seemed to them that 

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relation to shew that the northeast parte of America called Estotiland, and in the original always affirmed to bee an islande, was about
the yeere thirteen hundred and ninety discovered by the aforesayd Venetian gentleman Messer Antonio Zeno, above one hundred yeeres
before ever Christopher Columbus set saile for those western regions; and that the Northern seas were even then sayled by our European
pilots, through the helpe of the loadstone, with divers other particulars concerning the customes, religion, and wealth, of the Southern
Americans, which are most evidently confirmed by all the late and modern Spanish histories of Nueva Espana and Peru."

The passage above alluded to of Ortelius is as follows: "And here I shall not, as I suppose, commit any great inconvenience or
absurditie in adding unto this history of the New Wodd certaine particulars as touching the first discovery thereof not commonly known;
which discoverie al the writers of our time ascribe, and that not unworthily, unto Christopher Columbus, for by him it was in a maDer
first discovered, made knowen, and profitably communicated unto the Christian world in the yere of our Lord fourteen hundred and
ninety-two. Howbeit, I find that the north part thereof calied Estotiland, which most of all extendeth towards our Europe, and the
islands of the same, namely Groneland, Island, and Frisland, was long ago found out by certaine fishers of the Isle of Frisland, driven by
tempest upon the shore thereof, and was afterwards, about the yeere thirteen hundred and ninety, discovered a new by one Antonio
Zeno, a gentleman of Venice, which sayled thither under the conduct of Zichmni, king of the saide lsle of Frisland, a prince in those
parts of great valour, and renowned for his martial exploits and victories; of which expedition of Zichmni there are extant in Italian
certaine collections or abridgements gathered by Francisco Marcolino out of the Letters of M. Nicolo and Antonio Zeni, two gentlemen
of Venice which lived in those parts: out of which collections I doe adde concerning the description of Estotiland aforesaid these
particulars following: 'Estotiland,' saith he, 'aboundeth with all things necessary for mankinde. In the mids thereof standeth an
exceeding high mountaine, from which issue foure rivers that moisten all the countrie. The inhabitants are wittie and most expert in all
mechanicall arts. They have a kinde of peculiar language and letters: howbeit, in this king's librarie are preserved certaine Latine
bookes which they understand not, being perhaps left there not many yeeres before, by some Europeans which trafliqued thither. They
have all kinde of mettals, but especially golde, wherewith they mightily abound. They trafficke with the people of Groneland, from
whence they fetch skinnes, pitch, and brimstone. The inhabitants report, that towardes the south there are regions abounding with
gold, and very populous. They have many and huge woods, from whence they take timber for the building of ships and cities, whereof
and of castles there are great store. The use of the loadstone for navigation is unknown unto them. They make relation also of a certaine
region towards the south called Drogio, which is inbabited by Canibals, unto whom mans flesh is delicate meat, whereof being destitute
they live by fishing, which they use very much. Beyond this are large regions, and as it were a new world; but the people are
barbarous and goo naked; howbeit against the colde they clothe themselves in beastes skinnes. These have no kinde of metall, and
they live by hunting. Their weapons are certaine long staves with sharp points, and bowes. They wage warres one against another.
They have guvernours, and obey certaine lawes. But from hence more towards the south the climate is much more temperate, and there
are cities, and temples of idoles unto whom they sacrifice living men, whose flesh they afterwards devoure. These nations have the use
of silver and gold. Thus much of this tract of landes out of the aforesaide collections or abridgements; wherein this also is worthy the
observation, that even then our European pilots sayled tho,e seas by the helpe of the loadstone; for concerning the use thereof in navigation
I suppose there is not to be found a more ancient testimonie. And these things I have annexed the rather unto this table of Mar
del Zur, considering that none of those authours which have written the histories of the Newe World, have in any part of their writings
mentioned one word thereof.' Hitherto Ortelius." -- Hakluyt's Early Voyages, vol. iii. page 157.

With respect to the internal evidence which the relation of Marcolino affords of its own authenticity, it is sufficient to point out here
a singular agreement between the description which Nicolo Zeno gives, in bis second letter, of the monastery of Saint Thomas in Greenland,
and the account which Blefkens, who made a voyage from Hamburgh to Iceland and Greenland in the year fifteen hundred and sixtythree,
received from a monk who had formerly belonged to that monastery. He says: "There was in a certaine monasterie in Iseland
called Helgafic!, a certayne blinde monke left (for the abbot of the monasterie had converted the revenues to the king's use) who lived
miserably there. Hee was borne in Groneland, of a darke complexion and broad face. The governour commanded him to be brought
unto him, that hee might know some certaintie of the state of Groneland. Bee sayd there was a monasterie of Saint Thomas
in Groneland, into the which his parents thrust him when he was but young; and after that hee was taken out by the bishop of Groneland,
when hee was thirtie yeeres of age, to saile with him into Norway to the archbishop, to Nidrosia or Dronten, to whom the Iseland
bishops are subject. In his returne hee was left in a monasterie by the bishop whose countrey Groneland was. This was done, as hee
sayd, in fifteen hundred and forty-six. Hee say,l that island was called Groneland antiphrastically, for that it seldome or never waxeth 
greene, and that there is so great cold there throughout the whole yeere, except Iune, Iuly, and August, that being clothed and covered
with furres, they could scarse bee warme; and that they had at home certayne round peeces of wood, which being continually mooved
with the feete, kept their feet warme. He sayd it aboundeth as Iseland doth with fishes, and that they had beares and white foxes,
nay pigmies and unicornes, and that day did not appeare till the sunne had runne through Pisces. This monke told us marvellous
strange things: that there was in the monasterie of Saint Thomas where hee lived, a fountayne which sent forth burning and flaming





EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 195

they had a place whence to escape from the deluge if it should again happen"', and from whence
they might ascend into heaven, -- a chalcuitl, which is a precious stone, fell from thence and struck

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* This account nearly resembles that which is given by Josephus, in the fifth chapter of the first book of his Jewish Antiquities, of
the building of the Tower of Babel. Nabrodes, the great grandson of Noah, is there said to have been the chief who dissuaded the
people from proceeding in tribes to colonize the earth, and who advised them to build a tower so high that it might afford them
the means of escaping in the event of another deluge: the words of Josephus are these-" IIuP"l" "lap 'J""ao,.~uEIV U"'~MT'P" ~ TO ua"g
ay"~))v'u aU~eml.1J

water; that this water was conveyed through pipes of stone to the severall cells of the munkes, and that it made them warme as stoaves
doe with us; and that all kinde ofmeates might bee boyled in this fountayne and fierie water, no otherwise then if it had beene fire indeed.
He added moreover, that the walls of the monasterie were made of pumice stones out of a certayne mountaine, not far from the monasterie,
like to Hecla; for if yee powre these burning waters upon the pumice stones, there win follow a slimie matter, which instead of lime they
use for morter. After the govemour's conference with the manke, I came privately unto him, to demand certayne particular things
touching the pigmies and other things. Hee had little skill in the Latine tongue; hee understood mee speaking Latine, but answered by
an interpreter. Hee sayd, the pigmies represent the most perfect shape of man, that they are hairy to the uttermost joynts of the fingers,
and that the males have beards downe to the knees. But although they have the sbape of men,yet they have little sense or understanding,
nor di stinct speech, but make shew of a kinde of hissing, after the manner of geese; that his abbot kept two of them in his monasterie,
male and female, but they lived not long, and that they were unreasonable creatures, and live in perpetuall darknesse. That some say,
they have warre with the cranes, that hee knew not. He affirmed, that the same maner of food was in Groneland as in Island, to wit, of
fish but not of cattle, because they have no cattle, and that the country is not populous. Forthwith from Island begins the Hyperborean
Sea, which beats upon Groneland and the country of the pigmies, which at this day is called Nova Zembla, and there the frozen sea hath
a bay which is called the White Sea." -- Purchas's Pilgrims, vol. iii. page 65 I.

It is evident that the pigmies here described were Esquimaux Indians clothed in seal skins. The monk's account of the two which
his abbot kept in the monastery may be compared with the following Indian tradition, (which can only refer to the Esquimaux,) which
Peter Martyr recounts in the second chapter of his Seventh Decade of the Ocean: "There is another country called Inzignanin. The
inhabitants, by report of their ancestors, say that a people as tall as the length of a man's arm, with tails of a span long, sometimes arrived
there, brought thither by sea, which tail was not moveable or wavering, but solid, broad above, and sharp beneath, as we see in fishes
and crocodiles, and extended into a bony hardness. Wherefore, when they desired to sit, they used seats with holes through them, or
wanting them, digged up the earth a span deep or little more; they ruust convey their tail into the hole when they rest them. They
fabulously report that that nation had fingers as broad as they were long, and that their skin was rough and almost scaly, and that they
were accustomed only to eat raw fish, which failing, they say, all died; and that they left no posterity of them behind them. They report
these and many such idle vain things were left them by tradition from their grandfathers and parents."
The Esquimaux are a race of people totally distinct from the other tribes of Indians, and appear to be of Tartar origin. It is highly
probable (if it cannot be easily shown how many species of animals' could have migrated from the Old continent to the New) that
America has been colonized by man from all quarters of the globe; and this was the conclusion at which Garcia arrived, after long
researches into the origin of the Indians.
I.Man is a creature whose constitution can be inured by habit to every climate; but nevertheless, opposite and remote regions of the
globe seem to be inhabited by distinct races of mankind. If the laws of nature, the power and in8uence of climate, and the vital and
organic functions of the human frame are not very different from what they were during the first two thousand years of the earth's
alleged existence after the deluge, how does it happen that the experience of the last two thousand years tends fully to prove that
climate can effect no material change either in the colour of the skin or in the human physiognomy? The long residence of the Spaniards
in the New World has not yet given a shade of copper-colour to their skin; nor have the negroes, by being transplanted to America and
the West Indian islands, lost a particle of their original blackne..; nei;her have any people of the earth a tradition that their ancestors
were of a different colour from themselves, or that a change had been wrought in their personal appearance by their establishing themselves
in some new settlement. Mixture of blood is that alone which affects a change in colour and in feature. The marble busts of classical
antiquity show how nearly the countenances of the Greek and Roman heroes, who flourished before the Christian rera, resembled those of
the modem Greeks and Italians, and plainly prove that the slow action of time and of revolving ages can of itself produce no change in the
physiognomy of man, although his stature may be affected by various natural causes. The problem, however, most difficult to resolve is, How,
supposing that the time existed when the vast American continent was absolutely without animals, those species which are Dot sufficiently
hardy to bear cold, (and which therefore cannot be supposed to have crossed from Asia to America by Bherings Straits, supposing
that the two continents in the early ages of the world joined thereabouts, and which would have found it equally impossible to pass




196 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.
it to the ground. Others say that the chalcuitl was in the shape of a toad; and that whilst destroying
the tower it reprimanded them, inquiring of them their reason for wishing to ascend into heaven,
since it was sufficient for them to see what was on the earth. The base of this tower is at the present
day still remaining, and its circumference is eighteen hundred feet. *
1. The Tower.

For the better understanding of this painting and that which follows, it is requisite to observe, that
these gentiles divided their year in our manner, into three hundred and sixty-five days, which they
distributed into eighteen portions resembling months; and the five days which exceeded this distribution
of twenty days to each of the months, they left till the fourth year; for in the same way as
we have our bissextile every four years, in which we add a day to the three hundred and sixtyfive
days of the year, so they added a month composed of the quadruple of these five superfluous
days: and to show what sign reigned over each of the twenty days, they had an equal number of signs,
which shall presently be explained, in which was founded all their superstition and sorcery; and each
of these twenty signs had the number thirteen allotted to it, because they had the same number of days
in their week. Thus they commenced reckoning from the sign of One Cane: for example, One Cane,
two, three, &c. proceeding to thirteen; for in the same way as we have calculations in our repertories,
by which to find what sign rules over each of the seven days of the week, so the natives of that
country had thirteen signs for the thirteen days of their week: and this will be better understood by an
example. To signify the first day of the world, they painted a figure like the moon, surrounded with
splendour, which is emblematical of the deliberation which they say their god held respecting the
creation, because the first day after the commencement of time began with the second figure, which
was One Cane: accordingly completing their reckoning of a cycle at the sign of Two Canes, they
counted an Age, which is a period of fifty-two years, because on account of the bissextile years which
necessarily fell in this sign of the Cane, it occurred at the expiration of every period of fifty-two
years. Their third sign was a certain figure, which we shall presently see, resembling a serpent or
viper, by which they intended to signify the poverty and labours which men suffer in this life. Their
fourth sign represented an earthquake, which they called Nahuolin, because they say that in that
sign the sun was created. + Their fifth sign was Water, for according to their account abundance
was given to them in that sign. These five signs they placed in the upper part, which they called
Tlacpac, that is to say the east. -- They placed five other signs at the south, which they named Uitzlan,


-----
* Mexican mythology has transferred the site of the tower of Babel as well as that of the lakes of Tagtlatagua from the Old continent
to the New.

+ The sun in the sign of Four Earthquakes might have signified amongst the Mexicans, the present age, in allusion to the fate which
they imagined awaited their last sun, which was doomed like the preceding ones to destruction. This sign, surrounded with the other
signs of the days of the year, is sculptured on the great block of granite which was dug up some years ago in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico.

-----
the ocean) could have arrived there [1] and how the insect tribes, the sloth, and the crocodile could ever have accomplished the journey I
And finally, why other species of animals, such as the llama, should only be discovered in the New World; and geologists have been
unable hitherto to find even their bones in the Old continent; at the same time that those of the megatherion and of other extinct species
have been found in the American soil, which instinct perhaps, immediately after their creation, (for how else can we account for their
presence there 1) induced to abandon the fertile plains of Asia.





204=196
207=197


EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 197

which means a place of thorns. The first of which was a flower, emblematical of the shortness of
life, which passes away quickly like a blossom or flower. The second was a certain very green herb,
in like manner denoting the shortness of life, which is as grass. The third sign was a lizard, to show
that the life of man, besides being brief, is destitute and replete with the ills of nakedness and cold,
and with other miseries. The fourth was a certain very cruel species of bird which inhabits that
country. The fifth sign was a rabbit, because they say that in this sign their food was created, and
accordingly they believed that it presided over drunken revels*. -- They placed five other signs at
the west, which region they called Tetziuatlan. The first was a deer, by which they indicated the
diligence of mankind in seeking the necessaries of life for their sustenance. The second sign was a
shower of rain falling from the skies, by which they signified pleasure and worldly content. The
third sign was an ape, denoting leisure time. The fourth was a house, meaning repose and tranquillity.
The fifth was an eagle, the symbol of freedom and dexterity. -- At the north, which they
call Teutletlapan t, which signifies the place of the gods, they placed the other five signs which were
wanting to complete the twenty. The first was a tiger, which is a very ferocious animal, and
accordingly they considered the echo of the voice as a bad omen, and the most unlucky of any,
because they say that it has reference to that signt. The second was a skull or death, by which they
signified that death commenced with the first existence of mankind. The third sign was a razor, or
stone knife, by which are meant the wars and dissensions of the world; they call it Tequepatl. The
fourth sign is the head of a cane, which signifies the Devil, who takes souls to hell§. The fifth and
last of all the twenty signs was a winged head, by which they represented the wind, indicative of
the variety of worldly affairs. These were the twenty figures of their superstition and sorcery,
respecting which something else remains to be observed; which is, that on the commencement of the
year, which was always on the twenty-first of February, || as they considered that day their first,if
by chance the sign of the Cane ruled on that day, they were bound to fast during the thirteen days
antecedent to the arrival of the new year, in memory of the various times in which the world had
been destroyed, because a destruction of the world had taken place on that sign; and since they
likewise expected that the world was again to be destroyed, they fasted during these thirteen days, to
escape from death. And when the year commenced with the sign of the Rabbit, they fasted the eight
preceding days, in memory of the ruin of the first man, as the Devil had given them knowledge of
him, although obscured with the same errors in this instance as in others, till in time they arrived
at the knowledge of our Catholic truth, which he had before revealed to them, mixing it up with
lies. It must also be observed, that their intercalary year was always in the four letters or signs
which follow, viz. the Cane, the Flint, the House, and the Rabbit; because in like manner as they


-----
* Ometochtli, a Mexican god so named from the sign which was dedicated to him, was, according to Sahagun, the same as Bacchus.

+ The north was also named Mictlan, or Miquitlan, where they supposed hell to be situated and Miquitlamtecutle to reside.

++ The Mexicans believed that some connection existed between the echo of the voice and the sign of the tiger; because the tiger was
the sign of the earth, and they had an ancient tradition that the earth escaped total destruction from the deluge by the echo of the voice
reverberating from the heart of the mountain.

~ The sign of Quecalcoatle was the head of a cane.

|| This appears to be a mistake, as it is elsewhere said that the new year commenced on the twenty-fourth of February, and that the
first of the dead days occurred on the nineteenth of that month.

~ Some attempt has been made in a preceding note to explain the Mexican system of intercalation




198 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

had an intercalation every four years of the month composed of the five dead days, which were
superfluous in the reckoning of each year, so also they had an intercalation of years; for at the
expiration of every period of fifty-two years, which they reckon an Age, they added a year, which
always fell in: one of these letters or signs; because as each of the twenty signs had thirteen similar
signs which obeyed it; -- for example, one Rabbit, two, three, four, reckoning to thirteen; and
one Cane, two, three, four, to thirteen, and the quadruple of thirteen is fifty-two, -- there remains
the exact sum of fifty-two years, constituting an Age; and accordingly the intercalary year always
fell in one of these four letters; because since by their account the world began in the sign of One
Cane, for this reason the intercalary year could not fall but in these four letters.

PLATE XVII.

TONACATECOTLE.

This is the representation of Tonacatecotle, which name signifies the Lord of our Bodies; others
say that it means the First Man, or perhaps it means that the first man was so called.
These are the figures which have been mentioned; and the first is that of their greatest god,
Tonacatecotle. It represents the first god under whom, as they affirm, was the dominion of the world;
who, when it appeared good to him, breathed and divided the waters of the heaven and the
earth, which at first were all confused together, and disposed them as they now are; and accordingly
they called him the Lord of our Bodies, and also of Abundance, who bestowed every thing upon
them, and on this account they paint him alone with a crown. They call him besides, Seven
Flowers, for they say that he disposes of the principalities of the earth. He had no temple, nor
did they offer sacrifices to him; for they say that he did not require them, as if on acconnt of his
superior majesty: so that even here we see how the pride of those who despised GOD, long ago from
the beginning, has displayed itself, since the Devil has chosen to apply to himself what Saint John
says of GOD, -- that on account of his greatness no temple which our gratitude could erect would
content him. They say that Tonacatecotle presided over the thirteen signs which are here marked.
Those above denote the thirteen causes * or influences of the sky which are under subj ection to him,
and the others below are the thirteen signs of their superstition and sorcery.

This man and woman represent the first pair who existed in the world; their names are Huehuet. 
Between them is placed a knife or razor, and an arrow above each of their heads, typifying death,
as in them death originated. 

They called this god Tonacatecotli, and by another name Citallatonalli; and they said that he was

-----
* These causes are really only nine, corresponding in number with the heavens. But since four of them are reckoned twice in
every series of thirteen days, in order that each day might be placed under some peculiar influence, they are here said to be
thirteen: their names, enumerated in their proper order, are as follows'; Xiututl, Ytzli, Piltzintzinteo tl, TziI\teo tl, Mitlanteotl,
Chalchiuitlicue, Tlazolteotl, Tepeyolotl, Tlaloc. The influence which they were supposed to exercise over each day, whether
good, bad, or indifferent, is marked by the letters b, c, and in, standing for bltono, cattivo, and indifferente.

+ Hue signifies old, and its reduplication forms the superlative of the adjective; the coincidence between 'Eva the name of
Eve in the Septuagint, and hlle, seems purely accidental.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 199

the constellation which appears by night in the sky, named Saint James's or the Milky Way. They
paint these figures, and all the others which follow, each of them in its own manner; because as
they considered them their deities, each had its peculiar festival. It was necessary to wear in these
festivals the habit of the god.

1. Xiututl, good. 2. Ytzli, bad. S. PiItzintzinteotl, good. 4. Tzinteotl, indifferent. 5. Mitlanteotl,
bad. 6. Izpatli, the symbol of the first day, or of the first deliberation which their god
held when he commenced the creation, "quasi fiat lux," pronouncing as it were the words "Let
there be light." 7. Air or wind. S. House. 9. Lizard. 10. Serpent. 11. Crown. 12. Tonacatlecotle,
which name signifies the Lord of our Bodies.
or perhaps it signifies that the first man was so called. IS.
or lance.

PLATE XVIII.

Others say that it means the
Arrow. 14. Flint or Knife.
First Man:
15. Arrow

This figure has no name; for it only shows how, after the disappearance of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatle,
men invented sacrifices of children, with the intention of honouring his festival, which was on the
day of Seven Canes (Pexis)t. They say that he was born on that sign; and accordingly a very
great festival was celebrated on that sign in Chululan, to which they came from all parts of the
country, and brought offerings and presents to the lords, Papas, and priests of the temples. And they
celebrated a similar festival and solemnity on the sign in which he disappeared, which was that
of One Canet. These solemnities or festivals occurred at the expiration of every fifty-two years.

PLATE XIX.

QUEQUECOYOTL.

They say that the Otomies worshipped Quequecoyotl as their god§. He was the Lord of these
thirteen signs, in which they celebrated his festival, during the four last of which they fasted, in

-----
* The meaning of this symbol, which is here otherwise explained than in the writings of Torquemada and Boturini, has, as
Gama observes, much perplexed those who have most diligently studied the ancient mythology of the Mexicans. "Father
Torquemada and Gomara (he says) call it a sword-fish, and Boturini a serpent armed with hooks. Father Diego Valades represents
it in the form of a fish in the calendar which he caused to be engraved in his Christian Rhetoric; and others accordingly have
so represented it: but the Indians paint it in a different manner; and the figures which are found of it in their ancient paintings
do not exactly resemble that which is sculptured on the stone." -- Descripcion de las Dos Piedras, page 27. It may here be
remarked, that the engraving of one of these stones, -- that representing the Mexican calendar which Gama has annexed to his
Treatise, -- does not appear accurate; and it differs materially from a model in piaster of Paris of the same stone which has
been recently brought to England, which together with a cast of the sacrificial stone suffered some injuries in the carriage.

+ The meaning of Pexis is not obvious, although it would appear from the context that it was the name of the festival.

++ three different signs of the Cane, viz. One Cane, Two Canes, and Seven Canes, were dedicated to Quecalcoatle; the two
first of which seem to be signs of years, and the last alone to designate a day. Although it is elsewhere said that Quecalcoatle
disappeared or died on the day of One Cane, which must have proceeded from inadvertence, since it is stated in another part,
that he disappeared on the day of Four Earthquakes in the year of One Cane. The sign of Two Canes was dedicated to him
because his festival was celebrated every fifty-two years in Cholula, on the year of Two Canes; perhaps in commemoration
of the number of years which he lived.

~ The Otomies worshipped Quequecoyotl under the name of Tatacoada.



200 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

honour of the other Quetzalcoatle of Tula. They called them the festival of Discord. He who was
born on the sign of One Rose they believed would be a musician, a physician, a weaver, or a
principal person. When the sign of the Rabbit arrived, they fasted on account of the fall of the
first man.

1. Gueguecouiotl 'If.

PLATE XX.

ISNEXTLI, BLIND WITH ASHES.

We certainly ought to deplore the blindness of this people and the cunning of Satan, who in this
manner has persevered in counterfeiting the Holy Scriptures; since he communicated to these
poor people the knowledge of the temptation of our mother EVE, and of the inconstancy of our
father ADAM, under the fiction of this woman, who is turned towards her husband, as God declared
to our mother EVE, "et ad virum conversio ejus," (and she shall turn towards her husband); -- whom
they call Isnextli, who is the same as EVE, who is always weeping, with her eyes dim with ashes,
with a rose in her hand emblematical of her grief, being in consequence of having gathered it.
And accordingly they say that she cannot behold heaven: wherefore in recollection of the happiness
which, on that account, she lost, they celebrate a fast every eight years on account of this calamitous
event; the fast was on bread and water. They fasted during the eight signs preceding the entrance
of the Rose, and when that sign arrived they prepared themselves for the celebration of the festival.
They affirm that every series of five days comprised in this calendar was dedicated to this fall,
because on such a day EVE sinned; they were accordingly enjoined to bathe themselves on this
night, in order to escape disease.

1. Isnextli, blind with ashes.

PLATE XXI.

CHALCHIUITLICUE.

Chalchiuitlicue 1" is the Woman whose dress is adorned with precious stones. They painted her with
a spinning-wheel in one hand, and in the other a kind of weaver's comb, which is a wooden instrument
with which the Indians of that country weave: intending thereby to show that, of the sons which
women bring forth, some are slaves, some are merchants, some die in war, others are rich, and others
poor. And to show that finally all perish, they paint a stream carrying them away. She presided
over these thirteen signs; and when the year commenced on the sign of One Cane + they celebrated a 
great festival in Chululan to Quetzalcoatle, for they say that he was their first Papa or priest.

1. Chalchiuitlicue.

-----
* GlIegue is frequently written for huehue.

+ She was also named Tutzin anel HlIixtutzin, and was invoked by the Mexicans at a kind of baptismal ceremony, which took
place four days after the hirth of infants. Vide Clavigero's History of Mexico, vol. i. page 315.

~ The Mexican year always commenced on the day of Ce Cipactli; so that the beginning of the year here alluded to, can only
refer to one of the four signs which the Mexicans employed in the computation of their cycles of years and ages. It is possible
that the people of Cholula might have begun their year on the day of Ce Acatl or One Cane, but thet. their year would always
have commences on that same day. The exact period of fifty.two years intervenes in the Mexican calendar between anyone
year and the amval of another bearing the same sign; so that the festival of Quecalcoatle, which was celebrated every fifty-two
years III Cholula, mIght have fallen on the sign of One Cane.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 201

PLATE XXII. *

This figure signifies that Quetzalcoatle was the first inventor of sacrifices of human blood,
amongst the various other things which they offered to the gods; and this was the manner in which
they pierced their tongues, that blood might flow from thence, + and their ears and penis; till at last,
as we shall presently mention, the custom of human sacrifices was introduced, when they tore out
the hearts of the victims, to present them to the face of the idol which they considered the image of
their wretched god.

PLATE XXIII.

TEPEYOLOTLI.

They considered Tepeyolotli the lord of these thirteen signs, in which they celebrated his festival;
during the four last of which they fasted, out of reverence, on account of the earth's having remained


-----
* Netzahualpilli, the celebrated king of Tezcuco, Montezuma's contemporary, wished to abolish human sacrifices; but the people
insisted on their continuance, and the humane intentions of the king were frustrated. Netzahualcoyotl, the father of that monarch and
no less famous than his son for wisdom and prudence, was also desirous of doing away with those cruel rites; but the people refused to
give their consent, XI)lEW ra «XUI'1TIX, to introduce innovations into religion, or to depart from the established usages of their ancestors.
We all know from experience, where reason only is concerned, how great is the force of habit and of education; but where the passions
are in question, where maternal affection is called upon to make severe sacl'ifices, -- there it might be expected that prejudice would be
unable to maintain its ground. But this was not the case with the Mexicans; for the Mexican mothers who, as Torquemada observes,
were those "de las que mas aman y quieren a sus bijos de todas las del mundo," who of all mothers most affectionately loved their
children, voluntarily offered those children to be sacrificed on the altars of their gods, in the full belief that by dying in their honour
eternal happiness would be their certain lot, and that the innocence of the victims would render them more grateful. The strange
notion which the Mexicans entertained, that all who were sacrificed, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, went to heaven; at the same
time that it diminished the cruelty of their custom of sacrificing prisoners taken in war, explains the motive that induced many
illustrious persons to acts of self-devotion, by dying of their own accord by the hand of the Topilcin, requesting that their hearts might
be taken from their breasts still living, and presented to their gods as a proof of their pious zeal, and an acceptable offering. History
records that Chimalpopoca, the third king of Mexico, considered it cruel envy in the king of Azcaputz.leo, that he was prevented
from fulfilling his intention of offering up himself as a sacrifice on some solemn festival, but was on the contrary detained a prisoner.
The office of Topiltzin, or religious executioner, belonged exclusively to two high priests, named Teoteuctli (which title signifies divine
Lord) and Hueiteopixqui, the great bigh priest, who, as Clavigero observes, were always persons distinguished for their birth, their
probity, and their great knowledge of every thing connected with the ceremonies of their religion. With respect to the custom which
prevailed amongst the Mexicans of sacrificing their children, Torquemada says: "Dos casas son aqui mucho de notar, la una que los
padres de estos ninos los vendiesen, y diesen voluntariamente para que muriesen; la segunda, es que esta venta sea hecha al segundo
dia de e~te mes, en el qual nosotros los Christianos celebramos fiesta de la Presentacion de la Virgen sin mancilla, en el templo de
Jerusalem, llevando a su nino benditisimo Hijo de Dios, en sus bragos, euia vida fue vendida por la culpa de la primera madre
del mundo, y 10 lleva a presentar y hacer of rend a de el, como manifestando aDios aquel sacrificio que despues avia de ser exe..
cutado en el arbol de la cruz." -- Monarqu;a Indiana, vol. ii. p. 251.

"Two things are here very remarkable: the first is, that the parents of the children should have sold them, and have given them
voluntarily for sacrifice; the second, that the sale itself should have taken place on the second day of this month (February) at the very
time that we, who are Christians, celebrate the festival of the Presentation of the Virgin without spot, in the temple of Jerusalem,
holding in her arms her most blessed child, the Son of God, whose life was sold for the sin of the first woman who existed in the world,
carrying him to present and make an offering of him, manifesting as it were to God, the sacrifice which was afterwards to be
accomplished on the tree of the cross." -- We shall refrain from noticing many other extraordinary coincidencies which might here be
pointed out.

+ Gomara says that the Mexicans inflicted a portion of these austerities on themselves, as a remedy against the sin of lying and
of listening to lies. It is singular that the Mexicans should have considered lying to be as great a sin as they believed temperance
to be a virtue.



202 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

after the deluge. But as its condition was disordered and filthy, they did not consider the sacrifices
of these signs as good or clean, but on the contrary as unclean; and they applied to them an
appellation which in common phraseology we might explain by the term of "sacrifices of filth."

These last four signs in which they fasted, were likewise out of reverence and in honour of Suguiquezal
the wife of Tonacatecotl, whose name signifies the Lifting or Raising up of Roses, for they say that
that goddess caused the earth to flourish. * This proper name might be written Tesciulutli, which is
the Heart of the Mountain, which means that echo or reverberation of the voice which resounds in a
mountain.

1. Tepeiolotli, which is the same as the echo. +

PLATE XXIV.

They say that this representation of a head signifies the commencement of sin, which began with
time, and that such is the termination of its commencement which is allotted to sin. ++

1. Tlatzolteutl.

PLATE XXV.

NAOLIN.

Naolin they say is the Sun in its tremulent action and motions, to which they attribute the production
of all ordinary things. § When this figure entered in the sign of One Skull, they esteemed
that sign as very unlucky; and they believed that whoever was born on it would be a sorcerer, || and
devoted to the study of a certain sort of magic in great repute amongst them, whereby they transformed
themselves into the figures of various animals. This figure presided over these thirteen signs,
and they believed that whoever was born on anyone of them, would be a person of great consideration.

1. Naolin, that is to say, the tremulous action and motions of the Sun caused by the reflection of
its rays.

-----
* Suchiquecal was the mother of Quecalcoatle; and as the Mexicans dated the commencement of a new age from his birth, she
might have been said to have been the cause of the Age of Roses (Iztapal Nanazcaya) which followed.

+ Tepeiolotli signifies the Heart of the.Mountain, from which the echo was supposed to proceed; it is synonymous with
Tesciulutli, since tepell is the generic name and lescatl was the particular name of a mountain; and yololle, a heart, though
differently spelt, enters into the composition of each proper name.

++ The head which is represented, is that of the goddess Tiatzolteutl, the Mexican Venus; it is without either body or eyes,
which perhaps may be emblematical of the blindness of lust, and the punishment which was awarded by the Mexican laws to
adultery.

§ The Mexicans attributed all unusual productions to Xolotle, who was the god of twins.

|| The following passage is taken from Moses Maimonides's treatise concerning idolatry, which is annexed to the fifth volume
of Gerard Vossiug's Works: "Similiter est, qui cranio mortui arrepto illud suffitu imbuat et incantet donee prrecuntem audiat
vocem, qure exeat maxillis, et respondeatur ci. Hujusmodi omnia sunt Pythonica, quique aliquid eo rum facit lapidetur." How
many traces of Jewish notions and superstitions are discovered in the New World! The Tahnudical and other writings of the
Jews would serve as a good commentary to the Mexican and Peruvian mythology'. Traces of divination by means of the
crooked staff, and of the It suffitus ex ore avis cui nomen Jaduah," seem likewise discoverable in the Mexican paintings.

, In a subsequent note will be found some account of a proposal by the Abbe Chiarini, professor at Warsaw, to publish n
translation of the entire Talmud in French.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 203

PLATE XXVI.

MEZTLI.

They believed that the Moon presided over human generation "', and accordingly they always put
it by the side of the sun. They placed on its head a sea snail, to denote that in the same way as this
marine animal creeps from its integument or shell, so man comes from his mother's womb.

1. Meztli, or the Moon.

PLATE XXVII.

NAHUIHEHECATLI.

Nahuihehecatli they believed to be the god of the four winds; his name likewise bears this signification.
The merchants celebrated a great festival in his honour; but when he entered in the fifth
sign they neither danced or ventured to leave their houses, for they believed that any illness which
might befall them on that sign would be of so dangerous a nature that none would recover from it;
and therefore, although they chanced to be on a journey, they shut themselves up in the house on
that day. This deity presided over these thirteen signs.
1. Nauihehecatli.

PLATE XXVIII.

TLALOQUE.

I cannot assign a different etymology for the name of Tlaloque, but can only say, that as the companion
of the four winds or four seasons of the year, it signifies fine weather; and accordingly,
although the serpent is an unlucky sign, when in this month Tlaloque was in the sign of Seven
Serpents, they considered it fortunate for every thing, but especially for marriages.
1. Tlaloque.

PLATE XXIX.

MAYAGUIL.

They feign that Mayaguil was a woman with four hundred breasts, and that the gods, on account
of her fruitfulness, changed her into the Maguei, which is the vine of that country, from which they
make wine. She presided over these thirteen signs; but whoever chanced to be born on the first
sign of the Herb, it proved unlucky to him; for they say that it was applied to the Tlamatzatzguex,
who were a race of demons dwelling amongst them, who according to their account wandered through
the air, from whom the ministers of their temples took their denomination. When this sign arrived,
parents enjoined their children not to leave the house, lest any misfortune or unlucky accident should
befall them. They believed that those who were born in Two Canes, which is the second sign, would
be long-lived, for they say that that sign was applied to Heaven. They manufacture so many things
from this plant called the Maguei, and it is so very useful in that country, that the Devil took occasion
to induce them to believe that it was a god, and to worship and offer sacrifices to it.
1. Mayaguil.
* Isis, or the moon, was invoked by the Egyptian women in child-birth.



204 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.
PLATE XXX.
TZINTEOTL.
The Holy Scripture well observes that" wine changes the heart," since it caused these people to
believe that from this woman (Mayaguil) Cinteotl sprung, whose name signifies the origin of the
gods; giving us to understand, that from the vine which bears the grape the gods derived their origin.
It properly signifies abundance, satiety, or the intoxication caused by wine.
I; Tzinteotl.

PLATE XXXI.

TLAVIZCALPANTECUTLI.

Tlavizcalpantecutli was the god of morning or of the light, when the sign of the morning twilight
or the crepusculum arrives, which they say was created before the sun. Here it is apparent how
allusion is made to the Scriptures; for our holy doctors say that light was created on the first day,
and that it was distinct and separate from the sun. This deity presided over these thirteen signs;
they believed that those who became lame or suffered in any limb, although but slightly, in this first
sign of the Serpent would lose that limb.

I cannot omit to remark, that one of the arguments which persuades me to believe that this nation
descends from the Hebrews, is to see what knowledge they have of the Book of Genesis; for although
the Devil has succeeded in mixing up so many errors, his lies are still in such a course of conformity
with Catholic truth, that there is reason to believe that they have had acquaintance with this book.
Since this, and the other four hooks which follow, which are the Pentateuch *, were written by Moses,
and were only found amongst the Hebrew people, there are very strong grounds for supposing that this
nation proceeds from them: -- the manner in which they came to this country is unknown. Further
proofs of this fact may be found in their frequent sacrifices and ceremonies: one amongst others
was that which took place on one of the following signs of this month, called Seven Apes. The
second sign was much celebrated amongst them, on account of its being applied to nativities; and
they celebrated a very great festival on it, which touches and alludes to the ceremonies of the old law:
on, which occasion certain old men attended in the temples like priests, whose business it was,
performing some ceremonies, to baptize children. They took some Picotle t; and having a large
vessel of water near them, they made the leaves of the Picotle into a bunch, and dipped it into the
water, with which they sprinkled the child; and after fumigating it with incense they gave it a name,
taken from the sign on which it was born; and they put into its hand a shield and an arrow, if it was

-----
* On reading this passage we are very naturally disposed to inquire what was the Teoamoxtli ?-the name of the divine book
which contained the history, mythology, calendar, and laws of the Tultecas. This name appears to be compounded of teo
divine, ametl paper or a book, (which is itself a word compounded of atl water and metl the maguey plant, indicative of the
process by which paper was manufactured in that country,) and moxtli: moxlli is the same as mostli, for in the Mexican language
z and x frequently supply the place of s; tli is a syllable devoid of meaning, but common as a termination to Mexican proper
names, as in Acamapichtli, the name of tl,e first king of Mexico; Moxtli then would appear to be Moses; and the interpretation
of the entire word teoamoxtli, to be, the divine book of Moses, the Pentateuch. It is necessary further to observe, that in the
Mexican language, in compounding words terminating in tl with other words, an elision of those two final letters frequently
takes place, as in the word acalli, which signifies a boat, which is compounded of all water, and calli a house.

+ PicoUe was the herb named Tobacco.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 205

a boy, which is what the figure of Xiuatlatl denotes, who here represents the god of war: they also
uttered over the child certain prayers in the manner of deprecations, that he might become a brave,
intrepid, and courageous man. The offering which his parents carried to the temple the elder priests
took and divided with the other children who were in the temple, who ran with it through the whole
city. They say that this offering resembled the purification of the mother and her son mentioned in
Leviticus. This ceremony took place four signs after the birth of the child, if the sign was fortunate;
for if this was not the case, or if any other unlucky sign ruled in this sign, they waited till it had
passed by, and performed the ceremony on the next sign. At the time in which this offering or
purification was made, one of the old men held the child in his arms; whence it is plain, that either
these people descend from the Hebrews, or that the Devil gave them these rites and ceremonies, to
imitate those with which GOD was honoured by his people. Certain however it is, that greater would
have been the triumph of the accursed demon, if he had selected out of the same people a chosen
people to sacrifice to him. -- This is a short digression from our narration for which the occasion was
furnished by this figure, respecting which nothing more remains to be observed.

1. Tlauizcalpantecutli.

PLATE XXXII.

1. Xiuatlatl.


PLATE XXXIII.

TONATIUH.

They paint in this manner the substance of the Sun, after having before painted its motions. A
figure is represented with the earth beneath its feet, which it illuminates with this image of its rays.
It was Tonatiuh, as they affirm, who conducted to heaven with acclamations the souls of those alone
who died in war; and on this account they paint him with these arms in his hands. He sits as a
conqueror exactly opposite to the other who is near him, who is the god of hell. They alledge that
the cause of winter being so disagreeable is the absence of the Sun, and that summer is so delightful
on account of its presence; and that the return of the Sun from our zenith is nothing more than the
approach of their god to confer his favours on them. He presided over these thirteen signs. They
believed that those who were born on the first sign of the Flint would be expert huntsmen and very
illustrious persons, and that he who was born on the fifth sign of Air would be an excellent jester.

1. Tonatiuh. 2. A certain sort of arms, as a bow. 3. Arrows.

PLATE XXXIV.

MIQUITLANTECOTLI.

Miquitlantecotli signifies The great lord of the dead below in hell, who alone after Tonacatecotle
was painted with a crown, which kind of crown was used in war even after the arrival of the
Christians in those countries, and was seen in the war of Coatlan, as the person who copied these
paintings relates, who was a brother of the Order of Saint Dominic, named PETER DE LOS RIOS.



206 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX YATICANUS.
They painted this demon near the sun: for in the same way as they believed that the one conducted
souls to heaven, so they supposed that the other carried them to hell. He is here represented with
his hands open and stretched towards the sun, to seize on any soul which might escape from him *.
1. Miquitlantecotli.
PLATE XXXV.
PATECATLE.
Patecatle, who was the husband of Mayaguil, the woman with four hundred breasts, who was
metamorphosed into the maguei plant or vine, was properly the root which they put into the water
or wine which distils from the maguei in order to make it ferment: and the unhappy man to whose
industry the invention of the art of making wine by causing fermentation by means of this root was
due, was afterwards worshipped as a god, and became the lord of these thirteen sIgns; all of which
they considered fortunate, because the god of wine ruled over them.
1. Patecatle.

PLATE XXXVI.

THE EAGLE AND TIGER.

These figures represent their sons, on whom they conferred these insignia of the Eagle and Tiger,
which are the fiercest of all animals and birds, because drunken persons possess a certain degree of
ferocity and courage: and accordingly, whoever received these insignia for his arms, it was a sign
that he was very valiant in war, and a captain and chief of great reputation.

1. Eagle. 2. Tiger.

PLATE XXXVII.

YZTLACOLIUHQUI.

Yztlacoliuhqui signifies The lord of sin or of blindness, and for this reason they paint him with his
eyes bandaged. They say that he committed sin in a place of the highest enjoyment and delight, and
that he remained naked; on which account his first sign was a lizard, which is an animal of the
ground, naked and miserable. Hence it is apparent that the same Devil who tempted our first father
ADAM with the Woman, and the woman EVE with the Serpent, wished to counterfeit our first father,
who was the origin of our blindness and misery. He presided over these thirteen signs, which were
all unlucky. They said likewise that if false evidence should be adduced on anyone of these signs,
it would be impossible to make the truth manifest. They put to death those who were taken in
adultery before his image, if the parties were married; as this not being the case, it was lawful for
them to keep as many women or concubines as they pleased. Yztlacoliuhqui is a star in heaven
which as they pretend proceeds in a reverse course; they considered it a most portentous sign, both
as connected with nativities and with war. This star is situated at the south.

1. Yztlacoliuhqui.

-----
* The following very curious passage occurs in Saint Jude: "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the Devil he disputed
ahout the hody of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee!" Jude's Epist. ver. 9




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICAN MS. 207.

PLATE XXXVIII.

This painting explains what we have mentioned above, -- that all those who committed adultery were
stoned. The women were first strangled; they were afterwards thrown into some public place before
the image of this god or demon, where they stoned their naked bodies"'.

PLATE XXXIX.

YXcUINA.

They say that Yxcuina, who was the goddess of Shame, protected adulterers. She was the goddess
of salt, of dirt, and of immodesty: they painted her with two faces, or with two different colours
on the face. She was the wife of Miquitlantecotli, the god of hell: she was also the goddess of
prostitutes; and she presided over these thirteen signs, which were all unlucky, and accordingly they
believed that those who were born in these signs would be rogues or prostitutes.

1. Yxcuina.

PLATE XL.

TONACACIGUA.

Tonacacigua was the wife of Tonacatecotle: for, as we have observed above, although their gods
were not as they affirm united together for matrimonial purposes, still they assigned to each of them
a goddess as a companion: they called her by another name Suchiquetzal and Chicomecoual,
which means Seven Serpents, because they say that she was the cause of sterility, famine, and the
miseries of this life.

1. Chalchiuitlicue, indifferent. 2. Tlazolteotl, bad. 3. Tepeyolotl, good. 4. Tlaloc, indifferent.
5. Xyuhteoctli, good. 6. Ytztli, bad. 7. Piltzinteoctli, good. 8. Tzinteotl, indifferent. 9. Tonacacigua,
the supreme wife of the god of heaven.

PLATE XLI.

QUECALCOATLE. +

They declare that their supreme deity, or, more properly speaking, demon Tonacatecotle, whom we
have just mentioned, who by another name was called Citinatonali, when it appeared good to him,
breathed and begot Quetzalcoatle, not by connection with a woman, but by his breath alone, as we

-----
* Probably that the letter of the law might be fulfilled.

+ The Jews considered the brazen serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness as a famous type of the coming of their future
Messiah; and since the Mexicans were sO well acquainted with the early history of the Pentateuch, and with the signs and wonders




208 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.
have observed above, when he sent his ambassador as they say to the virgin of Tula. They believed
him to be the god of the air, and he was the first to whom they built temples and churches, which
they formed perfectly ronnd, without any angles. They say that it was he who effected the
reformation of the world by penance, as we have already said; since as, according to their account,
his father had created the world, and men had given themselves up to vice, on which account it had
been so frequently destroyed, Citinatonali sent his son into the world to reform it. We certainly
must deplore the blindness of these miserable people, on whom Saint Paul says the wrath of GOD has
to be revealed, inasmuch as his eternal truth was so long kept back by the injustice of attributing
to this demon that which belonged to Him; for He being the sole Creator of the universe, and He
who made the division of the waters, which these poor people just now attributed to the Devil, when
it appeared good to Him, dispatched the heavenly ambassador to announce to the Virgin that she
should be the Mother of his Eternal Word; who, when He found the world corrupt, reformed it by
doing penance and by dying upon the cross for our sins; and not the wretched Quetzalcoatle, to
whom these miserable people attributed this work. They assigned to him the dominion over the
other thirteen signs, which are here represented, in the same manner as they had assigned the preceding
thirteen to his father. They celebrated a great festival on the arrival of his sign, as we shall
see in the sign of Four Earthquakes, which is the fourth in order here, because they feared that the
world would be destroyed in that sign, as he had foretold to them when he disappeared in the Red
Sea; which event occurred on the same sign. As they considered him their advocate, they celebrated
a solemn festival, an d fasted during four signs.

1. Quecalcoatle.

which Moses performed in Egypt by lifting up his rod, which became a serpent, it is probable that they were not ignorant of the history
of the brazen serpent, and that Quecalcoatle (which proper name signifies the precious feathered serpent) was so named after the
memorable prodigy of the serpent in the wilderness, the feathers perhaps alluding to the rabbinical tradition, that the fiery serpents
which bit the children of Israel, and which God sent suddenly against them, were of a winged species. Representations of the lifting
up of serpents frequently occur in Mexican paintings: and the plagues which Moses called down upon the Egyptians by lifting up his
rod, which became a serpent, are evidently referred to in the eleventh and twelfth pages of the Borgian Manuscript. An allusion to the
passage of the Red Sea, the waters of which rolled back to allow the children of Israel to pass, and "were a wall unto them on tl,eir
right hand and on their left," as it is said in the twenty-second verse of the fourteenth chapter of Exodus, seems also to be contained in
the seventy-first page of the ?Les... r Vatican MS.; and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host, and the thanksgiving of Moses, may
perhaps be signified by the figure on the left, in the same page, of a man falling into a pit or gulf, and by the hand on the right
stretched out to receive an offering. The Mexican sign of Atl, or water, occupies the centre of the page, in order perhaps to show that
the festival commemorative of the event which it records occurred on that sign. It may be observed, with respect to the construction
which the Jews put on certain passages of Scripture, declaring them to be types of the Messiah, that Christians have too blindly 
followed the absurd rel'eries of their rabbis, even in understanding in a metaphorical sen:;e what they interpret literally. Thus the Song
of Solomon, which breathes the soul of the voluptuous monarch who composed it, was considered by the Jews to refer throughout to
the Messiah, and to his future nuptials when he should appear in the character of a potent king of the Jews: and this is the meaning
which they assign to the ninth verse of the forty-fifth Psalm, "Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women; upon thy right
hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir." They even believed that the Messiah would have children; so explaining a passage in
the tenth verse of the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah: "He shall see bis seed; he shall prolong his days; and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand." It is unnecessary to remark that Christians believe equally that the Song of Solomon refer to the nuptials
of the Messiah; but these nuptials they explain to be merely allegorical and with the church, and Solomon's expressions of love to be
symbolical of the Church's love unto Christ. The early Christians, notwithstanding their hatred of the Jews knew thdt they were much
better acquainted with the books of the Old Testament than themselves; and since types had been long a favourite study and cultivated
science amongst the latter, though held in no esteem by other nations, they generally followed them as their guide, in determining the
precise texts of Scnpture which they might consider to be typical and figurative of the Messiah.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 209

PLATE XLII.

TEZCATLIPOC A.

They paint Tezcatlipoca with the feet of a man and of a cock, as they say his name bears allusion
to this circumstance. He is clothed with a fowl, which seems to cry in laughing accents; and when it
crows Oi, Oi, Oi, they say that it deceived the first woman who committed sin"; and accordingly
they paint him near the goddess of pollution, to signify that in the same way as Satan is in expectation
of all sinners, so pollution is the cause of them.

1. Tezcatlipoca.

-----
* The Jews have a great many superstitious notions respecting the cock, which they formerly used to offer as a sacrifice of atonement for
their sins. The reason of this absurd custom was derived from the Hebrew word Gebher, which signifies a man. and in the Talmud
a cock. That Gebher should suffer for their transgressions they could not doubt, because the Talmud declared it: but as it appeared to
some of their Rabbis unreasonable to suppose that the anger of God could be appeased by a human sacrifice, they took this word in its
other signification of a cock, and accordingly made expiation for their sins by the blood of that bird. If the ingenuity of the Rabbis had
ever suggested to them the expedient of taking the word Gehher in its double sense, and of forming an imaginary being of both its
significations, the figure of a man with the head of a cock, which sometimes occurs in Mexican paintings, might allude to this Jewish
notion of a sacrifice of atonement.

The Mexican mythology is so totally unlike the Egyptian, that although this figure bears some resemblance to the hawk-headed
deity of the Egyptians, nothing can be inferred from this accidental analogy. Antonius Margarita, in his book of the Jewish Faith,
writes, that some assert from tradition that an ape is to be used in this oblation, as being most like a man. It is singular that the figure of
an ape on a cross should occur in the eleventh page of the Mexican painting preserved in the Bodleian Library, which forms a roll.
This figure rests, or is supported, on a pot of earthenware, in the centre of which is represented a footstep, which probably denotes
descent. The plate which contains this curious combination of figures may receive some elucidation from the following story, taken
from a book called The Tribe of Judah, written first in Hebrew, afterwards by the Jews themselves translated into German,
and printed at Cracow in 1644, in which is contained a dispute between a Christian and a Jew, held before Alphonsus king of Portugal
: Ie When the Christian had brought many places relating to Christ the true rvlessias, and amongst the rest those words of the
twenty-second Psalm, first verse, "My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?' at last the Jew answered, that the Scripture had
that property as to bear several expositions, but that that was the truest and best which could be illustrated and confirmed by other
places of it: but that there were many which would not suffer those words to be interpreted of Christ. Yet first, said he, give me leave
to tell you what a wise and learned Rabbi some time answered a king of Spain: Yesterday, said he, r was angry with my cock,
because he disturbed me with his noise, so I struck him with my staffe and drove him into a dark place, where he left crowing: but I did
beat him every day so long till at last I did break his bones, and then put him into my pot, and covered it. But here happened a
miracle; for his soul returned into him, and he began to crow again. And this is the sense of the twenty-second Psalm: to which
also that of the Prophet Jeremiah in the Lamentations is to be referred, I am the man that hath seen affliction; that is, the cock, which
in the Talmudical dialect is Gebher: by the rod '!! thine anger; that is, the staile with which he did strike the cock. He hath led 
meand brought me, that is, he did drive me away, into darknesse, but not into light, that is, into the dark closet: he 
?tUTlletl& his hand
against me; this relates to his beating him in the closet and putting him into the pot. My flesh and my skin he hath made old; he
hath pulled it off; he hath broken my bones; he hath cut me in pieces; he Itath builded against me; he hath put me in the pot; he hath
set me in dark places, in the covered pot. Also, when I cry and shout, ?M,/wtletil out my prayer; this shows, said be, that be crowed
after he was dead. Hence it is plain what a mockery the Jews make of the Scripture, and that they are really possest with that madnesse,
blindnesse, and dulnesse of heart, with which God did by Moses threaten them." Who was the author of The Tribe of Judah
from which the above story was taken is uncertain, or whether he was the same person as the writer of The View of the Jewish Religion
styles that wicked and naughty Rabbi LiplUaunus, who composed a cursed and filthy book, which he wrote on the history of the Four
Evangelists, under the title of The Triumph or Victory, in the year of Christ 1459.




210 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

PLATE XLIII.

THIPETOTEC.

Thipetotec is he whom we have mentioned above as performing penance, like another Quetzalcoatle,
on the mountain of thorns. They named him The Mournful Combatant: they celebrated
a great festival in his honour, which they called Tlaxipehualiztli. He was one of the gods of the
Tzapotecas. They dressed themselves on his festival in human skins taken from those whom they
had slain in war; because they say that he was the first who clothed himself in this manner. They
fasted on the three first signs of his festival, during which they only ate at noon. The priests, on
the signs in which they celebrated the fast, proceeded begging alms through the city, and ate nothing
more than that which they received, whether it was little or much. On every sign dedicated to
fasting the men separated themselves from their wives. On this sign of Four Canes they conferred
dignities on the princes of the people; but they esteemed the three preceding signs, which are One
Cane, Two Apes, and Three Herbs, as unlucky omens. The remainder of the thirteen signs were
all good.

1. Thipetotec.

PLATE XLIV.

QUETZALCOATLE.

This is the figure of Qllecalcoatle, the companion of Totec. They paint him in this manner to
signify that this was a festival of great fear, which is the reason why they paint this serpent in the
act of devouring a man alive.
1. Quetzalcoatle.

PLATE XLV.

YXPAPALOTL.

Yxpapalotl signifies A knife of butterflies *. He was one of those gods who, as they affirm, were
expelled from heaven; and on this account they paint him surrounded with knives, and wings of
butterflies. They represent him with the feet of an eagle; because they say that he occasionally
appears to them, and that they only see the feet of an eagle. They further add, that being in a
garden of great delight he pulled some roses, but that suddenly the tree broke, and blood streamed
from it; and that in consequence of this they were deprived of that place of enjoyment, and were
cast into this world, because Tonacateutli and his wife became incensed; and accordingly they came
some of them to the earth, and others went to hell. He presided over these thirteen signs; the
first of which, the House, they considered unfortunate, because they said that demons came through

-----
* The stone knives or flints might, from their weight, have been emblematical of his fall; and the wings of the butterflies, of the feeble
resistance which Yxpapalotl could oppose to the will of Tonacateutli. The Mexican paintings are full of enigmatical meanings.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 211

the air'" on that sign, in the figure of women such as we designate witches, who usually went to
the highways where they met in the form of a cross, and to solitary places; and accordingly, that
when any bad woman wished to absolve herself of her sins and to do penance, she went alone by
night to these places, and took off her garments, and sacrificed there with her tongue, and left the
clothes which she had carried, and returned home naked, as a sign of the confession of her sins.
He was called before he sinned Xomunco, and afterwards Yxpapalotl, which signifies A knife of
razors.

1. Y xpapalotl.

PLATE XLVI.

xUITLICASTAN.

This is the rose-tree called Xuitlicastan. As they intended to show that this was a feast rather of
fear than of love, they painted this tree distilling blood. The gods who were cast from that place
were those alone, as they declare, who inspired them with fear.

PLATE XLVII.

XOLOTLE.

They believed Xolotle to be the god of monstrous productions and of twins, which are such things
as grow double. He was one of the seven who remained after the deluge; and he presided over
these thirteen signs, which they usually considered unlucky: but they said that he who was born on
the seventh sign of Air would be rich, but that those who were born on the other signs would be
spies and impostors.
1. Xolotle.

-----
* In the SgSrd page of a little work entitled A View of the Jewish Religion, printed in London in the year 1656, the following passage
occurs: "They write farther, that certain peculiar angels fly through the air, which are set over the world and over men, and that corne
down upon this inferiour world; and so by the impure and corrupt aire that breaketh out of the earth, contract some filthinesse; and
that these must be cleansed in a fiery torrent called Dinor, which is spoken of by Daniel, cap. vii.; and that they must consume all the
filth and uncleannesse they have gathered in this fire, before they dare attempt to praise God. If therefore the angels are bound to wash
and purge themselves, by how the greater reason are men bound to do it," We are not informed whether the Indians attached as
much merit to these modes of purification as the Jews; but perhaps Gomara's acquaintance with the Jewish superstitions made him add
the concluding paragraph to that chapter in his History of the Indies in which he treats of the customs of Nicaragua. The Jews, it
cannot be doubted, introduced many inventions amongst the Indians. It may be observed, with respect to aerial spirits or demons, that
those mentioned in the New Testament as having entered into the swine which ran violently down a steep place into the sea, resembled,
both in name and the control which they exercised over men and animals in depriving them of reason, the Mexican Centzontolochtin,since
this proper name is compounded of CentzontJi, joltr hundred or a legion, and TochtJi, a rabbit, of which Totochtin is the plural;
in allusion to the effects of drunkenness over which this animal or sign presided, and which these spirits caused. The Italian interpreter,
in describing the Mexican goddess Maiaguil, takes occasion to observe that the Mexican priests were named Tlamatzatzquex, after these
aerial spirits: but Torquemada affirms that that name simply signifies, a doer of penance; and that the priests dedicated to Quecalcoatle
were more particularly so designated.




212 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

PLATE XLVIII.

TLACLITONATIO.

The signification of this name is, Fiat lux Let there be light, and darkness, which we call the
crepusculum: and accordingly they represent the rotundity'" of the earth by the symbol of a man,
with the sun over his shoulders and darkness and death beneath his feet; denoting that when the
sun sets, it goes to warm and give light to the dead.

1. Tlaciitonatio, or light. 2. The Sun. S. The Earth. 4. Night, or Darkness.

PLATE XLIX.

CHALCHIUHLOTLOLI, + WHO IS THE SAME AS TEZCATLIPOCA.

This picture represents Tezcatlipoca, the meaning of whose name is the Mirror which casts forth
smoke. They paint him in this manner; but whenever the Devil appears to them, they only see the
feet of an eagle or of a cock t. He presided over these thirteen signs. They believed that he who
was born on the sign of Five Canes would be a man of business; but that those who were born
on Seven Eagles would be afflicted with pains in the heart, which would be incurable. This sign was
applied to the moon §, and women in certain indispositions sacrificed on this sign to it.
1. Chalchiuhtottoli, the same as Tezcatlipoca.

PLATE L.

This painting represents the sacrifice which they performed to the Devil with human blood; and
the bag of incense, and the other things requisite for the sacrifice.

-----
* By the rotundity of the earth may be meant the creation, since a round figure requires a perfection of parts.

+ The bird of the precious stone of penance, which might sometimes have been painted with the feet of a man and of a cock.

++ A curious analogy is here found between the superstitious notions of the Indians and those of the European populace in the middle ages.

§ S~ a discourse in the Talmud, between God and the Moon, which being made less, some of the Jewish Rabbis impiou'ly pretend
that God desired that a propitiatory oblation should be made for himself, for having diminished the size of the moon. Fortunate would it
have been for the human race if the Jews had only carried their notions of propitiation and sacrifices of atonement to the length of
absurdity: but never should it be forgotten, that in Mexico and Peru children were immolated to appease the wrath of an inexorable
divinity; and that the blood-stained Ingas actually believed in the efficacy of that vicarial sacrifice




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 213

PLATE LI.

CANTICO.

Cantico they say was the first who offered sacrifice after having eaten a fried fish; and that in
consequence of the presumption of offering sacrifice without having fasted, Tonacateutli became
incensed, and pronounced a curse against him, that he should be changed into a dog, which is an
animal of a very voracious nature; and accordingly they named him Nine Dogs. He presided over
these thirteen signs. They said that he who was born on the first sign of Air would be healthy by
his nativity; but that if he grew ill of pains in the side or cancer, that his disease would be
incurable. He who was born on the ninth sign they believed would be unfortunate, because that
sign was dedicated to sorcerers a,rid necromancers, who transformed themselves into the shapes of
various animals.

1. Cantico.

PLATE LII.

QUETZALCOATL.

Opposite to Cantico they placed Quetzalcoatl, in a golden house, arrayed in precious gems, and
seated as a pontiff"', with a bag of incense in his hand; intending to show that as the other thad
been punished for his gluttony, so he was honoured for his abstinence and sacrifices.

PLATE LIII.

SUCHIQUECAL.

Suchiquecal was the wife of Tzinteutl. She was the goddess of pregnant women, and of those
who knew how to work and weave, for they say that she invented those two occupations. Women
in a state of pregnancy offered sacrifices to her, in order not to give birth to girls; because they
believed that those who were born on the first sign of the Eagle would be bad, but that if they bore
sons on that sign they would be very brave and valiant in war, and would animate others with
courage to die in battle, which was that which they desired above all other things: since we have
already said that those alone who died in war went to heaven, -- from whence many eagles came and
changed themselves into the figures of boys. She presided over these thirteen signs; on the seventh
of which, named the First Day t, they <,elebrated a special festival. This was a greater festival,
because they celebrated on this sign the coming of the eagles.

1. Suchiquecal.

-----
* The Mexicans believed that Quecalcoatle united in his own person the character of a king, a priest, and a prophet.

+Cantico.

++ Primo giorno is the name which the sign Cipactli always bears in the Vatican MS. It should be observed, that the name of each
sign is written under it in this MS., and this is repeated all through the calendar. This repetition of the same names has been here




214 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

PLATE LIV.

TEZCATLIPOCA.

They paint the Devil Tezcatlipoca opposite to this woman, as if tempting her to sin; intending
perhaps to signify by this, that all women who chanced to be born on the first sign (the Eagle)
would be liable to temptation, since they believed that all who were born on that sign would be bad.

1. Tezcatlipoca.

PLATE LV.

IZTAPALTOTEC.

Iztapaltotec properly signifies, a large stone, or the surface of the earth, or the bloody stone of
the afflicted, or placed within a razor""', which is the same as a sword or fear. They represent in this
manner this god with his mouth open, "ad deglutiendum homines." He presided over these thirteen
signs. They considered it fortunate to be born on the first sign of the Rabbit, and that those who
were born on that sign would enjoy long life, and that he who was born on Five Herbs would be
a rich merchant.
1. lztapaltotec.

PLATE LVI.

The corresponding figure represents the God of Fire, who purifies the earth and renovates things;
and accordingly they place him last of all. They here kept a fast commemorative of the ruin of
the first of the human race; I have already mentioned the reason why they painted all these figures
and images here presented to us, which are twenty, each in its peculiar style; which proceeded from
the necessity which they were under of appearing habited in the same dress as the idol, on every
occasion of celebrating with dances and other festivals the sign dedicated to it.

PLATE LVII.

The eighteen figures which follow are those of the gods of their eighteen months, the names of
which months are as here stated. Atlcaualo is the same as our February, because the Mexicans
omitted. The letters b, c, and in, in the squares surrounding the figures of the principal Mexican idols, denote the character of the sign,
and the fortune of the day OI'er which it presided, whether it would be good, bad, or indifferent; being the initials of buono, cattivo, and
indifferente.

-----
* Peter de los Rios calls flints fonned into knives, razors, from the extreme sharpness of their edge.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 215
commenced their year on the twenty-fourth of February; but amongst the <;apotecas and the
Mixtecas it began on the sixteenth of March. They varied likewise in the twenty signs distinguishing
the days of the month, although they had the same year of three hundred and sixty-five days, and
eighteen months, and the same twenty letters or signs appropriated to them '''. Tlaloc signifies,
seasonable weather, or the verdure of the earth; for the trees generally in this sign, as in the month
of April, begin to bud: they therefore paint this deity encompassed with green boughs, and seated
upon the water, for he properly was the god of that element. Tlaloc likewise means the wine of the
earth: by which metaphor they intended to show, that in the same way as man rises from wine glad
and contented, so the earth when satiated with rain is glad and refreshed, and produces fruit
and herbage. They sacrificed boys during these twenty signs to this god, in high places and in
mountains; and in order to know whether the year would be favourable t, they took out the entrails
of some of these sacrificed boys, and put meal of maize and beans into them, and placed them in a
stone box; and at the expiration of four days they came and removed them, examining the
meal whether it had become putrid; and if this was the case, it was the sign of a good year; if
otherwise, of a bad one.

1. Atlcaualo, which month commenced on the twenty-fourth of February.

PLATE LVIII.

The lords who managed the public accounts and the soldiers celebrated a great festival to this
idol; on which occasion they clothed themselves in the skins of those whom they had slain in war, to
which ceremony the name Tlacaxipeualiztli alludes. The person whose office it was to celebrate the
festival clothed himself in a human skin, and went to the houses of the citizens asking alms in the
name of GOD, and begging certain round loaves, which were made for this festival, with honey,
which they called U ologopale, and Ochule, which are ears of maize; which having been given, the

-----
* The Mexicans, Tecpanecas, Tlax:caltecas, and Cholultecas, only varied from each other by beginning their years with different signs
taken from the same series; but other nations of New Spain used a distinct order of signs in their calendars: their variations in the
twenty signs distinguishing the days of the month, was the necessary consequence of their beginning the year with different signs.

+ Acosta says that the Peruvians had a method of divining whether the year would be fruitful, by maize: It Ex: chacra. seu rure
optimum et solidissimum Maiis legunt, additisque nommllis ritibus, in fasciculum Peruadictum, id colligant; quem cum tribus continuis
noctibus dispositis excubiis custodiverunt, panno pretioso exquisite et operose texta Maiis tandem excipiunt involvuntque; et ante Perua
procidentes adorant, dicuntque id Maiis sui et chaeTa suorum matrem existere, ex quft Maiis tum progeneretur, tum nutrlatur et
vegetetur. Hoc ipso mense peculiari alia instituto sacrificio, ex Perua sciscitantnr, an futuro fcecundum futurum sit." -- Elisloria India
Occidentalis, lib. v. cap. xxviii. pag. 260. The same writer mentions another custom in the same chapter, -- that of boring their sons'
cars, -- in which the Peruvians resembled the Mexicans: "Hoc mense qui nobis November est, pro pueris istis, qui bus postcro mense
aures pertundendre erant necessaria omnia parabantur, et alia quredam similia peragebantur." This was perhaps some religious memorial.
The reason for the Jews wearing religious memorials on their faces was, as the Rabbis say, to show that they were not ashamed of their
Law. Since the Peruvian paintings have been all destroyed, it is impossible to do more than to infer, from the following passage of the
fourth chapter of the fifth book of Acosta's _Indian History,_ that the hand of Justice, resembling that which is carved on the seal of
Hugh Capet, as Baron de Humboldt observes, would have been found in the Peruvian paintings, as well as in those of Mexico and
Yucatan: "Adoraturi rem quampiam chirothecre similem, manibus tenentes, in altum parrigehant." That the Mexican and Peruvian
languages possessed some religious terms in common may be inferred from !maca or guaca being a name for a shrine or holy place in both
idioms. We may further remark, that Raymi and Ramadan, the former a Peruvian and the latter a Turkish name for a festival, are
somewhat similar to each other.



216 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

master of the house came out and took some green boughs iI<, with which he punctured his body;
signifying by this act that he cleansed it; which was a kind of sanctification or purification, the performance
of which gave him great satisfaction: and whatsoever was demanded in the way of alms
was given, which the other handed to some old men who accompanied him, who carried it to the
temple, and there divided and ate it.
This festival commenced on the sixteenth of March, and, including twenty days, terminated on the
fifth of April.
1. Tlacaxipeualiztli, which commenced on the sixteenth of March.

PLATE LIX.

They celebrated on the fifth of April the festival of the Goddess of Abundance, or of Maize;
and on this sign, they adorned, according to their fashion, all the images of the gods, and afterwards
placed around them meat and drink in great abundance, and danced and celebrated other great
rejoicings, ornamenting the temples with branches interwoven with flowers and roses.
1. Tocozintli t, which commenced on the fifth of April.

PLATE LX.

In this month they again adorned the temples and images as in the preceding; and at the end of the
twenty days they sacrificed a boy to the God of Water:t, and put him in the maize, in order that none
of the provision of the entire year might be spoiled. They paid also in this month all the first
fruits to the gods §, offering them at the temples, which served to support the ministers of religion,
because they say that he was the god who bestowed provision upon them.
1. Veitozcoztli, which commenced on the twenty-fifth of April.

-----
* Perhaps the leaves of the aloe, with the thorns of which the Mexicans were accustomed to do penance for their sins.

+ Boturini says that the symbol of this month was represented in some Mexican paintings by a leg with the head of a bird upon it.
" Pintase este symbol0 en unos mapas con una pierna de clonde ordinariamente se sangraban, y con una cabecita de paxaro eacima de
ella, porque de el nombre de dicho paxaro se deriba el del mes." This serves to explain a curious symbol occurring in the 129th page of
the Vatican MS. which contains a representation of the inundation that occurred in Mexico in the days of Ahuitzotl.


++ Tlaloc was the God of Water. He is represented in the fifty-seventh plate of the Codex Vaticamls as seated upon that element,
encompassed with green boughs. This deity, unlike the other Mexican gods, is painted with a sort of ghostly visage, which seems to
involve some bidden mystery.

§ The chapter in Torquemada's I"dian MOllarch!!, which he has entitled" De las Rentas Decimales, y Primiciarias, y de como ban
side en todo tiempo usadas, y se usaron entre los Indios de esta Nueva Espana, y de presente," is exceedingly curious. It would even
at first appear that tithes were an old-established thing in America before the arrival of the Spaniards. The enormous revenues of the
temples of Mexico rendered their maintenance a source of great national taxation: but the fact cannot be proved that the Indians
payed tythes, or that those revenues proceeding from lands were given to the temples in lieu of them; neither, on the other hand, can it
be disproved.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 217
PLATE LXI.
On the fifteenth of May they celebrated the festival of Toxcatl, and adorned the temples with
various kinds of roses and flowers, for it usually happens that at this period rain falls in that
country. They represented him surrounded with many different kinds of flowers and roses of various
colours: they painted him also holding in one hand a certain weapon which they name Xiuatlatli, and
in the other a shield and quiver of arrows; and since a stream of water issues from his foot, and out
of it a serpent, they signified by this metaphor, that in the same way as they feared him lest he
should cause droughts, so likewise they feared lest he should send inundations. They attributed to
him dissensions and wars, and on this account they placed in his hands these insignia. They burned
incense in this month before the image of Texcatlipocatl.

1. Toxcatl, which commenced on the fifteenth of May.

PLATE LXII.

They celebrated in this month, which commenced on the fourth of June, the festival of the God of
Water, whom they called Tlaloc. The name of the festival was Hetzalqualiztli: on which occasion
they took boiled maize, mixed only with water, and presented it in the temples with certain
ceremonies, in order that all the people might eat of it; and this they called the festival of Hetzali,
in which they made some sacrifices of men, and offered them to their miserable god, entreating
a good year, because at that time the heavy rains began to set in: they accordingly paint him
surrounded with drops of water, holding in one hand an esculent plant, and in the other some stalks
of maize, as a symbol of abundance. Theyalso allege that they performed these human sacrifices,
and celebrated this festival to this god, in recollection of the period when he destroyed the world by
water.

1. Hetzalqualiztl commenced on the fourth of June. 2. Tlaloque.

PLATE LXIII.

The Mexican lords were those who celebrated + his festival, and accordingly on the twenty-fourth of
June they made sumptuous donations of food and drink to all the people. They dressed themselves
in this manner for the celebration of the festival, which they termed the lesser, to distinguish it from
the other, which was general or greater; which is the following:

1. Tecuilvitontl, which commenced on the twenty-fourth of June.

PLATE LXIV.

This was the greatest festival and the most frequented of all that occurred in the year: it
commenced on the twenty-fourth of July; and this the name Veitecuilvitl implies. They celebrated




218 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

in this festival the fast called Atamatl, which means bread and water, when the whole people were
bound to fast. They attached so much importance to this festival, that the old men say, that after
the arrival of our Spaniards in the country, when the Indians of Mexico were employed in the
celebration of it, in their accustomed dresses and dances, our countrymen turning it into jest, they
planned the massacre of them all, and that that was the cause of the great slaughter which happened
on that day.

1. Veitecuilvitl commenced on the twenty-fourth of July.

PLATE LXV.

On the third of August they celebrated the festival of the dead, and accordingly placed offerings
of food and drink upon their tombs, as is the custom in Spain on the second of November. They
celebrated this festival of the dead during the first four years after their decease; for they believed
that whilst the period of four years remained incomplete, their abode was in a place of much
trouble, but that at the expiration of this period they were conducted to another place, where they
enjoyed a certain degree of repose, but not that which awaited those who died in war, for they
enjoyed the great repose of the celestial gods: they therefore buried the deceased in his clothes
and shoes, imagining that he would stand in need of them, on account of the hardships of the
journey; and if he was a principal person, they also killed a slave on the sign in which he died, that
he might serve him.

The Mixtecas, Capotecas, and Mixes, celebrated their funeral rites almost in the manner in which
we honour the dead. They erected a monument, which they covered with black cloth, and placed
around it a quantity of food. Since we are here speaking of the dead, it may be right to mention
their mode of burial. They deposited the body of the deceased in a spacious grave, with his feet
turned towards the east: after it had decayed, they removed the bones and put them into another
place, resembling the charnel-houses belonging to churches and the cemeteries in our Spain, which
building was constructed with much art. These three nations the Mixtecas, Capotecas, and Mixes,
made use of cemeteries in their chapels; but the Mexicans burned the bones, as did the Ottomies,
from whom the Mexican nation borrowed that custom.

1. Miccailhuitl, which commenced on the third of August.

PLATE LXVI.

On the twenty-third of August they again celebrated the festival of the dead, which was much
greater than. the preceding, as the name Veymiccailhuitl signifies. This was the great festival. of
the dead, during the three last signs of which month they all fasted in honour of the dead, at the
expiration of which period they went out, for the purpose of rejoicing, into the plain, as if performing
a festive ceremony; and in the intermediate time, whilst the priests were in the temple celebrating
the festival, the people were all obliged to stand upon the terraces of their houses, looking towards




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 219

the north"", and offering sacrifices during these three entire nights, repeating their prayers for the
dead, and exclaiming at short intervals in a very loud tone-Come quickly, for we expect you!

1. Veymiccailhuitl, which commenced on the twenty-third of August.

PLATE LXVII.

They celebrated on the twelfth of September the festival of the goddess Ochpaniztl, which name
signifies Purification; and accordingly when this month arrived, they swept and cleansed all their
houses, streets, and temples. During the four first signs of this month all fasted, and during the
entire twenty they performed sacrifices, because they considered this goddess the protectress of
vegetation, and they therefore carried plants, during these signs, to the temples.

This nation had many fasts; but the greatest, which were on bread and water, were kept by the
priests; not however by all at the same time, but three or four fasted first, and afterwards all the rest
in rotation; and in order that it might be more acceptable, they made a vow before commencing
the fast that they would complete it. Hence the perverse Lutherans ought to be confounded, who
scoff at our holy religion, and wish to do away with fasts and penance, seeing that even these poor
people amidst their blindness knew, by the light of nature, that such works as proceed from greater
obligation possess greater merit.

1. Ochpaniztl, which commenced on the twelfth of September.

PLATE LXVIII.

On the second of October floods generally occur in that country; they therefore represented this
month with the same symbols as that of May; and since it never froze but at this season, they feared
this month exceedingly, and on this account the natives view with some distrust the festival of the
glorious Father SAINT FRANCIS, which falls on the fourth ofthis month, and hence they celebrated a
festival during these twenty signs to this god of Fear.

1. Pachtontl, which commenced on the second of October.

PLATE LXIX.

They celebrated on the twenty-second of October the great festival of Reverence or of Humiliation,
which was dedicated to all the gods, in the same way as we celebrate the festival of All the Saints;

-----
* The Mexicans believed that hell or Mictlan, the place of the dead, was situated towards the north. Torquemada says, that
Mictian signifies in the Mexican language, both Hell and the North. Hell, the place of punishment, which the Mexicans seem to
have considered distinct from Mictian, was designated by them Tlalxicco, which name Torquemada says, signifies" en el ombligo de
la tierra," "in the centre of the earth," and which was given to it with great propriety, because, It es cosa averiguada, segun doctrina
Cat01ica, que el infierno esta en las entranas de la tierra, y que alli diput6 Dios lugar para los condenados." It is probable that
Zontemoqui presided over Tlalxicco, alld Mictlantecutii over Mictlan, though these gods are reckoned by many authors as the same.




220 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.
but with this difference, that they celebrated it for the service of Devils, we for the glory of God
and the honour of all his Saints.

1. Veipachtli, which commenced on the twenty-second of October.

PLATE LXX.

The festival of Quecholi was dedicated to the four gods of Hell, who are represented at the
commencement of this book, who they say fell from Heaven, and accordingly they celebrated their
festival in these twenty signs.

1. Quecholi, which commenced on the eleventh of November.

PLATE LXXI.

Panquetzaliztli * is interpreted the Elevation of Bannerst, for on the first of December every
individual spread over his house a small paper banner in honour of this god of battle, and the captains
and soldiers sacrificed those whom they had taken prisoners in war, who before they were sacrif, iced
were set at liberty, and presented with arms equal to their adversaries, with which once again to defend
themselves; and in this manner they fought with them until they were either vanquished or killed,
and thus they sacrificed them. The Mexicans celebrated in this month the festival of their first
Captain Vichilopuchitl, and the inhabitants of the province of Calco, that of Catlipocatl, as that
was the name of their first captain. They celebrated in this month the festival of the Wafer or
Cake, which was in this manner: They made a cake of the seed of bledos, which they called Tzoali,
and having made it, they blessed it in their manner, and broke it into pieces, which the high priest
put into certain very clean vessels, and took a thorn ofmaguey, which resembles a thick needle, with
which he took up with the utmost reverence single morsels, which he put into the mouth of each
individual, in the manner of a communion; and I am disposed to believe that these poor people
have had the knowledge of our mode of communion, or of the annunciation of the Gospel; + or

-----
* The name of this month refers to the religious ceremonies which were celebrated in the course of it in honour of Huitzilopuchtli.
It is compounded of pall a banner, and of quetzulli a plume of green feathers.

+ Isaiah, whose Prophecies the Mexicans were acquainted with by paintings and tradition at least, says in the tenth verse of his
sixty-second chapter, addressing the Jews, "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up
the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people." The famous prophecy of the same prophet relating to the
Lord's slaying the leviathan, which the Jews understand to refer to the Messiah, "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and
strong sword, shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in
the sea," seems to be alluded to in the ninety-sixth page of the lesser Vatican MS.

++ Since the discovery of crosses and of traces of many Christian doctrines and traditions in various parts of America, is a fact of which
there can exist no doubt; Doctor Siguenza and other learned Spaniards have endeavoured to account for this mystery by supposing
that Saint Thomas had preached the Gospel in the New World, and was known to the Indians by the name of Topilcin Quecalcoatle;
in support of which opinion they alledge that the proper name Topilcin Quecalcoatle closely resembles both in sound and signification,
that of Thomas Didymus; for that to in the Mexican name is the abbreviation of Thomas, to which pilcin, meaning son or disciple, is
added; and that Quecalcoatle corresponds exactly in signification with the Greek name Didymus, a twin, being compounded of
quelzalli a plume of green feathers, metaphorically signifying any thing precious, and walle a serpent, metaphorically likewise meaning
one of two twins, the reason for which metaphor Torquemada assigns, in the following passage of the forty-eighth chapter of the sixth
book of his _Indian Monarchy,_ "Tenian asimismo, que quando la muger paria dos criaturas de un vientre (10 qual en esta tierra



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 221

perhaps the Devil most envious of the honour of God, may have led them into this superstition, m
order that by this ceremony he might be adored and served as Christ our Lord.

1. Panquetzaliztli, which commenced on the first of December.

PLATE LXXII.

On the twenty-first of December they celebrated the festival of this god, through whose instruacontece
muchas veces) avia de morif el padre, ola madre. Y el remedio que el demonio les daba era, que matasen al uno de los
melli~os, a los quales en su leugua llamaban Cocohua, que quiere decir culebras; porque dicen~ que la primera muger que pario dos,
Uamaban Cohuatl, que significa culebra. Y de aqui es, que nombraban Culebras a los melli~os; y decian, que avian de comer a su
padre, 0 madre, sino matasen al uno de los dos." "They also believed when a woman gave birth to twins (which frequently happens
in this country), that either the father or the mother would die, and the remedy which the Devil suggested to them was, that they should
kill one of the twins, which they named in their language Cocohua, which signifies serpents, for they say that the first woman who had
twins was named Cohuatl, which means a serpent; and this is the reason why they bestowed the appellation of serpents on twins, who
they said would eat either their father or their mother if they did not kill one of them." It may be proper to observe that cocohua is
the plural of cohuatl, as totochtin is that of tochtli, a rabbit; the Mexican language in certain plurals making use, like the Greek in
the preterite of the verb, of a reduplication. The reason assigned by Torquemada for Mexican parents naming twins cocohua after
Cihuacohuatl, the nrst woman who bore twins, is sufficient to account for the name; but it does not explain why they should have
believed that if those children both grew up, one of them would turn out a murderer, unless we suppose that they knew also that one of
the twin sons which the first woman bore, committed murder. The Jews might have been disposed to consider twins unlucky, on
account of Cain and Abel, and Jacob and Esau, having been twins; from the former of whom proceeded murder, and from the latter,
strife. If it cannot be denied that fanaticism in Europe has converted many passages both of the Old and the New Testament to a deadly
use, employing Christians as its instruments, -- where is the improbability in supposing that the Jews may have wrested some portions of the
history of the Pentateuch, and many of the Levitical institutions, to the accomplishment of the most depraved ends? Even still the dark
spirit of Judaism inculcates the doctrine that the Deity delights in blood, -- but How? As a sacrifice upon his altars, as a token of gratitude
from man to his Creator, whose heart exults in this easy mode of getting rid of sin, and of appeasing the wrath of God, by offering him
innocent instead of guilty blood. From this one source alone what dreadful enormities seem to have originated in the New World!

As regards the belief of the Mexicans, -- that if they allowed twins both to live, one of them would become a murderer, -- it is more probable
that they entertained the notion that one of them would kill the other, than that they would devour their parents, either their father or
their mother; the latter, however, might have been an alternative which Torquemada only felt himself at liberty to notice, lest he should
too clearly prove that the Mexicans were acquainted with the bistory of Adam and Eve. To the fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis,
which records the murder of Abel by Cain, may perbaps also be referred another singular notion of the Mexicans, that the earth and
the sun drank up the blood of the slain, since God there addressing Cain, says, "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath
opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand." That the Mexicans really entertained that belief, may be proved
from the following passage of the tenth chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun's History of New Spain, where a Mexican lord, making
a congratulatory speech to the king of Mexico recently elected, takes occasion to caution him not to draw down upon himself the
anger of God, who, he says, "will perhaps in the beginning of your reign and hefore you are well master of the kingdom, destroy and
cut you off, and cast you beneath his feet, or perbaps will suddenly bring against you hosts of enemies from the deserts or from the sea,
or from the pastures, or from the wilderness where armies are accustomed to be marshalled, and blood to flow, which is the beverage of
the sun and the earth." It may here be remarked, that most of the speeches in the above-mentioned book have a strong tincture of
Jewish rhetoric, the same complacent mode of speaking of themselves as God's peculiar people, the same familiar converse with the Deity,
beginning frequently as in Apraham's dialogue with God, with the word' Peradventure' (por ventura); the same ' unceasing solicitude
after dreams, visions, and inspirations; the same manner of addressing each other by the appellation of Brethren; and finally the same
choice of metaphors distinguish the compositions of the Jews and the Mexicans, which may serve in some measure to explain why the
specimens of Mexican eloquence contained in the sixth book of Sahagun's History, and judged by the author to be worthy of a monarch's
perusal, have been consigned to an oblivion of nearly three hundred years, from which we have had the good fortune to rescue them:
The following passage, taken from the tenth chapter, reminds us of what David says in the Psalms: "He that sitteth in heaven shall
laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall hold them in derision." "Nuestro Senor Dios esta mirando 10 que hacen los que rigen sus reinos,
y quando yerran en sus oficios, danle ocasion de reirse de ellos, y 01 se rie de ellos y calla, porque es Dios y hace 10 que quiere, y hace





222 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

mentality they say the earth became again visible after it had been covered with the waters of the
deluge; they therefore kept his festival during the twenty following signs, in which they performed
sacrifices to him.

1. Atemoztli, which commenced on the twenty-first of December.

PLATE LXXIII.

On the tenth of January the women celebrated the festival of the goddess Mixcoatl, which name
signifies the Serpent of the Clouds, because they say that she was the inventress of weaving and
working; they therefore paint her with this wooden instrument in her hand, which resembles a
weaver's comb. The w'omen celebrated a great festival to her after their fashion.
1. Tititl' which commenced on the tenth of January.

PLATE LXXIV.

They called this month Izcalli, which means the vivific principle or power; and accordingly
mothers in this month took hold of their sons by the head, and lifting them up in the air, addressed
them frequently with the word Itzcalli, as if wishing them joy, congratulating them.on the revival
of vegetable life which now commences, since plants in appearance remain dead during the whole
winter season. They celebrated a great festival in this month to the god of Fire, whom they called
Xiuteutli, which was in the following manner: four priests took each of them a handful of ocotl, and
descended from the upper area of the temple, and performed certain ceremonies; first towards the
east, and then towards the north, afterwards towards the west, and lastly towards the south''', and put
the ocotl into a cauldron which they kept in the temple, where it burned, and served them with light,
since it never was extinguished.
1. Izcalli, which commenced on the thirtieth of January.

PLATE LXXV. +

These are the twenty letters or figures which they employed III all their calculations, which they

_____
burla de quien quiere." "The Lord our God beholds the actions of those who govern his kingdoms, and when they trespass in their
duties they give him occasion to laugh at them, and he laughs, and has done, because he is God and does whatsoever he please" and
turns into derision whom he will." Agreeing in opinion with the interpreter of the Vatican MS. that the Mexicans had some knowledge
of our mode of communion, we must remark that Tzoali, the name of the bread which was eaten at theirs, resembles ZW)) (life) in Greek.

* The Jews, by way of typifying the omnipresence of Jehovah, turn themselves at their festivals to the four corners of the earth.

+ The paintings to which the following explanations refer are in a different style from the preceding. The explanations likewise are
written by another hand: and as the number of the pages begin here with No. I, it is evident that the Vatican MS. consists of tW9
MSS. bound up together. It may even be said to comprise three; as the latter paintings, which are unaccompanied with any explanations,
except an introductory paragraph on the origin of the Mexicans, the hand-writing of which is also different, appear to form an appendix
to the volume.




EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

supposed ruled over men, as the figure shows, and they cured in a corresponding manner those who
became ill or suffered pains in any part of the body. The sign of the Wind * was assigned to the
liver, the Rose to the breast, the Earthquake to the tongue, the Eagle to the right arm, the Vulture to
the right ear, the Rabbit to the left ear, the Flint to the teeth, the Air to the breath, the Monkey to
the left arm, the Cane to the heart t, the Herb to the bowels, the Lizard to the womb of women, the
Tiger to the left foot, the Serpent to the male organ of generation, as that from which their diseases
proceeded in their commencement, for in this manner they considered the serpent wherever it occurred,
as the most ominous of all their signs. Even still physicians continue to use this figure when they
perform cures; and according to the sign and hour in which the patient became ill, they examined
whether the disease corresponded with the ruling sign; from which it is plain that this nation is not
as brutal as some persons pretend, since they observed so much method and order in their affairs,
and employed the same means as our astrologers and physicians use, as this figure still obtains
amongst them, and may be found in their repertoriest.

1. Deer, or Stag. 2.Wind. 3. Rose. 4. Earthquake. 5. Eagle. 6. Eagle of a different species.
7. Water. S. House. 9. Skull, or Death. 10. Rain. 11. Dog. 12. Rabbit. 13. Flint. 14. Air.
15. Monkey. 16. Cane. 17. Grass, or Herb. IS. Lizard. 19. Tiger. 20. Serpent.

PLATE LXXVI.

When a human sacrifice was to be performed, the captains brought those whom they had made
prisoners in war, and placed them upon a very large stone in the portico of the temple, and put into
their hands a small shield and a short club, which they were to employ in their defence if they
were able; and the captain who presented the prisoner, took his large shield and a two-edged weapon
resembling a mace, pointed with knives, and thus armed, fought with the prisoner until he mortally
wounded him, when the papas carried him bathed in blood to the upper area of the temple,
where they sacrificed him. Before the celebration of the sacrifice they made him fast forty days,
during which period they clothed him in the costume of the Devil, to whom they dedicated the
festival; during the last days they painted his face black, and pierced his body with razor points,
and on the last sign of the festival they adorned his head with white feathers §. This was the mode
of sacrificing men: those who are represented on the ground as fallen, are such as have been
sacrificed; those who were dancing are the same persons as those who are there lying dead, for
before they were sacrificed they danced and sang; the figures above, painted black, represent the
papas who performed the sacrifice. It is necessary also to remark, that none of those whom they

-----
* This sign is named Bufeo by the interpreter, and was perhaps dedicated to Yoaliehecatl.

+ The Heart was the symbol of VOlan in Chiapa, and the Cane of Quecalcoatle, in Mexico.

++ Prefixed to a missal in our possession, entitled Hew'es a lusaige de [lome, is the figure of a man with the principal viscera exposed
to view, from each of which, viz. the heart, the liver, &c. a line is drawn to the figures of the ruling constellations above: 1498 is the
date of this missal. It would hence appear that astrology in the 15th century had the.. nction of religion.

~ This passage may explain the sixty-seventh plate in the Collection of Mendoza, in which are represented the executioners sent by
the king of Mexico to announce to the rebel Cacique the sentence of death which had been passed upon him, who are ornamenting his
head with feathers, which were the symhols of sacrifice.




224 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

sacrificed on the cues or the upper steps of area of the temple, were voluntary victims, but they
were kept for this purpose; the papas, before the stated period of sacrifice arrived, were bound to
sacrifice them in that place.

PLATE LXXVII.

This was the manner of sacrificing with their tongues, ears, thighs, legs, and penis"': the papas
alone offered this kind of sacrifice. They were accustomed to dye their bodies black with gum, and
ocotl or tincture, as they call it in Spain. Since the sacrifices were performed by night, they required
light, which was never extinguished, but was obliged to be always burning in the temples, where
they kept a constant supply of razor-points, trumpetst, and shells, in which they held the incense
and potziutl, and _ every thing else necessary for sacrifice, and likewise the banner of war. Although
boys were sacrificed in their temples, all were not allowed indiscriminately to be present at
sacrifices, but only persons of the highest rank. The priests robed themselves in a certain part
of the temple destined for sacrifices, in a vestment resembling ours of scarlet leather. From
all these circumstances the fact is plain and probable, that this nation descends from the Jews,
since all the ceremonies of this chapter are as it were according to the text of Leviticus, such as
that the people should not touch the holy things; and again as in Exodus, that light should be
always in the temple, and incense, and the trumpets, and the sacred vestments; but one of the
differences which distinguished the one order of priests from the other, was, agreeably to the
different nature of the Gods whom they served, these were black, and dirty, and filthy, and
abominable, for after the same manner was their god; but the priests of the true God were to be

-----
* Herrera, describing in the sixteenth chapter of the second book of his third Decad the great austerities practised by some of the
Mexican priests, says, "muchas de eIlos por no caer en alguna flaquesa, se hendian poT media los miembros viriles, i hacian cosas para
hacerse impotentes." The New Testament mentions in no terms of disapprobation a somewhat analogous custom, as practised by some
of the early Christians, who thought thereby to attain the kingdom of Heaven.
t The Jews believe that the shrill sound of the horn or the trumpet stirs the soul to repentance, and they have a prayer of thanksgiving
to God for having taught them the use of the trumpet. It is singular that the Mexicans should have entertained the same notion. Acosta
thus describes the effect which blowing the trumpet, a ceremony which was performed by the high priest a few days before the great
festival of Tetzcatlipoca, produced on that superstitious people: It £0 ita conclecorato et expolito, pnetensa vela removebantur ut ab
omnibus id spectari posset. His peracti:s princeps templi, simili cum idolo habitu indutus prodibat, manibus Bosculos aliquot, et
fistulam acutissimi soni proferens. Hanc continenter iutlabat dum jam versus ortum, jam versus occasum, ac meridiem et septentrionem
sese verteret. 800itu ergo ad quatuor mundi cardines facto, et absentibus signa data, manus in templi pavimentum exporrigens,
pulvisculi momentum arripiebat, quod ori indens vorabat. Hunc eodem ritu in omnibus prresentes cooteri universi oomulabantur, et in
vultus provoluti noctem, vent~m, et tenebras adorabant, devote instantes ut ab illis nunquam desererentur aut perderentur, sed potentem
suam, quam haberent vim: pro bono publico moderarentur et lenirent Fistuloo isto sonitu quoquo versum late perstrepente, furibus,
mrechis, homicidis, ac faeinorosis, sopitre eonscientire in tantum evigilabant, et suscitabantur, ut se non amplius eontinentes ad cleum
vociferarentur contritissime, ne is patrata ipsorum in pUblicum proferret, et hooe ipsa eopiosis usque lachrymis et largissimis thuri9
accensionibus expiabant. Bellorum vero duces, et milites alii peritiores, ad fistula:: strepitum 4"uditum, Deum, a quo vitam et vigorem
haherent ut et solem deosque alios potentiores adorabant precabanturque, ut ipsis contra hastes fartem animum, et felicem victoriam
impertire vellent, ut in sacrificiorum augendam religionem quam plurimos hastes captare possent. Hujusmodi ceremonire decem diebus
ante, quam festum ipsum incoharetur obibantur, quorum ornni decursu sacerdotes fistulis inflatis homines excitabant, ut precarentur, et
terram ederent, et sirnulachra suas angustias et patrata confiterentur. Dum vera precarentur cum gemitibus subincle iteratis oculos in
erelum attoUebant non alio gestu, ac si profundissim~ suorum peccatorum prenitudine contererentur. Hrec vero universa ab ipsis fiebant
metu, non reterme damnationis sed pcenre saltern corporalis. Narn de preofl post hane vitam facinorosos manente, nihil quicquam
sciebant." India Occidwtaiis IIistoria, lib. v. cap. xxix.




EXPLANATION OF TI-IE CODEX VATICANUS. 225

pure and holy, without spot or stain, such moreover as Hezekiah calls the Scripture whiter than
milk, red like old coral, more beautiful by far than sapphire. And in another part it is said, the
priests of the Lord the more incense they offer, the purer and the holier let them be, that from their
purity may be known the greater purity of the god whom they serve; which thing, that is to say the
cleanliness which his priests were bound to observe, was a type; although the exterior was of such
moment, that the church where we wash and purify ourselves before going to offer the sacrifice ofthe
Altar, did not content him; neither did our going habited in the sacred vestments: but before we
enter the secret place of the sanctuary, he advises us to return to wash our hands, -- which was all for
this end, that we might know from our own purity how pure was the god to whom we offered
sacrifice. It is not, however, surprising that these miserable priests of the Devil should have been
filthy, detestable and abominable, like him. They also sacrificed their arms in two places, the one
below the elbow, and the other aboye it, on the muscular part of the arm. They performed this
sacrifice every five days; and I have seen the marks upon one of these priests....

PLATE LXXVIII.

This was the method which they adopted in requesting rain of their god Cozio. When his festival
arrived, or when they stood in need of rain, they fixed some very high poles + in the court-yard
before the Cu, in a row; and a Papa ascended each of them, and danced there, and sung, and
performed certain ceremonies in supplication for rain. A thinner pole was fixed on the top of the
highest pole, that by means of it the person above might keep himself steady, to whose feet a rope
was tied, which reached from the bottom to the top of the pole, and which was knotted together in
such a manner as to leave openings as if it were a ladder, as is seen in the representation of the
figure with wings, so that when the Papa leaped down from the pole, he might come to the ground,
letting himself down by means of it; and when he wished to leap down, he pushed the thinner pole,
by which he held steady, and threw himself down from the pole: and the other Papas who were
present proceeded in their proper order, dancing and singing, and playing musical instruments in
the court, inflicting lashes:l: the one on the other. § And this was their manner of scourging themselves,


-----
* It is evident from this assertion, that the writer of these explanatory notes had been in Mexico a short time after the conquest
of that city by the Spaniards. The opinion that the Mexicans were descended from the Jews, and that their religious rites were
strongly tinctured with Judaism, is here advocated by two eye-wjtneses, whose sincerity cannot be doubted, because they could have
had no motive for practising deception, or for wilfully misrepresenting facts.

+ The feast of Purim, or aflots, was instituted by the Jews as a memorial of the deliverance of Mordecai and the Jewish nation
from Haman, whose gallows on which he intended to hang Mordecai became the instrument of his own execution. The lofty beams
of wood which the Mexicans erected in the court-yard of their temple, on the top of which they danced, and from which persons called
flyers threw themselves down, suggest the idea of some new memorial instituted by the Jews in the New World to record their
preservation in'the days of Ahasuerus. At the feast of Purim the Jews were acc~stolfled to drink to excess; and shortly after the
conquest of Mex..ico a law was passed by the Spaniards, prohibiting the Indians from dancing on the beam, from their sometimes falling
from it and being killed when in a state of intoxication.

++ Herrera says of the Mexicans, "Todo el pueblo hacia disciplina con la procesion i fiesta que se hacia al idolo dios de la penitencia,
porque entonces llevaban todos estas sagas de hila de maguei nuevas, de una brasa, con nudos al cabo; iban uandose grandes golpes
en las espaldas." Lib. ii. cap. xvi. dec. iii.

~ The Jews scourge themselves in order to affiict their souls; in compliance, as they pretend, with an injunction in Leviticus.




226 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

and of entreating rain. Men were sacrificed on everyone of these festivals. They also sacrificed
dogs, which they said it was necessary should be entirely red *. They presented to their captains on
this festival and sign, crowns made of the skins of large tigers, which they wore in battle on every
occasion of going iuto the field. This festival was celebrated when the sign of Cozioqchalla arrived,
who was reckoned the first of the four Cozoi. His festival was always celebrated; but the other
festivals of the remaining Cozoi were omitted when they were not in want of rain.

PLATE LXXIX.

They burned in this manner the bodies of the dead, with the exception of those who had died of
the leprosy, + the venereal di.sease, or any other incurable disorder, and those of boys who had not
attained the age of seventeen years; for such bodies were not burned, but buried. All other dead
bodies were thrown into a large cauldron which they kept in the court of the temple, made of lime
and stone, and there they burned them. This custom prevailed amongst the Mexicans; and those
who performed the office of burning the dead were priests or Papas, on whom the relations of the
deceased conferred on such occasions a splendid banquet. They called the priests on whom this
office devolved Coacuiles. They esteemed this a ceremony so sacred, that in consideration of the
duty which they were about to perform, the papas confessed themselves before they burned the bodies,
as we who are priests now confess ourselves previously to the celebration of mass. The old men say
that the Mexicans borrowed this custom of burning the dead from the Otomies, which nation they
found in this country when they came to inhabit it, as will presently be seen.


-----
* The Egyptians devoted animals of this colour to death, from hatred to the memory of Typhon the brother and the murderer of
Osiris, whose hair was red. And the Jews were commanded, in the second verse of the nineteenth chapter of Numbers, to sacrifice a red
heifer without spot, the flesh of which was to be burned, and the ashes mixed with water, to be a purification for sin.

+ Torquemada says, in the eighth book of his Indian Monarc"!!. that there was a building in the great temple of Mexico called
Netlatiloyan, appropriated to lepers. who were under the protection of a god named Nanahuatl. Amongst the Jews, Lazarus would
probably have been the patron of persons afflicted with that distemper. No less than two chapters of Leviticus, containing together one
hundred and sixteen verses, treat of this disease; its diagnosis, (as physicians express themselves,) its cure, and the subsequent mode of
purification. Since the first of these chapters begins with the words" And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying," -- and it
says in the third verse, "And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the fiesh," -- it is plain that, as far as the leprosy was
concerned, the Jewish priests were physicians, and they might have practised more extensively that art. Amongst the American
Indians the priests were generally physicians. It is singular, when we reflect on the history of Lazarus, who is said in the New Testa..
ment to have been received into Abraham's bosom, -- which could only mean that he went to Paradise after his death, when the Rich Man
went to Hell, -- to find that the Indians believed that" los leprosos y bubosos" went after their death to Tlalocan, or the terrestrial Paradise.
Torquemad. says, in the forty-eighth chapter of the thirteenth book of his Indian Monarc"!!, "Muriendo de estas enfermedades
iucurables no los quemaban." He then says that a wand was placed in their hands, which they believed would sprout on their arrival in
Paradise, "como ellugar era fresco y ameno, alIi havia de reverdecer y hechar hoja." Torquemada likewise observes, in the fortieth
chapter of the same book, that the Indians, imitating the Jews, whose example Nicodemus also followed. anointed the bodies of the
deceased: "Si consideramos la costumbre de estos Indios Occidentales, veremos por todo 10 que queda dicho de eUos, como ungian a
sus difuntos para enterrarlos, y como quemaban los cuerpos de unos, y enterraban otros, conforme les parecia, 0 segun 10 acostum..
braban." Peter Martyr mentions in the ninth chapter of his Eighth Decade, a singular custom of the Chiribichen,es, who, believing the
souls of their deceased relations to be immortal, burned their bones, only preserving the hinder part of the head: "They burne the bones,
keepinge the hinder parte of the heade; and this the noblest and best of the women bringeth home with her, to be kept for a sacred
relique." The Jews had an ancient superstitious notion about a small bone, which they believed to be the seed of the resurrection,
whIch was situated according to their notions between the upper vertebrae of the neck and the back of the head. 





EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 227

PLATE LXXX.

This is the place where they deposited all the skulls, the Calvary ofthe saints who perished in war.
It consisted of two pieces of timber, such as are here represented; and was held in such great veneration
that they named it in their language Tlatzolli Tzonpantli, which signifies precious or desired
death. Since the Devil was also ambitious of having his martyrs, of whom the Psalmist speaks, and
had persuaded them that only those who died in war went to heaven, and that the souls of all the
rest were doomed to be unhappy and miserable, since they had no remedy to escape going to hell,
and on this account they were all desirous of dying by such a death; -- they therefore deposited here
the skulls of their countrymen who had been slain, as relics, in the same manner as we preserve those
of the saints in shrines and churches;t,; which if it were yet duly comprehended by the natives,
ought to be a great inducement to them to give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, who has left them the
Holy Gospel, in order that whosoever shall believe and shall be baptized, endeavouring to obey its
precepts, may go to heaven, whether they be the aged Indian woman who never went to war, or the
lame or the blind, or the weary, the child, or any other. And not a miserable law, which although
they followed it strictly to the letter, all were doomed to condemnation except those who died in war.
We, on the contrary, wage war all the days of our lives, not only with the flesh and blood, but also
against the powers of darkness, who were the cause of the blindness of this people, that we may
overcome the great malice of those who for such a length of time have deceived them, lest they
should gain possession of the seats in heaven, from which themselves had been expelled. And hence
they affirmed that none went to heaven except those who died in war: because it is written that none
shall be crowned except those who legitimately shall combat; and that the kingdom of heaven must
be taken by force; and those alone who exercise force over their own evil inclinatjons will
take it.

1. Tzonpantli.

PLATE LXXXI.
Their captains went to war in the costume represented by the following figures. The weapon in
their right hand is a kind of wooden sling, with which they throw a dart with great force. The
armour for the body consisted of a cotton vest quilted, called an escaupile, of great avail in their
manner of fighting; since after the arrival of the Spaniards, not only the natives used it, but the
Spaniards also employed it against the Indians; for it repels arrows which pass through the strongest
coats of mail, and even cuirasses, but cannot pass through these escaupiles.

PLATE LXXXII.

This was the second description of dress worn by the captains. The left hand of the figure holds
a certain kind of shield in common use amongst them, so light that they sheltered themselves with


-----
* Torquemada expresses himself in nearly similar terms, calling the place where these bones were kept u Osario sacro, como entre
nosotros ios de los martires."




228 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

great expedition under it, and repelled the stroke of their adversary, and with much dexterity
warded off arrows. That which is above is the banner, which each carried distinguished by his own
arms.

PLATE LXXXIII.

This was a particular kind of weapon resembling a two-edged club, which was armed with razor
points of very sharp stone, with. which they fought very bravely in their manner, holding it in both
their hands.

PLATE LXXXIV.

This was the dress worn by those who reputed themselves valiant in war; who when they entered
the field to fight chose to carry no arms of any kind; * as they judged it sufficient, in order to
make prisoners and to slaughter the enemy, to enter the field naked, since in this way they came off
with rich spoils; and as a mark of distinction from the rest, they wore a very thin mantle of net-work,
and cut their hair short, with the exception of a lock on the neck, in the fashion of a collar.

PLATE LXXXV.

This is the costume of the common soldiers; and their ordinary method of fighting was with a
club or cudgel. The others fought with bows, arrows, and shields.

PLATE LXXXVI.

This was the dress of the lords; and as Moteq zumacin the king of Mexico -I- was the greatest
in that country, he is represented first. That which he holds in his hand is a cane, which they com-

-----
* David, when about to encounter Goliah, did not put on armour; and the Jews might sometimes have supposed that, the God of
Israel fighting their battles, it was unnecessary to take any such idle precautions; although they generally acted like Cromwell, who desired
his soldiers to pray on the eve of a battle, but to be sure to sleep upon their matchlocks, that the priming of their pieces might be dry,
and readily take fire.

+ It has already been observed, that many analogies might be pointed out in the usages of the Mexicans and the Jews, in reference to
their treatment of their kings. But omitting in the present place to notice the oath which was administered to the kings of Mexico at
their coronation by the high priest, (which is described by Gomara in page 122 of his History '!! t"e Conquest,!! Mexico,. in which
the king made a covenant with his people to protect the established religion of the state, to preserve the laws, and to maintain justice;
reminding us of what David did on a similar occasion, as recorded by Samuel: "So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron:
and King David made a leaglle with them in Hebron before the Lord,. and they anointed David king over Israel.") -- and the great burning
of spices and other odoriferous substances, which took place at the funeral of the kings of Mechuacan, which was also customary at
funerals of the Jewish kings, -- we shall remark, that the regalia worn by the kings of both nations were nearly the same. Amongst the
Jews they consisted of a crown and bracelets, as is evident from the tenth verse of the first chapter of the Second Book of Samuel,
where the Amalekite announces to David the death of Saul, informing him that he had brought him not his sword or armour, but what
he thought would be a more agreeable present to an aspirant to the throne, the royal insignia: "So I stood upon him, and slew him,
because I was sure that he could not live after he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was upon
his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord." A sceptre was also a part of the Jewish regalia; and it is to be presumed, a



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 229

posed of a certain sort of perfume which they called pogtl. In his other hand is a nosegay of roses,
or other flowers, which they form with great art, and which they prize so highly, that they have them

-----
mantle. The crown of the Jewish kings, it is probable, more nearly resembled a mitre than the crowns worn by European monarchs,
as well on.ccount of the pattern of Aaron's mitre having been given by God himself to Moses, and the reverence which the Jews would
in consequence have been disposed to feel for a crown of such a shape; as because the kings of Persia, at once the objects of their
admiration and their fear, wore a kind of linen tiara. This tiara was called a cydaris; and representations of it exist on some of the
ancient sculptured monuments of Persia, engravings of which are found in Sir Robert Ker Porter's Travels. A crown and bracelets,
sceptre and mantle, constituted, although not the entire, the principal part of the royal costume of the Mexican kings. The crown was
named tecutli, and the bracelets cozcatl; and they are both represented in the fifty-seventh plate of the Collection 'if Mendoza, as forming
united the symbol of the Mexican city Cozcatecutlan. The ninth plate of the same Collection of Mexican Paintings affords likewise a
specimen of the dress worn by the Mexican kings; since the regal apparel of Montezuma, it is probable, differed but slightly from that of
Moquihuix. The icpalli, or chair on which those sovereigns sat, and which was emphatically styled by the Mexicans the seat of judicature,
appertained equally, as did the throne amongst the Jews, to the regal office. It is true, as a general remark, that both nations, in
their costume and in the external decorations of their persons and buildings, nearly resembled each other. The Mexicans were very fond
of painting their faces, and of ornamenting the walls of their finest edifices with vermilion: and if it cannot be absolutely proved, -- though it
may be inferred from several passages of the Old Testament, such as that in which mention is made of Jezebel painting her face, -- that the
former custom existed amongst the Jews, the prophet Ezekiel has removed all doubt about the latter. Amongst the Jews likewise,
who were so fond of reproaching other nations with effeminacy in dress, the custom of men's wearing bracelets, ear-rings, and every
other kind of female ornament, was very general. It says, in the thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis, that the patriarch Judah gave his
bracelets as a pledge to Tamar: and in the thirty-second chapter of Exodus, that Aaron desired the men and women of the children of
Israel to break off the golden ear-rings which were in their ears, and to give them to him, that he might make them the golden calf. The
same custom prevailed amongst the Mexicans; on whose persons, as represented in their ancient paintings, we recognize all the
ornaments mentioned in the Old Testament as worn by the Jews: such as bracelets, ear-rings, chains for the neck, jewels for the
11Ose, (which appear sometimes to have been simple rings attached to the nostrils, as in the figure of a human head carved on the Mexican
drum or teponazdi, which occurs in the fifty-fifth plate of the Second Part of M. Dupaix's Monuments of New Spain,) armlets, and
corresponding golden ornaments for the legs and ankles. The Jews were likewise accustomed to carry signets about them; since we
are informed, in the twenty-first verse of the thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis, that Judah gave his signet also to Tamar, the after
recognition of which by himself saved her from the cruel punishment of being burnt alive. What would Aristotle have said of the
recognition, or Cty«yywg'CTIS', with which this chapter of Genesis terminates, after the judgment which he has pronounced in the
seventeenth chapter of his Poetics on that of CEdipus in the play of Sophocles I From the sixth verse of the eighth chapter of the
Song of Solomon, (C Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm," it appears that the Jews wore their seals fastened
to their arms. And it is very singular, since there was something peculiar in the Hebrew fashion, that this should have been a
Mexican custom likewise; as we learn from Cortes, Torquemada, and Bernal Diaz, that it was. The former, writing to the Emperor
Charles the Fifth, and giving him an account of the manner in which he got possession of the person of one of the bravest Mexican
generals, who had put some Spaniards whom he had left in Veracruz to death, by obtaining an order from Montezuma for hi. arrest,
says: "Y luego a la hora mand6 llamar ciertas personas de los suyos, a los quales di6 una figura de piedra, a manera de sello, que
eI tenia atado en el brazo, y les mand6, que fuessen II la dicha ciudad de Almeria, que estll sesenta, 6 setenta leguas de
la de Muxtitan, y que traxessen al dicho Qualpopoca, y se informassen en los demas que habian sido en la muerle de aquellos
Espafioles, y que assimismo los truxessen; y si par su voluntad no quisiessen venir, los truxessen presos; e si se pusiessen en
resistir la prision, que requiriessen a ciertas comunidades comarcallas a aquella ciudad, que alii les sefial6, para que fuessen can mauo
armada para los prender; par manera, que no viniessen sin eHos." -- Carta de Relacion. de Don Fernando Cortes. "He immediately
commanded certain of his officers to appear before him, to whom he gave a figure formed out of a small stone, resembling a seal, which
he wore tied to his arm, and ordered them to proceed to the said city of Almeria, which is sixty or seventy leagues distant from
Muxtitan, and to bring back with them the said Qualpopoca, and to ascertain who the others were who had a share in the death of
those Spaniards, and to bring them likewise; and if they refused to corne voluntarily, to bring them as prisoners: and if they
resisted being made prisoners, to require the aid of certain towns situated in the vicinity of that city, the names of which he
specified, that they might assist with an armed force in making prisoners of them; but on no account to return without them."
Bernal Diaz, describing the same event, says: "Y luego en aquel instante quito de su brago y muneca el seUo y selial de
Huichilobos, que aquello era quando mandava alguna cosa grave, ~ de · peso, para que se cumpliesse, e luego se cumplia." tl He
immediately took from his arm and wrist the seal and engraving of Huichilobos; and he did that when he issued any command. of
consequence, which it was important should be fulfilled, when it was instantly obeyed." Mention is made, in the thirtieth verse of the
thirty-ninth chapter of Exodus, of engravings like those of a signet, which were consecrated by the Jews to Jehovah: "And they made
the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, Holiness to the Lord. And




230 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

during the entire year, of many various sorts. They esteem them so much, that all the lords had,
and still have, vassals who on appointed days pay them tribute of such kinds of flowers. Those,
I say, still have them, who have not been entirely deprived of the inheritances from which they have
been ejected, GOD knows by what right. The ornament of the hair" was confined to the
lords and valiant men: it was accordingly granted as a great privilege to warriors who had killed a
certain number of the enemy in battle. They were accustomed, for greater state, to go without
shoes; + as they observed that it was for the lower orders of the people, such as the tameines and
couriers, to wear shoes. They all wore for a covering to the lower part of the body a kind of
breeches, which consisted of a cloth of cotton, of a yard or rather more in length and very
narrow, about a span in breadth, nearly resembling the tocas di cammino used on journeys in
Castile, girded to the body; and with this, which they called a mashIe, decency was consulted in
their dress. It is said that this king never in his life wore twice the same mantle, or mashIe, but
that every day he put on new ones.

PLATES LXXXVII. LXXXVIII. & LXXXIX.

This was the dress of a lord amongst the Zapotecas, which is another very ancient nation of that
country, who ornamented their heads with a paper bandage, and wore their hair very long, which
they never cut, but tied in the manner in which our Spanish women were accustomed to tie their
hair before the Devil introduced the present 'lascivious fashion of wearing curled locks and
ringlets, so contrary to the doctrine and commandment of the princes of the Apostles, Saint Peter
and Saint Paul.

The women of those countries dressed in this manner. They wore a cotton mantle called a
nagua, rolled round the body next to the skin, which was fastened below with a girdle. They
covered the upper part of their persons with another more delicately wrought mantle of cotton, of
various colours, sewed in the manner of a sack, with three apertures, one for the head at the
bottom of the mantle, and the other two for the arms. This dress was called in their language a
guapil. I do not know whether the costume of the other figure, which is placed first, is at present
ill use, nor have I to the present time ever seen it; but it resembles the apparel of the Mexican,
Gapotecan, and Mextechan women, which I have seen. The old people say that the costume of the
first female figure is the same as that of the Guaxtecas, which is a nation of that country situated to
the north of Mexico.

they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the Lord commanded Moses." It may be remarked, that in the
passage cited of the letter of Cortes, Mexico is named Muxtitan; which the editor says is a corruption or abbreviation ofTenuchtitlan,
but which may possibly have been a name for Mexico, signifying the city of Moses, which quickly after the Spanish conquest fell into
disuse. -- We shall conclude this note by observing, that the palaces of mourning, or of grief, which Spanish historians say that the
Mexican kings had attached to the palaces in which they usually resided, to which they occasionally retired to do penance and for purposes
of humiliation, were somewhat analogous, in the purposes for which they were destined, to the chambers in which the Jewish kings
shut themselves up to humiliate themselves before Jehovah, for the sins and olfences which they had committed.

-----
* This ornament was a red ribbon, with which the hair was tied in a knot behind.

+ Montezuma in the interior of his palace, (as several Spaniards, who saw him and describe his person and dress very minutely, relate,)
wore sandals embroidered with gold. The Mexican paintings show that the use of sandals amongst the Mexicans was very general,

,Their heroes and gods are always represented with them.



EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS. 231

PLATE XC.

This entire nation was and is so fond of metaphor, as well in words as ?III actions, that to
convey the idea of the different periods of human life, they paint a mountain such as is here represented,
and place a boy at the foot of it, as if commencing to climb it: for they say, so it is with
man; that he resembles, till he attains the age of twenty, one who climbs a high hill, and proceeds
onward gathering flowers, and taking pleasure in his vices and sins; and that from the age of twenty
to forty he may be compared to a person in a state of repose already standing on the top of a
mountain, and at such an age skilful in combating, and able to go where he pleases, to defend or
to attack; but from forty to sixty he begins to descend the mountain, and his person inclines to
stoop, till at last he is obliged to lean IIpon it stick, with which he supports himself, returning
like a child to the first stage of existence; but since he still retains intellectual vigour, which they
name in the Sciapotechan tongue Capagehe, which signifies the guardian or corrector of the people,
they treat him in that country with great reverence; * which custom might cause Spain to blush, that
in countries where the old men are barbarians they should be held in such esteem, whilst the old
amongst Christians are so much despised, that they say that even persons of sixty no longer retain
their perfect faculties, and that on that account they may be excused from associating with persons
of that age. Those who speak in thisnianner ought to fear that which is threatened through the
wise man: Alas for the people where there are no old men; for amongst the old, says Job, wisdom
resides, and prudence in the multitude of years.

PLATE XCI.

This is the origin of the Indians who are called Mexicans. It ought to be known that the
dominion over that country was first established in Culhuacan, Tenayca, and Xalcotan, and
afterwards in Azcaputzalco t. Guatlincha, and Giaculma; and that thence it was transferred to
Mexico, Tlacuba, and Tezcuco, where the Spaniards found it on their arrival in those parts. It
should also be observed that this proper name Mexico, from whence the term Mexican is derived,
is corrupt; for the right name is Mecitli, + which means a vest of hare skins: and this is the

-----
* The Jews were commanded, in the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, to honour the old, -- an injunction which they always
scrupulously obeyed: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man." The prophet Elisha is said
in the following verses of the second chapter of the Second Book of Kings to have cursed the little children who mocked his bald head:
"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and
mocked him, and said unto him, Go up; thou bald head; Go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and
cursed them in the name of the Lord: and there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."
The sin of these children must have been their disrespect to old age; for they were too young to know what a prophet was, and it
is probable that they-had never seen Elisha before.

+ The founders of the city of Azcaputzalco, which name signifies the ant-hill, probably bestowed that name upon it, in the expectation
that their seed would be as the dust of the earth in multitude.

++ There can be no doubt that the Mexicans were so named from their god Mecitli or Mexitli, whose name Torquemada says was
analogous in its signification to that of Tlaloc, -- the latter meaning the a wine of the earth," and the former" a vine:" Ie Los mismos




232 EXPLANATION OF THE CODEX VATICANUS.

origin of this city, and of all those people who are represented below. They also affirm that they
were a nation who came out of seven caves, where they say that all of that race had been shut up
previously to their arrival in this country, from a region situated at their western side, when they
subjected it, as will be seen. Their arrival was in the year of Two Canes, which according to their
calculation occurred in the year 1194; and they came, according to their own account, clothed in
hare skins, as their name signifies, and, as the painting shows, with bows and arrows in their hands.

1. The Olmecas and Xicalangas. 2. The Cuextecas. 3. The Totonacas. 4. The Couixcas. 
5. The Michiuaccans. 6. The Nonoalcas. 7. The Chichimecas. 8. Matepetl. 9. Cactepetl. 
10. Tezuactepetl. 11. This symbol signifies a cycle of fifty-two years, which was an age. 



PLATE XCII.

1. Vichilupuchitl, the first captain of the Mexican nation. 2. Tonanicaca. 3. Ayauolulco. 
4. Culhuacan. 5. Puchutla. 6. Tototepetl.

naturales afirman que este nombre tomaron de el dios principal que ellos traxeron, el quol tenia dos nombres, el uno Huitzilopuchtli, Y
elotro Mexitli, y este segundo quiere decir ombligo de maguey; y asi dicen que los primeros Mexicanos 10 tomaron de suo dios, y asi en
sus principios se lIamaron Mexiti~ y despues se Hamaron Mexica, y de este nombre se nambra la ciudad, siendo el primero que tlivO
Tenuchtitlan, por ra~on de el Nop.1 que hallaron sobre la piedra, qu.ndo lIegaron a esta parte de la laguna quando en ella fundaron."Monarquia
Indiana, lib. iii. cap. xxiii.




ARGUMENTS TO SHOW THAT THE JEWS IN EARLY AGES COLONIZED AMERICA".

In nothing did the Mexicans more resemble the Jews than in the multitude of their sacrifices. Those who may
have never read the eighth chapter of the First Book of Kings, containing an account of the dedication of the temple,
can have no idea of the numbers of victims which the Jews immolated on solemn festivals. It says in the sixty-third
verse of that chapter, "And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he offered unto the Lord,
two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of
Israel dedicated the house of the Lord." And in the fifth verse of the same chapter; "And king Solomon and
all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and
oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude." A reason is assigned in the verses which follow out
of the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, for the frequent celebration of sacrifices amongst the Jews. "And it shall be
when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and
shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that
cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord's: and every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem
with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the first-born of man among
thy children shalt thou redeem: and it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this?
that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. 


-----
* Neither these Arguments, nor the reasons for supposing that Christians in early ages colonized America which follow, were originally
intended to be printed in a separate form, but to serve as notes to accompany the Translations in detached portions, which may excuse
in some measure the want of connexion between some of the passages.





NOTES. 233

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt,
both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix,
being males; * but all the first-born of my children I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for
frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt." It was customary
amongst the Jews to eat a portion of the flesh of sacrifices, and to burn the rest; and Peter Martyr in allusion to that
custom says in the fourth chapter of his fifth Decad, that, "As the Jews sometimes eate the lambs which were sacrificed
by the old law, so do they eat mans flesh, casting only away the hands, feet, and bowels." He had before observed
that the Mexicans burned the hearts of the victims. The Jews it is well known never tasted blood; and Gomara


-----
* It is probable that the Jews, immediately on their arrival in the New World, revived the sacrifices which the old law ordained as
a perpetual memorial of their flight from Egypt, and committed to paintings the principal event' recorded by Moses to have preceded and
followed that flight. We may here remark, that the Egyptians, as Josephus is obliged to admit in his Treatise against Apion, gave a very
different account from Moses of the Hebrew migration: since Manetha, an Egyptian priest (whose authority Josephus evidently considers
high, and seems glad to refer to 00 another occasion;) declares that the ancestors of the Jews were a band of insurgents and lepers,
amounting in number to eighty thousand persons, who were driven from Egypt by king Amenoph; and that Osarsyphus a leprous
priest of Heliopolis headed the rebels, who afterwards took the name of Moses, and instituted many rites among the fugitives in hatred
to the Egyptians. That this was the belief of the Egyptians in later ages cannot be doubted, because Josephus asserts it on the
authority of an historian of that nation: but whether it contradicted ancient monuments, the scientific expeditions which are so frequent
in the present day to Egypt will soon enable the world to decide. The fact is generally admitted, that the most remarkable events of
the Egyptian monarchy are sculptured on monuments which still render the soil of Egypt famous; and it may be possible to
discover in. the ruins of the Memnonium and of the other palaces and temples of Egypt, relievos and inscriptions which may serve
to confirm the account given by Moses in the Pentateuch of the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt. But if it be
contended, in the absence of all,uch relievos, that they are not to be found only because the Egyptians were ashamed to record their
country's shame amidst the monuments of her glory, -- this objection would imply great ignorance of one remarkable feature in the
policy of the ancient Egyptian,; who, though they highly revered their monarchs during their lifetime, devised means of compelling
them to be just, by subjecting them to a kind of state-trial after their death; in which the actions of their reign were scrutinized by
judges from whose decision there was no appeal: who either awarded them funeral honours, or by denying them that mark of public
esteem, affixed a stain and reproach on their memory. So great was the aversion which the Egyptians entertained towards their wicked
rulers, that for a number of ages after the death of Osiris, the name of the usurper Typhon was held in execration by them; whose hair
being according to tradition red, foreigners with hair of that colour were scarcely suffered to enter Egypt, and animals with red skins
were yearly sacrificed. It is not therefore at all likely that the Egyptians would have hesitated to have recorded, not merely on the
papyrus but on imperishable pages of granite, the name of that Pharaoh who had brought upon them the ten plagues recorded in
Scripture; as well to deter their future kings from pursuing a similar obstinate course in politics, as to caution them never to
let the Children of Israel, who had brought such curses upon Egypt, return to that country, if they felt so inclined. That such
a wish might have been formed by the latter, and such a hope entertained of oblivion of the past, vvas possible, from the regret which
they are said, in the second and third verses of the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, to have felt at having left Egypt: "And the wilDie
congregation of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wildernes.. And the Children of Israel said unto
them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did
eat bread to the full! for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." The following is
an extract from the first book of Josephus's Treatise against Apion, in which he takes occasion to enter into a long confutation of
Manetho's account of the migration of the Israelites from Egypt, who at least seems to have known something of the ancient history of
the Jews, and that they were a nation from the earliest times afflicted with the leprosy. [1] "'0 rap M"VE8wv aUTOS, 6 '"1V AJYV?TTICCX'lV lCTTOP'CC"
IX TWV iepwv rpap.},ccTwv {J--:8epp.eveuElv u1TeCTX'tJp.evo~, '11'pomr(JJv TOUS ~}'ETEfouS "'porOVOUS '1fOMctIS P.UPJetCTIY e?T' '"1'1 Airu7I"'TOv eA60YTCCS "pCt.'T't)tT"' TW)/
EVOIXOUVTWV, eiT' auTOS 0fLOA0'YWV Xpovw 7faAIV tJtT'TEpOV EX7rEerOvTcc)" T'lV '1ou8Ct.ICCY XCt.TCCCTXEIV, xal XTlera'lT"«~ '1epoeroAufLrx TOV V!!W XaTatTXeUatTrxCTSrx,. fJ-EXP'
IkEV TOUTWV ~xOAou6'lCTE Ta's &va'Ypa¢"I~. 11I"EITa 8e aou~ 2EoutTJav "UTW, alCt TOU ¢aval rpa""elY Ta fLu6euofLEvCIt. 1Ca1 AEJ'ofLEva ?TEpl T(JJv'1ou8Ct.IWV,
)..o'i"Ou~ &1TI8ayou~ '11'aeebaA!V, "vafLlEal f30UAOP.EVO~ ~P.IY Aj'Yu'1I"'nwv '11'A'l80s A!7fPooY, XGU 21T1 aMo,~ u.ppooCTTYJp.aerlv, cD, t1C1"I, ~!)rEIV ex 1"11, A',),U7fTOf)
xaTCt.rvoo<T8eVToov. 'AP.EVooCPIV 'Y"P (3(Jt.CTJAErx 7fpOCTSeJ, ~!UaES oyop.a, X"' ala 'fOUTO XpOVOV aunu 'T't)' (3atTiAEJet~ OP'CT('" P-'l 'fOAp.'tJCTa~, XCt.1 TOlr! f?TI TooY


-----
1 The Mexicans probably, derived the superstitious dread which they entertained of that disease from the Jews. Hernandez,
describing the Copalli Quauhxiotl, or Arbor leprosa of the Mexicans, says it is II arbor excelsa et levis qure facile membranam exteriorem
exuat, unde nomen." Rerum jl!edicarum Novre Hispanire lib. iii. p.47. He alludes to. the etymology of Quauhxiotl, which name is
derived from quahuitl wood or a tree, and xiuhtl heaven, resembling no doubt the name which the Mexicans assigned to the leprosy,
showing that they entertained the notion which was prevalent amongst the Hebrews, that it was )loero, -S-e'lMTO" a divine judgment.
Having observed in the 233rd page which follows, that amoxtli signifies reeds, it may be proper to refer to the authority of Torquemada,
who says, describing the wretched state in which the Mexicans were when they arrived at the Mexican lake, that they were reduced to
the necessity of covering themselves with the amoxtli, "yerva que se cria en la laguna." This account agrees with an historical
painting of the same event which occurs towards the conclusion of the MS. of Boturini.




234 NOTES.

remarks, that although the Mexicans devoured the flesh of human victims, they were never seen to taste the blood;
neither did they strangle those of smaller size, such as quails, but twisting the head from the body allowed the blood
copiously to flow. The Jews abstained from blood on account of the prohibition in the fourth verse of the ninth
chapter of Genesis: "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." Aristotle has
observed in the following curious passage in the first book of his Treatise concerning the Soul, that some entertained
the opinion that blood was really the life or anima: 'ET<po, a' ail'a (T~V "'UX~V ("r€cp~vaVTo) KaOa7l"€p Kp'TIO(, TO aiaOalIeGea,
'TIlt; 1ftJX'rlC oilCEtoTaTOV lnroAu,....{3avOVT€C, -rOUTO 8' lnrapX€lV 8w T'1V TOU aip.aTOt; cpveHv. 7TQVTa -yap Ta c1TO'XELa KpLTl1V
???.E, 7rAllV'Tl1C:; ')'lJr.. TUVTlW 0 01l0€U~ U7T07rEcjJavTul, 7TAlJV EtTIe aVTfJV eLpYjKEV €K 7raVTWV ElvaL TWV GTO'XEtWV, 11 7J'aVTa. U
others, like Critias, believe the soul to be the blood, supposing that perception is a property peculiar to the soul,
dA)..WV (3aCTlAfWV &"PJbW~ TGt !T"I) 7rgoO'"'n8E1S),OUTW 1fporrCt.1rT;' TJVet) p.u8o)..o,)"ct;, f7rIAa8oJ.l.EVO; tTxe80y on 7rEti'r""OG"IOIS fT!(T1 xeu 8eXGtoxTw, 7rponpov
iO"TOP'lXE 'YEYEa-8cu T'lV TaW ?fO'fLEVWV EEo~ov Ei; IepofIoAup.a. T!9fA-wO'",s 'Yap ~Y (3a.CTlAEUS on: fE'lEO'"ctV. E7rJ Oa' TOVTWV p.!Ta£U Tooll ~ctU'IA~oo'J xaT' aUro'J
EtTTI Tp,aXO'JTa ~'J~'J))xotra Tpla iT)), fLeXP' TWV ~UO d8eA~OO'J I!8w xal 'EpfLttIOU, w'J TO'J IM.V.l"ESWV.A.iYU?rTOV, 'TO'J 8~ 'Epf.Ut1o'J Aavao'J fLETO'JO(J-cxtT9))w:t1
4-))tTlV. O'J h6'aAW'J 0.!'1!8ws e6'atTIA;UtTE'J fTl') 119. xal fLET' aVTov 07rP!u6'UTFpOS 'TW'J ulwv aUrou 'PafL¢l)S £s-. 'rOtTOUTOIS oU'J 7rpO/ffpO'J ETetTlV u7feA8elV!t
AiYU7tTOU TOU)' 7ranpas ~fLoo'J WfLOAOy"XWS, eiTa TO'J 'AfLEVW~I'J eitT7foujtTas t,U.6'Ci)..lfLO'J ~ctUIASCt, o:p))a-I TOtlTO'J !7t19ufL))tTttl -S-;;oov 'Yev~u8etl -S-ectnw, wtT7fep '!2p
eis TWV 7rpO aUTou (3e6'aul)..euxoToo'J. aV;;'JeYXEIV 8e T))V f7f18ufLlttV 0fLw'JufLw fLE'J cttn-w 'AfLSVW~H, ?rctrpos Se IIaa7flos ovn, -S-elas Se SOXOUYTI fLETeO"X))XE'Jetl
~Uo"EWS, xaTa. 'T' o-OcJl"til xau 7fPOYVWO"III TWII fuofLEVWV. ei?rC'III OUII aUTW TOUTOV TOV ofUlJllufLoII, OTi SUWjtTeTIXI TOUS 3eous IBsIII,,i xIX8apav a7fo TE AE7fPWil
XCtI TWII p.lapwv all9pW7rwil T))II xwpall a7rCtO"av 7fOI))tTflell, ~cr9!YTa 8e TOV {3IXa-IAsa, 7ravras TOUS Ta. O"WfU<Ta AEAW6'))fLSilOUS EX T))S AiYU7tTOU O"uvayaYEIII,
,),!II!!J"SCtI 8E TOU 7rA))SOUS fLup,aOttS OXTW. xal TOtITOUS lOis TCtS )..180T9p.las ell TW 7rpOS allCtTOA'111 fLEpEI TOU VC'IAOU EfL6'CtAelll aUrov, 07rWS epyl:t~OI'JTO XIXI Tooll
a>"AOOil AjYU7rTlWil 1)1 fyxexwglo-u.evol, eillal 8e TIVttS' ell aUrolS' xell TWV >"0y,ooll jepewv <P))UI, Ae7rpa O"uyxexup.EVoUS'. TOV 8e 'Ap.evw'PIII !XEIVOV 'TOil o-O<POil xa,
p.aYTIXOil avSpl:t U7f08eIO"Oal 7rpoS' aUTov 'TE xal 'TOil (3aulAEa X0)..Oll TWlI -S-ewli ej f3,a0"gev'TES' ocp9))0-0YTal, xal 7rp09SfLSIIOil Ei7rEIV, on aUfLfLCtx))aoucn 'TIllES
'TOIS' p.lapOIS', XOO T))S' 'Alyunou XpaT))o-ouO"IV f7r' h)) 8EXCt'TP'Ct.. P.)) 'TOAp.))cretl lUll whov EI7J'EIlJ TatITa TW (3acrIAEI. ypao:p))v 8e xCt.Ta)..I'n'OV'TIX 7rEP' 7ra'JT(A)Y
e-auTov aVEA!III. tY lc8up.la 8e sival TOV ~au"IAEa. XCt?WTI:t XI:tTa AeE'li OUTW ysypa<pell. '-WII 8s TalS )..Ct.'TOfL,alS' WS XpOVOS ixalioS' BI))>..Oe TetMmrwpounwv,
aElwOoS'.; (3etO"I)..!U)" jva 7rgos xaTa)..UO-III aUrolS' xal crxm))11 Ct7fop.eplCr)),, -- ))11 'TOT! TWII 7rOlfLEIIWIl ep))p.oo9!.o-ttv 'A6'aplY erUVEXWp))crell. terTi S' ~ ?r0)..1S' xa'Tet
'T))II 3: -- oAoy,all ""WOell TU~WIIIOS'. oj bf eiS' T:;(tIT))V eiers)..9ovTES', xa, TOil 'T07rOV TOUTOV sis "1t'OtTTaer,Y fXOYTI!!,), ~yEfLOVet aUr«w >,,!')'ofLEVOY 'fIVet TWV
'H>"IO~O}"ITooy i!pswy 'OtTt'iprru¢o~ ttrT))rrct.VTo, xct.. TOUTW 7rf.SapX))tToYT!S iy ?ratTllI wpxoP.OTYl'l'(,(v." It cannot be denied that there was almost as
much reason for the Egyptians to retain a perpetual remembrance of the migration of the Children of Israel from Egypt, as the Jews
themselves: and if in the age of Josephus and of Apion they had quite forgotten every circumstance connected with it, we can only express
our wonder, and attribute the recollection of it, which was ever present in the minds of the Jews, to the unceasing sacrifices which
were instituted by Moses in commemoration of that event: which sacrifices, although calculated to attain the object proposed, nevertheless
inspired the ancient philosophers with a detestation for Judaism; and, as the Abbe Dubois asserts in the following passage
extracted from his Letters on I"e State of Christianity in India, greatly retard even now the progress of Cliristi.nity amongst the natives
of Hindostan.

"To you who have some acquaintance with the education and customs of the Hindoos, I will put the following simple questions:

"What will a well-bred native think, when, in reading over this holy book, he see. that Abraham, after receiving the visit of three
angels under a human shape, entertains his guests by causing a calf to be killed, and served to them for their fare I The prejudiced
Hindoo will at once judge that both Abraham and his heavenly guests were nothing but vile pariahs; and, without further reading, he
will forthwith throwaway the book, containing (in his opinion,) such sacrilegious accounts.

"What will a Brahmin say, when he peruses the details of the bloody sacrifices prescribed in the Mosaical law in the worship of the
true God? He will assuredly declare, that the God who could be pleased with the shedding of the blood of so many victims immolated
to his honour, must undoubtedly be a deity of the same kind (far be from me the blasphemy) as the mischievous Hindoo deities, Cohly,
Mahry, Danoa-rajah, and other infernal gods, whose wrath cannot be appeased but by the shedding of blood, and the immolating of
living victims.

"But, above all, what will a Brahmin or any other well-bred Hindoo think, when he peruses in our holy books the account of the
immolating of creatures held most sacred by him? What will be his feelings, when he sees that the immolating of oxen and bulls
constituted a leading feature in the religious ordinances of the Israelites, and that the blood of those most sacred animals was almost
daily shed at the shrine of the God they adored? What will be his feelings when he sees, that after Solomon had at immense expense
and labour built a magnificent temple in honour of the true God, he made the pratista or consecration of it, by causing twenty-two
thousand oxen to be slaughtered, and overflowing his new temple with the blood of these sacred victims? He will certainly in perusing
accounts (in his opinion so horrihly sacrilegious,) shudder, and be seized with the liveliest horror, look on the book containing such
shocking details as an abominable work, (far be from me, once more, the blasphemy, I am expressing the feelings of a prejudiced Pagan,)
throw it away with indignation, consider himself as polluted for having touched it, go immediately to the river for the purpose of
purifying himself by ablutions from the defilement he thinks he has contracted; and before he again enters his house, he will send for a
Poorohita Brahmin to perform the requisite ceremonies for purifying it from the defilement it has contracted, by ignorantly keeping
within its walls so polluted a thing as the Bible.

It In the mean while he will become more and more confirmed in the idea, that a religion which derives its tenets from so impure a
scource is altogether detestable; and that those who profess it, must be the basest and vilest of men." -- Letters on the State of
Christianity in India, by the Abbe J. A. Dubois, Missiollary in Mysore, p. 50.




NOTES. 235

and that perception exists by reason of the blood: for each of the elements has anthority in its favonr, except earth;
and no one has been of opinion that the soul was that element, nnless some may have said that it was a combination
of all the elements, or all the elements themselves." It may here be remarked, that those authors who have most
minutely described the sacrificial rites of the Mexicans, all agree that to sprinkle the blood of the victim "rociar
Ie sangre," to smear it upon the walls of the temple, * and to anoint the face of the idol, and altar with it, were
ceremonies performed by the officiating priests. Cortes tells Charles the Fifth, that on his first visit to the
greater temple of Mexico, his companions discovered with horror that the interior walls of its chapels were
encrusted with blood. Blood was also employed in the consecration of the high priest of the Totonacas. And
Torquemada says that his head was anointed with it, as Moses anointed with blood the heads of Aaron and of his
sons. -- Monarquia Indiana, vol. ii. p. 180. The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus is of opinion that the ceremonies
of the Mexicans, as well as their sacrifices, may be urged as a proof of their being descended from the Jews.
Garcia, in his famous Treatise on the Origin of the Indians, adopts in part that opinion: in part, it is necessary to
add; for the conclusion to which his deep researches led him was, that the Indians of America, whether Mexicans,
Peruvians, Or others, were a mixed race descended from many different nations. He says in the Introduction to
the third book of the Origin of the Indians, "Many have supposed, and the Spaniards generally who reside in the
Indies believe, that the Indians proceed from the ten Jewish tribes who were lost in the captivity of Salmanazar
king of Assyria, of whom Rabbi Schimon Luzati, who is named Sincha by Bartolocio, says, nothing is certain, nor is
it known where they dwell. This opinion is grounded on the disposition, nature, and customs of the Indians, which
they have found to be very similar to those of the Hebrews: and although -learned men condemn, and are
uninclined to assent to such a belief, I nevertheless have bestowed great diligence upon the verification of this truth
(en averiguar esta verdad); and I can affirm that I have laboured in this more than in any other part of my work:
and from what I have found thereto relating, I shall lay such foundations for the edifice and structure of this
opinion and hypothesis, as will'be well able to sustain its weight." The entire of Garcia's third book of the O"igin
of the Indians treats accordingly of the likeness which, in their laws, their customs, their moral qualities and habits,
their ceremonies, their sacrifices, their mutual inclination to idolatry, and even in their early history, -- the two
nations bore to each other. In the first chapter he criticizes the passage of the apocryphal Book of Esdras,
which induced the Jews themselves to think that they had colonized America; and others to treat with grave
attention that singular history: the manner in which they might have crossed from the one continent to the other
is also a subject of discussion. In the sixth chapter, which is the most curious of all, (a translation of which
will be fouud in the Supplementt,) he institutes a comparison between the Jewish moral and ceremonial laws
and those of the Mexicans, and shows how nearly in many respects they agreed. In the seventh he compares
the Hebrew language with some of the American idioms: and in the eighth he replies, to some objections of Acosta.

It is sufficient in this place, in order more fully to corroborate the opinion of the interpreter of the Vatican

-----
* The blood of the paschal lamb smeared on the door-posts was the sign which, when the destroying angel beheld, he was commanded to
pass over the houses of the Israelites, when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians: and hence the origin of the l'east of the Passover, the
most solemn of all the Jewish festivals, and of an institution commemorative of that signal act of Divine vengeance when the innocent died
in the room of the guilty. No wonder that the Jews should ever afterwards have retained the recollection of this wonderful interposition
of Heaven in their favour; and that in revolving ages, when the American soil was fated to be polluted with their accursed rites, they
should have recorded in paintings the thick darkness that overspread Egypt, the sad prelude to maternal woe, and that the "migltty
hand and stretched-out arm." should frequently be represented in their superstitious calendars. Boturini remarks, in the 52nd page of
his Idea of a New General History of America, that the Mexicans were accustomed in the month of Hueytozoztli to sprinkle blood on
the door-posts of their houses. And Sahagun makes mention of the same ceremony: "La fiesta se hacia al Dios Cinteotl, Dios del maiz,
enramando 10 exterior de los templos, casas, y puertas de juncos; pero los de las puertas era preciso fuessen eusangrentados de aquella
sangre que se sacaban de las orejas y espinillas." "The festival was celebrated in honour of the god Cinteotl, who was the God of maize,
on which occasion they strewed rushes on the outside of their temples, houses, and doors; but they were obliged to smear the outsides
of their doors with blood which they had drawn from their ears and ankles." Cinteotle, it may be observed, was the god of harvest or of
first-fruits, who was probably the same as Tonacatecutli, who i5 elsewhere named the God of abundance. The Mexicans, as Clavigero
remarks, were fond of bestowing many epithets on the same deity, thereby denoting bis various attributes. Hueytozoztli signifies, according
to Boturini, "Sangria grande," (The great festival of the shedding of blood.)

+ The original chapter is inserted in the Supplement.





236 NOTES.

Codex, to notice some few analogies which Garcia has pointed out; to which we shall add some others which have
been mentioned by other writers. And first, with respect to the famous migration of the Mexicans from Aztlan
to the country of Anahuac, which Garcia says was so like the pilgrimage of the Children of Israel ffom Egypt,
that there were not wanting those who affirmed that the Indians had feigned the one after having heard of the
other, "que no falta qui en diga haverle fingido los Indios haviendo oido este;" -- he observes, "From the Mexican
history, and that which is related by Father Acosta, and Brother Augustin Davila the archbishop of Saint Domingo,
it is evident that that people performed a pilgrimage and migration similar to that of the Children of Israel; so
much so, that there have not been wauting those who have affirmed that the Indians feigned the one, after
having heard of the other: for they say that the Mexican nation, which was that which arrived in New Spain from
the Seventh Cave or lineage, departed from the provinces of Aztlan and Theuculhuacan by command of the idol
named Vitzilopnztli, or rather of the Devil, who was in the idol whom they adored as God. He therefore
commanded them to leave their country, promising them that he would make them princes and lords of all the
provinces which the other six nations, whose departure had preceded theirs, had peopled; that he would give
them a very abundant land, with gold, silver, precious stones, fcathers, and rich mantles in profusion. They
accordingly set out carrying their idol with them in an ark made of rushes, which was borne by four priests, with
whom he communicated privately; informing them of the events of the journey, advising them of what was to
happen, giving them laws, and teaching them rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices, causing the heaven to rain bread, and
drawing from the rock water to quench their thirst, -- with other marvels resembling those which God wrought in
favour of the Children of Israel. They never proceeded a step without the approbation and command of this
idol as to when they should journey on and where they should halt; and what he told them, they punctually
obeyed. The first thing that they did wheresoever they stopped, was to prepare a habitation for their false god;
and they always placed him in the middle of a tabernacle which they pitched, the ark being placed always upon an
altar of the same form as that used in the Christian church. This having been done, they sowed the ground with corn
and the other leguminous plants in use amongst them: but so implicitly did they obey their god, that if it seemed
good to him that they should gather it, they gathered it; if not, on his commanding them to raise the camp, they
left it all there for seed, and for the support of the old and of the infirm and weary, whom they intentionally
left behind wherever they settled, pretending that thus the whole land would remain peopled by their nation.Who
will not own that this departure and migration of the Mexicans resembles the departure and pilgrimage of the
Children of Israel from Egypt? since these, like those, were admonished to go forth and to seek a land of promise;
and both the one and the other took with them their god as their guide, and consulted him in an ark, and built
him a tabernacle: and accordingly he advised them and gave them laws and ceremonies, and they each in the same
manner spent many years before they arrived at the promised land; -- and that in this and in many other things
there is a resemblance in what the Mexican histories relate to that which Holy Scripture informs us of the
Israelites? And without doubt this is the case." -- Origen de los Indios, lib. iii. cap. iii. sec. 5.
Acosta gives the following nearly similar account of the migration and pilgrimage of the ancestors of the
Mexicans: "Annis ab exodo sex harum familiarum 320 clapsis, postquam Novam Hispaniam condidissent et
habitassent, populosque certis statutis legibus coegissent: septima quoque familia natio Mexicana postmodum facta,
ex antro suo egressa, per provincias Aztlan et Teculhuacan tetendit. Populus hie politicus, agilis, amabilis ac
bcllicosus erato Hic simulachrum Vitzliputzli, de quo in priori bus multoties diximus, prrecipue adorabat. Diabolus
vero, qui per hoc idolum gentes istas regebat et moderabatur, mandatum ipsis dederat, ut sedes patrias deserentes,
oras alias qmererent; et promiserat simul, quod eos principes ac dominos facturus esset omnium illarum provinciarum,
quas sex priores familire coluissent. Terram enim se daturum iis perfrecundam, et tum auro ac argento,
gemmisque, et rebus similibus nimiopere diffiuentem. Pollicitis ergo his capti populi isti, solum avitum reliquerunt,
et indaganclis peregrinis terris sese accinxerunt, simulachrum suum quo quo versum secum proferentes, quod quatuor
primarii sacerdotes in arca quadam ex scirpis contexta jugiter portabant. His vero sacerdotibus idolum omnia,
qure in peregrinatione eventura erant, secreto revelabat et simul, (lUa arte singula declinanda essent, docebat. Sed
et leges singulares, ac cultus ceremoniasque et sacrificia, quovis tempore prrestanda, iis proponebat. Sine hujus
con sensu suasuque ne latum quidem pedem promovere audebant. Nam et qua procederent, et ubi residerent,
simulachrum subinde quasi digito ipsis designabat. Cujus quidem cons ilium in universis prrecise sequi i110s oportebat.
Si quo loco habitandi gratia desiderent, primum omnimn, quod aggrederentur, opus erat, ut idolo SilO tabernaculum



NOTES. 237

conderent. Hoc in castrorum medio locabatur. Ara vero, cui simulachrum imponebatur, ad papisticarum ararum
similitudinem extructa erato Sacris constitutis, agrorum quoque cUram habebant, quos frumento, pisisque, ac similibus
conserebant. Idoli sui nutum tam serio attendebant, ut inconsulto ipso nihil agerent. Messem ipso suadente,
metebant, discessionem imperante, castra nulla morii, frugibus universis in agris relictis, promovebant. Quas tamen,
qui vel regri, vel grandrevi, vel timidiores in illis locis relinquerentur, in suos postea usus colligebant. Horum
siquidem plurimos certo consilio post se subinde restites linquebant ut de gente sua ac natione terrre qurevis implerentur.
Hrec Mexicanorum peregrinatio, filiorum Israel ex.tEgypto egressui quadam tenus similis videtur; quibus et
ipsismct injunctum erat, ut terram benedictam occupatum egrederentur, deum suum in nube ducem, et in arca frederis
suasorem attente observantes. Idem quoque populus, priusquam in promissam terram veniret, multis annis vagatus
est. Sic ergo non in hoc saltern, verum et in plcrisque aliis, quorum in historia Mexicanii mentio fit, quredam cum iis,
'lure in Sacra Scriptura de filiis Israel narrantur, similitudo et convenientia reperiebatur. Ex 'lui bus manifestuin est,
Sathanam omnis fastus ac superbire principem execrandii cacozelia Deum Creatorem semper in omnibus remulari
studuisse. Diabolus vero nullus usquam repertus aut cognitus fuit, qui miseros homines aut crudelius habuerit, ac
ad cnltus ac sacrificia immaniora et sceleratiora compulerit uDquam, ac unus hic Mexicanorum Vitzliputzli. Qui
populos hos ducebat, Mexi, summus quasi princeps vocabatur, unde postea et Mexico, et Mexicanorum nomen
cnatum est; creterum hic quoque populus priorum exemplo lento gradu et velut interpolato itinere process it.
Discretis euim aliquot locis sese dimisit, et agros coluit, sevitque et messuit, et habitacula condidit, sicuti vestigia
horum in multis locis conspicua sunt. Tandem verO multis exantlatis laboribus ac periculis, in provinciam
Mechoacam, id est, piscosam, delati, cum loci conditio et fertilitas omnibus arridcret, ibi castra metari decreverunt.
At vero, cnm quid facerent idolum consuluissent, hinc pergere jussi sunt. Devotis tamen obtestationibus ac
supplicationibus id ab eo tandcm impetrarunt ut aliquos de populo suo saltern ibi relinquere liceret, qui terram illam
frecundam ararent ac excolerent. Quibus annuens, qua id industria facerent, instructionem simul nccessariam
idolum dabat. Ibidem ergo, cum populi insignis pars tam viri quam freminre in lacum Pazcuaro lavatum abiissent,
creteris idolum hoc consilium dedit, ut lavantibus clam vestes surriperent, et sine strepitu tumultuque · motis castris
inde absccderent. Hoc facto, cum creteri balneo suaviter refecti, cx lacu rursus ascenderent, surreptas vestes simul
et se lusos animadvertentes, non solum rerumnas suas ingenti dolore et ploratu luxerunt, sed erga profugos tam
acerbo, et internecino odio exarserunt, nt et habitum simul et sermon em patrium mutarent. Ita enim factum esse
historia testatur. Hoc tamen ad minimum est ccrtissimum, Mechoacauos Mexicanorum hostes acerrimos semper
extitisse. Unde Marchioni quoque de Valle, cum Mexicanos domuisset et fudisset, singulariter gratulati sunt."
Indi(£ Occidentalis Historia. Lib. vii. cap. iv.

The following more detailed description of the Mexican migration is taken from the second book of Torquemada's
Indian Monarchy: "According to the paintings which the most curious of thesc Indians possessed, and which at
prescnt I have, it appears that in order to come from the former country which they forsook, to that which they
now inhabit, they crossed some great river or small streight and arm of the sea, the picture of which seems to
represent an island situated midway in the channel which it intersects. Deferring to another opportunity the
expression of my own sentiments, and the opinion which I have formed as to who these nations may have been who
have peopled this province of New Spain, which is the reason why I treat of that site; I now say that the principal.
cause of their undertaking this long journey and encountering the difficulties of the road, was, as they fabulously
relate, -- a bird which frequently appeared to them singing upon a tree, and repeating a note which they chose
fancifully to construe into the word tihui, which means Now let us go; and as this note was repeated for many
days and very frequently, a person, who was the wisest of their race and lineage, named Huitziton, turned the
matter in his mind; and meditating on it, thought fit to avail himself of this song as a pretext for his intentions,
saying that it was an invitation which some concealed deity gave them through the song of that bird: and in order
to have a companion and coadjutor in his designs, he communicated the circumstance to another person named
Tecpatzin, and said to him, Perhaps you are not aware of what the bird says to us. Tccpatziu replied that he was
not. On which Huitziton said, What that bird commands us is, that we should go with it: it is therefore fit that we
should obey and follow it. Tecpatzin, who had listened as well as Huitziton to the song of the bird, came over to
his opinion; and the two together acquainted the people with the matter, who, persuaded of the great good fortune
which awaited them, from the over exaggerations which these two knew how to employ, quitted their habitations,
and followed the fortune which futurity had in store for them. Although all were of the same race and lineage,



238 NOTES.

still they did not all compose a single family, but were divided into four tribes: the first of which was called the
Mexicans; the second, the Tlacochcalcas; the third, the Chalmecas; and the fourth, the Calpilcas. Others say
that these families were nine; namely, the Chalcese, the Matlatzincas, the Tepanecas, the Malinalcese, the
Xochmilcas, the Cuitlahuacs, the Chichimecas, the Mizquics, and the Mexicans. It is affirmed also by others,
that the note tihui was only heard by Huitiiton and Tecpatzin, but that that which uttered it was invisible. But
however that may have been, since it is all fabulous, that which may hence be reasonably inferred and concluded is,
that all agree as to their departure at the persuasion of something that instigated them. The Aztecas therefore
quitted their country under the guidance of Tecpatzin and Huitziton, in the first year of their first cycle, for they
commenced the computation of their years from that period; and proceeded some stages on their journey, in which
they employed the space of a year, at the end of which they arrived at a place called Hueyculhuacan, where they
remained three years. In this place and site they say that the Devil appeared to them in the form of an idol,
dcclaring to them that it was he who had brought them out of the land of Aztlan, and that they should carry him
along with them, as he would be their god and would favour them in every thing; and that they should know that
his name was Huitzilopuchtli, who, as we have said in another part, is he whom the Gentiles named Mars the
god of hattles. He desired them to make him a chair and seat, in which they might carry him; which they
immediately formed out of reeds: and ordered that fonr should be chosen from, amongst themselves to be his
servants; for which office Qnauhcohuatl, Apanecatl, Tezcacohuatl, and Chimalman, were named: and the supreme
chiefs who dirccted the troop were Huitziton and Tecpatzin, who were the heads of these families. All these
arrangements afforded great satisfaction to the Aztecas, who perceived that now they should not pursue their
journey blindfold, hut should carry with them their god who would guide them, whose servants they named
Theotlamacaztin, and the seat on which he was placed Tcoycpalli, and the act of carrying him on their shoulders
Theomama. This being the beginning of the Dcvil's proceedings amongst this people, they marched from that
place to another, where they relate that there was a very large and thick tree where he caused them to stop, at
the trunk of which they made a small altar upon which they placed the idol, for so the Devil commanded, and they sat
down under its shade to eat: but whilst occupied in eating, a loud sound proceeded from the tree, and it cracked in the
middle. The Aztecas, terrified at this sudden accident, considered it a bad omen; and surrendering themselves up to
affliction, terminated their repast. And the chiefs of the families, doubtful as to the event, consulted their god, who
taking aside those whom they now name Mexicans, said to them, Dismiss the eight families, and tell them that
they may proceed on their journey, for that you wish to remain here and not to pass on further at present. The 
Mexicans did so: and although they felt regret at forsaking the others, inasmuch as they were all brothers and
friends, and at rejecting their entreaties praying that they might all proceed together, they left them, and they
prosecuted their journey.

"The one party being now separated from the other, the Mexicans, with whom the idol and god Huitzilopuchtli
had remained, went to him, and asked him what he intended to do with them. On this, the Devil, who they say
spoke by the mouth of the idol, replied, You are now apart and separated from the rest; and accordingly I wish,
that as my chosen people you should no longer call yourselves Aztecas but Mexicans. And here it was that they first
took the name of Mexicans. And at the same time that he changed their name, he put as a sign on their faces and on
their ears a plaster of turpentine covered with fcathers, stopping their ears by means of it; and he likewise presented
them with a bow and arrows, and a Chitatli, which is a net in which they put Tecomates and Xicaras, telling them
that these were the instruments which should prevail among them, -- which was the case; for a bow and arrows are
emblematical of wars. And they judged that he desired to typify to them, that with the bow, arrows, and warlike
weapons, they should conquer many enemies, and make themselves lords of great provinces and kingdoms: and by
the net they say that he signified the place and goal where they had to stop, which was the Lake of Mexico, where
as soon as they arrived they became fishermen. With these insignia they proceeded on their way; the other eight
families having gone before them, journeying on themselves by slow degrees. The place where the event which has
been mentioned in the preceding chapter occurred, was called Chicomoztoc, which signifies The site and place of the
Seven Caves; in which place they remained nine years. And hence it remains proved that the Mexicans, and all the
other nations and families who came to people New Spain, do not derive their origin and beginning from these Seven
Caves: since we have seen, by what has been said, that it was merely a place in which they dwelt in huts for the
space and period of nine years. Wherefore Father Acosta, not possessing a complete account of the due succession of





NOTES. 239

these years, says, in the seventh book of his Moral Philosophy, that they derive their origin from these Seven Caves.
Neither do the Indians absolutely affirm that by a cave they mean their origin and descent; whom Antonio de
Herrera, the principal historiographer of the Indies, follows, in the second book, third decad, and tenth chapter, of
his History. And I repeat the same of the historian Gomara, in his work entitled The Conquest of Mexico; where
he says that the Mexicans proceeded from a country called Chicomoztoc, and that all the Mexicans and Nahuatlacas
were sprung from a common father of the name of Iztacmixcohuatl; since, as we shall presently see, what
that author there states is not verified. Leaving therefore these three writers in this place until we meet them in
some other, let us pass on with the Mexicans from these Seven Caves to another place named Cohuatlycamac,
where they stayed three years. In this place they say that the Devil practised a device upon them, which, although
in itself insignificant, was the cause of great contention between them all. -- There appeared in the middle of their
tents and encampments two Quimillis, (which are two little bundles); and being desirous of knowing what was
wrapped up within them, they proceeded to untie one of them, and found in the inside a very rich and precious
stone, which shone with the brilliant lustre of the emerald. On seeing it so rich they were all amazed at beholding
it; and each bcing covetous to possess it, the entire people were divided into two factions. Huitziton, who chanced
to be present and was their principal leader, perceiving that they contended together on the subject of to which
party the stone should belong, said to them, I am surprised, Mexicans, that you should set up such strong and
violent opposition to each other on such slight and trivial grounds, without knowing the end that by so doing you
propose to yourselves; but since there is another bundle before you, untie and open it, and you will see what it
contains; and it is possible that it may be something more valuable, so that esteeming that more, you will value this
less. Both the contending parties approved of the reasoning of Huitziton; they untied the Quimilli, and found in it
two pieces of wood only: but as they did not sparkle as the stone sparkled, they set no value upon them, and returned to
their former subject of contention. But Huitziton, who was the person who practised these frauds on the people and
then explained their meaning, perceiving that that party which was afterwards called the Tlatelulcas were so obstinate
in wishing to have the stone, told the others, with whom the appellation of Mexicans henceforward remained, to put
away the cause of difference and to relinquish the stone to the Tlatelulcas, and to take themselves the two pieces
of wood, since they would be much more necessary and of much greater value in the course of their journey, as they
would presently perceive. They believing the words of Huitziton, took the pieces of wood, and gave the stone to
the others; and thus they became reconciled. The Mexicans, anxious to know the secret of these pieces of wood,
requested Huitziton to discover it to them. He, desirous of pacifying them, took them, and applying the one to
the other, kindled fire with them; at which all present remained greatly astonished, for they never had seen any
similar thing; and from that time the art of procuring fire in that way was known. It even further happened
from this incident, that those who had obtained the stone repented of their choice, and wished to exchange
bundles; but as the secret was discovered, the Mexicans would not consent, and each remained in possession of his
own. From this time, although all these Aztecas continued their journey in one body, there no longer existed the
same feelings of fraternity and friendship as before; for after this cause of dissension they retained sentiments of
rancour and hatred the one against the other, and were split into parties, and without unanimity. Having left this
place by the command of the Devil, they arrived at another, where they remained three years: from thence they
passed on to Matlahuacallan, where they remained three other years; and thence to Apanco, where they rested five.
They found in this place a nnmerons people, who chose to oppose the entrance of the new-comers as of men
who were strangers to them; but Huitzilopuchtli, (who on every occasion favoured the Mexicans,) they say,
protected and aided them until he rendered them masters of the place; dispossessing the former inhabitants of it,
causing the waters of a brook that ran in the neighbourhood to overflow so violently, that if they had not made
their escape with all possible speed, those who dwelt thereabouts would certainly have been drowned; who
perceiving themselves deprived of their land and city in this manner, passed onwards and came to this district near
the lake, instigated perhaps by some diabolical oracle. After the departure of those who had before inhabited the
place, Huitzilopochtli told his people that he had performed that deed in order that the tribes who were dispossessed
of their lands might proceed to cultivate those of the lake. It so happened likewise about this time, that a
woman named Quilaztli, who accompanied them and who was a great sorceress, who by devilish art, they say,
coulel transform herself into any form she pleased, wished to practise a jest upon the two captains and leaders, one
of whom was named Mixcohuatl, and the other Xiuhnel, to whom, when engaged in hunting in the plain, she



240 NOTES.

appeared in the shape of a very beantiful and large eagle perched upon a Hueynocht!i, which is a tree which we
Spaniards call a Cimborio: and when the captains saw her they wished to shoot their arrows at her, thinking that
she was in reality a natural cagle; and being on the point of discharging them, the witch, perceiving the danger and
risk to which she was exposed, addressed them, saying, Captains, my object, as far as it was to turn you into
ridicule, has been snfficiently attained; do not shoot me, since I am your sister Quilaztli, and of your people.
The captains were indignant at her having turned them into ridicule, and told her that she deserved death for the
jest she had practised npon them. She answered them, that if they wished to kill her they might try what they
could do, but that she some day or other 'would be revenged. They made her no reply and departed, and she
remained sitting on the tree, eaeh retaining mutual bitter feelings. The time having now arrived for their departure
from this place, by the command of the oracle they proceeded to another called Chimaleo, where they remained six
years; and on the fourth year after their arrival there the sorceress Quilaztli, recollecting the animosity which
existed between her and the two captains before mentioned in their former place of residence, reflected on the
grievance which she had received in the tunal tree when they wished to kill her; and dressing herself in warlike
attire, went to them, and thinking to intimidate them, said to them, Now, yon know me that I am Quilaztli, and
you may think that your quarrel with me is such as you might have had with any other vile and mean-spirited
woman; and if this is your opinion, you are deceived; for I am courageous and of a manly mind, and by my names
you shall know who I am and my great force: for if you know me by the name of Quilaztli, which is the common
name by which you call me, I have four other names by which I know myself. The first of which is Cohuacihuatl,
which signifies the serpent-woman; the second, Quauhcihuatl, the eagle-woman; the third, Yaocihuatl, the
warlike woman; and the fonrth, Tzitzimicihuatl, which means the infernal woman: and according to the properties
contained in these four names you shall see who I am, and the power which I possess and the evil which I can
do to you: and if you wish to submit this truth to a trial by hands, I here challenge you to the combat. The
two courageous captains, without fearing the arrogant words with which Quilaztli sought to intimidate them,
replied: If you are as courageous as you represent yourself, we are not less so; but you are a woman, and there
is no reason why it should be said of us that we take up arms against women. And without saying more to her
they left her, displeased at seeing that a woman defied them: and they kept the matter a secret, that the people
might not know it.

" At the expiration of the two following years, during which they resided there sowing and reaping and consuming
the produce of their labours, they set out for another place, named Pipiolcomic, where they remained three years;
and from thence they came to the place which they call Tulla. In this place they spent nine years, where they
arrived much diminished in numbers, on account of having left behind them in the various places in which they
sojourned on their journey many persons, old as well as young, whom they thus left behind as they proceeded,
for prudential causes. Many traces exist in all these countries towards the North of this migration; of which I have
seen, seven leagues to the south of ~acatecas, edifices and ruins of ancient habitations the greatest and most superb
that can be imagined, of which we shall make mention in another place. I only notice them here as a proof of the
edifices which they built, and of the people whom they left behind in the course of their long travels. Having
arrived therefore at Tulla, and being desirous of making a considerable stay in that place, since it appeared to
them that they had now made a very long pilgrimage, they chose a site close to a mountain named Cohuatepec,
which signifies The Mountain of Serpents. Having there settled, the idol commanded the priests in a dream to
dam up the water of a very large river that ran in the neighbourhood, in order that it might overflow the whole
plain and encompass on every side the mountain where they dwelt, for that he desired to give them a sample of
the country and habitation which he had promised to them. The dam having been made, the water spread and overflowed
the whole plain, forming a very beantiful lake, surrounded with willows, poplars, and osiers which very
shortly afterwards sprung up. It produced likewise rushes and reeds, and began to have great abundance of fish
and water-fowl, such as ducks, herons, and widgeons, with which the whole lake was covered; and with many
other sorts of birds, which at the present day the lake of Mexico plentifully supplies. The site likewise became
covered with sedges and aquatic flowers, to which different kinds of thrushes resorted, some of scarlet plumage and
others orange, whose melody, together with the songs of the birds scattered through the groves, which was no less
sweet, rendered the place extremely delightful and agreeable. The Mexicans being in possession of so delicious a
habitation, and forgetful of what the idol had told them, -- that that site was only a sample and specimen of the



NOTES. 241

land which he intended to give them, began to think in concert with some amongst them who said that they
ought always to dwell there, and that that was the place chosen by their god Huitzilopochtli, who from thence
would put all his intentions into execution, being the lord of the four quarters of the earth. They relate that
the idol was so angry at this, that he said to his servants, 'Why do they thus wish to transgress and oppose my
will and commands? Are they perchance greater than me? Tell them, that I will take vengeance upon them
before the morning, in order that they may not be so presumptuous as to give their opinion on any thing which I
have determined, and that all may know that me alone they have to obey. These words having been pronounced,
they affirm that they beheld the countenance of the idol so frightful and terrible that it struck great fear and
terror into them all. They relate that on that night, whilst all were reposing, they heard in a quarter of the camp
a great noise; and going to the spot in the morning, they found all those who had proposed the expediency of
remaining in that place dead, with their breasts opened, and their hearts alone taken out: and he then taught them
that most cruel kind of sacrifice which they have always used, of opcning men's breasts and taking out the heart,
which they presented to their idols, declaring that their god ate no other part of the sacrifice but the heart, as
we have said elsewhere. Huitzilopuchtli having inflicted this chastisement upon them, commanded his false priests
to break down the dam and mounds of the piece of water which formed the lake, and to allow the river, the course
of which they had stopped, to run into its old channel, which they immediately did; and the whole lake emptying
itself in that way, dry ground remained in its stead. After the lapse of some time, considering that the anger of
their god would now have passed away, they consulted him, and he commanded them to raise the camp: and
accordingly they departed from the boundaries of Tulia, and marched in the direction of the Great Lake of Mexico,
in the same order and manner as has been described."

It is unnecessary to transcribe at greater length Torquemada's account of the Mexican migration. But as the
anthority of Herrera, the royal historiographer of the Indies; will have considerable weight with those who consider
that his office must have given him access to a variety of curious documents relative to America, it may be proper
to add what he says in the tenth and eleventh chapters of the second book of his Third Decad of the same
migration: "Three hundred and two years had elapsed since the six lineages which have been mentioned quitted
their country and peopled New Spain, where they had already greatly increased in number, -- when those of the
seventh lineage, who were the Mexicans, a civilized and warlike nation, arrived there; and as they worshipped the
god Vitzilipuztli, he commanded them to leave their country, promising them dominion over the other tribes in a
fertile and very rich land. They carried this idol in an ark of reeds (en una area de juncia) on the shoulders of
four priests, who taught them rites and sacrifices and gave them laws; and without his approbation they did not
proceed a step. When they halted, they made an altar like that in use in the Catholic church, and placed the ark of
the idol upon it in the middle of the camp: and they observed his directions respecting the cultivation of the
ground, habitations, and other matters; for never did Devil hold such familiar converse with men as he: and
accordingly he thought proper in all things to copy the departure from Egypt and the pilgrimage performed by
the Children of Israel. The name of the chief who conducted this people was Mexi, from whence the proper name
Mexico is derived. Wandering therefore about as long a time as the other tribes had done, cultivating the
ground and making settlements, and encountering many dangers, they arrived at the province of Mechoacan,
which name signifies The Place of Fish, on account of the many and beautiful lakes which it contains; and the
land contenting them, they wished to remain in it: but as the idol would not allow them, although he gave his
consent that they should leave there some of their nation, they passed on; who, as it appeared to them that
they had been left behind deserted by the others, were always enemies of the Mexicans. This tribe having
departed from Mechoacan, complained to the idol of a woman in the camp who was so great a sorceress that she
wished to cause herself to be worshipped as a goddess. The idol commanded one of the priests who carried the
ark to comfort the people, and to tell them to leave that woman and her family behind. Travelling on, therefore,
without leaving any traces of their road, the sorceress, perceiving that she had been abandoned by them, settled
in a place called Malinalco; and henceforward the inhabitants of that city were considered great sorcerers.
"The Mexicans having considerably diminished in numbers, stopped in order to recruit their strength in Tula,
which name signifies The Place of the Tuna; and the idol commanded them to cause a river to overflow a large
plain: and by the industry which he infused into them they surrounded the mountain called Coatepec with water,
and made a vast lake, which they encircled with plantations and trces; and with the fish and the birds with which





242 NOTES.

it abounded the place became very delightful: on which account they wished to fix their abode in it. At which
the Devil being incensed, commanded the priests to let the river flow in its former bed: and choosing to chastise
the disobedient, they heard at midnight a noise in a certain part of the camp; and in the morning they found
those dead who had discussed the question of remaining there, with their breasts opened and their hearts taken out;
which they say was the occasion of their being taught to perform ever afterwards a similar kind of sacrifice.
This punishment having been inflicted on them, and perceiving the plain converted into dry land on account of the
water of the lake having been drained off, they proceeded with the consent of their god to Capultepec, an
agreeable and verdant place situated about the distance of a league and a half from Mexico, where they fortified
themselves. The other nations, instigated by the descendants of the sorceress of Malinalco, wished by force of
arms to drive them from thence; but behaving with valour they passed on to Atlacuyabaca, a town belonging to
the Culnas, and there entrenched themselves."

It will be perceived that this account of the Mexican migration by Herrera, thongh very brief, corresponds
nearly in all its circumstances with the others. It is much to be rcgretted that an important chapter in Torquemada's
Indian Monarchy, which would have thrown much more light on this subject, should never have been
allowed to be printed. This chapter, forming the first of the second book of the Indian Monarchy, the place
of which is supplied in the printed editions by the second chapter, was inscribed "De como el Demonio quiso
remedar adios, escogiendo pueblo, cl qual fundo en los Mexicanos." "How it has been the wish of the Devil to
substitnte himself in the place of God, by taking a chosen people, which he constituted in the Mexicans." The
editor of the second edition of the Indian Monarchy calls this chapter "el fundamento 6 clave dc la idea de esta
obra," "the foundation or key to the work:" and says in his Preface, that he extremely regretted being
obliged to omit it; but that he did not think it convenient to request license to publish it. But he shortly
afterwards adds, that his regret had diminished on finding the same conception delineated with grcater brevity and
clearness by the learned Garcia, of the order of Friar Preachers, in his exquisite treatise concerning the Origin of
the Indians. He then inserts in the Preface the passage from the fifth section of the third chapter of the third
book of the Origin of the Indians, which contains an account of the Mexican migration, omitting the sentence,
"i tanto que no falta qui en diga havcrle fingido los Indios, haviendo oido este;" alledging as his reason for inserting
this passage, that" he wished to cite to the letter the authority of so learned a man; not only in order to supply the
deficient chapter, although Father Augustin de Betancur follows more closely in his Theatro Mexicano the author;
but that this work may more easily be understood, which treats of this subject as a proposed matter of discussion,
and in order that no one may judge that to have been neglect which was obedience." We learn from these
expressions of the editor, that he had perused the first chapter of the second book of the Indian MonarcAy, and
that on comparing the accounts given by Garcia and Betancur of the same migration of the Mexicans, he found
that they nearly corresponded with Torquemada's; but that although Betancur's was more conformable to that
contained in the omitted chapter, he preferred, on account of its conciseness and the greater celebrity of its
author, to insert that takcn from Garcia.

Of Betancur's relation we can say nothing, not having had the opportunity of consulting the TAea/ro Me.ricano;
but it may be found in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of the second part of tl,at work; and it probably
points out other features of analogy between the Mexican migration and the pilgrimage of the Israelites from
Egypt. Torquemada's account is singularly confirmed by an original Mexican painting, which once formed a
portion of the historical museum of Boturini, and which is mentioned in the Catalogue annexed to his Idea of
a New History of North America, page x. No. I. This painting consists of twenty-three pages, folded in the
usual manner of Mexican paintings, and corresponds so exactly with the description given by Torquemada of the
Mexican migration, that it is not improbable that it was one of those paintings representing that subject to which
he alludcs as being actually in his possession. The first page contains a picture of the island of Aztlan, and the
passage of the Mexicans across a river or arm of the sea, and likewise their arrival at Hueyculhuacan in the first year
of one of their lesser cycles, * as also the image of their god Huitzilopochtli speaking to them through the mouth


-----
* Their larger cycle consisted of fifty-two years, which was divided into four lesser cycles of thirteen years each, was at the
commencement of one of these lesser cycles, in the year Ce Tecpatl, or One Flint, that the Mexicans set out on their migration from
Aztlan. In pointing out a supposed connection between the sign of the Flint in the Mexican calendar and the Jewish rite of circumcision, 




NOTES. 243

of the bird. The second page represents the eight Aztec tribes, and the four priests appointed to carry the chair of
the god. In the third is the tree at the foot of which they made the small altar on which they placed his image, the
trunk of which cracked suddenly whilst they were eating'. The affiiction with which they were overwhelmed in
consequence, and their consultation with their god, who took the Mexicans aside and told them through his
priest to separate themselves from the other tribes, is also represented in this page. The act of separation is
marked by the six footsteps, placed near the fignre, denoting the Mexicans, three of which occur in the following
page; and the time, by the symbol of night painted above. Perhaps the festival which the Aztecas are here celebrating
was that of Atamal, or of unleavened bread, which took place on the sign of One Flint. The fourth page
represents the Mexicans prosecuting their journey alone under the guidance of Huitzilipochtli. The symbol of
sound proceeding from the mouth of the idol, denotes that he went before and pointed out the way. The plaster
of turpentine and feathers which he put as a sign upon their faces on changing their names from Aztecas into
Mexicans, seems also discernible on the faces of the recumbent figures; but whether they are about to be sacrificed,
or some other ceremony to be performed upon them, the painting itself does not clearly indicate. The bow
and arrows, and Chitatli or net, which Huitzilopochtli bestowed on his people as a type that he would make them
lords of great provinces and kingdoms, occur likewise in this page; and by the figure of the eagle transfixed with
an arrow might be meant the strength of the enemy whom the Mexican arms were fated to subdue. This figure
might at first be supposed to refer to the story of the sorcercss Quilaztli, who changed herself into an eagle in order
to turn the two captains of the Mexicans into jest: but that event happened in Apanco some years afterwards, and
the Mexicans were at this time only just about to leave Chicomoztoc: besides, although ready to discharge their
arrows at the eagle, when their sister discovered herself to them they merely retired in displeasure without shooting
at her. The Chitatli or net, in which Torquemada says they put Tecomates and Xicaras, which are a kind of cups,
occurs likewise in the figure of the Mexican month Quecholi, in the eighth page of the First Part of the Codex
Telleriano-Remensis, and is there marked with the letter c, and explained to be "Talega de comida para la guerra,"
"a bag of provision for war." Torquemada takes occasion, in pointing out Chicomoztoc (where Huitzilopochtli
commanded the Mexicans to separate themselves from the other tribes, and changed their name from Aztecas into
Mexicans) as the second place at which the Mexicans arrived after their departure from Aztlan, to confute the supposed
error of Acosta, Herrera, and Gomara, who had said that that nation proceeded originally from Chicomoztoc,
or the Seven Caves, by adducing the historical paintings themselves of the Mexicans; and, as he adds, "neither do
the Indians absolutely affirm that by a cave they mean their origin and descent," he seems also to refer to their
traditions. He further remarks, that what Gomara says of the Mexicans and Nahuatlacas (which latter appellation
according to Peter Martyr was peculiarly bestowed on the Acolhuacans, because four principal cities, the largest of

-----
we only repeat a remark made by some of the old Spanish writers; but in referring the particular sign of the Flint, now under
consideration, to the command delivered by God to Moses to circumcise his son previously to the departure of the Israelitesfrom Egypt,
it must be admitted that their opinion acquires fresh weight. Indeed, the whole passage in the fourth chapter of Exodus in which mention
is made of Zipporah's taking a stone and circumcising her soo, -- which event immediately preceded.Aaron's conference with Moses
in the Mount of God, -- (the literal meaning of Teocolhuacan or Hueycolhuacan; for Colhuacan is a crooked mountain, and Teocolhuacan
the crooked mount.in of God: and the mountain represented in the first page of the MS. of Boturini was distinguished by both these
appellations, which are not to be confounded with those of Culhuacan and Aculhuacan, which signify, the former simply "the bone of
the ann which reaches from the shoulder to the elbow;" aod the latter, "water upon that bone;" which places, as well as Colhuacan
and Teocolhuacan, are represented in the Collection of Mendoza by their appropriate symbols), -- in which mountain he had appeared to
the latter, and spoken to him from the burning bush, -- -deserves to be compared with Torquemada's account of the Mexican migration,
undertaken under the auspices of the tWO leaders, Mexi or Huitziton and Tecpatzin, the former of whom pretended that a bird out of a
bush or a tree had invited him to conduct the Mexicans from Aztlan, or that it was their god Huitzilopuchtli who had spoken to him
through the mouth of the bird. The following is the passage of Exodus alluded to, which is a rock upon which many a Scripture commentator
has foundered: "And it came to pass by the way, in the inn, that the Lord met him (Moses), and sought to kill him. Then
Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou
to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. And the Lord said to Aaron, Go
into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went and met him in the Mount of God (Mount Horeb), and kissed him. And Moses
told Aaron all the words of the Lord, who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went,
and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and
did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: and when they hearel that the Lord had visited the children of Israel,
and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."




244 NOTES.

which was Tezcuco, were under the dominion of their monarch,) being sprung from a common father of the name
of Iztacmixcoatl, is not verified. The apparent contradiction which exists between these writers, has undoubtedly
proceeded from the double sense in which the Mexicans were said to have proceeded from Seven Caves or
Chicomoztoc, and from the eight Aztec tribes having been confonnded with the eight different nations which
peopled New Spain. These nations were, the Chichimecas, the Nonoalcas, the Michiuacans, the Couixcas, the
Totonacas, the Cuextecas, the Olmecas, and the Xicalangas; under the first denomination all the Aztec tribes were
included: and as the Mexicans, like the Hebrews, were great genealogists, they pretended that they were all
sprung from a common father named Iztacmixcoatl, and fancifully represented in their paintings each nation
proceeding from a separate cave, except the Olmecas and Xicalangas, who came ont of the same cave. It should
here be observed, that the symbol which has been supposed to mean night, in the third page of the painting of
Boturini, representing a cave and seven units, signifies undoubtedly Chicomoztoc. The eighteen pages which
follow, contaiu little more than the names of the places at which the Mexicans arrived in the course of their
migration, and the number of years which they stayed in thesc several places. In the thirteenth page, the two
bundles, the one containing a gem and the other two pieces of wood, which separated the Mexicans into two
parties, appear to be represented. As fire was ohtained from the cane, the figure of a cane shooting forth seems to
have been substituted for the pieces of wood. It must not be supposed, because the painting of Boturini, which
is in simple outline, uncoloured, and on thick pasteboard of Met!, does not record the various marvels which
Garcia, Torqnemada, Acosta, and Herrera testify that the Mexicans believed to have occurred in the course of their
pilgrimage from Aztlan, -- such as heaven raining bread; water flowing at the command of their god from a dry rock;
a small brook suddenly overflowing its banks, and causing the enemy to flee before them; the punishment of
those who murmured against the will of Huitzilopoehtli, and wished to remain in Tulan instead of proceeding
onwards to the promised land; the frequent consultations which the priests held with their god, and the answers
which they received; -- that if more detailed paintings of this migration had been saved from the overwhelming
destruction in which the annals of the New World were involved (for in Tezcuco alone, according to Clavigero,
Zumarraga the first bishop of Mexico caused a little mountain of paintings to be collected in the square of the
market-place, and burnt), we should not have been acqnainted with the history of this pretended migration in its
minutest circumstances; since the national vanity of the Mexicans must have been so highly flattered at believing
themselves to be the chosen people of God, who had wrought the most extraordinary miracles in their favour
on their quitting Aztlan, himself forsaking heaven to be present in their eamp as their legislator and the guide of
their way, and assuming the titles of Yaoteotle" and Tetzauhteotl, (the god of armies, and the terrible god to strike
fear and dismay into the breasts of their enemies): and it is probable that they would have made this the subject of
their finest paintings t. It would appear, from a passage in Boturini's Idea if a New History of Nortli America,


-----
* Sahagun says that Tezcatlipoca was also called Yaotl, which name scarcely differs from Yaoteotle.
t It cannot be doubted, from what Boturini says of the Mexicans singing in the court of their temple the great exploits of
lluitzilopuchtli. U las grandezas de Huitzilopuchtli," that they, like the Jews, recorded in hymns the miraculous events of their own
history. And that they represented likewise in paintings their famous migration from AZllan, and the signs and wonders wrought in their
favour by their tutelary deity, is asserted by Torquemada, in the following passage of the sixteenth chapter of the tenth book of his
Indian lr[onarclLy, wherein he describes the ceremony of making, adorning. and carrying the image of Huitzilopuchtli in the Mexican
month Toxcatl: "Delante de estas Andas llevaban una manera de lien~oJ hecho de papel, que tenia "einte brac;as de largo, una de
aneho, y un dedo de grueso. Este lienc;o, hecho de papel, llevaban muchos Mancebos, asidos con unas saetas, con mucho recato;
porque no se quebrase, oi lastirnase, todo pintado, en cuias pinturas Jebian de ir escritas todas las hac;aiias, que en su favor entendian
aver hecho, y todos los Blasones, y epitetos, que Ie daban, en recompensa de las Victorias, que les concedia. Iban cantando del ante
de este falso Dios sus hacyanas, y proecyas, acto a solo Dios debido, a quien los de su Pueblo cantaron, diciendo, Dios de vengancyas, que
obra libremente; yotros (en otra parte) cantemos a Dios, que gloriosamente se ha rnostrado, hecho un Marte Divino, y un castigador de
rnaldades, anegando al Rei Faraon, y matando toda su cavalleria. Pero no ai que maravillar, pues vamos probando, en toda esta
obra, ser este maldito engafiador, un remedador de Dios, y de todas las cosas a que se Ie puede asirnilar, 10 qual el mismo Dios Ie ha
perrnitido, y disimulado par sus ocultos secretos, y juicios, y por las casas que su Divina Magestad se sabe. Llegado a 10 alto del
Templo cogian, y arrollaban este papel, y sentadas las Andas en su lugar, Ie pouian asi arrollado a los pies del Idola, y se bajaban todos,
quedando solos aquellos Satrapas, y Sacerclotes, que eran de vela, y guarda aquella noche, basta la manana siguiente, que era eI
,Dia de In Fiesta. Esta Procesion, y Baile venia a conciuirse, con la puesta del Sol, y a aquella ruisma hora hacian of rend a de
Tamales, y otras comidas a la imagen, y 10 mismo bacian al aruanecer de el Dia siguiente todos los de el Pueblo, en sus Casas a



NOTES. 245

that he possessed several ancient Mexican paintings representing the migrations of the Aztecas and the Tultecas;
and it may not be impossible that the painting which he was bringing over to Spain to present to the king, which
he says was taken from him by the English, together with many papers of importance besides wearing apparel and
jewels, on board the Spanish ship named the Concord, in which he had embarked for Spain in the year 1744,
might have been that which had belonged to Don Ferdinand de Alba Yxtlilxochitl, who had received it from the
kings of Tezcuco, his ancestors; the subject of which was the migration of the Tultecas and the Chichimecas, and
which Boturini helieved was taken from the Teoamoxtli, or divine book of the Tultecas. -- The passage alluded to
in the Idea de una Meeva His/ona is the following:

"On this supposition in so obscure a night, in a sea of such literary storms, amidst so many difficult rocks, I
have found no other light, no other calm, no other haven, but in the histories of the Indians themselves, amongst
which I have chiefly sought out the most ancient Tultec accounts. I have already mentioned in the fourteenth
section, No. 2, the proficiency which that nation had attained in the mechanical arts; and I here add their easy
method of refining metals, the secret of which I have long investigated from motives of public utility. The excellence
which they had attained in the science of astronomy, and in the intercalation of their calendar, remains yet to
be noticed in the twentieth section, No. 2, and in the twenty-seventh section, No. 2; and that which relates to their
history, in the twenty-first section, No. 1, where it will be seen how careful they were to preserve to posterity the
memory of ancient events by means of maps painted with figures, symbols, characters and hieroglyphics. One of
these, which was probably taken from the Teoamoxtli, was in the possession of Don Ferdinand de Alba Yxtlilxochitl,
with many others of the Chichimecan nation, as is evident from testimony which I have seen, and which originally
belonged to the Caciques of his family: and the said author acknowledges that by their assistance he could write

-----
los Idolos, que tenian de este mismo Dios Huitzilopuchtli." "They carried before this litter a kind of painted roll of paper, ninety feet
in length, one in breadth, and as thick as the finger. A number of young men carried this roll of paper, supporting it with arrows very
carefully, that it might not be tom or injured, its surface being entirely covered with paintings; in which paintings it was necessary that
all the mighty acts which he (Huitzilopuchtli) was believed to have performed in their favour, and all his titles, and the epithets which
they had bestowed upon him, in return for the victories which he had granted them, should be recorded. They walked in procession
before this false god, singing his prowess and glorious deeds, -- an act which was due to God. alone, -- before whom those who were his
chosen people sung, saying, (God of vengeance, who freely workest;' and on other occasions, "Let us sing unto God, who has
gloriously manifested himself, assuming the character of the divine god of battles I and of the chastizer of iniquities, who swallowed up
king Pharaoh in the waves, and slew all his cavalry.' But this need cause no surprise; since we prove in the whole course of this
work. that that cursed deceiver seeks to substitute himself for God in every thing in which he can liken himself to Him; which God
himself has permitted and overlooked by his own secret counsels and decrees, and for reasons which His Divine Majesty himself
knows. When they had ascended the upper platform of the temple, they folded up this roll of paper; and the litter having been laid
down in its proper place, they put the paper so folded up at the feet of the idol, and all retired, those priests and satraps alone remaining,
who watched and kept guard that night until the following morning, which was the day of the festival. The procession and dance
terminated at sunset, at which hour precisely they made an olfering of tamales and of other provisions to the image; and all the people
on the morning of the following day made a similar olfering in their respective houses to the idols which they had of this same god
Huitzilopuchtli." The offering of tamales here noticed was a bread-offering, which the Mexicans, like the Jews, presented at their
temple, and which perhaps it was only lawful for their priests to eat. It is probable that Torquemadu, in comparing the songs of the
Mexicans in honour of Huitzilopuchtli with those which the children of Israel sang in commemoration of their escape from Egypt,
wished the readers of his Indian Monarchy to revert to that omitted chapter in his work in which he likens the migration of the Mexicans
from Aztlan to that of the children of Israel from Egypt; all the circumstances attending which were, it is to be presumed, recorded in
the painted roll which was carried in procession and afterwards laid at the reet of Huitzilopuchtli. How much is it to be regretted that
not a:single Mexican painting of this description has been preserved. which would have thrown so much light on a mysterious page
of history, and made superstition yield one of her strongest holds.

I The epithet of Teoyaotlatohuehuitzilopuchtli was also bestowed on Huitzilopuchtli, which is in fact the same proper name with
other titles added to it, the literal meaning of which is, The di,ine god of battles, or The god Yao, (for from his other name Yaotl, by
which, according to Sahagun. he was sometimes known, it is probable that the religious wars of the Mexicans received their
appellation; aDd hence perhaps the tradition that he introduced wars illto the world,) The Lord Huehuitzilopuchtli; the compound term
being formed out of the Mexican words teo divine, or teotl god, !lao war, or yao or yaotl, -- an epithet of the supreme deity of the
Mexicans; tZato lord, and Huitzilopuchtli with hue, great, prefixed to it. It is singular that Huitzilopuchtli should also have been
called the illifTable; but since that epithet seems to relate to the pronunciation of some one of his names, it would be interesting to know 
precisely what that name was.



246 NOTES.

both the Tultec and Chichimccan histories, which paintings I possess in my archives. He afterwards states, that
the above.mentioned origiual Tultec map recorded events of the greatest antiquity, especially the confusion of
tongues which took place at the time of the Tower of Babel, which happened, according to the Tultec calendar, in
the year Ce Tecpatl, One Flint, on which occasion seven Tultecas, who assisted at the building of the said tower,
perceiving that they could not understand the others, separated themselves, together with their wives and sons; and
after having travelled in Asia during a certain number of ages, which they called Huehuetiliztles, arrived at last in
the country of New Spain, which was then named Anahuac, and proceeding in an inland direction till they reached
Tula, established there the court and metropolis of their empire. A more capital or clearer account than this could
not in my opinion be desired, especially since it is accompanied with their successive travels and arrival in New
Spain, with the events which befell them on their journey, duly recorded in the years in which they happened,
according to the order of the characters of their calendar, which I will compare in the General History with our
European years. But as some who are not skilled in the use ofIndian paintings may be embarrassed by the consideration
that the Tultec Indians who separated themselves from the other nations in the plain of Sennaar were
only seven, whilst the colonies that proceeded from them, as well in Asia as in America, were innumerable, we
anticipate their objection by saying, that it was the custom of the Indians to introduce but few figures in their
paintings, under which were reckoned numerous tribes and nations; and accordingly the said seven Tultecas, whose
names the above-mentioned Don Ferdinand spccifies, must be understood to Ilave been seven principal heads of
extensive lineages, which were hidden under the names of their leaders. What is here alledged is confirmed by another
map of the Chichimecan empire, in which we see painted the arrival of the forcign kings who entreated the
Emperor Xolotl to give them lands to settle in, without finding the representation of any of the captains or vassals
who accompanied them; and the same thing is observed in many paintings of the Mexicans, in which the nine
tribes or nine nations which entered with them into the continent of New Spain are represented only by nine
captains, each of whom bears on his shield the arms of his nation." Idea de una Nueva Historia General, page 110.
Torquemada's account of the Mexican migration having been verified by the concurrent testimonies of three such
eminent historians as Garcia, Acosta, and Herrera, and likewise by an original Mexican painting, we shall now
proceed to point out some of the analogies which exist betwcen the early history of the Mexicans and that of the
Jews, having first inserted here the explanation of tl1e names of several places which occur in Boturini's painting,.
which are written under them in old and faded characters, and to which the figures in the plates refer: -- 1..... ilhuitlcacan
Chicomoztoc. 2. Panhualaque. 3. Colhuacan. 4. Chimalman. 5. Quetzalatl. 6. Cuauhcohuatl. 7. Cohuatl.
8. Oncan quitlamamlique Mixtcoal. 9. Oncan quinnotz Mixtcoal. 10. Cuextecatl Chocayan. 11. Cohuatlcamac.
12. Azcapotzalco. 13. Acalhuacan. 14. Ecatepec. 15. Cohuatitlan. 16. Tecpaiocan. 17. Pantitlan. 18. PantitIan.
19. Atlacuihuaan. 20. Chapoltepec. 21. Chimalaxocl. 22. Huitzilihuitl. 23. Coxcoxth. 24. Colhuacan.
It is certainly very remarkable that the first page of that painting, the subject of which is the commencement of
the Aztec migration, or their departure from the land of Aztlan, should present many such analogies. The
Mexicans, like the children of Israel, began their journey by crossing an arm of the sea on the sign Ce Tecpatl,
the first sign of one of their lesser cyclcs; and it is said in the twelfth chapter of Exodus, in the second verse,
"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you."
As the Israelites were conducted from Egypt by Moses and Aaron, who were accompanied by tl,eir sister Miriam *,
so the Aztecas departed from Aztlan under the guidance of Huitziton and Tecpatzin, the former of whom is
named by Acosta and Herrera, Mexi, attended likewise by their sister Quilaztli, or, as she is otherwise named,
Chimalman or Malinalli, both which latter names have some resemblance to Miriam, as Mexi has to Moses; in
reference to which Hebrew proper name it may be observed, that Josephus, in the fifth chapter of the second book
of his Jewish Antiquities, derives it from the Egyptian words mo and yses, the one signifying water, and the other
those that had been saved from the water, "TO yap "Swp Mw 0' A'YU7l'TI"I KaAoual. 'Yaijr. Se Toue e~ "SaToe awOevTar.;" and
in the Mexican language, Amoxtli signifies flags or bulrushes, the derivation of which name, from atl water
and moxtli, might allude to the flags in which Moses had been preserved. This coincidence is merely noticed
here because the reasons of names are not always accidental; and since acatl and amoxtli are both Mexican

-----
* From the laudatory manner in which Moses, Aaron, and Miriam are together made mention of in the fourth verse of the sixth
chapter of Micah, it would appear that the Jews considered Miriam in the light of a leader of the pilgrimage of their forefathers 
from Egypt.




NOTES. 247

names for reeds and rushes, and Egypt is designated in Scripture the country of the river, hence it may be
imagined why the symbol of a reed surrounded with water signifies in the first page of the painting of Boturini
the country called Aztlan, corrupted by the Spaniards into Aztlan, from which the Mexicans proceeded; and in
the third and fourth pages may be the hieroglyphic of a proper name, which may be pronounced Amoxtli, meaning
in the same way, the person who had been saved from the water, or in the flags. It should also be remarked, that
neither of the male figures in the first page have any symbol attached to their heads distinguishing their names;
but as the four priests who are represented in the following page as carrying the ark of Huitzilopochtli, one of
whom is Chimalman (and Miriam, it will be recollected, was of the tribe of Levi), have their respective names
painted above them, and the symbol of the reed does not occur among them, although in the third page that symbol 
designates the name of the person through whose mouth their god is reproving his pcople, and commanding the
Mexicans to separate themselves from the other tribes, -- it may hence be inferred that the reed was the symbol of
the name of one of the two leaders of the Mexicans represented in the first page, of him we should suppose who
conducted the Aztecas across the streights of the sea, which is symbolically expressed by the act of rowing a canoe.
It deserves also to be noticed, that the figure of a pyramid is painted in the island of Aztlan; it is needless to
observe, that that portion of Egypt which the ancients called the Delta, was an island. 'With respect to the proper
name Tecpatzin, by which the other leader of the Mexicans was designated, since tecutl, a crown or mitre, enters
into the composition of it, from whence comes tecpan, a palace, it might signify the person who wore the mitre;
and the two proper names Mexi and Tecpatzin would seem extremely applicable to Moses and Aaron. The
Israelites are said in the twelfth chapter of Exodus to have sojourned four hundred and thirty years in Egypt;
and although the fortieth verse of that chapter, wherein it is so stated, has greatly perplexed commentators, since
from the call of Abraham to the period of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, a period no longer
than that had elapsed, still Acosta's account of the Mexican migration from the provinces of Aztlan and Tcculhuacan
having taken place three hundred and twenty years after that of the six other tribes, has something analogous iu
it to what is said in the Pentateuch of the first departure of the Hebrews under Ahraham and Lot out of Egypt,
and their second departure in the third century afterwards under Moses and Aaron. The account of Acosta does
not however agree with Boturini's painting of the Mexican migration, in which the tribes are all represented as
leaving Aztlan at the same time, and they do not separate till after their arrival at Chicomoztoc. The circumstances
under which the Israelites and the Mexicans commenced their pilgrimage are very analogous. It says in
the third and following chapters of Exodus, that Moses being employed in keeping sheep in Mount Horeb, God
appeared to him in a burning hush, commanding him to go to Pharaoh and to desire him to let the children of
Israel depart from Egypt, promising that he would bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey, and
renewing his covenant with them at the institution of the passover, again enjoining the rite of circumcision, "that
his covenant might be in their flesh for an evcrlasting covenant," informing Moses that his name was Jehovah,
by which name he was till then unknown to them, and that he would perform great signs and wonders,
and would compel Pharaoh to let the Israelites depart from Egypt. Plagues were accordingly sent on Egypt, the
two last of which were darkness over all the land of Egypt, except in the habitations of the Israelites, for three
days; and the death of the first-born, both of man and beast. Moses in the tenth and twelfth chapters of Exodus
thus describes these two last plagues: "And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick

-----
* Sahagun give, the following account of Mecitl, the leader of the Aztec migration, in the fourteenth section of the twenty-ninth chapter
of the tenth book of his History of New Spain, from which it would appear that the Mexicans believed that their leader had been
nourished in a cradle formed of the leaf of the aloe, which is not unlike the Hebrew tradition of Moses having been preserved in an ark
made of bulrushes. "Thig name Mexicatl was formerly pronounced Mecitli, being compounded of me, which is the abbreviation of
metZ, the name of the maguey (the American aloe), and of cit Ii, which signifies a hare; it should therefore properly be pronounced
Mecicatl, but c having been changed into x, it has been corrupted into Mexicatl. This name originated, as the old Indians affirm,
from the leader or chief of the Mexicans, who conducted them to these parts when they arrived hither, having been named Mecitl, who
immediately after his birth received the name of citli, which means a hare, and who having been nourished in the large leaf of an aloe
instead of a cradle, was thenceforward called Mecitli, which name may be interpreted the man who was nourished in the leaf of the
aloe, who when he grew up became a priest to idols, and held pereaoal converse with the Devil, on which account he was much esteemed
and respected by his vassals, who paid ready obedience to his commands, and assuming the name of their priest, called themselves
Mexicas or Mexicac, as the ancients relate."




248 NOTES.

darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for
three days: hut all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. And it came to pass, that at midnight the
Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharoah that sat on his throne unto the
first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle." The children of Israel are
afterwards conducted from Egypt by God himself, who procceds before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead
them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light to go by day and night. It shonld also be
observed, that the name of Jacob having been before changed by God into Israel, the Hebrews took the name of
Israelites. Reference to Torqncmada's description of the migration of the Mexicans from Aztlan, and of the
appearance of their god to them in Chicomoztoc, will show how many analogons circumstances the Mexican history
presents at its very commencemcnt to that of the Jews; but the painting of Boturini seems actnally to represent
Huitzilopochtli appearing in a burning bush in the mountain of Teoculhuacan to the Aztecas; for the symbol
of a mountain and their god in the middle of a bush, from whence proceeds smoke, occurs in the first page.
The reasons for supposing that smoke and not sound is here signified (for the symbols of smoke and sound
are similar in wlcoloured Mexican paintings), are that they are not painted as coming from the mouth of their
God, though no near or intervening object prevents the symbol of the voice being painted in its proper
place, as is the case in the fourth page, where the head of the priest bearing the god on his shoulders
interposes, so that the symbol of sound is necessarily distant from the mouth of the idol; and secondly, that
they are so numerous: whereas sound is generally represented by only one or two of those. little symbols, and
smoke by many, as may be seen in the symbol of the proper name Chimalpopoca, which means a smoking shield,
and was the name of the third king of Mexico. This rule is, however, by no means invariable. Mention has
already bcen made of Chimalman or Quilaztli as accompanying the Aztecas from Aztlan; and Torquemada and
Herrera both agree that when the Mexicans had proceeded as far as Apanco, a quarrel originated in the camp
betwecn the two Mexican captains and Quilaztli, which Herrera says was caused by the presumption of the latter,
who wished to be worshipped by the people as a goddess. They accordingly punished their sister by putting her
out of the camp and leaving her behind on the road, who seeing that she had been deserted by her tribe, founded
the city of Malinalco, which was inhabited by her descendants, who were acconnted famous for their skill in
sorcery. Moses informs us in the twelfth chapter of Numbcrs, that the sedition of Miriam and Aaron at Hazeroth,
and the presumption of the former, caused a quarrel between them, and that Miriam, who in the fifteenth
chapter of Exodus is called a prophetess, was punished with the leprosy", and shut out from the camp for
seven days. Acosta says, that when the Mexicans arrived in the province of Mechoacan, being charmed with its
fertility, the people all wished to remain there, which their god refusing to consent to, they next entreated that a
portion of their tribe might be permitted to settle in that place; to which he assented, and suggested to them the

-----
* Two diseases to which the Jews were "cry subject have much perplexed modern physicians; one of which was the leprosy, and the
other the being possessed with Devils, -- a malady peculiar to themselves, and which Galen and. Hippocrates would certainly have noticed
if ever they had visited the Holy Land. It is very remarkable that the Mexicans, as we learn from the following passages of Sahagun's
History of New Spain, should have been acquainted with both these diseases: a Decian que el dicho dios que se llamaba Titlacaoan,
daba a los vivos pobreza y miseria, y enfermedanes incurables y contagiosas de lepra, y bubas, y sarlla, y hidropesia; las quales
enferrnedades daba quando estaba enojado con los que no cumplian, y quebrantaban el voto y penitencia que se obligaban a ayunar, 6
si dormian can sus mugeres, 6 las mugeres con sus maridos, 6 amigos en el tiempo del ayuna." Historia Universal de las Casas de Nueva
Espana. Lib. iii. cap. ii. This god Titlacaoan, as Sahagun observes elsewhere, was Tezc.atlipoca, whom the Mexicans believed to be
"Dios de los Dioses," (the god of gods,) and he it was who,ent upon them the plagues of the scab and the leprosy, with both which Moses
frequently threatens the Jew,. It is in the twenty. first chapter of the first book of the same History that mention is made of the
superstitious fear which the Mexicans entertained of Devils entering into them. "Decian tam bien que si a alguno se Ie secaba la Olano
6 el pie, 6 Ie temblaba la cara, 6 Ie temblaba. la boca 6 los labios, 6 S'i elltraba en ei algun demo71io, todo esto decian que acontescia
porque estos dioses de que aqui se trata, se habian enojado con el." The evil spirit which entered Saul we must suppose entered
by the permission of God, but not by his command; although the Jews probahly understood in the latter sense the tenth verse of the
eighteenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel: "And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul,
and he prophesied in the midst of the house; and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.
And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice."
In the thirty. seventh page of the lesser Vatican MS. the representation of a person afllicted with the scab or leprosy seems to occur.
Since the small-pox was a complaint certainly unknown to the Indians before the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them, and perhaps
likewise the measles, this painting cannot possibly refer to the former, nor probably to the latter.




NOTES. 249

stratagem of stealing away the clothes from a considerable number of their companions whilst they were bathing
in the lake of Pazcuaro: and hence Acosta asserts, that the party who had been robbed of their clothes, and who
were thereby necessarily compelled to remain behind and to people the province of Mechoacan, entertained ever
afterwards, though originally of the same tribe, the greatest enmity against the Mexicans. This account seems to
contain a confused allusion to the hatred which always existed between the Samaritans and the Jews, and to the
Israelites spoiling the Egyptians of their jewels at the time of their departure from Egypt, as is recorded in the
thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth verses of the twelfth chapter of Exodus: "And the children of Israel did according to
the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And
the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as
they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." The appearance of Tezcatlipoca to the Mexicans in their
migration, on the top of the mountain called Tezcatepec, amidst fire, smoke, and darkness, (to the circumstances
attending which apparition the composition of the proper name refers ",) has something in it analogous to

-----
* This name is compounded of tetcatl, which means a mirror, referring to the proper name Tezcatepec, which signifies The Mount
of Mirrors, tlil dark, and poca smoke; and its signification is The god who appeared in smoke and darkness on the mountain of
mirrors. The Mexicans formed their mirrors out of blocks or tables of the stone yztli; but a table of stone of opaque substance might
still be metaphorically named a mirror, if the laws of God were therein engraved. The Jews call the Talmud the mirror of God.
The Abbe Chiarini, Professor at the University of Warsaw, has proposed to publish a translation of the entire Talmud in French; a
work which would greatly advance the cause of knowledge and of truth, by exposing error, superstition, and imposture in all their native
deformity. It is to be hoped that the following critical remarks, extracted from the 112th N umber of the Revue E1leyclopedique, will
not deter the learned Abbe from prosecuting his laudable design:

"Nous avons eu deja occasion d'entretenir nos lecteurs du projet forme par quelques hebraisans de Pologne, de donner au public une
traduction fran~aise du Talmud. (Voy. Rev. Ene., t. xxx. M.i 1826, p. 56.5.) On appreciera f.cilement I'importance d'une semblable
eotreprise, si l'on veut se rappeler que ce code sacre des juifs modernes n'ajamais ete traduit dans une langue europeenne I. Aujourd'hui,
cornme M.l'abbe Chiarini, professeur de langues et d'antiquites orientales a l'Universite de Varsovie, vient de nous adresser divers
memoires sur ce projet dont l'idee premiere lui appartient, nous croyons devoir Ie faire connaitre plus completement, sallS toutefois eotrer
dans des dlweloppemens·que ne cornporte point la nature de notre recueil.
" La religion juive est assise sur deux bases: l'une est la 10i ecrite, l'autre la 10i orMe. La loi ecrite est contenue dans la Bible; la
loi orale se trouve dans la vaste compilation, nommee Talmud. Si nous croyons les rabbins, Moise reliut les deux lois sur Ie mont Sinai
La premiere devait etre mise par ecrit et livree aux idiots comme aux savans; la seconde devait etre communiquee de vive voix amt
seuls sayans, pour qu'ils se la traosmissent les uns les autres. On confoit que cette 'PT~tendue loi orale, dont jamais Dieu n'avait parle
iJ. MOlse, n'~tait qu'une pure invention des docteuTs, qui, se trouvant genes par la Bible, ouvraient ainsi un champ ind~fini a leurs
systemes bizarres, comrne a leur ambition. Le caractere de cette loi ~tait de rester traditionnelle, de De jamais ~tre fixee; cependant,
eUe finit par s'elever au rang de loi ecrite. Les ev~nemens expliquent cette contradiction singuliere. Le christianisme avait jet~ l'alarme
parmi les juifs; il tournait contre eux des armes qui leur appartenaient, et marquait chaqu~ jour par un triomphe nouveau; Ie judaisme
semblait n'avoir plus qu'a, mourir sous les coups d'un ennemi si puissant. Aucun lien n'unissait les docteurs de Ia loi dispers~s dans
l'Europe et dans l' Asie; les traditions colport~es de l'orient a l'occident n'etaient plus soumises au contrale de la synagogue. C'est alors
que des rabbins conliurent l'id~e de raffermir leur religion, en licrivant les traditions. Par ce moyen, Ie judaisme retrouvait des dogmes
que Ie christianisme ne pouvait pas lui ravir; ces dogmes ~taient approprilis a son etat miserable; ils se montraient neanmoins pleins
de jeunesse et d'energie, tels enfin qu'illes fallait a un peuple devoue au malheur et anime des sentimens les plus hostiles contre les
nations ~trangeres a son cuIte. Le Talmud opera done la reconstruction dujuda·isme. Cette reconstruction fut eminemment vicieuse,
eUe s'appuya sur des plincipes absurdes et immoraux; mais eIle fut si solide qu'aujourd'hui encore elle passe pour in~branlable.
H Le signal de ce grand changement fut donne par Jehuda Ie saint, qui, vers la fin du 2e sieele de notre ere, entreprit d'ecrire les
traditions dans Ie livre intitulli Misna. Un siecle apres parut la Gemara. Ces deux ouvrages reunis forment Ie Talmud; ils parurent
a Jerusalem. Trois siecles plus tard, on sentit la Decessite d'ecrire un nouveau recueil de traditions; car les d~cisions des Tabbins
continuaient a se succeder et a usurper chacune a leur tour I'autorite de la loi ecrite. On n!digea done II Babylone un Recond Talmud.
Si l'on examine avec quelque soin ces deux compilations, on trouve que l'esprit de haine contre les non-juifs et Ie d~lire d'imagination
des rabbins ont augmente II proportion que Ie christianisme faisait plus de progr~s. Ainsi, Ie judaisme parait plus outre dans la Gemara
de J~rusalem que dans la Misna, et l'on n'aperc;oit plus aucune modliration, aucune trace de bon sens dans la Gemara de
Babylone. Cependant Ie Talmud babylonien est Ie plus repandu parmi les juifs, ou plutat c'est Ie seul qui soit etudie et cite par eux.
lIs cherchent a justifier cette preference, en accusant d'obscurite Ie Talmud de Jerusalem; mais la v~ritable raison, c'est que les
traditions se renouvelant sans interruption, les derni~res devaient ~tre reputees les meilleures. Le cr~dit du Talmud babylonien est donc
naturel, quoique trAs·funeste.
1 Les califesde Cordove I'ont fait traduire en arabe par un Juif espagnol, nomme R.Joseph. On peut voir quelques details sur ce
rabbin, dans I'ouvrage intitule Les JUifs d'Oeeidellt, S' partie, p. 17.



250 NOTES.

the appearance of God on Monnt Sinai to the Israelites. Tezcatlipoca, as Torquemada asserts, was the Jupiter
of the ancients, and the god whom the Mexicans considered supreme over all; he therefore was probably the

-----
It Cette compilation immense est divisee en six. ordres et en soixante-sept livres ou trait~s; accrue par des additions post~rieures a sa
redaction, elle remplit douze entlrmes volumes in-folio. Tel est au mains Ie nombre des volumes de I'edition pubJiee II Venise, en 1520,
par Daniel Bomberg. C'est sur cette edition non censure, et sur celie de Cracovie (1602-5, 7 vol. in-fo\'), ou les passages retranches
par ordre des papes ant ~te retablis, que M. l'abbe Chiarini se propose de travailler.
U Expliquons Ie plan arret~ par eet orientaliste aussi savant que courageux.
tl Traduire Ie Talmud, c'est-a.. dire l'ouvrage Ie plus ObSCUf1 Ie plus diffus, Ie plus incoherent que Pan puisse irnaginer, ouvrage qui
n'est pas ecrit en hebreu, mais dans une langue faite expres, et qui est compos~e d'hebreu, de chald~en, de syriaque, de persan, d'arabe,
de grec, de latin...; traduire, dis-je, Ie Talmud me paraissait une tAche suffisante pour remplir la vie d'un homme. Aussi ai~je ete
grandement surpris, lorsquej'ai appris que M. Chiarini, au lieu de borner ses efforts a l'achevement de sa version, entreprenait une foule
d'ecrits qu'il me parait bien difficile qu'il puisse terminer, meme en tenant compte du travail des deux cooperateurs qu'avec beaucoup
de raison il a cru devoir se donner.

"La traduction du Talmud doit etre precedee par I. publication d'un livre intitule: Theorie du judaisme, appliquee II la refonne des
juifs de tous les pays de l'Europe, et qui paraltra II I. fois en fran~ais, en allemand et en polonais. Dans cet ecrit seront exposes les
motifs qui ant porte les traducteurs II entreprendre leur version du Talmud.

"Le premier traducteur, queje suppose ~tre M. Chiarini, dans un des memoires manuscrits qu'il nous a envoyes, rend compte des
etudes par lesquelle. il a fait preceder la traduction du premier volume. II nous apprend que cette partie de I'entreprise etant achevee,
au lieu de poursuivre la traduction des onze autres volumes, il s'est tout a coup arrete pour composer une Theorie du judaisroe,
appliquee II la reforme des israelite. du royaume de Pologne; ouvrage tres_considerable, et qui semble rentrer tellement dans Ie plan de
celui que j'ai cite plus haut, que je suis porte a croire que ces deux ecrits, malgre la cliversite de leurs titres, o'eo forment qu'un seui.
La solution de ce doute De se trouve pas daos les memoires que j'ai sous les yeux.

"Le second traducteur ne s'est pas non plus exclusivement occupe de la version entreprise. Je Ie vois travailler a un extrait de tous
les proverbes, sentences et maximes morales qui se trouvent dans Ie Talmud, afin de composer un catechisme destine a I'instruction de la
jeunesse israelite. Ce m~me traducteur prepare, en outre, un ecrit dans lequel il discutera les diverses opinions emises sur Ie Talmud,
et appreciera Ie merite ou Ie danger des doctrines talmudiques, d'apres la tendance et l'inBuence de ces doctrines.
(r Enfin, Ie troisieme traducteur, charge de consulter les commentaires et les differen:; extraits du Talmud, pour en tirer les materiaux
qui doivent entrer dans les notes de la version, vient d'achever un rituel de pratiques et de coutumes religieuses des juifs d'aujourd'hui.
U Si tous ces I!crits sont conformes a l'analyse que M. Chiarini en presente, il faut reconnaitre qu'ils sont enfantcs par un esprit
vraiment philosophique, et qu'une profonde science resplendit en eux; mais peut-on neanmoins ne pas ~tre surpris de voir trois personnes
reunies pour traduire Ie Talmud, s'occuper de travaux qui ne sont pas precisement necessaires a une version de ce recueil immense? A
peine entres dans la carriere, leur faut-il d~jll des Mlassemens? Je redoute cette disposition de I'esprit qui porte II reculer sans cesse les
bornes d'un sujet, parce qu'eHe me semble exclusive des qualites necessaires pour mener a son terme une vaste entreprise.
(r Je m'arr~te peu sur ces doutes, qui ne sont peut-t:tre que des preventions, et je pose Ia question suivante: Quels sont les avantage3
qui peuvent rcsulter d'une traduction frant;aise du Talmud?

"Faciliter II un peuple la lecture et l'~tude de ses livres sacre, est generalement une chose si [econde en bons r~sultats, qu'on doit In
regarder comme uneobligation impos6e soit aux ministres du culte, soit aux gouvernemens, soit aux simples particuliers que leurs Iumieres
elevent au~dessus de leurs concitoyens. Mais si ces Iivre~ sacres, au lieu de n'offrir qu'un heureux developpement des principes de Ia
morale, alteraient au contraire ces principe~; s'ils bouleversaient les dogmes fondaruentaux dela religion; s'ils etaient de nature a troubler
les consciences, a aigrir les esprits, a affaiblir mt:me Ie sentiment religieux j si, enfin, ils n'avaient acquis Ie caractere sacre qu'a l'aide d'une
coupable usurpation, dcvrait-on travailler ales repandre? Devrait-on renverser leg obstacles qui peuvent contrarier leurs succes? Je ne
Ie pense pas. Choisissez dan:> ces livres ce qu'il y a de moins mauvais, jetez un voile epais sur Ie reste, et vous aurez fait ce que Ia
raison me semble conseiller.

"M. Chiarini veut traduire Ie Talmud dans la langue la plus repandue de l'Europe; or, voici ce qu'il pense du Talmud: Son genie
malfaisant, dit-il, porte des coups funestes et invisibles au genre humain du milieu des tenebres epaisses qui l'environnent. Qui pourrait
calculer com bien il a contribue et contribue encore a multiplier les malheurs qui afHigent la terre? etc.... Voila Ie livre qu'il veut faire
passer dans la langue universelle. Disons mieux: voila Ie poison qu'il veut faire circuler. Je croyais qu'il etait reconnu depuis bien
des siecles qu'on ne pouvait reformer Ie judaisme qu'en ruinant Ie Talmud et en clevant sur ses debris la Bible aujourd'hui si dedaignee.
Telle fut au moins la pensee du grand Maimonides 1

, et de cette ecole des rabbins anti.traditionnaires, qui chercha avec une si louable
perseverance a epurerle juda'isme en simplifiant Ie Talmud; elle ne put reussir, mais nous n'en devons pas moins reconnaitre la sagesse
des idees qui l"animaient. Je suis loin de penser que ce soit une chose facile que de ravir aux juifs Ie livre qui les a faits ce qu'ils sont,
qui les a reunis quand la Providence les dispersait. et dont Ie terns a consolide Ie pouvoir; mais, ce qui est tres-aise, c'est de ne point
lui donner un surcroit de publicite, de ne pas Ie rendreplus clair, plus usuel, de ne pas Ie livrer aux idiots comme aux sayans. On ne
peut rien arracher par la force II un peuple aussi obstine que Ie peuple juif. Si done on veut Ie dego(\ter du Talmud, il faut \aisser dans

-----
1 The great Maimonides (as he is surely here named in derision) was as prejudiced a Jew as ever lived, but less ignorant than the
generality of his countrymen.




NOTES. 251

same as Huitzilopuchtli: and as Garcia affirms that that deity taught the Mexicans rites, ceremonies and sacrifices,
causing the heaven to rain bread, and drawing from the flint water to quench their thirst, the occasion of his
doing so, it may be presumed, was when he appeared to them on the top of the mountain of Tezcatepec. It is
l'obscurite ce livre dangereux, se garder de \'offrir a la discussion et a 1a critique des chretiens, et attendre sans impatience Ie momentou
un philosophe sage et prudent comme ~Iendelsohn viendra decider ses coreligionnaires a reporter leurs etudes sur les livres de Moise. Si
l'on commence la reforme du judaisme par 1a discussion du Talmud, on n'aura fait qu'ouvrir une carriere illimitee a toute5 les divagations
de l'esprit judaique. En citant Mendelsohn, j'ai rappele le nom du plus beau genie qu'ait produit Israel depuis Maimonides; eh bien!
parcourez taus les ecrits de ce sage, et clites sijamais il a recommandeje De dis pas la traduction du Talmud, mais seolement l'etude de
ce livre. L'auteur du Phedon connaissait trop bien sa nation, il respectait trop la raison humaine, pour commettre une teUe faute.
U Je dois, au reste, rendre justice a M. Chiarini, et reconnattre que, quand il a congu Ie projet de traduire Ie Talmud, il songeait
moins a Ie repandre parmi les juifs, qu'a Ie faire connaitre aux chnhiens, esperant que ces derniers acquerraient par cette traduction les
moyens de confondre la mauvaise foi des rabbins, de faire sentir a tous les juifs l'enonnite de leurs erreurs, et par consequent d'ecraser Ie
talmudisme. Cette idee me para1t si extraordinaire que je crois de'oir rapporter les propres paroles du professeur: 'Que 1'00
rapproche, dit.il, par une version du Talmud les lois et les rites barbares, les maximes haineuses et fanatiques, les contradictions
palpables, les propos fabuleux, les ergotismes et les jeux de mots et de lettres qui constituent Ie canevas et la broderie de ce m~me livre;
qu'on Ie rapproche, dis~je, de nos loib, de nos mreurs et de nos lumieres, et l'ctat de notre civilisation et nos discussions produiront
insensiblement la reforme desin!e; car la raison des juifs, quelque limitee qu'on veuille Ia supposer sous ce point de vue, ne pourra point
manquer de de-savouer des principes et des prejuges dont elle sera contrainte de rougir aux yeux du monde entier. La synagogue ne
pourra plus crier a i'imposture et a la calomnie, lorsqu'une version du Talmud aura dernontre enfio que la tendance de ses doctrines est
plus pernicieuse encore que nous ne pouvons Ie faire voir iei.'

"Ainsi done les juifs respecteront Ie Talmud, tant qu'il sera ~crit en mauvais b~breu: si demain on Ie traduit en bon fransais, iis
l'abandonneront. Comment peut-on se pr~ter 11 de semblables illusions ' ? Les chretiens ont ecrit et repete contre le Talmud tout ce
qu'il etait possible de dire. Les juifs ne s'en sont pas emus; il fut un terns ou il etait de mode d'etablir des controverses publiques
entre les chretiens et lesjuifs. M. Chiarini se rappelle sans doute la celebre conference qui eut lieu devant I'anti-pape Benoit XIII.
Tout fut dit, de part et d'autre, pour et contre le Talmud. Qu'en est·il resuM? rien que quelques apostasies preparees et payees en
secret. Les sectateurs eonseieneieux du Talmud sentaient leur passion pour ce livre croitre a mesure qu'il etait expose aux attaques
des ehretiens; ils se montralent plus obstines, plus intraitables qu'auparavant, et les hommes sages des deux religions s'aecordaient a
bl!imer ces combats qui ne n~solvaient aucune difficultes. 8i de tels moyens n'ont pu conduire au succes dans des siecles ou la passion
des controverses religieuses etait universelle, comment admettre qu'ils auraient plus d'elfet aujourd'hui que les questions de theologie
n'excitent plus d'interet?

"11 faut se faire de justes idees sur Ia force des opinions religieuses, et ne pas croire qu'un peuple abandonnera sa religion, parce que
des argumentateurs lui auront demontre que cette religion est mauvaise. Les changemens en une matiere aussi grave trouvent leur
principe moins dans la volonte et la conscience des individus, que dans les revolutions morales et politiques qu'eprouvent les societes.
Les efforts isoles disparaissent au sein de ces grands mouvemens, et ils n'ont pas Ie droit de se vanter du success.
"Une traduction du Talmud n'aura pas les glorieux resultats qu'annonce M. Chiarini. Les juifs se garderont de nescennre dans
l'arene: s'ils y descendent, ce ne sera pas pour combattre sur une traduction que tautes les synagogues auront anathl-matisee, comme
fiUe de la haine et de l'erreur; iis demanderoot que la controverse soit reportee sur Ie texte meme; et alors, a quoi aura servi celte longue
et fastidieuse version'?

"Pionetr" de respect pour le caractere et les talens de M. l'abM Chiarini, j'ai cru devoir rechercher la source des illusions qui se sont
emparees de son esprit, afin de la lui indiquer avec franchise. J'ai relu tous ses memoires, et je suis reste convaincu que son erreur
provient unlquement de Ia persuasion ou il est que, pour reformer les juifs, il raut commencer par reformer Ie judaisrne. Pour moi, je
pense absolument Ie contraire, et voici mes motifs: A,'ant d'ensemencer un champ, il faut Ie defricher. Avant d'entreprendre une tAche
aussi rude que Ia rHorme d'un systeme religieux, il faut preparer Ia nation qui doit recevoir cette rHorme. Si cette nation est plongee
dans l'ignorance, avilie par la misere, abrutie par une longue proscription~ pourra-t-elle se montrer accessible aux seductions d'une
philosophie epuree, et se reveiller de sa torpeur pour s'elever a la connaissance des veritables principes religieux? Non assurement:
ameliorez Petat social de cette nation, donnez~lui les idees d'ordre, de sagesse et de patience qui lui manquent; instruisez.. la, detachez-Ia
1 This is a very false argument; since it is not the language or the style of composition of the Talmud that has caused it to be
respected, but its doctrines and traditions believed by the Jews to be divine; and the Abbe Chiarini proposes, by exposing the
absurdity of those traditions and the immorality of those doctrines, to make the Talmud contemptible even in the eyes of the Jews.

-----
* The religious controversy which took place two years ago in Dublin between Mr. Pope and Mr. Macguire, on the truth and merits
of their respective creeds, was attended with exactly the same results. The account of this controversy, which has been printed and is
attested by the signatures of the disputants, is curious and interesting.

+ The attempt is nevertheless laudable, because the end proposed is useful.

++ They will probably be silent, or they will at last pay a debt which they have long owed to mankind, by abandoning the entire of
their vicious system.




252 NOTES.

also very remarkable that the Mexicans should have solemnized his festival exactly three times in the year, as the
Israelites were also commanded, in the thirty-fourth chapter of Exodus, to appear thrice in the year before the

-----
de ses habitudes haineuses, de ses vices hereditaires, de SOD avilissante cupidite; quand vous aurez opere ces heureux chaogemens, vaus
pourrez diriger ses regards vers ses livres sacres; elle comprendra la necessite de les soumettre au jugement de In raison 1 et de les purger
de ce qu'ils peuvent offrir de mauvais: son esprit, degage des impressions du malheur et de I'ignorance, s' elevera sans efforts aux plus
hautes considerations marales 2; et la rMorme, appelee par tous les vceux, accueillie avec applaudissement, s'operera d'elle-meme.
Supposons M. Chiarini distribuant ses ecrits aux rabbins et aux juifs de la Pologne, de l'Allemagne, et de l'Alsace. Combien en
sera.t-il parmi cux qui cornprendront tout ce qu'ils renrerment de sage et de vraiment philaotropique r Admettons, au contraire, qu'ils
ant ete mis dans lea mains des juifs portugais, rien alors ne s'oppose a ce que nous croyions que de tels ouvrages ant trou\'e de dignes
appreciateurs, et qu'ils pouTTont ~tre vraiment utiles. D'otl vient cette difference? Ene vient de ce que les juifs portugais, comme les
juifs de HoUande, 50nt dans un etat moral sati,faisant, tandis que les juifs d' Alsace, ainsi que ceux de Pologne, restent en general
etrangers a la civilisation des con trees qu'ils habitent, et que, tout entiers aUK 30ins de leur commerce, il serait impossible de leur faire
comprendre seulement ce qu'est une rHorme religieuse. Je Ie r~pete, on ne doit songer a reconstruire Ie judaisme qu'apres que I'ctat
moral et civil des juifs aura ~te amelior~.

"Telle fut la pens~e de Napoleon, lorsqu'il convoqua.on grand sanhedrin, en 1807. Cette assemblee, jugee.i severement par
M. Chiarini, avait pour mandat de mettre autant que possible la population isra~lite de la France en harmonie avec Ie reste des
Fran9ais s. Elle ne regia que I'etat relatif de la societe juive; elle ne s'occupa ni de la Misna, ni de la Gemara; elle ne fit point
traduire Ie Talmud; eUe ne pr~cha pas la reforme; eUe fit mieuy-, elle donna aux juifs fran9ais une organisation civile, preferable a ceUe
des juifs de quelque epaque et de quelque pays que se soit. Grace a sa sagesse, une restauration du judaisme en France pourra s'operer
un jour. Ni nous oi nos enfans oe Ie verrons luire ce jour; mais eofin it arrivera, si, comme je l'espere, nos concitoyens isra~lites ne
se lassent pas de marcher dans les voies d'am~l1orations ouvertes par Ie grand sanhedrin.
"Apres avoir consid~re la traduction du Talmud comme ~Mment d'une reforme religieuse, M. Chiarini examine les services qu'eUe
pourrait rendre a l'bistoire, a la chronologie et a la litt~rature; en ramenant la question a des termes plus simples, en renonsant a un
vain espoir, M. Chiarini obtiendrait les suffrages de tOllS les amis des lettres. Le Talmud est un monument des ~carts de l'esprit
humain; sous ce raport, il a droit a une mention dans l'histoire des religions et dans celie de la philosophie. Mais faudra-t-il traduire
integralement un ouvrage en 12: volumes in-folio, qui de l'aveu commun ne se recommande que par l'exces de sa bizarrerie et de son
absurdite 6 ? Songez au terns, au savoir, aux frais qu'exigera la publication dJune version du Talmud, et au mince profit qu'en tirerait
la litterature. Quels sont les ecrivains qui la liront dans un but historique au litteraire? Quelques consciencieux erudits, au quelques
curieux. Mais les premiers savent l'llE!breu, et De sont pas gens a s'en rapporter a la parole d'autrui. Quant aux seconds, les ecrits
des deux Buxtorff, de Bartolocti, de Wolff, d'Einsenmenger, de BasDage, de Rossi et de tant d'autres, satisferont leur curiosite
passagere. Je De vois done point, meme dans ce cas, des motifs suffisans pour entreprendre l'immeDse travail dont il est question.
U Je ne veux pas pTl!tendre toutefois qu'il soit impossible de composer aujourd'hui un ouvrage curieux sur Ie Talmud. Le savant,
verse dans la connaissance de I'h~breu rabbinique et de la philosophie juive, qui ferait un extrait simple et methodique du Talmud, qui
choisirait tout ce que ce code contieat de relatif a l'histoire, qui mettrait en IUllli~re et expliquerait quelques-uns des symboleg interessans
que 1'00 y trouve, pourrait otrrir au public un volume digne d'~tre resu avec faveur, et qui compIeterait les notions deja acquises sur 1'6tat
des ecoles philosophiques de I' Asie dans les premiers tems de notre ere. VOperis Talmudici brevis recensio de Jean Buxtorff est un
ouvrage consu dans cette id~e, mais qui De peut passer que pour une esquisse: Ie refaire sur une base plus large serait line chose utile.
Voila, a mon avis, tout ce que la litterature demancle a l'orientaliste qui veut rendre ses travaux sur Ie Talmud profitables au
monde savant.

II Si je n'avais pas attaque l'entreprise de M. Chiarini dans son principe, je me serais permis de critiquer Ie parti qu'il a pris de
traduire Ie Talmud en Franc;ais, la langue latine me paraissant sous taus les rapports plus convenable&. Je lui aurais fait observer que la
I The Jews will never, as long as they continue to be Jews, submit to try the Talmud by the test of reason, nor is it likely that they
will ever acknowledge the old law to be abolished; or in other words, become converts to Christianity. We do not feor that we shall
strengthen prejudices which can receive no accession to their native force by observing that it is a very remarkable fact, that the last
ordinance in the Old Testament is an injunction to the Jews to preserve lm'iolate the laws of Moses; nor do we recollect any passage
in the course of it which seems to contemplate the abolition of the old law, although to many of the Levitical institutions the words
'everlasting' and' throughout your generations,' in reference to the particular law promulgated, are frequently added.
s" Eutopian expectation.

S The grant of a perfect equalization of civil rights to the Jews from the respective governments of every country which they at present
inhabit, would display an enlightened spirit oflegislation, and be the means most likely of making them good citizens, and believers no
longer in the Talmud; since it is a principle inherent in human nature, to listen to the arguments and to attend to the advice of those
whom we know to be benevolently disposed towards us, and really to desire our welfare.

-----
* They have other equally absurd books.,
, Becau,e only a few learned men and some curious persons would read a Latin translation of the Talmud, which is a language
much less generally understood in Europe now than it was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.




NOTES. 253

Lord. Torquemada says in the twentieth chapter of the tenth book of his Indian Monarchy, that the Mexicans
celebrated the festival of Huitzilopochtli in the fifth, the ninth, and the fifteenth month of their calendar, which last
month was named Panquetzalliztli: and Pcter de los Rios says that the festival of Tetzcatlipoca was kept three
times in the year. The same writer also relates, that when the Mexicans in the course of their migration had arrived
at Apanco, the people of that province werc inclined to oppose their further progress, but that Huitzilopochtli
aided the Mexicans by causing a brook that ran in the neighbourhood to overflow its banks. This reminds us of
what is said in the third chapter of Joshna, of the Jordan overflowing its banks and dividing to let the priests who
bore the ark pass through. Torquemada and Herrera both record the arrival of the Mexicans at Tulan, and dcscribe
how highly they were enchanted with the situation of the mountain Cohuatepec; and that consecluently, being
unwilling to proceed further in search of the promised land, they wished to fix there their permanent residence,
murmuring against the will of Huitzilopochtli; who inflicted a dreadful vengeance that night upon them in the
camp, slaying all those that had spoken of remaining in that place. Moses in the sixteenth chapter of Numbers
thus describes the rebellion of Korah against himself, and his own conduct on that occasion: "Now Korah, the son
of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pcleth,
sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and
fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. And they gathered themselves together
against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them; Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation
are holy, everyone of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation
of the Lord? And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: and he spake unto Korah, and unto all his
company, saying, Even to-morrow the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near
unto him; even him whom he hath choscn will he cause to come near unto him." And in the twenty-eighth and
following verses of the same chapter Moses adds, "And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent
me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these mcn die the common death of all
men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me: but if the Lord make a
new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down
quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass, as he
had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them; and the earth
opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all
their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them;
and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of
them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us np also. And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed
the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." Moses afterwards says, in the forty-ninth verse, that fourteen
thousand seven hundred of the others died of the plague. The cause which led to the punishment of the Mexicans, it
will be immediately perceived, was very different from that for which the Israelites so severely suffered; for although
on other occasions the children of Israel had incurred the displeasure of God, by murmuring against proceeding
further on their journey and by wishing to return back to Egypt, Moses here expressly states that Korah and the
Israelites were punished for sedition against himself and Aaron, as Aaron and Miriam had been before punished
for sedition against himself alone. Bnt it is in the dreadful nature of the vengeance inflicted, and in the new and
langue fran~aise n'est pas tres-repandue parmi les Tabbins, et qu'il est douteux qu'on l'ecrive correcternent en Pologne, 
ou 1a version est censt5e devoir paraitre.

"Je ne terminerai pas cet article sans m'excuser pres de M. l'abbe Chiarini du grand nombre d'objections que je viens de diriger
contre son projet. J'ai cru servir ses intt5rets en lui montrant ce qui me parait etre la verite. Ce n'est pas sans une veritable peine
llue l'on voit un hOlUme douc de rares connaissances, et anime de l'amour sincere de l'humanite, se jeter dans une enterprise qui De doit
pas etre terminee, ou qui, si jamais elle parvenait a sa fin, n'indemniserait point par d'heureux n~sultats les etTorts d'une vie qui pourrait
se consumer dans des traveaux moins penibles et plus utiles. Je sais que mes doutes ne dedderont pas M. Chiarini a abandonner Ie
projet qu'il a conliu. On ne renonce pas a de flatteuses illusions parce qu'une voix isolCe et inconnue s'est clevee contre elles; mais
qu'il veuille bien se rappeler ce qu'a regret je lui predis: en admettant qu'il termine sa traduction, il ne trouvera oi dans les gouverne..
mens, oi dans les particuliers, assez d'eocouragemcns pour pouvoir la mettre au jour. Puisse.. t-il ne pas se preparer des regrets
pour un terns ou iis seraient inutiles!" -- ARTHUR BEUGNOT. 1

J In this prediction 111. Beugnot may easily be mistaken.




254 NOTES.

uncommon kind of dcath by which both the Mexicans and the Israelites died, as well as its suddenness, that the two
examples are parallel. Torquemada observes that Huitzilopochtli had in the beginning informed the Mexicans
that the mountain of Cohuatepec was to be only a specimen and sample of the promised land, and that they
were not to consider it a permanent residence: and we are informed in Deuteronomy, that Moses, on account
of having incurred the displeasure of God in the wilderness, was not permitted to enter the land of Canaan, but
was commanded to ascend to the top of Mount Pisgah, in order that he might have a sample and specimen of the
land flowing with milk and honey which the Israelites were about to possess. The same writer also says, that as
Moses and Aaron died in the wilderness without reaching the land of Canaan, so Huitziton and Tecpatzin died
before the Mexicans arrived in the land of Anahuac. This coiucidence appears to him deserving of notice; but
still, if the number of years which the Mexicans employed in their migration be considered, the reverse would have
been highly improbable, even allowing for the patriarchal ages to which the early Chichimecas attained; for according
to tradition Xolotl lived two hundred years, and his sister one hundred and fifty: neither would it have appeared
extraordinary that Moses himself should have died without entering the promised land, -- he being fourscore years
old before he left Egypt, -- if he had not informed us that God's displeasure was the cause, and that otherwise we
might have been predisposed to imagine that a man so highly favoured would have also been rewarded with long
life, a blessing upon which the Jews set such high value. Further analogies might be traced between the carly history
of the Jews, as recorded in the Pentateuch, and that of the Mexicans. It is unnecessary, however, to point them
out here, as the account which we have taken from Torquemada's works, of the Mexican migration, terminates
with the history of their residence in Tulan and Cohuatepec, and of their departure from those places. But since
mention has been made of Xolotl, (whose symbol Boturini says was an eye, indicative of prudence,) who
conducted the first colony of Chichimecas or Chichimexi from the country of Amaquemecam to that of Anahuac,
(which name means the Valley of the Lake,) we cannot refrain from observing that his history, in some of its
circumstances, is not unlike Joshua's: like Joshua, before he himself enters the country of the Tultecas he sends
spies to explore the land, and the report of his son Nopaltzin induces him to advance. He then proceeds a short
way into the country, as far as Tenayucan, where numbering the pcople he finds them to be more than a million;
and each individual of this mighty host being ordered to throw a single stone, twelve large hillocks of stones
were formed, which Torquemada says, on the authority as it would appear of ancient paintings, existed in
his time. This account of Xolotl numbering the people so ncarly resembles what is said in the fourth chapter
of Joshua, of the children of Israel being commanded by that chief on crossing the river Jordan to throw
stones for a memorial, and is so curious, that we shall transcribe at full length the passage of Joshua, and
likewise that alluded to in Torquemada. In the Book of Joshua it says; "And it came to pass when all
the people wcre clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out
of the people, out of every tribe a man; and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of
Jordan, out of the place where the priests' fcct stood firm, twelve stones; and ye shall carry them over with you,
and leave them in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom
he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before
the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his
shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; that this may be a sign among you,
that when your children ask their fathers in time to corne, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall
answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed
over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of
Israel for ever. And the childreu of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the
midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged and laid them down there." Torquemada thus
describes, in the eighteenth chapter of the first book of his Indian Monarchy, the memorial, consisting of twelve
heaps of stones, which Xolotl commanded the Chichimexi to leave to their posterity of their having taken
possession of the country of the Tultecas: "If I should feel disposed to pass on without enumerating the people
who arrived at this place, I should wrong History, since it is her province to mention their number; and if I should
declare it, I fear that it will appear incredible: but since these are not speculative calculations which beget opinion,
but facts which I ?fiml recorded, if the ancient paintings are true and not false, -- I proceed to say, that, according to



NOTES. 255

their account, the people who were scattered through those caves and districts exceeded a million in number; for
besides the six kings and lords who came with Xolotl, there were more than twenty thousand other chiefs and
captains of inferior rank, who brought each of them in their train more than a thousand persons, whom Xolotl and
the other six lords who had departed together with him from their own kingdoms and provinces commanded.
But in order that the ears of the prudent and discreet reader may not he scandalized in consequence of this
number appearing excessive, I affirm that in the neighbourhood of the city which is at present called Tenayucan,
which at that time was the capital of as large a kingdom as this, there is a place where there are twelve hillocks of
stones, which are those which were collected together when the pcople were nnmhered, each person carrying one
and throwing it on the heap, the sight of which causes astonishment in the beholder: and if it be considered that
every separate stone was thrown by a single individual, no difficulty will be found in believing that the number of
the people was as great as has been said. The place accordingly received the appellation of Nepohualco, which
signifies The place of numbering. There is another reason that induces me to believe that their number must
have very been great, which appears highly probable; which is, that the Chichimecan nation came in search of the
inhabitants of the land, with the determination and resolution to make war upon them as their mortal enemies; and
if it be necessary to prepare a sufficient force to subdue an enemy beyond their own limits, double as large a force
will be requisite to conquer them in their own territory. It is therefore credible that they came in such vast and
numerous squadrons, as men who meditated not only fighting, but conquest, and to remain thenceforward lords of
the country." Torquemada proceeds afterwards to say, that Xolotl having taken possession of the land of Anahuac,
portioned it out amongst his followers; and that after the lapse of some time he advanced as far as Tulan, the capital
of the ancient Tultecas. It will be recollected that thtl first thing Joshua did on entering the promised land was to
divide it amongst the Israelites; but that it was not until many years afterwards that the Jews conquered Jerusalem
from the Canaanites. As Joshua likewise found giants in the land of Canaan whose race he extirpated, who were
called Zamzummims by the Ammonites, as Moses says in the second chapter of Deuteronomy, who were descended
from the giants the sons of Anak, compared with whom the Israelites appeared in their own sight as grasshoppers,
so the Chichimecas found a remnant of the Quinametin or Tzocuillicxeque, who were giants, on their arrival in
Anahuac, who, as Acosta relates in the third chapter of the seventh book of his Indian History, were destroyed by the
Tlaxcaltecas, one of the Chichimecan tribes, by means of the following stratagem. They made a feigned treaty with
them and invited them to a banquet; when the giants becoming intoxicated with wine, men who had been concealed
rushed upon them: and although on recovcring from the surprise caused by the suddenuess of the attack the giants
made a vigorous resistance, tearing off branches from the trees to defend themselves, yet their arms having been previously
taken from them, whilst in a drunken state, by the Tlaxcaltecas, they were all to a man cut off. The analogies
already pointed out in the Mexican and Jewish histories being too numerous to be merely accidental, we shall endeavour
in this place to account for them on grounds which we hope may appear both reasonable and probable. It will
be recollected that Garcia says, "que no falta quicn diga haverle fingido los Indios, haviendo oido este;" -- "there
were not wanting those who affirmed that the Indians feigned the one (their own early history) after having heard the
other (the early history of the Jews)." This without reeUl'ring to miracles appears to be the key to the whole mystery.
The Chichimecas are said to have been a nation whose arrival and dominion in New Spain was subsequent to that of
the Tultecas, by whom they were civilized and instructed in various of the useful arts of life, especially in t,hat of
relining metals and in working in gold and silver; with whom they contracted alliances, and finally Uluted so
as to form but one nation; retaining hmvever still the appellation of Chichimccas, or merely prefixing teo to the
name, as the mass of the people were of that race and the Tultecas were comparatively but few in number. Since,
however, the Mexican or Nahuatlacan language, which was that which was spoken by the ancient Chichimecas,
prevailed throughout so many provinces of New Spain, each distant the one from the other, it is impossible
to suppose that the Chichimecas were not the indigenous population of that country, forming one of the seven
nations inhabiting that part of the continent of America, whose dominion in New Spain being later than that of
the Tultecas, might have laid the foundation for the opinion that their arrival in that country was later also. The
Tultecas were most probably Jews who had colonized America in very early ages, bringing along with them the
knowledge of various mechanical arts, and instructing the Indians in them; but especially propagating amongst
them their own religious doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and superstitions, which seem to have pervaded the New
World from one end of that vast continent to the other; and even to have extended to some of the islands in the



256 NOTES.

Pacific Ocean; for we read in Captain Cook's Voyages of the rite of tabooing, or consecrating and putting apart,
or making unclean far a definite period of time, both animate and inanimate things; and also that the natives of
same of those islands, which were probably peopled from America, practised circumcisian.

It has been remarked by Lord Bacon "that knowledge is power;" but how much more powerful is superstition!
On the supposition therefore that a colony of Jews had in early ages arrived in America (and there
can be no difficulty in conceiving that that which took place at a later period might have happened a thousand
years before, that is to say, an accidental voyage over the Atlantic), it wauld not have been strange that they should
have been able to acquire an ascendancy over the barbarous Indian tribes, by employing as occasian required
both the above-mentioned weapons; or that they should have succeeded in establishing in the New World such an
empire as that af the Tultecas, which prabably was of a theocratic nature, resembling that of the Ingas of Peru,
who carefully impressed an the minds af their subjects that they were af a distinct race, of nobler origin, and
possessing a divine right to rule over them: neither wauld it have been surprising that the Indian notians, becoming
more civilized, should at last have shaken aff the Tultec yoke. But as it may be objected that this suppositian
contradicts History, for that the famous empire of the Tultecas after having flourished for so many centuries was
overthrown, not by the operation of external causes, or by the rebellion of its own subjects, but by Tetzcatlipaca,
the supreme deity of the Mexicans, who, becoming jealous of their prosperity, destroyed Tula, banished Quecalcaatle
their last king, and exterminated the peaple by pestilence and famine, -- the answer is easy, that the whole account,
as referring to Tula the capital city af the Tultec monarchy in the New World, is fabulous, and that the Tultec
empire must have been ruined by other than miraculous causes. But since History is silent respecting them, in
the absence af the knowledge af facts we must have recourse to conjecture; that which appears most prabable
is, that the Tultecas having civilized the surrounding Indian nations, and established their sway over them for
some centuries, those nations in time threw aff the yoke, partly by arms and partly by treaty, producing concession
on the one side and an admission to a participation of power on the other. Such examples of political compromise
between contending parties are not unfrequent in history; and by a similar mutual agreement the Sabines and the
Romans, who were distinct nations till the reigns of Romulus and of Servius Tullius, became thenceforward united
into one peaple. The reason for supposing that the dominion af the Tultecas had rather merged into that of the
Chichimecas from causes such as have been alluded to, than that a violent and successful rebellian had broken
asunder the link between master and slave and placed the Tultecas in the condition af the latter, is the estimation
in which they were held long after their empire had passed away; and the pride which the Chichimecan sovereigns
felt in being descended from them; for the Emperar Xalatl, according to. Torquemada, married the prince Napaltzin
his eldest son, who succeeded him on the throne, to Azcatlxochitl a Tultec princess, the daughter of Huitzitzilin and
Pachatl. It may here be remarked, that the proper name Azcatlxachitl seems to be a syncape for Aztecatlxochitl,
which name would signify The Rose af the Aztecas; and if this name was not bestawed an that princess after her
marriage to Napaltzin, as a sign that she had been adapted by the Chichimecan natian, when that af Chichimecatlxochitl
would have appeared more proper, it would afford grounds for supposing that the Tultecas were also.
called Aztecas, and that they had praceeded fram Aztlan; the whole solution af the difficulty, which, the longer
we meditate on the history of the Mexicans and that af the other nations of New Spain, more closely presses
upon us, -- namely how to account far the extreme similarity which their history, their laws, their rites, ceremanies, and
superstitions present to those of the Jews, -- would be found in the fact that the Tultecas were Jews who had calonized
America, and established an empire in that continent which lasted sufficiently long to leave an indelible impression af
itself on the state of civilization and on the customs and institutions of the New World; from whom likewise
many of the Indian tribes might with much probability have borrowed a portion of their early histary, especially
the account af their pretended migration. The follawing is a short accaunt af the Tultecas, extracted from the fourteenth
chapter of the first book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy. "The Tultecas, according to ancient histories,
were the second race that peopled this country after the giants, of whom mention has been made in the preceding
chapter, especially that corner and portian of it which is called New Spain. These Tultecas took possessian of
those provinces as lords, the future proprietors of the soil; they relate of them that they were acquainted with
the creation af the world, and that the former race of mankind had been destrayed by the deluge; with many
other things, the memory of which they preserved in paintings and history. They also say that they knew that
the world would again be destroyed by fire, which is the same as they relate of the ancients, who inscribed many




NOTES. 257

things on two pillars, the one of metal and the other of brick or of stone, in order that when the conflagration
took place, the pillar of brick might be preserved. But as I do not possess as much certainty on this
subject as the state of the case requires, I do not care to profess deep faith concerning it, -- I merely affirm that
Tultcca is a name which is employed to designate an architect, -- since the people of that nation were great architects;
as may still be seen in many parts of this kingdom of New Spain, in the ruins of their principal edifices in
the city of San Jnan Teotihuacan, and especially in Tulla, Cholulla, and in many other cities and states. They
say that these Tultecas proceeded from a region situated to the West, and that they brought seven lords or captains
with them, named Tzacatl, Chalcatzin, Ehecatzin, Cohuatzon, Tzihuac-cohuatl, Tlapalmetzotzin, and, the seventh
and last, Metzotzin.

"They arrived likewise in a large body, consisting of women as well as of men, who had been banished from
their own country and nation. They add also that they brought with them maize, cotton, and the other seeds and
vegetables which grow in this country, and that they excelled in working in gold and precious stones, and in
manufacturing many curious things. They left their own country, which they named Huehuetlapallan, in the year
which they designated Ce Tecpatl, and travelled for a hundred and four years, wandering through many different
parts of the New World, until they arrived at Tulantzinco, where they reckoned an age which had elapsed since
they quitted their own land and country. The first city which they founded was Tulla, situated at the distance of
twelve leagues from Mexico towards the North, and more than fourteen from the above-mentioned site of
Tulantzino, with which they probably at that time became dissatisfied, although the soil is good: they accordingly
left it on their East, and took up their residence in the said city of Tulla, to the West. The first king who
governed in that capital was named Chalchiuhtlanextzin, and his reign commenced in the year Chicome Acatl, in
the fifty-second year of which he died. He was succeeded by Ixtlilcuechahuac in the same year, who reigned for a
similar number of years: for it was a law amongst the Tultecas, that their kings should reign no longer than
fifty-two years, nor for a shorter period if they lived and so desired; for their Xiuhtlalpile, which they named an agc,
consisted of that number of years, at the expiration of which cycle of fifty-two years their successor cntered on
his government even in the lifetime of his father: but if the sovereign died before this number of years was
completed, then the republic took the direction of affairs until the arrival of the said year, when the installation
of the legitimate successor immediately took place. Huetzin succeeded Ixtlilcuechahuac in the government,
Totepeuh Huetzin, and Nacazxoc Totepeuh. He was succeeded by another king named Mitl, who built the temple
to the goddess called The Frog; queen Xiuhtzaltzin was his successor, who reigned four years. To her succeeded
Tecpancaltzin, who was otherwise named Topiltzin, in whose time the Tultecas were destroyed. This king had
two sons named Xilotzin and Pochotl, from whom the kings of Culhuacan in after times descended, who escaped
with other lords and meaner persons into different parts of this kingdom of New Spain, especially to the shores
of the Lake of Tezcueo and to the coasts of the North and the South Seas: for since all things in this mortal
life have their termination, inasmuch as they are subject to corruption, as Saint Paul says, the Divine Majesty of
God permitted these nations and tribes to end and pass away, and others to introduce themselves in their place,
who might follow them and repeople the provinces which they had deserted, and which time had laid waste,
since nothing is exempt from decay. The Tultecas were large in stature and well made, as the histories of the
Aeulhua. relate. They wore long white tunics, and were unwarlike in their disposition, and more addicted to the
art of sculpturing in stone, which the name Tulteca signifies, as we have already observed, than to any other art.
The manner of their destruction, ruin, and downfall, as it was reported by the very few who were left remaining
in the country, was, that having been persecuted and oppressed by a certain king and kings for the space of more
than five hundred years, it appeared to them that that persecution proceeded from the anger of their gods, -- for
they were very great idolaters; they determined therefore to hold a general assembly, composed of all the priests,
princes, and considerable lords, in a place called Theotihuacan, which is at present distant six leagues from the
great city of Mexico towards the North, for the purpose of celebrating festivals to their gods, in order to please
them, and to cause them to lay aside the great anger which they believed that they had conceived against them.
Having therefore assembled together, and already commenced the celebration of the festivals, to which, on the first
rumour of them, a vast multitude of the people had flocked, in the midst of the solemnities a huge giant appeared,
and began to dance with them; and although, as might be expected, they admitted the unexpected phantom into their
company, not without some dread, which his presence was well calculated to inspire, on account of his vast stature, his




258 NOT E S.
hideous appearance, and long and withered arms: nevertheless they confronted him; believing that the occnrrence
was inevitable, for that he had come by the orders of their false and unworthily revered gods, who at each turn
which he took with them in the dance clasped them in his arms, and deprived of life, (like another Hercules Actreon,)
as many as came within his grasp. The phantom in this manner caused great destruction on that day amongst
the dancers. On another day the Devil appeared to them in the figure of another giant, with hands and fingers
very long and tapering, and dancing with them strangled them; and in this manner the Devil killed many of
them on that day. On another occasion (since they continued the celebration of their festivals in order to sec
what would be their result, and to hear the desired oraele, to obtain which they kept these festivals to their false
gods,) the same Devil appeared to them on a high hill situated in the said part facing the West, in the figure and
form of a very fair and beautiful child, seated upon a rock, with a putrid head, the pestilental efHuvia of which,
like some deadly and venomous poison, killed many of them. Those who were present perceiving the great evil
which the sight and presence of this object had caused them, determined to seize it, and dragging it along the
ground, to remove it to a great and wide lake, which was within a short distance of that place, which now is
named the Lake of Mexico; and although they strove and attempted with all their might to do so, they found it
impossible, as the strength of the Devil was greater who resisted and opposed them. In the midst of the struggles
and exertions of the Tulteeas to stir the boy from that place, and to carry him to the lake, the Devil appeared
to them, and told them that it was fit by all means that they should forsake the country if they wished to save
their lives, for that remaining in their present possessious, the future only held out to them deaths, ruin, and
calamities; and that it would be impossible for them to escape these dangers except by absenting themselves
from them; and that it was his request that they would follow him, and that he would establish them in a place
of security, and would conduct them to a place where they might pass their lives in tranquillity and repose.
The affiicted Tultecas perceiving that their misfortunes were incurably on the increase, and that the surest way
of remedying them was to take his advice, approved of it; and deserting the country, departed under his guidance,
some to the North and others to the East, according to the part which was allotted to each in a vision which
he revealed to them; and accordingly they peopled Campech and Quauthemala, as may be collected from the
Aculhuan histories, which are characters and figures with which the natives of that country write."
To this account of the Tulteeas we shall subjoin the history of Quetzalcohuatl, their last king, which is takcn
from the twenty-fourth chapter of the sixth book of the same author:
"Quetzalcohuatl signifies The Feathers of the Serpent or The Feathered Serpent; and this kind of serpent, the
name of which these Indians bestowed on their god, is found in the province of Xicalanco, which borders on the
kingdom of Yucatan, o~ the road from that of Tabasco. This god Quetzalcohuatl was greatly celebrated by the
inhabitants of the city of Cholulla, and esteemed in that place as the greatest of their gods. This Quetzalcohuatl,
as true histories relate, was high priest in the city of Tulia, since it was from thence that he went to Cholulla;
and not as the bishop Brother Bartholomew de las Casas says in his Apology, (which is in manuscript,) from
Yucatan; although he was in that peninsula, as we shall presently have occasion to mention. They record that
he was a white man, tall in stature, with a broad forehead, long and black hair, and a large and ronnd beard.
The natives say that Quetzalcohuatl was a great artist and very ingenious, and that he taught them many
mechanical arts, especially the art of cutting precious stones, which they name Chalchihuites, which are stones
of a green colour, which they highly value; as likewise to cast silver and gold, and to manufacture other articles;
who, on the Indians perceiving that he possessed such great ingenuity, was held in much estimation, and
reverenced as a king in that city: and hence it happened, that although a lord named Huemac governed them in
temporal matters, Quetzalcohuatl in spiritual and ecclesiastical affairs was supreme, and as it were Pontifex
Maximus. Those who are very desirous of aggrandizing this their god, pretend that he possessed palaces made of
green stones resembling emeralds, others built of silver, and others of scarlet and white shells, others formed out
of all kinds of timber, others of turquoise stones, others of rich and valuable feathers. They say also that he
was very rich, and abounded with every thing that he could desire. They say that his vassals were very obedient
to him and very swift footed, who were called Tlanquacemilhuique; and that when they wished to make any
proclamation in the kingdom, and to promulgate any of the commands of Quetzalcohuatl, a crier ascended a high
mountain in the neighbourhood of the city of Tulia named Tzatzitepee, where he proclaimed with a loud
voice what Quetzalcohuatl had ordered and commanded, and that his voice was heard at the distance of a hundred



NOTES. 259

leagues and more, as far as the coast of the sea: and this they affirm as a fact. Father Bernard de Sahagun, when
giving this account, says that, being in the city of Xuchimilco, he heard one night at an unseasonable hour such
a voice, which appeared to him to exceed all human limits and force; and that, inquiring on the following day in
the morning what so loud a voice could be, the Indians answered him that they were calling to the labourers from
the Tecpan or market-place, to go and work in the maize-fields. If it be true that this voice was heard at such
a distance, it is quite evident that it could not be human, but must have been the art and contrivance of the
Devil, who spread it or feigned it in those places where the sounds were heard and the commands promulgated.
And this may be credited as true and a fact which really happened; since the Deceiver could as easily have deceived
them in this matter as in others in which he deceived them. They say that at the time in which he was their lord
the maize was most abundant and the gourds a yard long and very thick, and that the stalks of maize, Jike
trees could be climbed, being so large and thick that one alone was a burthen sufficient for a man; and that every
other kind of grain was large and most abundant; that they sowed and gathered cotton of all colours, white,
scarlet, pink, orange, and of many and various other hues; and that there were in the same city of
Tula many different species of birds, such as the Xiuhtototl, the Quetzaltotl, the Zaquan, and the Tlauquechol,
with many other sorts, which sang sweetly and melodiously: that there were Cacao trees of all kinds: that
his subjects were very rich and stood in need of nothing, nor suffered famine or scarcity of any kind: that
Quetzalcohuatl did penance, piercing his legs and drawing forth blood from his body, with which he smeared the
thorns of the Maguey, and bathed himself at midnight in a fountain named Xiuhpacoya; and from him they say
that the priests and ministers of the Mexican idols derived this custom. Quetzalcohuatl therefore being in
the midst of all this pomp and majesty, and enjoying his prosperity, the Indians say that a great magician called
Titlacahua, which is the name of another god, as we have already observed, went to Tula, and assuming the figure and
appearance of an old man entered the city, in order to see Quetzalcohuatl; and after mutual salutations had taken
place between them, the pretended old man said: Lord, knowing your intentions, and how desirous you are to
depart to a kingdom far removed from hence, and likewise having been informed by your subjects that you are
sick and ill, I have brought you a certain draught, which on drinking you will attain the fulfilment of your wishes,
which will be to go to the kingdom which you desire, and to have health sufficient to be able to undertake
the journey, and you will at the same time forget the fatigues and labours of life and that you are mortal.
Quetzalcohuatl, perceiving that his intentions had been discovered by this pretended old man, inquired of him where
he had to go? To which Titlacahua answered, That it had already been determined by the supreme gods that he
should go to the kingdom of Tlapalla, and that it must be so; for that another old man was waiting there in
expectation of him. Quetzalcohuatl on hearing this replied, That he had said right, that he was very desirous
to go; and that if the journey was to be accomplished by these means, that he was welcome; and taking the cup
in his hand he drank the liquor which it contained. The reason that induced Quetzalcohuatl so readily to accede
to the proposal of Titlaeahua was his anxious wish to make himself immortal and to enjoy eternal life; and to
attain that object he used all imaginable exertions. This report was generally current amongst the Mexicans, as
Father Sahagun testifies, which was the cause of Motecuh~uma's so easily persuading himself that it was him when
he learned the arrival of the Spaniards on the coast, as we relate in his book.
"It was the belief of Quetzalcohuatl on this occasion that that old man's business was to certify the matter to him;
Quetzalcohuatl after having drank this beverage, lost all self-possession and began to weep copiously and
bitterly; his heart became immediately moved within him, and he determined to go to the country called Tlapallan.
With this resolution, which he had now formed in consequence of the art and incantations of the magicians, he
caused whatsoever he possessed made of silver and of shells to be burned, and buried other precious things beneath
mountains and beds of rivers; and as he was a magician he changed the Cacao trees into others of a different kind
called Mizquitl; and he commanded every species of bird which solaced and charmed that region to flyaway to the
conn try of Anahuac, which is more than a hundred leagues distant from Tula: and afterwards Quetzalcohuatl
commenced his journey, forsaking his city and persecuted by this magician and sorcerer, who had prevailed
against him; and arriving at a place called Quauhtitlan, where there grew a large thick and spreading tree, leaning
against it, he desired one of his pages to give him a mirror, and looking into it he saw that his face appeared older
than it had before been, and exclaimed, I am now old: and the place was on that account named ever afterwards
Huchucquauhtitlan, which signifies 'near the old tree' or 'near the tree of the old man;' and taking up stones, he




260 NOTES.

flung them at the tree, and lodged them all within its trunk, where they remained for many years afterwards. He
left that place; and many of those whom he took with him accompanied him on the road along which he passed,
playing flutes and other instruments. He came to another place, which is a mountain close to the city of
Tlalnepantla, two leagues from the city of Mexico, where he seated himself on a stone; and laying his hands upon
it, left there the impressions of them, the marks of which are at the present day quite visible: and those who
dwell in the vicinity of that place believe it to be an undoubted fact that Quetzalcohuatl had left them; and I
have taken great pains to inquire into the truth of it; and they have assured me that it was the fact: besides
which I have found it very punctually recorded by writers highly deserving of credit. The place was accordingly
then called, and is still called, Tcmacpalco, which signifies 'in the palm of the hand.' Quetzalcohuatl accordingly
proceeding on his journey by the way of the sea coast to the kingdom of Tlapalla, the magician Titlaeahua in
company with two others, who had likewise been engaged in the deception practised at Tula and in many others
undertaken with the intention of destroying that city, met him, for the sole purpose of retarding him on the way
and impeding his journey; and inquiring of him where he was going, he replied, To Tlapalla; when they said, To
whom then have you entrusted the kingdom of Tula, and who will do penance there? to which he answered, That
that was no longer his concern, for that it was fitting that he should prosecute his journey: and being further
asked the purpose of his going to that country, -- he said, That persons had come to invite him on the part of the
king of it who was the Sun. This fable or imposture was very generally current amongst the Indians of Mexico;
and Father Bernard de Sahagun relates, that in the city of Xuchimilco certain Indians inquired of him where
Tlapallan was, and that his reply to them was, That he did not know; as neither did he know or understand at that
time the drift of the question, for he had not as yet become acquainted with those things, for it was fifty years
before he wrote his History, and consequently very few years after the conversion and entrance of the Gospel into
those countries. He adds, that they then continued putting captious questions to him, in order to see whether we
monks and Spaniards knew any thing of their antiquities. The magicians therefore perceiving the obstinacy and
delusion into which Quetzalcohuatl had been persuaded, made no further effort to detain him, but compelled him
to leave behind him the instruments of all the mechanical arts which he was taking away with him, and some
workmen, in order that after his departure the Indian republic might not stand in need of such things. Quetzalcohuatl
afterwards threw into a fountain all the rich jewels which he carried with him; and from that time the
fountain was named Cozcaapan, which signifies The water of strings of beads or of precious chains; and is at
present called Coaapan, which means The water of the serpent, which in fact it was, for this man's name was
Quetzalcohuatl, which signifies The feathered serpent. In this manner he prosecuted his journey, experiencing
some annoyances from his enemies the magicians until he arrived at Cholulla, where he was received as we have
said elsewhere, and afterwards worshipped, as a god. Here he remained some time; and after he was driven from
thence they entertained so lively a recollection of him that they adorec! him as a god: and they did so on three
accounts: first, because he taught them the art of working in gold and silver which they had not till then either
known or seen in that country, which all the inhabitants of the said city pride or prided themselves on throughout
that province; secondly, because he never wished nor permitted sacrifices of the blood of slaughtered men or of
animals, but only bread, roses, flowers, incense, and other sweet perfumes; and thirdly, because he forbade and
prohibited with much success wars, robbery, and murder, and other injuries which are done by men to each other.
They say that whenever they named in his presence bloodshed, or war, or any other evils calculated to afflict
humanity, he turned aside his head and stopped his ears, in order not to see or hear them. They likewise praise
him for his great chastity and uprightness, and his exceeding temperance in many other things. This god was
held in such veneration and reverence, and his shrine was so frequented and honoured with vows and pilgrimages
throughout all those kingdoms, on account of his peculiar attributes, that even the enemies themselves of the city of
Cholulla bound themselves to make pilgrimages to it; and they went in security, and the lords of the other
provinces and cities had their chapels and oratories with their idols and images there; and he alone of all the other
gods was called in that city Lord, as a term of excellence, so that when anyone swore or affirmed by our Lord,
he was understood to mean Quetzalcohuatl, and none besides, although they had many other gods whom they held
in high esteem: and this was all on account of the great love which they felt and bore towards him for the three
above-mentioned reasons; which was the real fact, for in truth the dominion of Quetzalcohuatl was sweet, and he
exacted no service from them but easy and light things, instructing them in such as were virtuous and prohibiting



NOT E S. 261
such as were wicked, evil, and injurious, teaching them likewise to abhor them. Hence it appears, and will appear more
clearly below, that the Indians who celebrated and celebrate human sacrifices did not do so voluntarily, but from
the great fear which they entertained of the Devil, on account of the threats which he held out to them, that he
would destroy them and send bad seasons and many misfortunes upon them, except they duly performed the worship
and service which they owed him as a tribute and a mark of vassalage, from the right which he pretended to
have acquired over them many years before. They declare that he remained with them during the entire period
of twenty ycars, at the expiration of which he departed, prosecuting his journey to the kingdom of Tlapallan,
taking along with him four principal and virtuous youths of the same city, whom he sent back to them from
Coatzaqualco, a province situated at the distance of one hundred and fifty leagues from this city towards the sea.
Amongst the other doctrines which he delivered to them, he charged them to tell the inhabitants of the city
of Cholulla that they might be certain of the arrival by sea, at some future time, from a region situated towards the
rising sun, of white men with white beards like him, and that they would become lords of those lands, and that
they were his brothers. These Indians accordingly always expected that that prophecy would be fulfilled; and when
they beheld the Christians, they immediately called them gods, as we have observed in the proper place, the sons
and brothers of Quetzalcohuatl, although after they knew them and had experienced their works, they no longer
believed them to be divine; for in that city a signal massacre was perpetrated by the Spaniards, unequalled till that
time in the Indies, or perhaps in most other parts ofthe globe. Others say that the people of Cholulla always believed
that he would return to govern them and to console them; and that when they saw the ships of the Spaniards
coming, they said that their god Quetzalcohuatl was now returning, and that he was bringing the temples over the
sea in which he intended to dwell: but that when the disembarkation took place they remarked, These gods are
many, it is not our god Quetzalcohuatl. The four disciples who had been sent back by Quetzalcohuatl were immediately
received by the citizens as their lords, who divided the whole state subject to them into four tetrarchates,
or principalities, to each of whom was given the fourth part of the government of that province, the form of the
constitution having been till that time republican and not monarchical. He was the god of the air, and his temple
was round and very sumptuous. The ancients constituted Juno the goddess of the air because she was the sister
of Jupiter, on whom Cicero observes they bestowed the government of the sky, as the dialogues of Ennius and
Euripides show; and to Juno they assigned the air, on account of its similarity and local vicinity: for as two
brothers are persons nearly allied, inasmuch as they are united by the closest ties of affinity, without either blood
or relationship in the ascending degree separating them, since they are both sprung from the same trunk, -- so it is with
the sky and the air, although fire be an intermediate element, and they assigned the air to the female sex, on account of
its gentleness and delicacy. these are the words of Cicero. For the same reason the Indians dedicated the air to
Quetzalcohuatl, on account of the softness and sweetness of his disposition in his intercourse with all men, never desiring
the harsh and irksome things which the others esteemed and coveted. As amongst the Indians the god of the air was
Quetzalcohuatl, so Juno with the ancients was the goddess of that element; and they who err in the essential point,
which is the attributing divinity to created things, may well err in adventitious circumstances, making it either male
or female; since neither the one or the other were gods, or possessed power over the air, as we acknowledge of the
true God and his son Jesus Christ, who in a tempest which happened at sea, when he was in a bark sailing with his
disciples on a certain occasion, commanded the storm to cease and the hurricane to be still, which accordingly followed
and came to pass. We must also observe that Quetzalcohuatl was sincerely attached to the worship, ceremonies,
and adoration of idols, and that he himself instituted many rites, ceremonies, and festivals to the gods; and they
consider it as certain that he invented the calendar. He had priests who were called Quetzalcohua, which
appellation signifies, religions persons and priests of the order of Quetzalcohuatl. He left behind him a lively
remembrance of himself amongst those nations; and they say that women who were barren and without heirs
made offerings and sacrifices to this god, in order that they might become pregnant. He was, as we have observed,
the god of the winds; for they attributed to him the power of bidding the winds to blow or to be hushed. They
likewise said that Quetzalcohuatl swept the way in order that the gods named Tlaloque might descend in showers.
They adopted this notion, because generally a month before the rains commence violent winds prevail throughout
the entire of New Spain. They say that this god Quetzalcohuatl, whilst in this mortal life, wore long vests
reaching to the feet from a sense of decency, with a mantle above interspersed with red crosses. They preserved
certain green stones which had belonged to him with great veneration, and esteemed them as reliques, one of which




262 NOTES.

resembled the head of a monkey, carved nearly to the life. He had a very sumptuous and large temple in the city
of Tula, the ascent to which was by many steps, so narrow that they did not allow room to the entire foot. His
image had a very ugly face, a large head, and a thick beard: they placed it in a recumbent posture, and not on its
feet, and covered up with mantles; and they say that they did so as a token that he had again to return and to
reign over them; and that out of respect to his great majesty, it was proper that his image should be covered up;
and that they placed it in a recumbent posture to denote his absence, -- like one who reposes, who lays himself down
on his side to sleep, -- and that on awakening from that sleep of absence he would raise himself up and reign. The
inhabitants of Yucatan venerated and reverenced this god Quetzalcohuatl, and named him Kukulcan, and said that
he had come thither from the West, which is from this quarter with respect to which Yucatan is situated to the
east. They add moreover, that the kings of Yucatan descend from him whom they called Cocomes, which signifies,
judges." Little doubt it is to be supposed can be really entertained as to who the Tultecas were. That Las Casas
was firmly persuaded that the Indian tribes were a mixed race descended from the Jews, is evident from his. own
words: Loquela tua manifestum te facit, as recorded by Torquemada. If the work of that illustrious prelate,who
was intimately acquainted with Columbus, whose Life he wrote, and who was one of the first Spaniards who
proceeded to the continent of America immediately after the conquest, where he must have had the opportunity
of becoming acquainted with recent traditions, if not of witnessing the ancient religious rites, -- had ever been
published, we should have known his reasons for coming to that conclusion: that Bishop was too rational
to adopt the later hypothesis, embraced by such eminent historians as Acosta and Torquemada, that the Devil had
actually counterfeited the history, laws, rites, ceremonies, and customs of the Jews, in the New World. But he
imagined, with more probability, that the Jews had really colonized America.

It is much to be regretted that we possess no history of the religious tenets and customs of the Mexicans
composed by those who first had the opportunity of witnessing them and verifying them by facts before their eyes.
The soldiers of Cortes, who were the first Spaniards who visited Mexico, were men quite unqualified for such an
undertaking; and whateyer analogies the Mexican religion might have presented either to that of Christians or
Jews, they would have been too ignorant to have perceived them. An ecclcsiastic alone would have been a fit
person to have taken upon himself such a task; and, unfortunately, ccclesiastics received no encouragement to write 
histories of that nature; nor does it appcar that they were allowed to publish them, since the works of Mendieta,
of Toribio de Benavente, otherwise named Motolinia, (a copy of whose valuable history Doctor Robertson seems to
have procured from Spain, but of which he evidently made no use *,) and of Olmos and Sahagun, have never been
printed; and strange to say, the royal historiographer of the Indies, Herrera, attempts to discredit the rclations of
these first prcachers of the Gospel in New Spain t, and speaks in disparaging terms of Torqucmada; which may
acconnt for the work of the latter author having become so excessively rare, not more than a century after its first
publication, that the editor of the second edition says that he despaired for a long time of being able to procure a
copy of it in all Spain: but reasons, too long here to be recited, perfcctlyconvince us, that the office of royal historiographer
of the Indies was instituted quite as much for the purpose of veiling as of developing truth. And certainly,
in an age and in a country where the authority with which a person wrote was so nicely scrutinized as the criterion 

-----
* Doctor '" addilove, who was chaplain to Lord Grantham, at that time the English ambassador at the Court of Madrid, procured
Doctor Robertson copies of some very curious Spanish MSS. relating to America, a list of which he has inserted immediately
after the Preface to his History of America. One of these, described as consisting of more than six hundred pages, divided into
three parts, the last of which is said to have treated of the hieroglyphics in use amongst the Indians, though mentioned there anonymously,
it cannot be doubted was the manuscript of Toribio de Benavente, to whose authority Dr. Robertson occasionally refers.
This MS. is probably still in England; and if the Scottish histor:an's valuable collection of Spanish books and MSS. was not
dispersed after his death, the publication of it would thro'w new light on the an tiquities of America. [Since writing the above, we
have been informed on undoubted authority, that Dr. Robertson's collection of Spanish books and MSS. was sent from Scotland to
London about fifty years ago, and there sold, after having been first offe red for sale to the University of Edinburgh, which declined
making the purchase.]

t Herrera, enumerating the works that had assisted him in the composition of his own History, speaks in the following contemptuous
manner of Torquemada and the authors whose authority he had followed, denying that the histories of New Spain and
Mexico, composed by the first Spaniards and religious missionaries who had visited America, possessed authority: f'los qualcs
(manuscriptos) se cierto, que no vio el autoT, que ha sacado una MOllarquia Indiana; idem"" de anteponer II todos los dichos a




NOTES. 263


of his merit, a man like Herrera, who really possessed the talents, if he had not all the candour of an historian,
had it in his power, if he felt disposed, to depreciate by animadversion, and to consign to oblivion by criticism, the
works of contemporary historians who did not write with the same authority. It must however be confessed that
the Decads of Herrera, as far as the geography and natural history of America are concerned, are at least a work of
great merit and utility: but it will be recollected that, when treating of the religion and antiquities of America, he
wrote in the Escurial; and hence mysteries are for the most part unnoticed, and plain facts only recorded. It may
further be remarked that, although he owns that he was assisted in the composition of his History by the writings
of Las Casas, he does not adopt the sentiments of that learned prelate, (whose continued residence in the
Indies for fifty years must have afforded him the opportunity of collecting many facts on which to reason,) that the
mixture of so many Jewish rites with Indian superstitions was to be accounted for on the supposition that
America had been colonized by the Jews. But without stating his reasons for dissenting from him, he assumes it
as an undoubted fact, that the Devil had taken to himself a chosen people in the New World, and counterfeited in
them the history of the children of Israel and their pilgrimage from Egypt "'. The observation which we have made
above, that ecclesiastics were not encouraged to communicate what they knew from intercourse with the natives,
and the perfect knowledge which they had acquired of the Indian languages and of the religion and antiquities of
America, -- which languages it must be recollected that Cortes and his companions understood nothing of, -- is
further confirmed by the fact, that two works, which would have thrown so much light on the history of America
as The American Chronicle of Las Casas, and The Universal History of New Spain by Sahagun, should never have
been published. The former of these works must have been of enormous magnitude, if we may judge of the size
of the whole from only having seen that part of it which is preserved in the British Museum, which includes the
Preface and the first eight books. Las Casas explains in the Preface, which is very long, the reasons that induced
him to undertake the work, which were primarily of a religious nature; although it would appear that he was also
desirous of opposing a true history to the many false relations and misrepresentations which he complains that
writers on the affairs of America had unblushingly published. Peter Martyr and Gomara seem to be the only
authors whom he excepts from this sweeping condemnation; and on their accounts he says entire dependence
may be placed. It is extraordinary, considering the celebrity of the author, and the many years which he devoted
to the composition of his History, and the consequently well-known fact of the existence of such a work, that it
should have been so carefully preserved from every eye. Nicholas Antonio and Pinelo both name it. But it does
not appear that the former saw any of it, or the latter more than a part; for neither of these learned men describe
it by its right title, or notice its division by the author into Decads, or mention the number of books of which it
consisted, which was fifty-eight, or the subject-matter of any of them: but Antonio imagines that the Apologetica
Historia and the Historia General was the same; although Remesal had enumerated them as distinct works. And
Pinelo, admitting that they were different, believes the Apologetica Historia to have been the Historia del bien y
favor de los Indios, which Antonio cites amongst the writings of Las Casas as a work different from either of the
former, calling it "magnre molis opus," and by the Latin title of De Juvandis et Fovcndis Indis. Pinelo says, in
his Epitome de la Bibliotheca Occidental, page 570, that The General History of the Indies, distinct from the
Apologetic, comprehended a period of sixty years, beginning at the year 1492, and continued down to 1552; that it
los Padres Olmos, Sahagun, i Mendieta, que no tienen autm'idad, entiende que no se puede hacer historia sin haver estado en las Indias,
como si Tacita para hacer la 5uia, hllviera tenido necesidad de ver a Levante, Africa, i al Setentrion. Por 10 qual, i por la poca
cuenta, que los escritores de nuestros tiempos tienen de conservar la memoria de los primeros Descubridores, siendo merecedores
de mucha gloria, me ha parecido decir aqui 10 referido, i que no sabria juzgar, qual es mas en este autol', el ambition 6 el descllido en
gum'dar las reglas de la ltistoria." -- Dec. vi. lib. iii. cap. xix. The attempt captare poplllarem aurem, by insinuating that
Torquemada had not done justice to the merits of the first conquerors of America, but had praised his own order and the clergy at
their expense, is quite unworthy of an author like Herrera. He had, beyond doubt, powerful motives, neither disagreeable to, or not
understood by, the clergy of his own age, to induce him to disparage Torquemada as a writer; but his having done so must greatly
lower him as an author in public esteem.

-----
* He assumes this fact, but is very reserved in stating the reasons that induced him to do so, and very concise in his account of the
Mexican migration. The same reserve actuating other Spanish writers who possessed equal means of obtaining information with
Herrera, has nearly robbed the world of a secret, which it is to be hoped may still be brought to light.




264 NOTES.

existed in manuscript in the royal archives of Simancas, where he saw it in the year 1626, when by command of the
Supreme Council of the Indics he examined the contents of that deposit; and that it likewise existed in manuscript
in the library of the Count de Villa Umbrosa, in three volumes, two of which the annotator to Pinelo's Epitome
supposes, unless they were copies made from them, had come into the possession of James Krisius, a clergyman at
Amsterdam, from perceiving The Natural History of the West Indies by Don Bartholomew de las Casas, bishop
of Chiapa, in two volumes, mentioned in the catalogue of his library; and the third he thinks might have been
another work inserted in the same catalogue with the title of The History of the West Indies. These three
volumes, formerly belonging to Krisius, are at present in the British Museum. The third volume, which is a very
large folio, is a mere transcript of the other two, which are likewise folios, and in hand-writing evidently much
more ancient. They contain only eight of the fifty-eight books into which Las Casas had divided his history, and
treat entirely of the life and voyages of Columbus, and the settlement and discovery of the different West Indian
Islands. The religion however of the natives of Haiti, and their various superstitions and fables, Las Casas
expressly says, that he reserves the description of for another part of his work; which portion containing an
account, as it is to be supposed, of the ancient history of America, and of the religious rites and ceremonies of
the Indians, was perhaps called apologetical, because he might have endeavoured to palliate in it, in some measure,
manners and customs which were used as a plea by the greedy proprietors of encomiendas to press the crown
to deprive the Indians of all civil rights, and to reduce them to the condition of absolute slavery. And how
could that learned prelate have set up a stronger defence for the Indians, than by showing that their institutions
were partly derived from the Jews, -- however time, through the perversion of traditions, might have corrupted
them? That The Apologetical '" History treated of the religion of the Indians is evident; since Torquemada says
that Las Casas asserted, in his Apology, in manuscript, that Quecalcoatle went from Tula to Yucatan; and that
Apology must have heen The Apologetical History.

A Spanish writer, giving a sketch of the life of Las Casas, says, speaking of his History: "EI mismo Las Casas,
en el ano 1556, puso de puno propio una nota, diciendo 'Iue dejaba su Historia en confianza al Colejio de la orden
de Predicadores de S. Gregorio de Valladolid, i rogando a los prelados que a ningun scglar, ni a los colejiales, la
diesen a leer por tiempo de 40 anos, i que pasado este termino, se pudiese imprimir, si convenia al bien de los
Indios i de Espana." "Las Casas himself, in the year 1556, added a note to it with his own hand, saying, that he
bequeathed his History in confidence to the College of the Order of Friars Preachers of Saint Greg ory in
Valladolid, requesting the prelates not to allow any layman or the collegians to read it during the period of
forty years, at the expiration of which time it might be printed, if it was for the advantage of the Indians and of
Spain t. Don Martin de Navarrete says, in the 71st page of the Introduction to his Coleccion de los Viages y
Descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los Espanoles, the first volume of which was printed at Madrid in 1825, that
The General History of the Indies-(it would appear from the way in which he expresses himself that he conceived

-----
* By Apologeticsl may be meant simply some after-writing of Las Casas, in which he had replioo to objections, either started by
himself in some of his foregoing books, or made by other persons, such as the famous Doctor Sepulveda. In this sense the Bi:3hop of
Llandafl' entitled his Answer to Paine'. "Rights of Man," "An Apology for Christiaoity," --  a title which His late Majesty did not
much approve.
t We have elsewhere been guilty of a mistake in ascribing to Las Casas the words" if it was for the good of religion;" although
politics and religion being in his age completely identified in Spain, the one could not be expressed without the other being implied.
The politics however of the sixteenth century could never have caused the Academy of History at Madrid to decide against publishing
the work of Las Casas, when the matter was referred to them at the end of the seventeenth. The Spanish government has always
exercised a discreet judgment relative to the publication of books, and in this respect has studied as much as any government could
the advantage of its Indian subjects: but still the sparing way in which it would appear from the following passage of the India..
Monarch!! of Torquemada, that the first generation of the Indians who became subject to the Spanish yoke were allowed to acquire
an acquaintance with Scripture history, may have prevented them from being able to compare any portion of their own ancient
mythology with that History, and from making the interesting discovery of whether the Teoamoxtli was the history of the Pentateuch
consigned to paintings: "Este capitulo de carta quadr6 mucho al Emperador; porque 10 mismo Ie aconsejaron en Espana las personas
que consulto sobre este negocio, en particular dos hermanos, famosisimos letrados, los quales a pedimento y mandado de su magestad,
lticiero7l. 'Una instruccion y doctrina, mui docta y curiosamente ordenada, de como se les avia de dar a eniender a estos Indios las
casas de nuestraft, y misterios de ella, por manera de ltistoria, c01iforme a la relacion que tenian de Slt capacidad." -- Monarquia
Indiana, lib. xv. cap. i.




NOTES. 265

it to be the entire work) are preserved in three volumes in that capital, the two first of which are in the library of the
Royal Academy of History, and the third in the Royal Library; and that it ended in the year 1520. In this case,
Don M. Navarrete must have mistaken the half of Las Casas's History for the whole; as Las Casas expressly
states in the Preface to the American Chronicle, that it consisted of six Decads, each of which comprised the
history of ten years, except the first, which, beginning with the events of 1492, ended at 1500. It is probable
that the general title of Las Casas's History was The American Chronicle, which the author divided into two parts,
each consisting of three Decads, to which he gave a separate title, calling the first The General History, and the last
The Apologetic History. That learned prelate himself declaring that he employed thirty-two years in the composition
of this work, which comprised the history of the West Indian Islands, and likewise that of the Continent of America,
of Peru, and Yucatan, as well as of Nicaragua, Chiapa, Guatemala, Mexico, and the other kingdoms of New
Spain, we need not feel surprised that it should have extended to six folio volumes; but that no portion of a
work so interesting should have ever been published, either by the religious Order to which he bequeathed it, or by
public authority, or by private individuals, cannot be ascribed to accidental causes ". Sahagun, in the Prologue to
his Universal History of New Spain, expressly says that he was impeded in the progress of his work by the
great discouragement which he met with from those who ought to have favoured it; "el gran disfavor que hubo de
parte de los que debieran favorecer la obra". And he states in his second book, that" in the midst of the
commendations bestowed upon it in the chapter of his Order, which was held in the year 1569, it appeared to some
of the definitors that it was contrary to their vow of poverty to expend money on writing such historics: and they
therefore obliged the author to discharge his amanuensis, and to write with his own hand whatever he thought
proper; who, as he was then more than seventy years old, and on account of the trembling of his hand, could not
write at all, or procure a dispensation of that order, his writings remained for more than five years without any
thing further being done with them. In the mean time the Provincial deprived the said author of them all, and
scattered them over the province. After the lapse of some years, Brother Miguel Navarro came as commissioner
to those parts, and recovered by ecclesiastical censures the said books at the request of the author. Nothing
more was done at that time respecting them, nor was there anyone to favour the author's bringing to a conclusion
his translation of them into Spanish, until the arrival of the commissioner-general Brother Rodrigo de Segura,
who saw them, and was much pleased with them, and desired the author to translate them into Spanish, and provided
him with every thing necessary for transcribing them anew." This account is given nearly in the words of
Sahagun, who adds, that "the encouragement which he received from the commissioner-general was owing
to the anxious desire which Don Juan de Ovando, president of the Council of the Indies, felt to see the work."
Grateful for the assistance which he had received from the commissioner Rodrigo de Segura, he dedicated it
to him, overwhelming him with eulogies for having redeemed it, -- rescuing it, as he declares, from beneath the
earth, and even from under the ashes, "sacandola debajo de tierra y aun de debajo de la ceniza."  The original
manuscript of the Universal History of New Spain contained, according to the author's testimony, three
columns in each page; in the first of which was written the Spanish translation, in the second the history of New
Spain in the Mexican language, and in the third the explanation and definition in Spanish of certain Mexican
words and phrases. From the accouut which Sahagun has himself trausmitted to us of the accidental manner iu
which his work was preserved after having beeu taken from him by the Provincial of his Order, and the various
parts and books of which it was composed scattered and dispersed, and not recovered till some years afterwards by
means of ecclesiastical censures, there will always remain a doubt, on account of the great age of the author when he
set about reuniting the different parts, whether his History, as it has been handed down to us, is complete. He
was nearly eighty years of age when he commenced that task, and his memory it is to be supposed must have
been somewhat impaired; so that having further to direct his attention to the completion of the translation of the
Mexican text into Spauish, it would not have been surprising, -- had some chapters, or even books, and those
perhaps not the least curious, been wanting, -- that he should not have undertaken the recomposition of them t.


-----
* Torquemada remarks, It tuvo Las Casas muchas i poderosos enemigos, porque dijo gralldes 'Oerdadea." "Las Casas had many and
powerful enemies, because he spoke great truths."

+ Having, since writing the above, been so fortunate as to procure a copy of The History of Sahagun, which was transcribed
about forty years ago by the hand of the Spanish librarian Munoz, we are enabled at least to pronounce some opinion on



266 NOTES.

Sahagun further complains, that he was forciuly deprived of a very valuable paiuting representing the great temple
of Mexico, with the square or court in which it was inclosed, and the other temples and buildings surrounding
it, which he says was sent to Spain. It is very evident that every thing in Mexico calculated to draw attention to the
ancient history of the country, more especially if connected with religious recollections, was carefully removed from
this copy, which appears to be mutilated, though it still consists of two folio volumes. The chapters (which are remarkably short,
compared. with those in The Indian Monarchy of Torquemada, in the Decades of Herrera, and in Garcia's Origin of the Indians,)
appear to be sometimes a mere epitome of the original chapters. The famous migration of the Mexicans or Aztecas from Aztlan is
described in such a manner, that it would seem that the author either wrote under restraint or under the actual fear of being again
forcibly deprived of his writings, or at least with no inclination to give his readers much information on the subject; for he is
infinitely less circumstantial in his account than Betancourt, Garcia, and Torquemada; the last of whom diffusely treated of that
migration in the omitted chapter in the first volume of his Indian Monarchy, minutely comparing the events recorded of it with
the Mosaic account of the pilgrimage of the children of Israel from Egypt, in order to prove how exactly the Devil had counterfeited
God, in first selecting a chosen people, and in afterwards leading them forth with signs and wonders on a journey for
to take possession of a promised land, and givin5 them laws, rites, and ceremonies on the way. All the 1t!l'!"1ZS, eighteen in number,
which are noticed in the index to the first volume, which the Mexicans sung to their gods, are likewise wanting 1; and. it is probable
that either Sahagun himself left them out when he recompiled his History, or that the person who copied his original MS. was not
permitted to tran&cribe them. From the equivocal manner in which Sahagun speaks of these hymns at the conclusion of the appendix
to his second book, (U Es cosa muy averiguada, que la cueva, bosque, y arcabuco, donde el dia de hoy este maldito adversario se
absconde, son los cantares, y psalmos, que tiene compuestos, y sele cantan, sin poderse entender 10 que en ellos se trata, mas de
aquellos que son naturales, y acostumbrados a eslc lenguage; de manera que seguramente se canta todo 10 que el quiere, sea guerra,
(, paz, loor suyo, 0 contumelia de Christo, sin que de los demas se pueda en tender,") the latter was probably the case. But besides
these omissions, various contradictions occur in the course of this History which Sahagun could hardly have fallen into. It also
terminates in an abrupt and unfinished manner; and far from giving the Mexican account (as he professes in the prologue to the last
book to do) of the events of the war between the Spaniards and the Mexicans, -- such as of the death of Montezuma and of some of
his sons; the former of whom, according to Indian tradition, was assassinated by the command of Cortes, and not killed by the blow
of a stone on the head from the hands of his own subjects, as stated by the Spaniards; and the latter intentionally massacred by them,
when they were compelled to retreat by night from Mexico, -- he adheres closely to the Spanish relation of those events. Neither does
he say a word of Quauhtemotzin, the last king of Mexico, having been put to the torture by Cortes, to compel him to reveal the secret
of hi!; hidden treasures, which all Spanish writers record. A very material contradiction is found between the statement made in the
seventeenth chapter of the twelfth book of this History and that contained in the seventh chapter of the eighth book, as regards the first
seizure of Montezuma by the Spaniards. It says in the seventeenth chapter, which describes Moutezuma's reception of Cortes
and his entrance into Mexico, that they immediately proceeded together to the palace, and that from that moment Montezuma became
the prisoner of the Spaniards, as they never again lost possession of his person: "Desque 105 Espafioles llegaron a las casas reales con
Motecuzoma, luego Ie detubieron consigo; nUllca mas Ie dexaroll apartar de si; y tambien detubieron consigo a Ytzquauhtzin,
governador de Tlatilu1co. A estos dos detubieron consigo, y a los demas dejaron ir." Whilst in the seventh chapter of the eighth
book, we read that the seizure of Montezuma did not take place till some days after the arrival of the Spaniards in Mexico: "Quando
lIegaron cerca de las casas de ~Iexico, salio Motecuzuma a recibir al capitan y a todos los Espafioles de paz; juntaronse en un lugar que
se llama Xoloco, un poco mas acil que es cerca de donde esta agora el hospital de la concepcion, y fue II 8 de Diziembre del dicho
ano. Despues de haver recibido al capitan como ellos suelen can flores y otros presentes, y despues de haver heche, una platica el dicho
Motecuzuma al capitan, luego se fueron todos juntos a las casas reales de Mexico, donde se aposentaron todos los Espafioles, yestuvieron
muchos dias mui servidos, '!I dende a pocos dias que llegaron, hecharon presQ a Molecuzuma."

Another very remarkable contradiction of real facts, as well as a manifest improbability, in the historical narration, is found in
the fourteenth section of the twenty-ninth chapter of the tenth book of Sahagun's History, where he says that the Amoxoaqui, or wise
men, who came with the colony to Tamoancha, re-embarked, and carried away with them all the paintings which they had brought with
1 Since these hymns or psalms, a:; Sahagun entitles them, were probably poetical compositions of a sublimer strain, -- and no specimens
even of common Mexican poetry have been preserved by the Spanish historians, who nevertheless commend in the highest terms the
proficiency of the Mexicans in that art, extolling at the same time their language for its softness, richness, and the beauty of its
metaphors, -- it is much to be regretted that they should all be wanting, and that the second book of the History of Sahagun should
have been deprived of this valuable addition. It is probable, however, that of the twelve books into which his Universal History is
divided, the third and the sixth are those which have been most mutilated: since from the former we might have expected to have
learned more of the real history of Quecalcoatle and of the Tultecas; and in the latter we might reasonably have looked for some
prayers addressed to that deity, whom the Mexicans honoured next to Tezcatlipoca; and since Sahagun, in his dedicatory address to
Roderic de Segura, says of this latter book, "Hic sextus omnium major, cum corpore tum vi grandi tripudio jLlbilat;" whereas in its
present state it is scarcely as long as the eleventh, or even as the second with the omitted hymns, -- it is evident that some careful hand
must have pruned away those parts which were deemed to be superfluous




NOTES. 267

sight immediately after the conquest. Stone idols and pieccs of sculpture were mutilated or buried; paintings were
burned; temples and edifices, which from their size it was impossible to destroy, wcre suffered to fall into local
oblivion: and magnificent monuments of ancient art, such as the temples of Palenque and the palaces of Mictlan,
are passed over unnoticed by Spanish authors.

The Mexican paintings seem at a very early period to have become objects of suspicion and mistrust, even in
Europe. The first that were sent to Spain came along with the other presents which were brought from the
infant colony of Veracruz to Charles the Fifth in the year 1519, by Portucarrerius and Montejius. Peter Martyr
mentions them in the eighth chapter of his fourth Decad: but although he says that they came from Coluacana,
there is some reason to imagine that they might have been procured from the island of Acuzamil or from Yucatan,
as his description corresponds more exactly with the painting which is preserved in the royal library of Dresden,
which is certainly not Mexican, than with any others which we have seen; and that painting, containing characters
resembling those surrounding the cross discovered in the temple of Palenque, which is situated on the borders
of Yucatan, was probably a painting of that province: some of the symbols contained in it are not very unlike
Hebrew letters. Peter Martyr gives the following description of these paintings in an epistle addressed to Leo the
Tenth: "We have sayde before, that these nations have bookes; and the messengers who were procurators for the 
new colony of Coluacana, together with other presentes brought many of them with them into Spayne.

"The leaves of their bookes whereon they write, are of the thin inner rinde of a tree, growing under the upper
barke. I thinke they call it Philyra; not such as is within the barke of willowes or elmes, but such as we may see
in the woolly and downy partes of dates, which lyeth within the hard outward rinds, as nets interlaced with holes, and
narrow spots. Those mashes or little nettings they stampe in a morter together.with bitumen, and afterwarde heing
softened, binde and extend them to what forme they please; and being made hard again, they smeere and
annoynt them with playster, or some matter or substance like playster. I thinke your Holinesse hath seene table
bookes overstrewed with playster beaten and sifted into fine dust, wherein one may write whatsoever he pleaseth,
and after with a spunge or a cloath blot it out, and write thereon again. * Bookes also are cunningly made of
the fig tree timber, which stewards of great honses carry with them to the market, and with a penne of mettall
them that treated of their rites, ceremonies, and mechanical arts, "Llevaron consigo todas las pinturas que ltavian. 
trahido de los ritos
y de los o6cios mecanicos;" four only of their number remaining with the colony in Tamoancha, who invented new paintings, by
which they regulated time and the duration of the year, calculated nativities, and interpreted dreams: -- since it may reasonably be
demanded, if they went only to be taken back again, for what purpose did the Amoxoaqui bring those paintings 'with them to
Tamoancha, and why were their countrymen to be put to the trouble of il1Venting new paintings? The contradiction of real facts is
contained in the following very curious passage: "Se sabia por las pinturas que se quernaron en tiempo del Senor de Mexico que
se decia Ytzcoatl, en cuyo tiempo los Seiiores y los principales que habia entonces acordaron y manclaron que se quemasen todas, par
que no vinie5en a manos del vulgo y viniesen en menos precio." "It might have been ascertaineJ, (viz. the length of time which the
colony remained in Tamoancha,) from the paintings which were hurned in the reign of the king of Mexico who was named Ytzcoatl, in
whose time the lords and principal men then living resolved and commanded that they should be all burned, that they might not fall into
the hands of the common people, and so come into disrepute." The natural inference to be drawn from this singular account of the
burning of the Mexican paintings in the reign of Ytzcoatl, whose death occurred in the year 1440, according to the interpreter of the
Collection of Mendoza, -- only sixty-two years before the reign of Montezuma, -- is, that the total destruction of the mythological paintings
of the Mexicans was not so much owing to the zeal of Zumaraga and the Spanish missionaries, as to the Mexicans themselves; aDd it
was probably framed with the view of favouring that conclusion. But the existence even still of several of these paintings in Europe
is sufficient to confute the assertion of Sahagun, which is itself so extraordinary and difficult to reconcile with what he elsewhere
writes of the many ancient Mexican paintings with which. he was aided in the composition of his History, - that,except we can suppose
that Ytzcoatl and the principal lords only sought out those paintings that recorded the length of time that their ancestors spent in
Tamoancha, and caused them to be burned, sparing all the rest, without any assignable reason for making the exception, we must judge
the passage itself containing the account to be an interpolation, or if genuine, to have been dictated to Sahagun by those whom to obey,
he well knew, might be the means of ensuring the preservation of his History to posterity, but to reject whose warnings would be
the certain way to consign it to oblivion. It is probable that Sahagun, when engaged in the recompilation of his History, after it
had been taken away from him and again restored, received three cautions: first, to write nothing to prove that the Jews had colonized
America; secondly, to be guarded in what he said of the Devils having imitated God by taking to himself a chosen people in the
New World, and counterfeiting the rites and ceremonies of the Jews; and thirdly, not to advance the hypothesis that Christianity had
ever been preached to the Indians, or to treat too largely of the history of Quecalcoatle. *

-----
* This passage has been expunged from the common edition of the three first Decads of Peter Martyr; but it is found with some
variety in Hakluyt's complete edition of the eight Decads, printed in Paris in the original Latin in the year 1587, octavo.



268 NOTES.

sette downe the wares which they have bought, and blot them out againe when they have eJItred them in their
bookes of accompt. They make not their books square leafe by leafe, but extend the matter and substance
thereof into many cubites. They reduce them into square peeees, not loose, but with binding and flexible bitumen
so conjoyned, that being compact of wooden table bookes, they may seeme to have passed the hauds of some
curious workmen that joyned them together. Which way soever the booke hee opened, two written sides offer
themselves to the view; two pages appeare and as many lye under, unlesse you stretch them in length, for there
are many leaves joyned together under one leafe. The characters are very unlike ours, written after our manner
Iyne after Iyne, with characters like small dice, fishhookes, snares, files, starres, and other such like formes and
shapes, wherein they immitate almost the Egyptian manner of writing, and between the lines they paint the
shapes of men and beasts, especially of their kings and nobles. Wherefore it is to bee supposed that the worthy
acts of every kings auncestors are there set downe in writing, as we see the like done in our time, that oftentimes
the printers insert the pictures of the authors of the matter delivered, into generall histories and fabulous bookes
also, to allure the mindes of such as are desirous to buy them. They make the former wooden table bookes also
with art to content and delight the beholder, being shut, they seeme to differ nothing from our bookes. In these
they set downe in writing the rites and customs of their lawes, sacrifices, ceremonies; their computations also, ancl
certayne astronomicall annotations, with the manner and time of sowing and planting." It is singular that Peter
Martyr, after having given this accurate account of the contents as well as of the appearance, form, and manner
of folding of the Mexican paintings, should, only two years afterwards, in the year 1521, say in the tenth chapter
of his fifth Decad, addressing Pope Adrian the Sixth, "I have heeretofore sayde that they have books, whereof
they brought many; but this Ribera saith, that they are not made for the use of readinge, but that those characters
garnished and beautified with divers images and proportions, are examples and patternes of thinges, from the
which workmen may draw out examples for the fashioning of jewels, sheets, and garments, to beautify them with
those proportions, as I see sempsters every where in Spaine, and those who with fine needles make silken chaine
worke, roses, and flowers in linnen cloath, and many kindes of formes, to delight the eye that beholds them; the
formes and proportions of all which workes they have in particular samplers of linnen cloth, by direction whereof
they instruct younge maydens and girles. What I should thinke in this variety I knowe not. I suppose them to
bee bookes, and that those characters and images signifie some other thinge, seeinge I have seene the like thinges
in the obeliskes and pillers at Rome, which were accounted letters, consideringe also that we reade that the Caldeis
used to write after that manner."
It does not appear that Peter Martyr had the opportnnity of seeing any more of these books, or that any further
presents of that kind were sent to the king of Spain; as among the various presents which were afterwards transmitted
by Cortes to Charles the Fifth, which Peter Martyr describes at great length, books are no where enumerated, nor
does he mention them again in his succeeding Decads. Ribera, from whom Peter Martyr rcceived the information
that the Mexican paintings were merely patterns for clothes and jewels, was the intimate friend and companion of
Cortes; he had been two years in New Spain, and had acqnired a knowledge of the Mexican language, as Peter
Martyr elsewhere says; he must therefore have known the real nature and use of those paintings: and what his
motive could have been in saying that they had no signification or meaning, it would be difficult to explain. Rigid
orders were shortly afterwards given to the bishops and clergy in New Spain to cause them all to be burned; and
those orders were so strictly obeyed, that in a few years scarcely any paintings could be found in the possession ofthe
Indians. Other causes, however, besides the two which have been mentioned, -- that is to say, the original destruction
of the Mexican paintings, and the subsequent discouragement which those who were inclined to write histories
whilst traditions were still recent experienced, -- conspired to leave the page of American history ahnost a blank.
Spain passed some extraordinary laws, prohibiting lawyers, surgeons, litterati, Moors, Jews, heretics, and the descendants
to the third gcneration of persons suspected by the Inquisition, and foreigners of all sorts who had not
received a license at Seville, from passing over to America.

It will be immediately perceived that in this list of proscriptions the learned professions generally, except the
ecclesiastical, were included, and the rule applied to native Spaniards. But what, it may be inquired, conld have been
the reason for these prohibitions? Gomara simply states, that the Emperor forbade lawyers to go to America, lest
they should promote litigations, and litterati lest they should impede conversions, (" estos porque uviesse menos
pleitos, y aquellos porque no estragassen la conversion.") Boturini therefore, it is to be supposed, was banished



NOTES. 269

from Mexico, and his property confiscated on the latter account. The reason for surgeons being forbidden to settle
in America is not specified: they are generally men of superior acquirements; but still they might have been disposed
to study their separate interests, and not to be the first to interpose their good offices to make up the quarrels which
the lawyers were likely to create. * From whatever causes, however, these regulations may have proceeded, it is
evident that they were calculated, by preventing men of information from going to America, to retard and check
the progress of knowledge, and to allow the veil of oblivion to fall over the history of the New World. It may
perhaps be said, that if learned men were prohibited going of their own accord to America, the kings of Spain
not unfrequently sent them there; and that thus Hernandez the celebrated naturalist composed a History which cost
Philip the Second sixty thousand ducats, of which Claude Clement observes, -- with reference it is to be supposed to
the designs of that monarch never having been completed, by the manuscript of Hernandez remaining in an unpublished
state in the library of the Escurial, -- "qui omnes libri et commentarii, si prout affecti sunt, ita forent
perfecti et absoluti, Philippus II. et Franciscus Hernandius haud quaquam Alexandro, et Aristoteli hac in parte
concederent."

It is surprising that a work ofthat kind, which was not confined to the natural history of New Spain, but embraced
its political history likewise, should never have been printed. How many errors the illustrious Buffon would
have avoided could he have availed himself of it. Only oue reason can be assigned for an epitome merely of that
part of it which related to natural history having ecn published by the Lyncean Academicians at Rome in the
year 1651; namely, that there was no wish to draw the attention of Europe to the subjects of which it treated,
which the publication of the writings of so learned a man would undoubtedly have done. But other writings,
besides those of Hernandez, which wonld have been valuable to history, have mysterionsly disappeared. The
Bibliotheca of Pinelo, a work the express object of which was to illustrate the history of America by references to
and extracts from valuable and unpublished MSS. preserved in the most famous libraries of Spain and the public
archives, especially in those of Simancas, to which the author, through the interest of the Duke de Medina de las
Torres, obtained access, exists only in an epitome; and of the larger work a learned writer has observed, "not a
leaf has been found." Garcia's'History of the Peruvian Monarchy, to which he frequently refers in his Origin of
the Indians, is also unknown. Siguenza's Mexican Cyclography is stated to have been lost through the negligence
of his heirs; and many other interesting works are said to have perished, or been lost in a similar manner. It has
been remarked above, that the office of Royal Historiographer of the Indies docs not appear to have been instituted
solely for the purpose of promoting the cause of truth and the increase of knowledge: and it may be further
observed, that the Council of the Indies, which took cognizance of all works treating of America, rcquiring
that they should be, previously to publication, submitted to a strict censurcship, with the power of recalling or
prohibiting, even after publication, any work they thought fit, procceded in a diametrically opposite spirit. The
entire system indeed of licensing and censuring works of literature exercised in Spain a baneful influence upon
learning; and the number of licenses of this kind which the law required should be affixed to works of very
inconsiderable extent, was really excessive, when there could be no doubt moreover that each censor would be
sufficiently Argus-eyed. Boturini's small work, entitled "Idea de Una Nueva Historia General de In America
Septentrional, fundada sobre Material copioso de Figuras, Symbolos, Caracteres y Geroglificos, Cantares y
Manuscritos de Autores Indios ultimamente descubiertos," which was published in Madrid in the year 1746, notwithstanding
his dedication of it to the king, and his preliminary protest, has six different licenses for publication prefixed
to it: the first is the Censure of Pedro Frcsneda of the Company of Jesus; the second is the License of Don Migucl
Gomez de Escobar, Ordinary Inquisitor; the third the Judgment of Doctor Joscph Borrull, Judge in the supreme
Council of the Indies; the fourth the License of the Royal Council of the Indies; the fifth the Approbation of the
Reverend Juan de la Concepcion, bare-footed Carmelite and Qualificator of the Inquisition; and the sixth the License
of the Royal Council of Castille, to which the signatures of the Corrector General of His Majesty, Don Manuel de
Rivera, and of his secretary, Don Miguel Fernandez Munilla, are also added. The preliminary protest is as follows:
"Although the occasion of writing this Historical Idea has obliged me to meditate upon the secret and scientifical

-----
* In the present day scientific men of this profession have incurred another imputation; but we should say "Summa scientia summa
pletas;" or at least that the mind of man, which naturally feels sentiments of veneration and of love towards the Great Author of ius
existence, as it becomes more enlightened and better informed has those innate sentiments heightened and increased.




270 NOTES.

paintings of the Indians; nevertheless, so far am I from separating myself in the slightest degree from the purity
of the Catholic religion, in which I was horn, that I would rather readily die in its defence; and whatever I say
here, I submit with the most humble obedience to the judgment and correction of our holy Roman Catholic and
Apostolic mother Church."

At this distance of time, when the state of the world is so different from what it was in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, it may not be readily conceived how easy it was for the Council of the Indies, through the
power vested in it of permitting or prohibiting the general circulation of all writings relative to America, to keep the
rest of Europe in a state of darkness as to the history of that continent. For three centuries those who composed
successively that Council, seem to have exercised their functions of censors with the greatest vigilance. If powerful
patronage or inadvertence on their part suffered in the first instance any obnoxious work to appear in print,
it was sure soon to be recalled. Thus the History of the Indies, by Gomara, which was dedicated to Charles the
Fifth, and the Conquest of Mexico, by the same author, which was dedicated to Don Martin Cortes, the son of the
celebrated Cortes, became prohibited books soon after their first publication. But there were other works against
which a silent war was waged in Spain.

The Ocean Decads of Peter Martyr, and the Indian Monarchy of Torquemada, were works of this class. Those
justly celebrated Decads, eight in number, written in an epistolary style, were addressed to the two Sforzias, dukes of
Milan, and to the popes Leo the Tenth, Adrian the Sixth, and Clement the Seventh; and notwithstanding their
great merit as monuments of history and the purity and elegance of the Latin in which they are composed, they
have sunk into complete oblivion. Hakluyt published in the reign of Queen Elizabeth a complete edition of the
Ocean Decads, which he printed in Paris and dedicated to Sir Walter Raleigh; a copy of which at the present day
it is impossible to procure. That edition contains besides a map, a wood-cut representing two of those kind of
crosses, which were discovered in America, called Saint Andrew's, which exactly resemble the cross in the first
page of the Collection of Mendoza, in which was founded the city of Mexico. Pinelo says that Vasco imputed
in his Chronicles of Spain, some freedom of opinion in religious matters to Peter Martyr; perhaps Vasco might
have attempted in that way to account for the scarcity of Peter Martyr's writings in Spain, and the disrepute into
which they seemed to have fallen: if so, it was an unfounded surmise, and the accusation was one from which Pmelo,
by referring to the eulogium bestowed upon Peter Martyr by Paul J ovius, at once exculpates him. Terminating
the digression into which we have been led by the consideration of the causes which have so long conspired to keep
Europe in a state of ignorance with respect to the history of America, we shall only further remark that the history
of Peru is enveloped in much greater obscurity than that of Mexico. Doctor Robertson supposes that this is owing
to the circumstance of Pizarro and the conquerors of Peru having been men of inferior education to Cortes and his
followers; as if it were immediately on the first conquest and occupation of a country, before any knowledge of the
language spoken by the natives can be attained, that conquerors and their soldiers usually set about writing histories.
That learned writer in his History of America, has himself given so decided a preference to the authority of Cortes,
from whose relation nevertheless he never feels the least scrupulous to deduct what he pleases on the score of
exaggeration, that he seems almost to have overlooked the writings of other historians, especially those of Torquemada
and Acosta; and hence he has fallen into great errors. The real cause of less being known of the bistory
of the Peruvian empire than of the Mexican, notwithstanding Garcilasso de la Vega, bimself of the race of the
Ingas, wrote in the latter end of the sixteenth century a History of Peru, is probably, that Peru was discovered
many years after the conquest and discovery of Mexico; and Europe was not to be surprised a second time by the
sudden appearance of fresh Ocean Decads and more mythological paintings.

We do not doubt that if the writings of the licentiate Polus had ever been published, more would have been
known of the bistory of Peru; since Acosta, speaking in the twenty-third chapter of the fifth book of bis History
of the Indies of those writings, says, "De his qui plura sciturit, is qure Licentiatus Polus ad Archiepiscopum
civitatis de los Reyes Don Jeronymo de Loaysa commentatus est, evolvat, ubi rerum mirarum et variarum plenum
catalogum, magna diligentia a dicto scriptore congestum reperict." though none of the Peruvian paintings have
been preserved, it is highly probable that the Peruvians, like the Mexicans, employed paintings to commemorate
historical events, and to perpetuate the rites and ceremonies of their religion. If Acosta is of a different opinion, it
must be recollected that that learned writer composed bis History many years after the empire of the Ingas had been
destroyed: and that however studious he might have been of truth, he was sometimes mistaken; as when be says,




NOT E S. 271
that circumcision was not a rite in use amongst the Indians. The Peruvian paintings might have been burned
immediately after the conquest of Peru; and perhaps it was thought unnecessary to send any of them to Europe,
as specimens of Mexican paintings had been already sent. Amongst the more civilized tribes of Indians dwelling
on the banks of the Oronoco, paintings were discovered by the Spaniards; and Baron de HJlIllboldt says, that
father Narcissus Gilbar, a Franciscan, obtained some paintings from the Indians inhabiting the shores of the Ucayale,
which he afterwards sent to Lima, where several persons with whom the Baron was acquainted had seen them.
But if some uncertainty exists whether paintings were in use amongst the Peruvians, all authors agree that they
preserved the memory of past events for several ages by means of knotted cords, called Quipus; and as the Peruvian
mythology was as complex as the Mexican, and their history went as far back, the names of persons being in the
same way preserved in the recollection of distant generations, it is almost impossible to conceive the nature of
these quipus *, except we suppose that certain sounds and syllabic associations might have been connected with
each differently coloured and differently formed knot. Rosales says, in his History of Chili, that an army of Spaniards
having been lost, their retreat and history was discovered some years afterwards, by mention being made of them in
the Quipus. The possibility of an army being lost may be called in question: but when it is recollected that
the provinces bordering on Peru were wholly unknown to the Spaniards, and their extent almost boundless, and that
a Spanish army in America at the commencement of the fifteenth century frequently did not amount to more than
two or three hundred men, there is nothing so improbable in the supposition.
The Peruvians when first discovered by the Spaniards had already attained a high degree of civilization; and it
would appear from a passage in Gomara's History of the Indies, that the Spaniards were struck by the resemblance
of some of the tribes of Indians in that part of America to Jews. "Son todos muy ajudiados en gesto y habla, ca
tienen grandes narizes, y hablan de papo. ElIas andan trasquiladas y faxadas, y con anillos solamente. Ellos
visten camisas cortas que no les cubren sus verguen<;as, e traen coronas como de frailes, sino que cortan todo el
cabello por delante y por detras, e dexan crecer los lados." -- La Istoria de las Indias, fo. Ix. "They are all very like
Jews in appearance and voice, for they have large noses and speak through the throat. The women cut off their
hair and wear girdles, and they alone use rings. The men dress in short shirts, scarcely studying decency in their
apparel, making themselves bald like monks, except that they shave off the hair from the front and the back of
their heads and allow it to grow on the sides." Gomara elsewhere says that some of the Indians of the Andes
wore turbans, which the Spaniards imagined was to conceal some deformity of the head. Having already pointed
out the numerous analogies which the history of the pretended migration of the Mexicans presents to that of the
Jews as recorded in Exodus, we shall now notice the singular conformity which exists between many of the
Hebrew laws, as contained in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the other books of the Pentateuch, with those of the
Indians. It is scarcely necessary to observe that it is the legislative and not the executive power in a state that
stamps a national character on the people; and that while that is formed and grows up under the former, it is
merely modified by the latter accordingly as the laws are less or more duly enforced. By their Codes of Laws
posterity has a right to judge every nation according to the immutable principles of right and wrong, the knowledge
of which is implanted in the breast of man, and to which it is as absurd to attribute either age or youth, as
it would be to assign those accidents to space. The common law of every state in Europe has been confessedly

-----
* Some Quipus, alledged to be Peruvian, and tu record the annals of the Peruvian empire, are in Lord Kingsborough's possession; they
are contained in a large gilt box formed out of a solid piece afwood, curiously carved on the top with the figure ofa man seated upon a
winged quadruped, with the representations of various animals around, and on the bottom with snakes; at the angles are fOllr images, as it
would appear, of four of the lngas, and on the two principal sides the likenesses of the famous Temple of the Sun at Cusco, and of that
of the Moon. These Quipus, which perhaps are Chilian instead of Peruvian, and modern instead of ancient, if they are a forgery,
at least display great ingenuity on the part of the person who composed them. They consist of knotted strings of catgut, which
are fastened in loops upon different rings, each ring forming a separate history, and the loops following in their proper order on the
rings; the first loop being read downwards, -- or in other words, the knots counted from the upper extremity which joius the ring
to the lower extremity which meets it again: these knots are of different colours, and it is impossible not to imagine that in the
arrangement of the knots first on loops which fasten at the ends like a necklace, and afterwards of the loops themselves on rings, they
nearly corresponded in outward appearance to the ancient Peruvian Quipus. The name of Registros de Ramales, which Garcia gives in
his second book of the Origin of the Indias to the real Quipus, as well as his description of them, are singularly applicable to those
referred to above.




272 NOTES.

modelled after the Mosaic law; but time has already operated the repeal of several of its parts, such as t11e trial
by ordeal and the trial by combat, which modes of trial were undoubtedly suggested by the trial of jealousy, which
is described at length in the fifth chapter of Numbers, and proceeded upon the same assumption, that an appeal being
made to God he would decide by a miraculous interposition the guilt or the innocence of the accused party. It is a
self-evident truth that in proportion as laws affect society in general, they assume a character of vital importance to
the state; and their fitness and the wisdom with which they have been enacted, cannot be too closely examined and
scrutinized. Laws relative to property and inheritance, to marriages and to divorce, and to slavery in countries
where slavery is tolerated, are of this class; and it is somewhat extraordinary that preciscely on these heads the affinity
between the Mexican and Hebrew laws is greater than between the latter and those of any other nation with which we
are acquainted. The ceremonial and ritual laws of the Jews likewise nearly resembled those of the Mexicans: -- of
some of these we shall speak first. Father Joseph Gumilla says in the fifty-ninth page of the Oronoco Iltlstrado, "I
affirm in the second place, that the nations of the Oronoco and its streams observed many Hebrew ceremonies
during the time of their paganism, which they followed rudely and blindly without knowing why or wherefore,
that had been transmitted by traditions handed down from father to son, without their being able to assign any
reason for the practice of them. From which customs and usages it is inferred, that after America had been peopled
by the descendants of Cham, a certain number of Jews passed over likewise to that continent after the dispersion
of that ungrateful people, from whom the ceremonies, which I shall cursorily notice as I proceed (for I mean
afterwards to treat this subject more at length), spread themselves amongst the native population." "La circuncision,
senal, y divisa dada por el mismo Dios a su escogido pueblo,:Lunque con la variedad que el largo curso de los
tiempos introduce en todos los usos y costumbrcs, se halla entre aquellas naciones gentiles. Los Salivas, quando
10 eran, y los que restan en los bosques, al octavo dia circuncidaban sus parvulos, sin exceptuai a las ninas, no
cortaudo, sino lastimandolos con una sangrienta transficcion, de que solian morir algunos de uno, y otro sexo.
Las varias naeiones de Cuiloto, Uru, y otros rios, que cntran en Apure, antes de reducirse a la santa fe, eran mas
crucles en dicho uso, y mas inhumanas en esta ceremonia, anadiendo heridas eonsiderables por todo cl cuerpo, y
brazos, cuyas cicatrices se ven en los que viven oy, de los que nacieron en aquellas selvas: No hacian esta
carnieeria hasta los diez, u doce anos de edad, para que tuviessen fuerza para la evacuacion tan notable de sangre
como se seguia, demas de docientas heridas, que daban a las inocentes victim as de su ignorancia. Yo encontre el
ano de 1721, un chico moribundo en diehos bosques, cuyas heridas se havian enconado, y tenia el cuerpo 1Ieno de
asquerosas materias. Para que no sin ties sen la punta afilada con que atravessaban las carnes, embriagaban de
antemano a los pacientes de ambos sexos, porque nadie se escapaba de esta sangrienta cercmonia. Entre los Indios
Guamos, y Othomacos, son igualmente crueles las senas de la circuncision." It will be remarked that Gumilla says
the Salivas circumcised their children on the eighth day after their birth; and by the covenant which God made
with Abraham, the Jews circumcised their children on the same day, being commanded so to do in the twelfth
verse of the seventeenth chapter of Genesis. "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every
man-child in your generations; he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of
thy seed." Moses himself was near being killed by God for omitting to have his son circumcised, as we learn from
the twenty-fourth and following verses of the fourth chapter of Exodus: and it seems that the important commission
with which he was then charged, to deliver a message from God to Pharaoh, commanding him to let the Israelites
depart out of Egypt, was considered as no excuse for his disobedience; for that is the tenour of the following passage:
"And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born. And I say unto thee,
Let my son go, that be may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
And it came to pass by the way, in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took
a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou
to me. So he let him go: then she said, a bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision." The number
eight seems to have been held in as much estimation by the Indians as by the Jews, by whom every thing relating to
circumcision was held in such veneration that it was the only work which their law did not prohibit them to
perform on the Sabbath-day; since the Jews, according to Maimonides, were allowed to circumcise their children on
that day: and as the ceremony was performed with a stone knife (which custom the German Jews are said to have
retained to the present day), Garcia and other writers have supposed that the Indians venerated the Tequepatl or
flint lmife, and placed it in their temples as a sacred symbol, no less on account of its connection with sacrifice




NOTES. 273

than because they used it as an instrument of circumcision. * Damian a Goez says that the Abyssinian Christians
likewise circumcised their children, defending the practice by the example of Saint Paul, who himself circumcised
a young man named Timothy, whose father was a Greek but his mother a Jewess. The Mosaic law prohibited the
Jews to eat the flesh of swine; and the aversion which they still retain to pork is too well known to require proof.
It is very singular that the Indians of the Oronoco should have entertained the same prejudice, in which they were
probably imitated by the circumcised Indians of Yucatan. Gumilla says, "No se hallam Judio, que tenga tanto
horror ala carnc de lechon {, cebon casero como tiencn los dichos Gentiles; pero despues dc instruidos, y bautizados,
sc desatiuan por comerla." "There is not that Jew in existence who holds the flesh of a sucking-pig or of the
domestic hog in such horror as the said Gentiles; but after they have been instructed and baptized, they eat it
without scruple." We are not ignorant that many Spanish authors, who were as little inclined to permit the
Indians to resemble the Jews in their aversion to pork as in the rite of circumcision, have denied that the hog
was natural to America; and have persuaded the illustrious Buffou to adopt their error, who enumerates the hog
amongst the species of animals which were tmnsported from the Old Continent to the New. At this distance of
time it might even have been very difficult to have refnted those writers; for although Gomara mentions it as an
animal discovered in the remotest parts of South America, those who might have either a theory to support or one
to deny, would contend, from the prolific nature of the animal, that the species had multiplied and become wild
in different parts of America, having been originally carried to that continent by the Spaniards. A convincing proof,
however, that this was not the case, is afforded in the collection of Mexican, or we should rather say of Yucatan
paintings, + which are preserved in the Royal Library of Dresden, in the sixty-second page of which the figure of
a boar is accurately delineated, as may be seen by referring to the coloured Plates contained in the third volume.


-----
* Sahagun in the twenty-fourth chapter of the second book of his History describing the dress with which the Mexicans usually
represented their principal deity Huitzilopuchtli, says, "Del media della salia un mast;l tan bien labrado de pluma, y en 10 alto del mastil
estaba engirido un cuchillo de pedernal 11 manera de yerro de lanzon ensangrentado hasta el media." If they believed that that god had
commanded them to practise circumcision, it is probable that the symbol of the stone knife upon that part of his dress was 3S a memorial
of that ordinance. 

+ These paintings are inferred to be Yucatan, from the similarity of the hieroglyphics which they contain to those surrounding the
cross in the temple of Palenque: that they are not Mexican is evident from the difference of their style from that of the Mexican paintings.
But what, it may be inquired, do these mysterious paintings represent? the migration of the Aztecas, the colonization of America by the
Tultecas, or the events which are said to have preceded and caused the deluge? which are briefly alluded to in the first and second verses
of the sixth chapter of Genesis: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born
unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose;" which
passage the Rabbis explain in a manner very different from that in which it is usually understood; interpreting the phrase in Hebrew" the
sons of God" to mean "the demons;" alleging as their reason for so cloing, that since after the deluge their Patriarchs (who could not
have been ignorant of the real cause of the deluge,) took as many wives as they pleased, without placing themselves under any restriction
as to the choice, -- since some married their sisters, and others their sisters-in-law, -- so dreadful a catastrophe as the deluge could not have
been caused by a crime, which, on this supposition, the Patriarchs would have been guilty of the greatest presumption in repeating. This
reasoning of the Rabbis assumes a greater degree of plausibility, when we consider that at any rate, by the expression the sons of God
are meant the wicked, and that a wicked man can be properly no more a son of God than a wicked spirit. Some of the paintings
contained in the Dresden Codex are very curious, and they all present a strange mixture of civilization, barbarity, and the grossest superstition.
Whilst many of the figures are drawn with great regard to the proper proportions of the human body, the style of their execution
being,"ery delicate, others prove that the nation to which they refer had attained a certain degree of perfection in some of the arts. But
what. notion must we form of a people who could consign to paintings, and record as matter of history, or at least incorporate with history,
the dreams and visions of their own deluded imaginations; and to whom can we assimilate them, except to the Jews, who, if we understand
Scripture aright, were a people who pretended to be as familiar with God by means of dreams and visions, as man can well be with
his fellow man. Allusion is of course here made to the false prophets: but it must not be forgotten that the time was when there was
only one true prophet in Israel, who Elijah declares was himself; while those who pretended to see visions, and who deceived the people
by prophecies, were four hundred and fifty, as we are informed in the eighteenth chapter of the First Book of Kings. It deserves to be
remarked, whatever may be the subject of these paintings, that no symbols of time, either of days or years, fix the date of e,oents; whence
it may be inferred, that the history recorded was so ancient, that it was thought a useless task to aim at chronological exactness by 
introducing amongst them any such symbols. This history may probably relate to the Tultecas; and the women of that nation are perhaps
represented by the female figures with dark hair flowing 1n long tresses and adorned with jewels, since their husbands were very expert,
as Sahagun and other authors declare, in the cutting and setting of precious stones. The physiognomy of these figures is very peculiar
and marked; it is not European or African, nor does it recall to our recollection the features of any nation of antiquity, with which busts of
marble, bronze, or porphyry, such as that with which the Egyptians constructed their immortal works, have made us acquainted. It




274 NOTES.

The Abyssinian Christians, according to Damian a Goez, imitated the Jews in abstaining from pork, as well as
in circumcision; and since many learned men have supposed that the miracle which is recorded in the fifth chapter
of Saint Mark, of Christ casting out the legion of devils from the man possessed, and sending them afterwards
into the swine, was a punishmcnt inflicted on the owners of those animals for keeping them, and thereby tempting
the Jews to transgress the law; the superstitious Abyssinians might have imagined, that as God had prohibited,

-----
appears to be Asiatic; but the robust stature and large noses of this tribe do not argue that they proceeded from any of the northern regions
of Asia, such as Tartary or Kamschatka; and few would go as far as Sangalien and the islands north of Japan to discover the ancestors
of a people who in remote ages colonized Yucatan; neither do they resemble the Chinese or the Hindoos. Asia then, on this side of the
Persian gulf, and perhaps the region of Palestine, was the hive from which this swarm came to inundate America with unheard-of superslitivllS,
and to interweave with the simple religious traditions of the Indians, the clark history of their own fabulous annals. Some of the
paintings remind us of the early manners and customs of the Jews, who when they migrated from Egypt carried with them the embalmed
bodies and skeletons of some of their deceased ancestors; for it is not at all probable that the bones of Joseph, -- which by his express
desire were removed from the Egyptian soil, as we learn in the nineteenth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, "And Moses took
the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my
bones away hence with you," -- were the only bones which the Israelite3 took with them on their pilgrimage; especially as we learn in a
late book of Scripture that those of holy persons, such as were the Patriarchs, were sometimes endowed with occult virtues: for a dead
man, of whom nothing meritorious is recorded in his life, is said in the twentieth verse of the thirteenth chapter of the Second Book of
Kings to have come to life by merely touching the bones of Elisha, although it does not appear from the passage of Scripture referred to,
that the deceased came in contact with those bones except by simple accident: "And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands
of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were bllrying a man, that, behold, they spied
a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was ICl down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he
revived, and stood up on his feet." This was also the prophet to whom allusion is made in the thirteenth verse of the forty-eighth chapter
of Ecclesiasticus: "No word could overcome him; and after his death his body prophesied. He did wonders in his life, and at his death
were his works marvellous." How, after the relation in Scripture of these great miracles performed by relics, can Protestants assert that the
Roman Catholic doctrine relating to them is not derived from Scripture, however absurd they may consider it. The Jews undoubtedly
esteemed the bones of some of their prophets and holy persons as sacred relics; nnd the Mexicans probably borrowed the superstitious
reverence which they felt for the bones of some of their reputed saints and prophets from the Jews, with whom also appears to have
originated that species of divination called necromancy, which, as the name (compounded of ve,,~o) a dead body, and f4«vr'Xl) the art of
divination,) implies, signifies prophesying by means of a dead body, or seeking prophetical predictions from a dead body, which those did
who consulted the bones of Elisha; although in this instance criminality and absurdity muat be separated from an act which seems in after
ages to have been the fertile source of both amongst the Jews. We may here notice some other paintings in the Dresden Codex, which
appear to associate themselves with the Hebrew traditions of the fall of Satan, and to refer to the personage in Mexican mythology who
was nameri Zontemoque, from the manner in which they believed that he was precipitated to the earth; this proper name being compounded
of zon the head, and temoqlle falling, and signifying falling headlong. These paintings occur in the thirteenth, the forty-ninth, and
the fiftieth pages of that MS., the first of which may be presumed to refer also to the proper name LlIcifer, from the starlike symbols that
seem to accompany his fall. Milton's celebrated description of the fall of Satan is likewise brought to mind by the recumbent figure in
the fiftieth page: and the opening scene of the Paradise Lost is well expressed by the Indian painter, who had assuredly never heard of
Milton's Satan, whom even the Jews would scarcely recognize. It is not however surprising that Milton, when giving full scope to his
poetical imagination, should have formed to himself the idea of a Satan such as the Jews had never dreamt of, since his prose compo-sitions
are replete with so many new notions upon the subject of divinity. The other recumbent figure, in the forty-ninth page, affords
proof, from the peculiarity of the formation of the eye, -- which is so often imitated in paintings confessedly Mexican, for example, in the
fifty-eighth page of the lesser Vatican MS., -- that the natives of Mexico and of Yucatan, however they might have differed from each
other in the style of their paintings, introduced many characteristic traits into them from a mythology which furnished them with a common
prototype: hence in the twenty-sixth page of the Dresden MS., the image of a hand is represented on exactly the same kind of staff
as the sume hand is painted in the fifty-ninth page of the Borgian MS.; and the Chirotheca, which Acosta says that the Peruvians were
accustomed to hold up on a certain festival, it can scarcely be doubted was a hand also resembling that engraved upon the signet of
Hugh Capet. The figure of a boar occurring in the sixty-second page of the same MS. in association with that of a rabbit, another
animal the flesh of which the Jews were forbidden to eat, and which the Mexicans considered in the year of One Rabbit, or Ce Tochtli,
as a sign which was the sure harbinger of famine, induces us to refer in this place to a very curious painting of the Borgian MS. (the forty..
fourth), in which the thirteen squares surrounding the figure of Quecalcoatle seem to contain twelve birds and one flying insect, which
were held in abomination by the Jews, and for which the figure of an animal of a fanciful form, but not unlike a monkey, is perhaps
making an atonement by the sacrifice of some clean bird, the head of which he has twisted offfrom the body, so as not to cause death by
strangulation. A comparison of the figures in the plate alluded to, with the birds enumerated in the following passage of the eleventh
chapter of Leviticus, will show that real and not fanciful specific identity exists between most of those there represented, and those mentioned
in the text of the Pentateuch: "And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten,
they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, and the vulture, and the kite after his kind; every raven after his
kind; and the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cllckow, and the hawk after his kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great



NOTES. 275

and Christ had not enjoined, the eating the flesh of that animal, it would be meritorious at least in them to refrain from it.

Gumilla further observes, "Anointing with oil and perfumes, which was so peculiarly a Jewish custom that
even Christ himself reproaches the Pharisees for being wanting in that mark of courtesy and love in which
Mary Magdalene excelled, was a usage which continued in such full force on the Oronoco, that it would require
a chapter by itself to explain it: besides which, if we consider the indispensable obligation which they were under
to bathe themselves three times a day, or at least twice, -- who will not coufess that the Indians resemble the Jews?
I shall note down other marks of Judaism as I proceed, accordingly as they occur to me, in their proper place; and
in order to avoid prolixity here, I conclude by protesting that if the spirit of covetousness and self-interest which is
predominant in Judaism was lost, it might be found entire and in full vigour amongst the nations of the Oronoco
and its streams, whose mode of addressing each other as regards the claim of kindred (male and female relations in
the second and third degree calling themselves brothers and sisters) is derived from the Jews." This Jewish custom,
which has been adopted by the modern Quakers with greater latitude, is also noticed by Garcia in the following
passage of the third chapter of his Origin of the Indians, wherein he observes that it was prevalent amongst the Peruvians,
a people with whom he was well acquainted and had long resided; remarking also, "That it was a Hebrew
custom, which lasted to the time of Christ Our Lord, to call relations of the second and third degree of consanguinity,
brothers, -- Abraham, as it appears in Genesis, addressing Lot, Since we are brothers, there is no reason why there
should be strife between our shepherds and us. And in the same book of Genesis, the Scripture calls Abraham the
brother of Lot, saying, When Abraham heard that his brother Lot was taken prisoner. The Scripture here calls him

owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier.eagle, and the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. All fowls
that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. Yet these may ye eat, of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon
all four, which have legs abm"e their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and
the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. But all other flying creeping things, which
have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you. And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of theln shall be
unclean until the even." If all the unclean animals specified in the eleventh chapter of Leviticus are not found represented in this plate,
it must be recollected that with some, such as the camel, the Mexicans were quite unacquainted: that the number of the squares in the
same plate is only thirteen, and that jiyi71g things, for which an atonement might be made by the sacrifice of ajl!Jing thing, seem alone to
be intended to be there included; for although the sign of the rabbit occurs immediately under the upper row of birds, that sign associated
with the number two, like that of the cane before it, under which is marked a single unit, and the sign of the earthquake surrounded by
four units, which is placed under the chair of Quecalcoatle, may only show that Orne Tochtli, as well as Ce Acatl and Nahui Ollin, was
a sign dedicated to Quecalcoatle on account perhaps of his other a.ppellation of,Mexitli, which likewise signified a vine or the maguey
plant, from which the Mexicans obtained wine. The unclean birds mentioned in Leviticus, and occurring in the plate, appear to be the
following: the stork, and the heron, the great owl, and the little owl, three species of eagles, three species of hawks or kites, the vulture,
and the cuckow: of these, that supposed to represent the cuckow, the fourth in order in the lower row of birds, is the only one the class of
which is not clearly indicated by marks characteristic of the genus to which it belongs; for although the mouth of the cuckoo, like that
of the night-hawk, is large and capable of great expansion to enable it more easily to catch its prey, still the bill. of both these birds have
a flat appearance when closed, and do not resemble the prominent beak of the eagle: the painter however might have substituted one
characteristic difference for the other. With respect to the vulture, the figure of which is contained in the ninth square, and which may
be thought to bear some resemblance to a turkey, it may here be remarked that the American vulture is in fact very like a turkey;
and hence in the West Indies it goes by the name of the turkey-buzzard. One flying insect, apparently a butterfly, occupies a place
among these birds, which may be supposed to represent flying and creeping things in general, which were an abomination to the Jews.
We are further induced to believe that the Mexicans were acquainted with the hog, as well as the Indians of Yucatan, and that, like the
Indians of the Oronoco, they considered it an unclean animal, because an animal resembling a boar with bristles is represented flying or
retreating from the sign of the Cross in the seventy-third page of the Borgian MS. -- Mention of the Dresden MS. having fornished
occasion for the insertion of this note, we shall conclude it by observing that th is collection of paintings, although in the finest
preservation, does not appear to be perfect; a part, and perhaps a considerable portion of the history to which it relates, may have
followed in the same or succeeding painted volumes. From the nature of the material, whether of skin or paper, on which the
Indians were accustomed to paint, it is evident that their paintings might have been extended to any indefinite length; and the size
of the volume when folded up, and the convenience of holding it or lifting it, probably limited the number of the pages of which it
was made to consist. The position of the figures in the Dresden MS., invariably looking to the left and turned from the right, clearly
shows that it was read like a Hebrew roll from right to left, and not in our manner from left to right. From the importance which the
Jews attach to every thing relating to the copying out or transcribing of their sacred books, the fact here noticed is deserving of
observation, although this attention to trifles is probably because the Rabbis are unwilling that their flocks should study the Scriptures
in the original Hebrew, the only text which they recognize.




276 NOTES. 
Lot's brother; and the sallie ' Scripture informs us that Lot was the nephew of Abraham." What Gumilla affirms of
the frequency of ablutions amongst the Indians of the Oronoco, and their custom of anointing themselves with oil,
corresponds with the accounts of Torquemada and Clavigero. Oil was used likewise among the Mexicans at the
consecration of their high priest and at the coronation of their kings. This oil, as the olive was unknown in that
country, was made of ulli, or elastic gum, diluted in water, with other resinous substances and blood. It would
appear from the following passage in the seventh book of Clavigero's History of Mexico, that that learned writer
believed that the preservation of their health rather than religion was the motive that induced the Mexicans to
bathe so often in the day: "Among the means which the Mexicans employed for the preservation of health, that
of the bath was very frequent. They bathed themselves extremely often, even many times in the same day, in the
natural water of rivers, lakes, ditches, and ponds. Experience has taught the Spaniards the advantages of bathing
in that climate, and particularly in the hot countries. The Mexicans and other nations of Anahuac made little less
frequent use of the bath Temazcalli. Although in all its circumstances it is deserving of particular mention in the
History of Mexico, none of the historians of that kingdom have described it, attending more frequently to descriptions
and accounts of less importance; so much so, that if some of those baths had not been still preserved, the
memory of them must have totally perished." It will be observed that Clavigero, in remarking that the Spaniards
found bathing beneficial to their health, admits the diversity of the temperature of different parts of New Spain,
although the climate is the same. From the elevated heights of the mountains which on every side enclose the
valley of Mexico, some of which are covered with perpetual snow, and the great extent of the Mexican lake, that
province is not very warm; and the Temazcalli, or hot vapour baths, could not have been resorted to by the
Mexicans to relieve themselves from the heat. As bathing likewise twice a day for four successive days formed a
part of the ceremonies which the kings of Mexico were obliged to go through on their coronation; and Gumilla
expressly declares that the Indians of the Oronoco were under an indispensable obligation to bathe themselves
three times a day, or at least twice, -- we are inclined to think that bathing was quite as much a religious ceremony
amongst the Mexicans as amongst the Jews; and that the reason why the Spanish historians of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries have made no particular mention of the Mexican Temazcalli, -- a description as well as a representation
of which may be found in the seventh book of Clavigero's History of Mexieo, -- was, because bathing and
ablutions formed a very essential part of the Jewish rites and ceremonies: and to have dwelt on this analogy in the
customs of the Mexicans and the Jews, conpled with the fact that the former people were acquainted with the use
of the arch in building (for an arch was employed in the construction of the Temazealli), might have led to inquiries
disagreeable to the spirit of the age. But if the Mexicans in their dress, in the domestic economy of their houses
(which had flat roofs or terraces like those of the Jews), in their mode ofreceiving guests and saluting strangers, in
their respect for the old (rising up on their approach), and in the pains which ' they bestowed on the education of
their children, sending them to the temples to be instructed, as Torquemada informs us in the thirteenth chapter
of the ninth book of the Indian Monarchy, -- strongly remind us of the Jews; much more do they resemble them
in their religious rites and ceremonies, in their superstitions, in their proneness to idolatry, in their credulity, in
their cruelty, and in their laws. We have already observed that the Mexican temples were formed on the model
of the Hebrew brazen altar, except that the latter had no steps up to it, and the priests ascended by an inclined
plane. These temples were of a very peculiar construction; they were flat on the top and shaped like a pyramid,
and as they increased in height they were reduced in dimensions by certain contractions, generally three or four in
number, at equal distances from each other, which left sufficient room to walk round the edifice. Reference
to the old edition of Doctor Prideaux's Connections between Sacred and Profane History, which contains an
engraving of the brazen altar, will show that that altar was made on the same plan: the Levites were enabled to walk
round it, as well as to ascend it.

Torquemada speaking of the temples of New Spain, says, "We do not read in Holy Scripture that any nation
in the world has used temples and high altars of this kind built of masonry and elevated in the air; neither
does profane history mention them: although Holy Scripture informs us in the Book of Joshua, that the two tribes
and a half who did not cross the Jordan, but remained on the other side when the children of Israel entered the
promised land, having accompanied the others who passed over, and conquered the enemy who opposed their
taking possession of it, returned home and erected an altar close to the said Jordan" infinitre magnitudinis" (of
infinite magnitude and height), signifying by these words that the height of that building was vast and excessive




NOTES. 277

so that we are not informed nor do we know that a similar edifice has been constructed in the world in honour of the
Devil, or so high an altar, except in this kingdom of New Spain, where on the base of mason work of these high
buildings, altars are placed and chapels built." Monarquia Indiana, cap. x. lib. viii. The following passage from the first
book of the History of Herodotus will show that the famous temple of Belus in Babylon was constructed on the plan
of the Mexican Teocalli: "'Ev 8. <papu.' <KaT.p'r T~~ 1TOX!O~ T.T£lXIUTO €V I'fU'I.'" ev T,!, ~fV Ta {3auIX~,a, 7rfpl{30X,!, I'f"'faA,!,
TE Kat iuXtJpft" Ell 8e Ttl" ETeplf, L~uOI; Bl1AotJ tpOll xaAK07ftJAOV, Kat el; filE TOVTO ETL EOI', avo O'Ta8twv 7raVTl1, EOll TETpaywvov.
Ell JlEC1Cf! 8e 'TOll (POl) 7rllpyOc. C1Tepeoe OiK08of'flTUL, O'Ta8wtJ Kat TO f'l1KOt; Kat TO rupal;' KaL E7rL TOl/T(l' "rtf 1rVp"y'f! aA-Aoe 'TrVpyoc
€7rt(3e{3JJKe, Kat €TEpOe pOA« Em TOVTCP, lexptt; au OKTW 7rUPYWV. ava{3acHc 8e EC aUTOl.ll; €~w9€v KUKAItI 7rEpt 7raVTac 7'OVI;,
7rVP'Y0Vt:, EX01}au 7f€7TOUITUL. IlECTovvn 8e KOU T1'JC o.va/3aatOC;, sun KaTaywyrl 'T'€ Kat 6WKOt ap:1ravC1Tl1pWt, Ell TOLaL KaTll:oVT€C
a,, u7TaVOVTat OL" a{va3 a u.'OVTEt;. E'V O.E 'T'1f!,TEAEl JTaUl.t.I 7fUP'Y'f V'1Oe €' 1I"EC1n p.eyac. e'll.De TIf! Vl1ee KA, U'11 P,EYUA, 11 KEETal EU.,E aTpwp,EVT/,
Kal oi Tpa7rE~a '!rapaKEETal x.puae11. ciya)..p.a 8E oin, EIJI ov8ev aVTolh EVtOPUP.EIJOV. ov8e VUKTa ov8eu; ElJauAttETal aIJ6pw7rwv, OTt
1111 YUV11 f'OUV11 TWV €7rlXWPlWIJ, T11V av (, 6EOf, €A11Tal Ele '!raaEWV_ (~~ AEyoual 0; XaA8awt, EovTe~ ipeE~ TOUTOU TOU fJeou. <I>aal 8e O~
aUTOl OVTOl, E!, -- Ol p.ev ou '!rlaTa AeYOVTee, TOll OEOV aUTOV cj>OtTctV Te E~ TOIJ V110V, Ka& ap,7raueaOat ETrI T11~ KAU'11~, KaTa7rEp EV 911{3pal
Tpal A'YU7J"Ttllat KaTa TOV aUTOV TP07TOIJ, W.r. Aeyoual oi AiYU7rTWl. Kat yap 811 EKE,Ot KOtp.aTal EV Tee TOU.o..w~ TOU e11{3au:o~ YVV11.
aflCpoTepal oe aVTat AeYOIJTUt alJopwv ov8a,uwv E~ OfuAt11V cj>OlTctlJ. Kal KaTa7J"ep Ell IIaTapotat -'11~ AUKt11~;, '!rpop.aVTl~ TOV Beou, E7rEaV
Y€V'IT'at, au yap WII a~et Ea'T"l XP11aTl1PWV aUToO,. €7rEall oe YElIl1Tal, TOTE WV aUYKaTaKAl1t"eTa, Ta~ VUKTa~ €aw EV T<t' Vl,i"
If"EaT' oe TOU EV Ba{3uAwvl (POU Ka, ciAAOt; KaTW V110~. EvOa ayaApa p.Eya TOU.o..Wt; ElJt KaTl1p.evov xpuaeov, Kat oi. Tpa7J"E'C.a f'EyaAf)
'lrapaKEETat xpuaEf}, Kat TO {3aOpov oi Kat (, 0POVOC xpuaEOC eaT'. Kat, WI; eAeyov oi. XaAoalOt, TaAuVTwv oKTUKOa(WV xpuawu
'lre'lrOlf}Tal TaVTa. e(w OE TOU V110V, {3wp.o~ EaT' xpvaEoe. EaT( oe Kat uAAoe {3f.tJP.Ot; p.Eya~, 07rOV OUETal Ta TeAea TWV 'lrpo{3aTWII.
E7r( yap TOV xpuaEOV {3WP.OV OVK E~EaT' OUEtV, OTt 1-'11 yaAa6f}va flouva. E7rt oe TOU flE"rOVO~ {3Wf'OU Kat KaTuyt'C.oual At{3aVWTou XlA,a
TaAaVTa €TEOe €KaaTOU oi XaAOaWl. TOTE €1TEaV Tf}V 0PTf/V aywal TC(! BElt' TOUTq', tHa.' OE ev Ttp TEflEVEI. TOVTCfJ eTt TOV xp0a.'ov
EKE(VOa.' Ka( avoptac ouwoeKa 7Tl1XEWV, xplJaeor" aTEpEo~. €yw flEa.' p.tV aUK E~OOV. Ta OE AEyeTal V1TO XaAOatWV, TaUTa AEYW, TOUTtp
Ttp aVoptaVTt f),apetof, I-'EV (. 'YaTaa1TEOt; E7rl(3ouAevaac;, OUK eToAIlTJae Aa{3F.lV.:=:ep~TJ~ oe (. f),apEWlJ eAa{3e, Kat TOV ipea a1TEKTetVE,
a,7 ruyopEUOVTa 1-'l1 "(VE"EU! TOV a'a.'0plUa..'Ta. TO. Ilev Of) 't pOll TOUTO OU? TW KeKoap.f/TO. E, aT' o? e Kat 'lo.ta 'aa.'UnU 1Jl-'aTa ?rO"A Aa. n
"The centre of each region of the city was walled in: one of these enclosures contained the royal palace, surrounded
with large and strong ramparts; and the other the temple of Jupiter Belus, with its gates of brass: and
this remains to my time, being of a square form and two stadia in length on every side".

"In the middle of the temple a solid tower is built, in length and breadth a stadium, upon which tower another
tower is erected, and another on that, till it reaches the height of eight towers. The ascent to these towers is constructed
on the outside, winding in a circle round all the towers. About half-way up there is a resting-place, and
seats to repose upon, on which persons ascending sit down and recover from their fatigue. On the last tower there
is a large chapel (v~o~) in which chapel there is a great and well covered bed, by the side of which is placed a golden
table; but no image whatsoever is set there, nor does any man ever pass the night there; but only a woman of the
country, whomsoever the god chooses to select from amongst them all, as the Chaldeans affirm, who are the priests
of that god.

"They themselves say, asserting what appears to me incredible, that the god comes to the chapel and reposes on
the bed, as the Egyptians say is in the same way the case in Egyptian Thebes; for there also a woman sleeps in the
temple of the Theban Jupiter. Both these women are said to avoid the society of all men, as does likewise the
priestess who delivers the oracles of the god in Patara of Lycia, when the oracle is there; for the oracle is not continually
present there, but when it is, the priestess is shut up by night with the god in the temple.

"In the temple of Babylon there is also another chapel below in which there is a great golden statue of Jupiter in
a sitting posture, and beside him is placed a large golden table; and the stool and the seat are of gold; and according
to the report of the Chaldeans eight hundred golden talents were employed in making them. There is a golden altar
on the outside of the chapel, and there is also another large altar where fnll-grown sheep are sacrificed; for it is not
lawful to sacrifice on the golden altar any other than sucking victims. The Chaldeans likewise burn on the greater
altar a thousand talents of frankincense annually on the occasion of celebrating the festival of the god. There was
also still preserved in the temple at that time a massy golden statue of twelve cubits. I myself did not see it, but what
the Chaldeans told me, that I say. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, planning it, did not dare to take away that

-----
* Eight stadia being contained in a mile, its circumference was exactly of that extent.




278 NOTES.

statue; but Xerxes, the son of Darius, took it, and put to death the priest who forbade its removal. This
temple therefore has been adorned in the way which has been described, but it likewise contains many offerings
from private individuals." Diodorns Siculus, a later Greek historian by some centuries than Herodotus, also
makes mention of the temple of Babylon in the following passage, which occurs in the second book of his
Universal History:

" METa ~e TaUTa ell pEaT! Tl1 7ToAet KaT€C1KEVaaEII iepov ~toC, ~11 leaA-omnll Ot Ba/3U;\WVLOt, KaOa7rep eipl1Ka f'€lI, Bl1A.ov. lIept 8e
TOVTOV 'TWV avyypacJ>ewv 8tacpWIIOVVTWV, Kat TOt) KaTaaKEvaCTfLuTOC Bta TOV XPOVOV KaTa7f€7rT'WKOTOC OV" €UTIII (I.1TO</>rJllaaOaL T~Kp'f3€C;.
OP.OAo'}'€tTat 8' Vl/Jl)AOV 'YE'YEVfjCJOat K«O' tnrep{3oAllV, Kat TOl": XaA8awtJc Ell aUTctJ Tat; TWV UUTPWV 'rr'€7rOl1J C1(Jat 7rnpaTr,prtC1€U:, lLKpt{3WC;
8ewpovf'€VWV TWV T€ QvaToAwv Kat 8uaEwv Bta TO TOt) KaTaCJKEuaO'f'aTOt; vt/;oc. T1JC 8' OA11C o;KoBofLlac €~ ucrcpaA:rov Kat 'irAtl/Oou
7TeeJ>,AOTEXVlJflEVl1C 7TOAVTEAWC, err QKpac T1Jt; ava{3aa€wc Tpta KaTECJK€lJaC1€V Q.)'aA,u.aTa xptJaa uc/>uplJAaTa, ~toC, 'Hpac, ·Peat;.
TOtJTWV 8e TO Mev TOll tUOl;1 €CTTTjKOC; ~V Kal. 8ta{3e{3rlKoCI trrrapxov 1r08wlI TeCTaapaKOIlTa TO f(11KOC, aTaOp.oll 8' e~xe XtAlWV TaAallTwll
BaJ3uAWVtwv. 'TO 8e Tqe 'Peac, E'Tr1. 8HPPOll KaOYJp.eIlOIl XPUCTOU, 'TOil ~aov aTaOp.Oll eiXE 'Ttf 7rpoel.p.,.,,...ell/f. E7r1. 8e 'TWV )'cwaTwlI aUTql;
€iaTqKel.aav AeovTec; 8uo, Kal. 7rAqatoll;'$eH; v7repp.e-y€6eu:; apyvpol, TptaKOVTa TaAavTwv €KaaTOI; EXWV TO (3apoc;. TO 8e TqC 'HPRI;
eaT1)KOC ~V d'YaApal aTaOp.ov EXOV TaAaVTWV OKTaKOatWV. Kat Tll p.ev 8€~,<;,t xetpt KaTetxe Tl1C K€cj>aAl1C;;'cj>I.V1 T118e aplaTepff aKq'Tr'TpOV
AtOOKOAAl'I'TOV. 'TOVTOlC 8' u:rraal. KOllI}) 7rOpeK€tTO Tpa7r€~a xpvaq ac/>upqAaTOC;, TO p.€V P.TjKOC; 1ro8WlI T€aaOpaKOVTa, 'TO 8' eVpoc
8€Ka7r€VT€, a'TaOf'ov €xovaa 'TaAallTWv 7TeVTaKOal.WV. €'Trl. 8€ TaUTTjC E'Trl."€lll'TO 8uo KOpXTjala, aTaOpov €XOVTa TplaKOV'Ta TaAallTwv.
~aav 8e Kat OUf'taTTjptal TOV fl€lI aptOf1ov ~aa, TOV 8e a'Ta6f'oll €Ka'TepOV 'TaAaVTWv TptaKOatWv. V7rTj·PXOIl 8e Kat "paTTjp€c xpvaOt TP€H;I
WV (, f'ev TOV ~lOC eiAKe TaAaVTa BaJ3uAWvta XlAta Kat 8laKOata, TWV 8' aAAwv €XaT€p0C; €~aKOata. aAAa TaV'Ta p.ev oi TWV ITepawlI
{3aatA€u: Vf1'TepOV eC1t1Af/aav. TWV 8£ J3aatA€tWlI Kat TWV aAAwv KaTaaK€UaaJ..LaTWIl (, XPOVOl; Ta f'€1J OAOax€pWC; ~c/>alllae, Ta 8' €Aup..,.,vaTO.
Kal -yap aVTf/C TTjI; Ba{3uAwvor. vuv {3paXlJ Tl p.epol; OiK€t'Tal, TO 8€ 7rA€tCTTOV €VTOC T€'XOtlC -Y€Wp'Y€tTat."
" Mterwards she (Semiramis) built in the middle of the city the temple of Jupiter, whom the Babylonians, as we
have already observed, call Belus; but since historians do not agree in their description of it, and the structure itself
has through age fallen to the ground, it is impossible to write any thing certain respecting it. It is allowed to have
been excessively high, and that the Chaldeans took observations of the stars from it, the elevation of the edifice
enabling them accurately to watch their rising and setting. The whole of the building having been sumptuously
constructed of brick and bitumen, three images of beaten gold, of Jupiter, Juno, and Rhea, were placed at the top of
the ascent above: that of Jnpiter was in a standing attitude with one leg advanced, being forty feet high, and weighing
a thousand Babylonian talents. The image of Rhea was seated on a golden chair, being of the same weight as that
just mentioned; at her knees stood two lions, and not far from her were two immense silver serpents, each weighing
thirty talents. The image of Juno was standing, and weighed eight hundred talents; in her right hand she grasped
a serpent by the head, and in her left was a sceptre set with precious stones. A table was placed before them all in
common, which was formed of beateu gold, and was forty feet in length and fifteen in breadth, and weighed five
hundred talents, upon which were placed two goblets weighing thirty talents; there were censers likewise, in number
the same, but each of them weighing thirty talents. There were also three golden bowls: that belonging to Jupiter
weighed twelve hundred Babylonian talents, and each of the others six hundred; but the kings of Persia in later
times pillaged the temple of these things. With respect to palaces and other public buildings, time has partly de&
troyed all traces of them, and partly reduced them to decay; for at the present day but a small portion of Babylon
itsclf is inhabited, and most of the ground contained within its walls is tilled." Diodorus's account of the temple of
Belus adds little to the information which we had received from Herodotus of its shape and construction, from whose
description we immediately perceive that it was built on the plan of the Mexican temples. Diodorus seems to have
found it as difficult to reconcile the conflicting accounts of various authors, and to comprehend the architecture of
the temple of Belns, as Clavigero professes that he found it to ascertain the form and proportions of the great temple
of Mexico; and on that account perhaps that eminent historian refrains from entering into any discussion on the
subject: he does not however scruple to contradict Herodotus in saying that images were placed in the chapel or
sanctuary of Belus, who had affirmed that the Chaldeans placed no image whatsoever in the sanctuary of their god;
approximating them in that particular to the Jews, whose ancestor Abraham came from VI' of the Chaldees, and
who placed no image of God in the temple dedicated to Jehovah. Perhaps the golden images mentioned by Diodorus
might have been set up in the sanctuary of Belus after the Magi became incorporated with the Chaldeans, at a period
subsequent to that in which Herodotus had visited Babylon. No blame can, however, be imputed to Diodorus Siculus
for not following Herodotus's description of the temple of Babylon, since his refraining from doing so when the



NOTES. 279

task would have been so easy, and the relation itself was calculated to please the reader, is a proof that he chiefly
studied truth in his History, and was unwilling to insert in it doubtful matters; and certainly the Spanish author,
Ludovicus Vives, -- who it cannot be denied was a learued man, and to whom the education of Queen Mary the First
of England was confided, -- in calumniating those two famous writers of antiquity,did not so much attack the individual
historians as History itself. Who could have imagined that a man professing a regard for learning would have called
him whom all preceding ages had honoured with the title of the Father of History, the Father of Lies; and Diodorus
Siculus "incptissimum scriptorem et vilissimum;" of whom Henry Stephens says, "Quantum solis lumen inter
stellas, tantum inter omnes quotquot ad nostra tempora pervenerunt historicos, si utilitatis potius, quam voillptatis
aurium habenda sit ratio, noster hic Diodorus eminere dici potest." But Ludovicus Vives was a Spanish author of
the sixteenth century, whom the mythology of the New Continent might have inspired with a distaste for that ofthe
Old; since his chief accusation against Diodorus is, that he commenced his Bibliotheca with an elaborate account of the
ancient mythology of the nations whose real history he afterwards wrote. Fortunate as Ludovicus Vives might have
considered the circumstance that many of the books of Diodorus Siculus had bcen lost, yet still he seems to feel indignant
that Herodotus's history should have been preserved entire; and that he should have asserted that the Scythian
queen, having defeated the Persians in a battle in which Cyrus himself was slain, caused the head of that monarch to
be cut off and thrown into a vessel full of blood, indicating by the act her despair for the loss of her son and the fit
treatment which she thought the cruelty and ambition of Cyrus entitled him to receive at her hands. The account
which Dioclorus Siculus gives in the second book of his History of the duration of the Assyrian empire, and of the
"1'€'II(1'f'~ 'TWV M~8wv ~yeILOVta" might likewise have been displeasing to him, because it is difficult to reconcile it with
the history of the Jcws; and the difference between the chronology of the Septuagint version of the Scriptures
and that of the original Hebrew Bible has hardly perplexed learned men more.

The description of the temple of Babylon in the History of Herodotus, and the omission of that description in the
work of Diodorus, furnish arguments favourable to the character of each historian. The difficulty of comprehending
the plan of the temple of Belus, and the improbability of a tower having ever been built with seven other towers
heaped upon it, vanish on inspecting the plans of the Mexican temples, and on reading in Boturini's treatise, of the
tower which King Netzahualpllli built in Tezcuco, nine stories high, in honour of the god of heaveu; and we have
no more right to doubt that Herodotus visited Babylon, than to doubt that he had been in Egypt; but that difficulty
and improbability justified Diodorus in studyiug the part of an historian rather than the gratification of his readers,
and in omitting the description of the temple of Babylon, which the writer whose authority he chiefly followed in
composing his history of the Assyrian, Median, and Persian empires, who was Ctesias, probably omitted also, because
when he was in Persia and Babylon that ancient monument might have become dilapidated. It would appear that
even in the age of Herodotus, the city of Babylon was hastening to decay; the f3a(1"A~i'a (or palace) which was the
work of Semiramis, as well as the temple of Belus, is not described by him, undoubtedly because no vestiges remained
of it; and the Persian kings, Darius the son of Hystaspes, and Xerxes, seem to have been little inclined to protect
the religion of the Chaldeans (which they did not believe), or to expend the revenues of the state in keeping in
repair the temple of Belus. Some writers and travellers seem to consider it little less than miraculous that the ruins
of the temple of Babylon are not still visible on the banks of the Euphrates; but if they reflect that not many years
after the conquest of Mexico, the great temple of that city, which Acosta names" augustissimum tempi urn," and Peter
Martyr says was as large as a town of five hundred houscs (reckoning of course the court-yard ancI all the buildings
it contained as the temple), had wholly disappeared, they will be disposed to allow, that two thousand years may well
change the state of cities, and even the appearance of the site on which they once stood. What contemporary city
with Babylon, it may be asked, still exists? Egyptian Thebes, Sardis, Palmyra, Carthage, and Troy, -- where are they?
what has been the fate of those cities once so renowned? As it is the general practice of writers such as Doctor
Warburton, -- a practice which sometimes more candid authors like Doctor Prideaux have imitated, -- to attempt to
shake the basis on which profane history rests, by opposing the most eminent historians to each other, and seeking
to discover contradictions in their relations, which pretending to have found out, they assume to themselves the
right of making a selection of probabilities, and rejecting alternately whichever author they please, to remodel ancient
history according to their own views, (which Doctor Prideaux has done in his history of Cyrus, in which he follows
neither the account of Herodotus nor that of Diodorus Siculus,)-we may be allowed to remark that if Diodorus Siculus
and Herodotus sometimes contradict each other, the veracity of neither author deserves on that account to be im



280 NOT E S.
peached; but they both ought to be credited, accordingly as each had the best opportunity of ascertaining the truth
of what he asserts. Herodotus himself visited Babylon; but the information which he received from the Chaldeans
cannot entirely be depended npon: he expresses his own disbelief of the story which they told him of the gocl
reposing himsclf occasionally on the bed which was placed in the sanctuary of Belus; and he seems not to have felt
the same respect for the Chaldeans as he did for the Egyptian priests. The situation of Greece at that time was also
not snch as to have made the subjects of the king of Persia studious to show great courtesy to the Greeks, or to
give them information on every subject; although it cannot be doubted that Herodotus collected much of his knowledge
of the affairs of Assyria during his residence at Babylon, the history of which empire he either wrote or intended
to write. But Diodorus Siculus composed his History under great advantages. The conquests of Alexander
the Great had made Greece familiar with Asia, and he had the opportunity of consulting all the Greek historians
who had written on the history of Asia from the age of Alexander to that of Julius Cresar, and especially Ctesia.,
who flourished about seventy years later than Herodotus, and resided for many years at the court of Artaxerxes,
having been raised from the condition of a prisoner of war to the rank of physician and favourite of that monarch.
When therefore conflicting statements occnr in the histories of Herodotus and of Diodorus Siculus, it may be the
safest course to credit the former in whatever might have come under his own observation during his residence in
Babylon, such as the buildings of that city; and the latter, in historical facts which required deeper research, and
which later ages might be supposed, from the causes which have been alluded to, to have been better acquainted with.
To revert again to the temple of Belus, and to add another remark to those which have already been made respecting
its shape and structure; -- the number of the towers (eight) of which it consisted, does not appear to have been accidental.
Boturini informs us that the number nine, which was the numher of the stories or towers of the temple huilt by King
Netzahualpilli in Tezcuco, had reference to the nine heavens; the number eight therefore, we may suppose, was a
numher esteemed as well by the Chaldeans as by the Jews. The following description of the great temple of Mexico
is taken from the eleventh chapter of the eighth book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy: "One of the most celebrated
and sumptuous temples that existed in these western parts and provinces of New Spain at the period of the
arrival of the Spaniards, was the great temple of the city of Mexico, which was founded and built by the Mexican kings.
It has been already stated who the original founder was, in the history of the lives and the reigns of those kings. I
content myself with merely saying here, that it was built twice: the first time not with as much majesty as the second
time; for as the population and fame of Mexico increased, the splendour of the public buildings increased likewise."
The entire of the description is too long to insert here: Torquemada, after mentioning the vast size of the court
which surrounded the temple, says that the temple itself was of a square shape, each of its four sides, from angle to
angle, being three hundred and sixty feet in length; that it was of a pyramidal form, and contracting in dimension as
it ascended in height, was divided into several stages; that it had a platform above rather more than sixty feet broad,
on which were placed two altars, over which were built two chapels, each three stories high (grandissima altura)
and very lofty, from whence there was a magnificent view of the Mexican lake and the cities situated on its shores.
The platform above was ascended by a staircase consisting of one hundred and thirteen steps, all of polished stone:
around this greater temple more than forty other temples were placed, only differing from it in size and position; "for
the greater temple had its back to the cast, which was the position proper to be preserved in all principal temples, as
we learn was the opinion of the ancients; and its stairs and entrance were turned towards the west, as it is now
the custom in these Christian times to place many of our churches; and thus they worshipped looking towards the
nsmg sun. The lesser temples on the contrary faced the east and the other quarters of the sky north and south."
Torquemada, describing the roofs of the chapels, says, "The covering and the roofs of this most famous temple, and
of the others contained in the court belonging to it, were of different and various forms; and although some of them
were made of timber and others of straw, they were of beautiful workmanship, some being shapecllike a pyramid,
others square, and others round, and of many various forms. So great and beautiful was the labour employed upon
them, that they did not appear to have been composed of the materials which have been mentioned, but resembled
fine and delicate pencilwork. These turrets, great and small included, were, according to the most accurate calculation
which has been discovered, three hundred and sixty, equalling in their excessive number the days of the year.
At the foot of the greater temple, close to the staircases ascending to the platform above, there were two altars of
fire which burned day and night, so that the fire was perpetual; -- the Devil wishing to imitate God, who commanded
fire to be kept continually burning upon the altar of his temple, which was served with fuel by the priests in ordinary




NOTES. 281

attendance, as Holy Scripture informs us; and in the same manner as incense was offered on God's altar every
morning, so the envious Deceiver ordered not only that one but that two altars should be erected to him, and that
incense should be burned upon them, not only in the morning but during the whole day: and accordingly two altars
smoked during the entire day from morning until night. The entire number of the altars and of the censers for
incense which were in the temple, the surrounding court, and the lesser temples adjoining to it, was more than six
hundred, equalling in height the stature of a man, and in figure and shape resembling the cup which is used in the
celebration of mass. To see them by night, when they were all blazing, presented to the fancy the appearance of a
clear and brilliant day. In order that those who read these things may not think that I speak at random and am
guilty of exaggeration in numbers, I shall here insert the words of Father Bernard de Sahagun, a Brother belonging
to my Order, and one of those who entered New Spain almost immediately after its discovery, having proceeded
thither in the year Twenty-nine; who saw this and the other temples, and employed his lifc in the conversion of the
Indians, instructing, teaching, and preaching to them for more than sixty years, and who was thoroughly acquainted
with their antiquities, and wrote many works in their language; who, speaking of the beauty, grandeur, and
magnificence of this most famous temple, -- though wicked inasmuch as it belonged to the Devil, -- uses the followiug
expressions: This temple was enclosed on every side with walls of stone, which were entirely covered with battlements,
and white-washed. The pavement of the temple was completely flagged with very smooth stones, not cut but
in their natural state, as smooth and slippery as glass. There was much to contemplate in the edifices of this temple.
The picture itself presented much to the eye of the beholder, and I caused it to be painted in the city of Mexico;
when they deprived me of it to send it to Spain as a thing highly deserving to be seen, and I could not obtain
possession of it again or have another painted. Although in the picture the temple seemed of such finished
execution, it was in reality much more so and more beautiful. The principal building, or the chapel which
was above it, was dedicated to the god Huitzilupuchtli, and to another god his companion, whom they named
Tlacahuepancuexcotzin, and to another god, inferior to the two former, whom they called Paynalton. These are
the express words of that blessed and venerable old man, by which we may well understand the excellency and
grandeur of that most memorable temple. And he further adds, that the circumference of its court was so extensive
that it contained, in the space enclosed within it, all the ground on which the greater church, the house of the
Marquis of the Valley, the palace, and the archbishop's house are at present built, together with much of what is now
the square; which appears incredible, on account of the great extent of ground which this measurement comprises.
I recollect having seen, thirty-five years ago, some of those edifices on that side of the square which the greater
church now occupies, which appeared to me mounds of stone and earth, which were employed in the foundations
of the house of God and of his new church, which is a very sumptuous edifice; since His Most Holy Majesty
was pleased that the Devil and his servants should collect for him in that place part of the materials which might
serve as a foundation for his own temple, permitting him previously for the space of some years to glory in
the crimes therein perpetrated, in order that after its total downfall and ruin he might know that God alone is the
true Lord of all created things; and that he, as his creature, should be compelled against his will to acknowledge
vassalage to him, casting him down from those stone heaps which he had assembled together, in order to preserve
a pretended and imaginary glory amongst those poor blind and deluded Indians."

Torquemada says, in the twentieth chapter of the eighth book of his Indian Monarchy, that the priests and
ministers who lived in the great temple of Mexico were more than five thousand, who resided by day and by night
within its walls, occupied in the service of the temple. These priests are constantly named Levites by Acosta; and
certainly that learned author may be excused for giving them that appellation, as the temple service of the Mexicans
was in reality very like that of the Jews: their principal occupation was sacrificiug in honour of HuitzilopuchtIi,
whose magnificent temple was reared amidst the groans of the dying and the blood of the slain. The offerings


-----
* Torquemada gives an account which almost surpasses belief of the number of victims which Ahuitzotl, Montezuma's predecessor on
the throne, sacrificed at the dedication of the greater temple of Mexico; and be observes, instancing the example of Solomon, that it
was a Hebrew custom to slay a profusion of victims at the dedication of a temple:
" Entre las cos as, que la devocion antigua de los hombres us6, para conservar con puridad su inmunidad, fue dedicar a los dioses
los templos y casas que les edificaban. Para 10 qual primero levantaban sus figuras, hechaban sus suertes, buscaban agueros (que SOil
adivinan~as supersticiosas) que favoreciesen su devocion, ~ intento. Asi Ie leemes en Gelie, de sentencia de Varron, averlo heche los
Romanos; y tambien Tito Livio en sus Decadas, 10 dice de eI rei Tarquino de Roma, para que con mas seguridad se conservasen



282 NOTES.

of the Mexicans consisted, like those of the Jews, in the lives of animals, blood, incense, and the first fruits of the
field, which like the Jews they presented three times in the year, an analogy which Torquemada seeks in the
following manner to explain: "It is certainly a thing calculated to create astonishment, to see how nearly in this
offering of the first fruits the two republics resembled each other: but we need not feel so much surprised at it,
since it was the Devil who persuaded and instigated them to it, who, as we have proved in the whole course of this
History, wished to substitute himself in the place of God (remedar 6. Dios) whenever it was possible; and this being
the case, the task being moreover so easy, inasmuch as these Indians are extremely addicted to religious worship (por
quanto estos Indios son inclinadisimos al culto divino), he found little trouble in inducing them to tender to him this
kind of offering and sacrifice, which, as we have observed, all paid very generally and regularly, without being either
remiss in the offering Or inexact in its proper quantity." Monarquia Indiana, cap. xxi. lib. 8. In the tenth chapter
of his twelfth book, Torquemada affirms, that the Devil counterfeited amongst the Indians the Feast of the Passover.
"This third month of the Mexicans commenced on the fifteenth of March, which was the solemn Passover of the
Jews, which lasted eight days, when they offered the first fruits of the ripe grain and of the ears, which it was
unlawful for them to taste before they had presented the said first fruits to the priests. The Indians observed the same
custom in this third month and Passover (y Pasqua), which they celebrated in honour of the god Or the gods of
rain; and as they had no grain or ears of corn to present, since the corn was then only in the leaf, their offering
consisted of flowers, which at the commencement of this month were in greater abundance than in the preceding
months, as then was the beginning of spring. Before the arrival of the day appointed for carrying these first fruits
to the temples and altars, no one dared to smell them, for they were forbidden to do so by an express law; as the
Jews were forbidden to taste the ears of corn: and it might well provoke a hearty laugh from Christians, to see that
the Devil wished to constitute himself the god of first fruits; and that not requiring grain and ears of corn,
because there were none at that season of the year, he exacted from them flowers, regarding only the offering and
service, without caring whether it consisted of the same things as God demanded of his people."

The Festival of New Moons was another Mexican solemnity, so analogous to the Neomenia or Jewish Festival

-----
los clichos templos. Esto mismo sabemos aver hecho estos Indios Occidentales, quando los que se UamarOD Mexicanos, se apartaron
de los Culhuas, un poco apartados del sitio que aora tienen, levantando un altar de papel,. a su dios Huitzilupuchtli, que les sirvio
por entences tam bien de templo, para cuja ereccion, y dedicacion, pidieron a sus vecinos los Culbuas cliches, alguna cosa de aguero,
que poner en el clicho altar, para major certificacion de su prospera suceso, como 10 vimos mas fundamentalmente en el libra de su
historia. Siendo, pues, agorado el lugar, y construido el templo, 10 dedicaban, diciendo ciertas palabras, porIa misma persona del
Pontifice, y teniendo con sus mano~ las puertas del templo, que consagraba, y dedicaba, hacienda las casas particulares de los clioses, a
los quales las dedi caban, para que no pudiesen ser profanadas de los seculares, gente lega. Y asi, dixo Quintiliano, en las declamaciones,
ser la dedicacion cosa que inducia adios, y 10 sentaba en su casa, como en silla propia. Y eieeron en una de sus Oraciones dice esto,
y otras muchas cosas concernientes, y tocantes a las dichas, y otros muchas. Adornaban juntamente esta consagracion, y dedicacion
de templos, con muchas sacrificios, que hacian, de diversos, y varios animales. Y aunque la prueha de esto, para los que fueron de
gentiles, estan los libras, de todos los historiadores antiguos, mui Henos; para el de Dios la Sagrada Escritura nos 10 dice, y afirma,
particulari~ando la mucha suma de ello, que aquel dia de su dedicacion fueron muertos. Donde murieroo veinte y dos mil vacas, y
novillos; ciento y veinte mil ovejas, y carneros. Y quando traiao el arca del testamento, veniao haciendo sacrifieios de estos animales,
sin numero. Luego que pusieron el area en su lugar, dentro del Sancta Sanctorum, dice la Sagrada Escritura, que se hinchi6 el templo
de una niebla tan espesa, que no veian los sacerdotes, para poder ocuparse en el sacrificio, y ministerio de oficio. Luego hi90 Salom6n
oracion aDios, y tuvo respuesta de "I. Bendixo al pueblo con unas mui santas, y paternales palabras, y esto solo sabemos, que huvo
en aquella fiesta, que dur6 pOl' ocho dias, los quales pasados, despidi6 el rei II toda la gente, la qual se fue pOl' familias a sus ciudades,
y pueblos. Y de esta manera qued6 consagrado, y dedicado aDios aquel templo, sin saber que huviese otra cosa, que se anadiese a
esta dedicacion. Siendo, pues, este el cOlTIun usa antiguo de todas las gentes, en ]a dedicacion de sus templos, no se content6 el
demonio en las que estos desventurados Indios Occidentales hacian, de los que Ie dedicaban, COD que muriesen los animales referidos,
los quales no leemos, ni sabemos, que por entonces los huviese, aunque de olras especies muchas, si, de los quales es creible, que seria
la suma immensa, y sin numero. Pero anadio el enernigo de la vida, y descanso del hombre, que cn los que se dedicaroD en esta
Nueva-Espana, fuesen las fiestas ce1ebradas, con ani males racionales, y capaces de ra9on, de los quales en semejantes clias marian
muchos. En especial se dice, que quando se dedic6 el templo major de Mexico, y fue en ~I puesta la estatua de Huitzilupuchtli,
murieroll aquel dia mas de sesenta mil cautivQs, celebrando can sangre humana las fiestas in females, y apagando con ella la sed de el
demonio, que por ella hebe de ordinaria los vieotos. Dedicacion de templo, es ofrecerlo aDios, y estrenar10 en su servicio; y estos
Indios Ie dicen Te!lchaliliztli, y esto se hacia el primer dia, que se estrenaba con aquel intento, y devocion de el pueblo, y gastos de
sacrificios,. y of rend as; y de alIi adelante quedaba consagrado, para no poder usar de el profanamente, guardandole respetc, como a
casa de DIOS y palacio suio, donde venia a dar sus oraculos, y respuestas." Torquemada, MOllarq. Ind. tom. ii. lib. 8. cap. 22.




NOTES. 283

of the New Moon, that Torquemada, describing the former, says: "If this cnstom be attentively considered, it will
appear to have been stolen from the Hebrews; of whom Saint Thomas says, it was ordained that the Neomenia
should be kept at the commencement of every month, in memory of the preservation and government of all things,
which same preservation is that which our Indians pray for in their Neomenia at the commencemcnt of each of
their months; with this difference, that the Hebrew months were lunar, and the Indian vicenary, that is to say,
contained only twenty days, so as not to last as long as the moon. But my reply to this objection wonld be,
that the Devil tanght them that curtailed and brief computation, in order that his sacrifice might be celebrated
sooner than God's was celebrated formerly by his people, that he might behold himself unjustly honoured by his
sacrifice being first; as if the truth of sacrifice consisted in its being first or last, and not in its being truly or falsely
offered." Torquemada might also have replied, that the aunals of the Tulteeas recorded a reform which was made in
their calendar by one of their Teopixquis, or high priests, when probably the lunar months were changed into months
of twenty days, for the express purpose of the more frequent recurrence of the Neomenia or monthly offerings.
The Festival of New Moons, although originally God's own institution amongst the Jews, became afterwards his
abomination, as we are informed in Scripture, where it says, "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul
hateth." Hence we may infer that time had introduced many great abuses into them. But if our surprise is justly
excited at being informed by Torquemada, that the Devil had imitated among the Indians the Jewish Feasts of the
Passover and of the Neomenia, what shall we think of the Fast of Atamal, which the Mexicans kept every eighth
year on the four signs of the Flint? May it not be supposed that that year, although not the seventh, was a kind of
sabbatical year? Eight was a number highly estecmed both by Jews and Christians; and as the latter have not scrupled
to change the Sabbath from the seventh day (Saturday), on which day it is still kept by the Jews, to the eighth day
(Sunday), on account of the resurrection of Christ having occurred on that day, we must not reject a striking analogy
because it is open to an answerable objection; since the Mexicans may have had their reasons for preferring the
number eight to seven. Torquemada says, that" Saint Isidore, speaking of the veneration which is due to the Lord's
day, assigns to it the following excellencies: The Lord's day, which is the eighth day, which follows the preceding
festival of the Sabbath, even the Holy Scripture points out as a very solemn day. It is the first day of ages; on it
were formed the elements; on it were created the angels; on it Christ rose from the dead; on it the Holy Ghost
descended from Heaven upon the Apostles; and finally, on it God bestowed manna upon his people." Garcia, besides
noticing the Mexican N eomenia, or festival of First Fruits, mentions a Peruvian fcstival which was celebrated by the
command of the Inga Yupanqui on the full of the moon, which he compares to the Jewish Passover; and he seems to
comprise in the comparison a solemn festival which was kept by the Indians of Tlascala and Cholula, in which
provinces he says mcn were crucified to the three gods of rain, sometimes on high and sometimes on low crosses.
Monstrous as it may appear, it cannot be doubted that the crucifixion of a man occurred at several of the religious
ceremonies of the Indians; and representations of crucifixions are sometimes found in the Mexican paintings, though
there they seem to refer to mythological fictions. The celebrated Las Casas entertained no doubt that the continent
of America had in early ages been colonized by the Jews; and he even goes so far as to say that the language of
the Island of Saint Domingo was "corrupt Hebrew." Torquemada, who was a much later writer, denies the
similarity between any of the Indian languages and the Hebrew, candidly acknowledging that he was not acquainted
with Hebrew himself, and of course advancing the assertion on the authority and information of others. But it must
also be recollected that Garcia, who had evidently adopted the sentiments of Las Casas, says in the Preface to his
third book of the Origin of the Indians, in reference to existing prejudices, "that learned men condemned and would
not asseut to that opinion;" and that Torquemada himself, acknowledging that the religious rites, ceremonies, and
even moral laws of the Indians closely resembled those of the Jews, thought it more probable that the Devil had
instructed the Indians in them, than that the Jews had carried them over to America. Learned men of the
present age will perhaps not consider themselves bound by the example of those of the sixteenth century; and as
that learning is most useful, of which the only object is the attainment of truth with a regard for the best interests
of mankind, the opinion wllich we take the liberty of here advancing, -- that the Jews had in very early ages colonized
America, established an empire in that continent of more than a thousand years' duration, revived their old law in
its full vigour, and, to show their hatred and contempt for Christianity, introduced into their religious rites and
ceremonies many observancies calculated to turn into ridicule its most sacred rites and mysteries, and thereby, as
they imagined, practically to demonstrate that that could not be sacred which could with such impunity be profaned




284 NOTES.

will probably undergo fair and unprejudiced discussion. In anticipation of an objection which may be made to
the latter part of this hypothesis, -- that it is unlikely that even if the Jews had proceeded in early ages to America,
and succeeded in reviving their old law in that continent, they would have interwoven with the Mosaic institutions
other institutions indicative of their bitterest hatred to Christianity, or that religious persecution On the one side
could have ever led to such revolting retaliations on the other, -- we mnst remark, that the hatred between Christians
and Jews in early ages was proverbial. And if in the middle ages the Knights Templars could have been guilty of
half the religious profanations laid to their charge (which the age in which they lived must have credited, or never
would an illustrious religious Order which had so often defended the Cross against the Crescent have been visited with
such an extremity of persecuting vengeance), where is the improbability of the supposition that a set of vindictive
Jews, outraged by Christians, and brooding over vengeance, -- of whom it might with justice be said that every
man's hand was against them, and theirs against every man, -- having succeeded in establishing themselves in an
unknown quarter of the globe, might have there founded a state, the laws and institutions of which were framed
for the purpose of turning Christianity and its mysteries into contempt? Much has been written by the Rabbis
respecting the kingdom of Cozar, which Basnage in his History of the Jews is inclined to consider an imaginary
region, but which, whether a real Or an ideal monarchy and wherever situated, affords proof, by having given rise to
grave discussion amongst the Jews, that they (who ought to be the best judges) did not deem it at all improbable
that in the eighth century after the Christian era their countrymen had succeeded in reviving the institutions of the
Mosaic law, that is to say, their temple service and sacrifices in a territory of their own. In the seventh book of
Basnage's History will be found some account of this kingdom; and the rabbinical tradition, that the king of it
"built a tabernacle peifectly like that which Moses set up in the wilderness," is very remarkable. The same king is
said to have been happy and potent, to have triumphed over his enemies, and to have discovered hidden treasures in
the bowels of the earth. That shortly after the discovery of a portion of the continent of America and of the Island of
Saint Domingo or Hayti, (which was the island the language of which Las Casas calls" corrupt Hebrew,") unparalleled
persecutions commenced against the Jews in Spain, under the regency of Cardinal Ximenes, is an historical fact."


-----
* Since the famous edict of Ferdinand the Catholic, which expelled the Jews from Spain, was issued in the month of March 1492,.
and Columbus did not set out on his first voyage of discovery until the third of August of the same year, it may be contended, from a
comparison of dates, that it was impossible that the Spanish government could have adopted any severe measures against the Jews in
consequence of its having discovered that their ancestors had revived the old law in America, or instituted any rites in that continent in
hatred to the Christian name and religion. This argument would be conclusive, if it could be satisfactorily proved that the Spanish
government was really ignorant of the existence of America till after the return of Columbus from his first voyage. And if implicit
credit ought to be attached to the improbable story of the long navigation of the unknown pilot and his companions over the Atlantic, who
is said to have first communicated to Columbus the information which induced him to submit to the governments of England, Portugal
and Spain, his proposed plan of discovery, which Isabella queen of Castille, rather than her hushand Ferdinand king of Arragon, seems
greatly to have favoured, chiefly from religiou, motives and an ardent zeal for the proselytism of infidels to Christianity, to which
circumstance Gomara supposes that Columbus alludes in the lines which he took for his motto --

"Por Castilla, y por Leon,
Nuevo mundo hallo Colon."

"De donde sospecho que la reyna favorecio mas que no el rei, el descubrimiento de las Indias." The same author likewise says that
the queen was very scrupulous during her lifetime about permitting any of the subjects of the king her husband, who were Arragonese, to
proceed to America. Isabella's early interference in the affairs of America was prohahly owing to the spiritual conquest of the New
World having been undertaken entirely by herself and the clergy, with whom the king was too prudent to intermeddle. But it does not
follow, because Columbus was the first person who, sailing from Seville expressly for the purpose of discovering the continent of
America, did in fact accomplish that discovery, that the government of Spain was wholly ignorant of its existence till after his return
from his first voyage; since the chapter in Gomara's History of the Indies, entitled "El descubrimiento primero de las Indias"
which we subjoin in the original Spanish, will make it ever doubtful whether Columbus might not have proceeded on an opm
expedition to America, in order to take possession in the name of the king of Spain of some portion of the continent of America Of
of the West Indian Islands; an arrangement having been previously made between the courts of Spain and of Rome, that this necessary
formality having heen gone through, the Pope should, on the return of Columbus, vest in the king of Spain and his heirs the possession
and sovereignty over America, which was accordingly done. ft Naveganda una caravela por nuestro mar oceano, tuvo tan for~oso viento
de Jevante, y tan continuo, que fue a parar en tierra no sauida, ni puesta en el mapa, 0 carta de marear. Bolvio de alia en muchos mas
dias que fue, y quando aca llego, no traya mas de al piloto, y a otros tres 0 quatro marineros; que como venian enfermos de bambre
y de trabajo, se murieron dentro de poco tiempo en el puerto. E aqui como sc descubrieron las Indias por desdicha de quien primero
las via, pues acabo la vida sin gazar dellas, y sin de:rar, a 10 menDs sin aver memoria de como se llamava, 'Ili de donde era, ni que anD las
halloo Bien que no fue culpa suya, sino malicia de OlrOS, 0 invidia de la que llam.n fortuna. Y no me maravillo de las historias



NOTES. 285

Could the indignation of the Spanish Government have been excited by the suspicion that the Jews were the authors
of the guilty excesses which were discovered in the religious rites of the New World, where an express law was passed
about that time that they should not be allowed to proceed? We have the authority of a Jew for believing that a
colony of Jews had been settled in America long before the age of Columbus, who gives an account of his interview

-----
antiguas que cuenten hechos grandissimos por chicos 0 escuros princlplos, pues no sabemos quien de poco aw hallo las Indias, que tan
senalarla y nueva cosa es. Quedaranos siquiera el nombre de aquel piloto, pues todo 10 al con la muerte fenece. Unos hazen Andaluz
a estc piloto, que tratava en Canaria, yen la Madera, quando Ie acontecio aquella larga y mortal navegacion; otros Vizcayno, que
contratava en Inglaterra, y Francia; y atros Portugues, que yva 0 venia de la Mina, 0 India. La qual quadra mucho con el nombre
que tomaron y tienen aquellas nuevas tierras. Tambien ay, quien diga que aporta la caravela a Portogal; y quien diga que a la
Madera, 0 a otra de las islas de los Ac,;ores. Empero Dinguno afirma Dada. Solamente cOllcuel'dan toelos ell que fallefio aquel pilato en
casa de Christoval Colon. Elt cuyo poder quedaron las escriluras de la caravela, y la relacion de todo aquel luengo viaje, call la marca
y altura de las tierras nuevamente vistas, !J halladas." -- La Istoria de Jas Indias, fa. x. "A vessel navigating our ocean encountered so
violent and uninterrupted a gale from the East, that it was driven on till it reached land that was neither known nor laid down in the
map. It returned from thence in many more days than it took in going, and on completing the voyage home its entire crew consisted of
no more thaD the pilot and three or four other sailors, who, being sick from fatigue and hunger, died within a short time after their arrival
in port: and thus the Indies were discovered by the misfortune of him who first beheld them, since he ended his life widlOut enjoying
them, and without leaving -- at least without preserving -- the recollection of his name, or of the country to which he belonged, or of the
year in which he discovered them; which was probably owing rather to the malice of others, or to the envy of her whom they name
Fortune, than through his own fault. I am not therefore surprised that ancient history should so frequently assign obscure and insignificant
commencements to the greatest actions; since we are not informed who it was that but lately discovered the Indies, new and remarkable
as was that event. The name at least of that pilot should have been transmitted to posterity, since nothing else survives death. Some
make him an Andalusian, who was trading to the Canaries and Madeira, when that long and fatal voyage befell him; others, a native
of Biscay, who carried on traffic with England and France; and others, a Portuguese, who was going to or returning from Mina or India,
which agrees well with the name which the newly-discovered lands received and still bear. There are those likewise who contend that the
vessel anchored in a Portuguese port; and others who say in a port of Madeira, or of some of the islands called the Azores. But no
one ventures to affirm any thing, except that all admit that that pilot died in the house of Christopher Colon; in whose possession the
writings of the vessel remained, and the journal of the entire of his long voyage, together with the latitude of the newly-seen and
discovered lands."

It is evident from this relation of Gomara, that all knowledge of the year when, and the person by whom, America was first discovered,
is involved in the greatest obscurity. The only fact which is placed beyond doubt is, that Columbus was not the person to whom
the honour of that achievement was in the first instance due, great as were the merits of that illustrious man. At the same time it must
be confessed that many improbabilities are found in the account of the voyage of the pilot. It is improbable that within so short a
space of time as about fifty years after his death, -- the period when it may be supposed Gomara was engaged in the composition of his
History, -- so diligent and candid an author should have been able to learn nothing of him and of his alleged voyage. It is improbable,
supposing that the voyage was accidental as described, and caused by a hurricane, that amidst the distress of all on board the vessel,
the deaths of the sailors, and the danger of shipwreck, leisure should have been found for writing a journal. It is also improbable that the
ship, having been driven on the shores of America, was able to find its way back to Europe, and that the sailors who survived the hardships
of the sea should all have died, together with the pilot, the latter only living long enough to communicate his discovery to Columbus,
who has omitted to record his name. It may however be objected, that because Columbus was a Genoese, the historians of Spain
might have conspired to rob him of a part of the praise which was justly his due, by attributing to a native of Biscay or a Spanish
subject the first discovery of the continent of America: thus giving to Spain beyond every other kingdom in Europe, the right of
possession, which the first discovery of unknown lands (which, to be well founded, should also be of unoccupied lands) is supposed
to constitute. If, however, we reflect on the rivalship which existed at that period between the House of Braganza and the Crown of
Spain, and consider the preference which Gomara gives to the opinion of those who maintained that the pilot was a Portuguese, rather
than an Andalusian or a native of BiscaYJ\ we shall find no reasonable grounds for believing that the story of the supposed voyage was
invented by the Spanish historians, for the purpose of detracting from the fame of Columbus because he was not of Spanish birth
and extraction. Gomara repeats, in the chapter which he has entitled "Quien era Christoval Colon," in almost the same terms, his
assertion that Columbus received his first information respecting America from the pilot who died in his house: "Fallecio el viloto en
este comedio, y dexole la relacion, trasa, y altura de las nuevas tierras; y assi tuvo Christoval Colon notisia de las Indias." But with a
little inconsistency, -- which argues neither oversight on the part of the histdrian, nor want of candour or diligence of research, but shows
the doubts and obscurity in which the subject itself was involved, -- he says in the next chapter, that Columbus, having embarked at Lisbon
and arrived at Palos de Moguer, had a conference with Martin Alonso Pinzon, a very experienced pilot, who volunteered his services to
him, and who had heard it rumoured that sailing so as to steer (yter the sUll, great and rich lands would be discovered, -- "assi se embarco en
Lisbona, y vi no a Palos de Moguer, donde hablo con Martin Alonso Pinwn, piloto mui diestro, y que se Ie ofregio, y que avia oido
dezir como navegando tras el sol, por via templada, se hallarian grandes y ricas tierras." From this it would appear either that America
had been discovered by others besides the pilot at some former period, or that Columbus was not the only person to whom he had
communicated the secret of the existence of that continent. The probability is, that vague rumours had been long afloat of many islands e 4 D )




286 NOTES.

with his Indian brethren who had forgotten Hebrew, were unacquainted with Spanish, and spoke to him by means of
an interpreter. It is certainly remarkable that they should for so many ages have retained a lively recollection of
Christian persecutions, and should consequently have adopted precautions to prevent the Spaniards discovering their
retreat. Their repeated utterance of the syllable Ba! accompanied with furious gesticulations and stamping with
and a large continent situated in the Western Ocean, and that these rumours had not originated in what Plato says of the Atlantic
island, but were owing to some accidental voyages made to them in the long course of the middle ages; tradition respecting which
had been handed down to later times. Nor will it be sufficient, in order to overthrow this supposition, to maintain that had a passage
to America been once opened, colonization and commerce with Europe would have been the necessary result, since this is reasoning
about the past state of the world from the present: but those who, referring to the page of History, consider what the real state of
Europe was for many ages after the Christian era, -- what convulsions attended the downfall of the Roman empire, -- how fierce was the
struggle between Philosophy and Christianity -- how painful and slow the progress of the latter (some of the Northern nations of
I Philosophy, learning, and religion, being by their very nature united together in the most sacred bonds of friendship, it is melancholy
to reflect upon a fact that neither admits denial nor requires proof, and which did not escape the quick apprehension of Saint Paul,
that the chief stumbling-block, which opposed itself to the rapid progress of Christianity, was the hostility which those who were neither
simple nor as little children, but whose minds on the contrary were deeply imbued with this world's wisdom, displayed towards the early
preachers of the Gospel; amongst the number of these are names which command the respect of all ages: -- the Antonines (whose memory
was so revered by the Romans that Nemo Cresar nisi Antoninus became an admonition from the people to their later Emperors),
Marcus Aurelius, Pliny, and the philosopher Porphyry, between the latter of whom and the early Christian Fathers the bitterest strife
arose. Some opinion may be formed from the perusal of the following extract, taken from the dissertation subjoined to Lucas
Holstenius's edition of Porphyry'. Life of Pythagoras, published at Rome in the year 1630, and dedicated to Cardinal Barberini, of the
nature of the war which the Fathers waged against the Philosophers; a war which was maintained for several ages, till at last the very
name of a philosopher hecame a term of contempt, and the jargon of the schools and Jewish morality assumed the appellations of reason
and virtue: --

"Tot prrestantis iogenii monumenta, et eruditissima in omni artium, ac scientiarum genere scripta uno infelicissimo opere proscripsit
Porphyrius: edidit enim KaTtl XpIlITlaVW'l )."oyous,I. Contra Chl'istiallos libros xv. quos nemo antiquorum non citat et detestatur.
In Sicilia cum fretum hune nefandum parturiise supra ostendi. Scriptionis causas facile est colligere ex Tertulliano, Amobio,
Laclantio, aliisque qui contra gentes eo sreculo scripserunt: dolebant enim homines a vera Dei cultu aversi majorum suorum sacra
ac religionem, qure tot anDis obtinuerat, iDvalescenti ubique Christianismo locum cedere: quem nullis jam legibus prohiberi, DuBis
suppliciorum exemplis extirpari posse videbant: sed pressum latius se diffundere, et civitates ac provincias omnes pervadere: jamque
Duminum suorum templa passim vel deseri, vel dirui, vel in ecclesias transmutari. Hinc Christianos publicos bostes sacra profana
omnia convellere xal Ttl a.xlY'l)Ta XlVfi'l clamabant: his publicre calamitates velut ab irato numine immissre tribuebaDtur: quod Christi
adventus reliquam numinum turbam terris expulisset; neque id solum, sed omnem humanitatis cultum eorum doctrina extingui,
et spissam quandam barbariem induci asserebant. Hinc ad sacrm Scripturre auctoritatem convellendam omni conatu sese accingentes,
stili simplicitatem ridebant, elevabant oracula prophetarum, historias sacras in dubium vocabant, miracula, qure fidei firmandre
edebantur, ut dremonum proostigias eludebant, constantiam in oppetenda morte pro Christo, obduratam existimabant animi pertinaciam,
vel O:v('(ltT8'ltT:«v. Hooc vulgi conviciis, hooc principum edictis nusquam non Christianis objiciebantur; nec moderatiores fuere
Philosophi, qui cum sapientiam hujus mundi qurererent, ut Apostolus ait, 'Stultitia prredieationis oifensi, Deum per sapientiam non
cognoverunt:' hinc Celsi, Hierociis, Juliani, et imprimis Porphyrii, crecus erga Christianam religionem furor et !leofJ4x1ct: atque hujus
quidem eo acrior et vehementior fuit impetus, quo majorem ingeuii vim et eruditionis copiaro ad infaustum hoc eertamen attulit: nam
quod prrec1are a Platone dictum est, ai P.!yd.NtI ~UtTEI~ p.EydXct.s fX~epOUtTl xal 'Ttls xa.x:a.s, prresertim animus odii et impietatis furiis
exagitatus, violcntos impetus, et ut Epicteti verbis utar, ""a.VI)(,IJUS -rovous exerit. De totius operis argumento diffieile est distincte quid
et per partes pronuneiare; cum omnia S8. Patrum scripta, qure calumniis hisee opposuerant, interierint: ex pauculis tamen locis, qUID
hiDe inde ex saero et horribili opere proferuntur ab Eusebio, Hieronymo, et aliis, conjieere lieet prrecipuum Porpbyrii laborem jn eo
versatum fuisse, ut sacn:e ScrilJturre auctoritatem, hoc est, fundamentum cui religio Christiana innitebatur, subverteret. Id cum ex creteris
locis mox producendis appareat, tum ex hisce Eusebii verbis, lib. x. Prrep. cap. 9: 'Nunc quidelll confirmand", Moysis antiquitati unum
hominis, cum Hebrreis, tum etiam nobis longe inimicissimi atque infensissimi, testimonium libet adjungere: Philosophum ilium requalem
nostrum intelligo, qui eo in opere quod adversus nos ex odii vi et magnitudine vulgavit, non modo nos, sed Hebrreus etiam, et ipsum
Moysern, creterosque post ilium Prophetas, iisdem contumeliis oneravit.'

II Et primo quidem libro ipsum de contrarietate saerarum literarum egisse apparet, atque id conatum fuisse probare, non a Deo sed
ab hominibus eas profectas: quod contradictiones et ivaYTIGiJcrEIS in iis occurrant, qure scilicet a Deo summa et simplicissima veritate
promauare non potuerint: quem in finem maxime adclucebat, quod Paulus ad Galatas cap. ii. seribit, se Petro in faciem restitisse:
unoe colligebat Apostolos, et quidem principes illorum, non publico omnium saluti, sed sure quemque glorire privatim studuisse. ld SS.
Patres non uno loco testantur. D. Hieronymus in proremio Commentar. in dictam Epist. 'Quod nequaquam intelligens Bataneotes,
et sceleratus ille Porphyrius in plimo operis sui adversus nos libra, Petrum a Paulo objecit esse reprehensum, quod non recto pede
incede'ret ad evangelizandum: volens et iIli maculam euoris. inurere, et huie procacitatis, et in commune ficti ciogmatis accusare
mendacium, dum inter se ecclesiarulll principe. dissident.' Similia ad ipsum locum capitis ii. repetit idem epistola Ixxxix. 
ad D. Augustinum:




NOTES. 287

their feet, affords proof also of the fanaticism which still animated them. Montecinio, the Portuguese Jew from
whose relation we have extracted these particulars, affirms, that shortly after his visit to his brethren and return to
Carthagena, he was seized by the Inquisition and thrown into prison (probably for infringing the law which forbade
Europe, amongst which may be reckoned Prussia, not having been converted till the twelfth and thirteenth centuries), -- and how dense
the darkness which immediately followed its establishment, the lamp of Grecian learning but faintly continuing to irradiate that country
where it had once so brightly blazed, -- will not feel much reason to be surprised, that even if it could be clearly proved that the one
continent was not entirely ignorant of the existence of the other, no intercourse should have taken place between them. It may
further be remarked, that the principal states of Europe were too enfeebled likewise by the pernicious operation of the feudal laws, which
sowed perpetual dissensions between the crown and its vassals, to direct their attention to distant foreign enterprise. Neither on the

-----
tHane autcm explanationem, quam primus Origenes in decimo Stromateon libro, ubi epistolam Pauli ad Galatas interpretatur,
et cooteri deinceps interpretes sunt secuti, ilIa yel maxime causa subintroducunt, ut Porphyrio respondeant blasphemanti, qui Pauli
arguit procacitatem, quod principem apostolorum Petrum ausus est reprehendere, et arguere in faciem, ac ratione constringere, quod
male fecerit, id est, in eo errore fuerit, in quo fuit ipse qui alium arguit delinquentem.' Et ibidem paulo post: 'Ego, imo alii ante me
exposuerunt causam, ostendentes hones tam dispeosationem ut et Apostolorum prudentiam demonstrarent, et blasphemantis Porpbyrii
illlpudentiam coercerent, qui Petrum et Paulum puerili dicit inter se pugnasse certamine, imo exarsisse Paulum in invidiam virtu tum
Petri,' &C. Similia sub finem libri xiv. Cornmentariorum in Esaiam apud eundem extant.

"Libro tertio de Scripturre interpretatione agebat: et cum ipsas 5acras literas convellere non posset, damnabat exponendi modum:
pr",sertim Origenis allegorias, quod perspicue apparet ex prolixo loco quem Eusebius Hist. Ecd. Iibro vi. cap. Ig inde producit, et imprimis
ex prremissis Eusebii yerbis: 6 x«8' ~p.«s ev ~jXeA:'f X«T(.(tTTtXS I10p<p6~IOS, U'urYP&:P.fJ-«TC(. x«6' ~p.wv !VCT'T)]O"ap.fllo;, x«l ~I' cui-TroV TtXS ~er«s -ypa4u1;
ola~aMelV '1rE1T!lpacrp.lvos, TWY 'T! eis aUTas !~)]'f'1)U'ap.fYWV p.YYjp.ovevcr(tS, fJ-l'jS!V p.)]SafW>; <pau)..ov t-yxA)]p.a 'TOi, S0-YfJ-aU',v !7rJbtXAeiv Suvagels, &'1TOp:q.
AOYWV f1rl TO Ao,Sopeiv TP*1rET'tXl, xal TOO, ~E)]'f'1)'TtXs olaj3aMe,. rov p./t>UCTTa TOV 'np'-ylYYjv, ~v X«T" ~Y vltXV ~A"dtXV !'YVCDxeva, tp~CT«S, 8"(.~"MelV 7r!1prXTah
'Porphyrius,' inquit, I nostra memoria in Sicilia libros adversus nos edens, quibllS divinas Scripturas calumniis insectari conatus est, cum
ad earum expositores venisset, nihilque in dogmatibus reprehendendum reperisset, sermonis inopia ad calumniandum et interpretes
perstringendum convertitur. Origenem autem omnium maxime, quem in adolescentia se cognovisse ait, traducere conatur.' Ipsa
Porphyrii verba adscribere nimis longum foret, <Jure indicasse sufficit. Ex eodem libro depromptum fuit testiruoniurb illud de eruditione
Origenis, quod Vineentius Lirinensis in commonitorio adducit, ut ex citato Eusebii loco videre est.

"LibruDl. quartum de historia Mosaica et Judreorum antiquitatibus tractasse cognoscimus ex loco quem idem Eusebius libro i. Prrep.
cap. g. adducit; ubi de Sanchuniathonis Phrenicia historia agit: idemque libro x. cap. g. et a Theodoreto serm. 2. Therap. repetitur. Ex
creteris deinde nihil nominatim citatum observavi. Duodecimus omnium celeberrimus est: quo Danielis prophetiam fortiter oppugnavit.
Hac de re operre pretium est D. Hieronymum loqucntem audire in procemio Commentariorum in eum Prophetam: 'Contra Prophetam
Danielem,' inquit, 'duodecimum librum scribit Porphyrius, nolens emu ab ipso, CUjllS inscriptus est nomine, esse compositum, sed a
quodam qui, temporibus Antiochi qui appellatus est Epiphanes, fuerit in Judrea, et non tam Danielem ventura dixisse, quam ilium
narrasse prteterita: denique quicquid usque ad Antiochum dixerit, veram historiam continere; si quid autem ultra opinatus sit, quia
futura nescierit, esse mentilum. Cui solertissime responderunt Eusebius Cresariensis episcopus tribus yoluminibus, id est, octavodecimo,
nonodecimo, et vicesimo. Apollinarius quoque uno grandi libro, hoc est, vieesimosexto; et ante hos ex parte Methodius.' Mutta deinde toto
hoc commentario ex eodem libro affert, et refutat, Cttius etiam in Apologia adversus Rufinum, atque alibi meminit. Sed quam varia
eruditione hic liber refertus fuerit, haud obscure innuit sub finem ejusdem proremii; dum ex variis et reeonditis auctoribus compositum
fuisse testatur: 'Ad intelligendas autem extremas partes Danielis multiplex Grrecorum historia necessaria est: Sutorii videlicet Callicini,
Diodori, Hieronymi, Polybii, Posidonii, Claudii Theonis, et Andronici cognomento Alypii: quos et Porphyrius esse secutum se dicit.'
H Verum et rlecimustertius liber adversus eundem Prophetam scriptus fuit, teste Hieronymo in xxiv. cap. Matth. Commentariorum
lib. iv. I De hoc loeo/ inquit, 'id est de abominatione desolationis, qure dicta est a Daniele propheta, stante in loco saocto, multa
Porphyrius tertiodecimo operis sui volumine contra nos blasphemavit, cui Eusebius Cresariensis Episcopus tlibus respondit voluminibusJ'
&c. Nec magis a sacra Evangeliorum historia sibi temperavit; nam et hanc falsitatis cum arguisse idem Hieronymus Epistola ci. ad
Pammachium testatur, ic.lemque libro ii. adversus Pelagianos cum dixisset Christum, postquam negA.rat se ad scenopegiam itururn,
(Joannes vii.) postea tamen aseendisse, addit: ' Laicat Porphyrius, inconstantire ac mutationis accusat, nesciens omnia scandala ad carnem
esse referenda:' et Iibro Qurest. Hebraic. in Genesin: 'Frustra,' inquit, 'Porphyrius evangelistas ad faciendum ignorantibus miraculum,
et quod Dominus super mare ambulaverit, pro lacu Genezareth mare appeUasse calumniatur.' Ad Apostolorum Actus spectat iIlud in
Epist. ad Demetriadem de virginitate sen'anda: 'Denique et Apostolus Petrus nequaquam eis imprecatur mortem, (Ananiro scilicet et
Saphyr"',) ut StllltuS Porphyrius calumniatur; sed Dei judicium prophetico spiritu annuneiat.' Ex eodem quoque opere haustum
existimo, quod libro adversus Vigilantium ait, Porphyrium '11liracula ad SS. martyrurn sepllltllras ed-ita dremonum prrestigias vocasse:
ut et tres i1las qurestiones D. Augustino propositas ab amico pagano, qui bus sanctissimus Pater cpistola xlix. respondet quam de sex
qurestionibus paganorum vulgo vocant; secundam scilicet, tertiam et quartam: qurerebant enim, si Christus se Salutis viam dieat, et gratiam,
et veri tatem, et in se solo ponat animis sibi credentibus reditum, quid egerint tot sreculorum homines ante Christum? deinde, cur Christus
Veteris Testamenti sacrificia repudiarit, cum Deus ilia instituerit? tum etiam, qure proportio sit inter peccatum et mternum supplicium,
cum Christus dieat, I In quacuuque mensura mensi fueritis, metietur vobis?' Earundem libro ii. Retractat. cap. SJ, memioit. Verum cum




288 NOTES.

Jews to visit America); when after some time being released he returned to Europe, and communicated the discovery
which he had made to Menasseh Ben Israel, the high priest of the Jewish faith resident at Amsterdam, -- a man of
singular learning and probity, who caused his relation to be published, with the title of "Spes Israel," in English,
other hand were the larger states of the New World so uncivilized or so un warlike as not to know that it rested with themselves
to allow or to forbid visits from strangers. The Spaniards, it should also be recollected, to whom fire-arms and horses gave a vast
superiority in their engagements with the Indians, were still for five-and-twenty years the colonizers of the islands in the vicinity of New
Spain and Yucatan, without venturing, as Gamara says, although they trafficked with the natives, to settle on the continent: Acosta
even declares, that they would never have been able to subjugate the empires of Peru and Mexico, if the former had not been torn by
civil dissensions, through the rivalship of Huascar and Atabaliba, and if the latter had not believed Cortes to be their Messiah. -- We
had almost omitted to point out what to some may appear a contradiction in the relation of Gamara, or at least a fluctuation of
opinion not to be expected in an author who had only just informed his readers that he perceived some reasons for forming a 

-----
D. Augustinus disertim affirmet, hrec de Porphyrio contra Christianos tanquam validiora decerpta fuisse, satis apparet quo loco gentili.
hasee Porphyrii libros habuerint: quippe quoru.m objectiolles viz responsu.m admittere existimarent. Et sane 8w1on)'Ttx. ac subtilitatem
8u<rxa'Ttb.u'Toil haud obscure fatetur D. Hieronymus hisce verbis prrefatione in Danielem: 'Qure autem ex hoc propheta, imo contra hune
Ii brum Porphyrius objiciat, testes sunt Methodius, Eusebius, et Apollinaris, qui multis versuum millibus ~us vesanitt responthmtes
nescio an curioso lectori salisJecerint.' Et in Apologia ad Pammachium pro libris adversus Jovinianum: 'Origenes,' inquit, ' Methodius,
Eusebiul:l, Apollinaris multis versuum millibus scribunt adversus Celsum et Porphyrium, eonsiderantesquibus argumentis, et quam lubricis
problematibus diaboli spiritu contexta subvertant, et quia illterdum coguntur loqui, nOli quod selltiant, sed quod '11eCeSSe est, dicunt
adversus ea qure dicunt Gentiles.' Atque hinc factum existirno, ut cum ipse acriori quodam veneno tela sua tinxerit, qui bus religionem
Christianam impetebat, quam reliqui manifesti Ecclesire hostes, Celslls, Hierocles, Julianus, atque alii, vehementius quoque odium sibi
paraverit; quod quidem satis superque colligere est ex frequentissimis 58. Patrum conviciis et 8u(r~."p.taJ), quibus Dei et veritatis hostem
passim proscindunt etjustissime exagitant: adeo ut mihi bene longum centonem contexere liceret, prresertim ex Eusebio, Theodoreto, et
Hieronymo, quibllS religio fuisse videtur nomen Porphyrii absque execratione proponere. Ab iHo enim, lib. i. de Proop. cap. 9, et lib. iv.
cap_ 6, (, Tai) x(.(.9' ~fLWiI MfL7rPUVOfL~VO) 8u(r¢'1fL1al) xa~ ~!u87)"t0pla,): item {, T~W 8a'fLtvw'l ¢(AO) xal '1rpO~ropo) appellatur: libro autem x. cap. g,,;
7raVTWil 8u(rfL~v~(rTaTO) xa~ '1roA!p.JCfnrJ.TO) 'Egpalwv T! XCtl ~fLwv. Nee minori elogiorum varietate a Theodoreto ornatur: Serm. I, (, xan~. 'T~)
rl;"7)9~!tx);"UT'T~(rrJ.): Serm. 2., ~) Tij) a(regeias yevofLfvo) '1rpop4Xo, xaTa,sEOU TWV g>.wv ~iI &xoMnov exlYY)(rE y'AWrrail: Serm. S, /) T~S" rl;"7)9fla)
&vTl7raAO,: Serm. 10,,; ~U"?rov8o) ~~iI '1ro;"~p.Jo), T~V '1rpo¢ayij xa'Ta T~S" fU(r~gf!a) avaOftrlp.fVO) fJ4X')iI: Serm. l~, /) ?rCtiI'TWiI ~fLiil tx9JO"fo,. Ita etiam D.
Hieronymus, 'Stultum, impium, blasphemum, vesanum, impudentem, sycophantem, calurnniatorem Ecc1esire, rabidum adversus
Christum cancro,' passim vocat: ut creteros taceam, apud quos Dec pauciora, nee leviora reperias. Sed ne conviciis tantum Christi
ct veritatis hostem quis oppugnatum existimet, prodierunt adversus ipsum in arennm prrecipui aliquot Ecclesire doctores, et manu conserta
calunmias veritatis gladio jugularunt. Nam ut Fl. Lucius Dexter in Chronicis ad annum Christi cccx. prodidit (si modo auctor tot
assumentis adulteratus ad testimonium citari debeat): 'Triginta circiter::scriptores Catholici contra blasphemias Porphyrii philosophi
scripserunt:' et in his nonnulli Hispani si interpolatoribus eredendum, istiusmodi enim afl'anias larga manu adsperserunt, qui sure nation is
laudem sese aueturos hac ratione sperabant. Trium tam en clarissimorum hominum opera potissilllum in hoc certamine eluxit, Methodii
Patarensis, Eusebii Cresariensis, et Apollinaris Laodiceni; sed nullius opus ad nostram retatem pervenit. Credo quod Porphyrianis libris
extinctis, et recepto per universum orbem Christianismo, istiusmodi scriptis Ecclesia Dei non amplius indigeret. Horum srepenumero
meminit D. Hieronymus, prrefatione in Danielem, et sub finem cap. xii. in Apologia ad Pammachium, tum potissimum epistola lxxxiv.
ad Magnum oratorem Romanum. 'Scripserunt,' inquit, 'contra nos Celsus atque Porphyrius; priori Origenes, alteri Methodius,
Eusebius, et Apollinaris fortissime responderunt; quorum Origencs octo scripsit Ii bros, Methodius usque ad decem miUia procedit
versuum, Eusebius et Apollinaris vigintiquinque et triginta volumina eondiderunt: Methodius primus omnium ad veritatis defensionem
signum sustulit, ante Diocletiani persecutionern, ut supra ostendi: hune 'nitidi eompositique sermonis libras' adversus Porphyrium
confecisse scribit Hieronymus in Catal. Ill. Script.; ct 'disertissimurn martyrem' vocat, cap. 12. in Daniel. Nescio tamen utrum xa'Ta'1rOOa.
singulis responderit, cum cum ex parte tantulll respondisse D. Hieronymus dicto loco, et alibi testetur. Sane elegantiam copiamque
dicendi, prreter Photii, hominis XpJTJXWTaTOU, testimonium, et eclogas prolixas ab eo conservatas, abunde pro bat opusculum de humani
arbitrii libertate, cujus maxima pars publice extat: tum etiam convivium decem virginum, nepl 'Tij) a'Y'Ye"Op.lp.~'TOU nCtp6fVlCtS" liber, et
homilire nonnull"" qu", in Vatican a bibliotheca non sine publico damno latitant. Eusebii quoque opus contra Porphyrium Rom", adhuc
servari nimis temere multi credunt: hujus tres integros libros blasphemiis contra Danielem Prophetam oppositos fuisse paulo ante ex
D. Hieronymo vidimus; de creteris nihil distincte licet affirm are. Apollinaris libros xxx. contra Porphyrium idem Hieronymus, epist. 65.
ad Pamrnachium 'fortissimos' appellat, et 'cgregia volumina;t et in Catal. Ill. Script. 'inter cretera ejus opera vel maxime probari' ait.
Extat de iisdem pr::eclarull1 testimonium Vincentii Lirinensis: ' Nam quid Apollinare prrestantius acumine, exercitatione, doctrina? quam
multas ille hrereses multis voluminibus oppressit, quot inimicos fidei confutavit errores, indicio est opus illud xxx. non minus librorulll,
nobilissimum et maximum, quo insanas Porphyrii calumnias magna probationum lUole eonfudit: Binc merito tantum virum in hceresin
prolapsllm dolet.

u De Irnperatorum edictis, qui bus impios hosce Porphyrii Ii bros suppresserunt, jam superius egi. Quamvis cOllcitatis vulgi animis
promiscue in omnia scripta srevitulll qure infaustum Christian is nomen prreferebant; et h::ec, nisi failor, causa est, cur philosophiclC
historire Malchi nomen fuerit prrefixull1 non ab ipso quidem auctore, verum ab ii. qui communi Porphyrianorum librorum dadi hoc opu.




NOTES. 289

Latin and Hebrew, at Amsterdam and in Smyrna, dedicating it to the English parliament. It may well be supposed
that, however convinced the regent Cardinal Ximenes and the succeeding administrations of Spain, which were
generally composed of ecclesiastical dignitaries, might have been of the truth of the fact, they would not have
very different conclusion. It is where he assumes in the first instance as the greater probability that a Portuguese pilot had discovered
America, and yet unhesitatingly calls in the next chapter the ship in which the voyage was performed a Spanish vessel. It is enough to
remark, that as Britain is a general name for England and Scotland, so Spain or the Spains was an epithet which in that age was applied
both to Spain and Portugal. With respect to the proper name Co1umbus, -- since, considered as a Latin name not devoid of signification,
it is scarcely as appropriate a term for Colon, the real name of Columbus, as Agricola, -- it is not impossible that this mutation 

-----
subtractum cupiebant: ut quasi signis commutatis inquirentium oeulos animumque falleret. Sed, ut nullum tam noxium Venenum est,
unde non salubris aliqua medicina artc extrahi possit, ita ex pessimis hisee libris veritatis propugnatores seorpiaeum confeeere, quo non
ipsius solum Porphyrii, sed et reliquorum omnium Eeclesim hostiurn, ictus noxios et \·jrulentas calurnnias persanarent: quinimo nuUus
omnino 'TeOI' lEw plura aut fortiora tela Doctoribus Ecclesire suppeditavit, qui bus multiplicelll Gentilium errorem faeilius feliciusque
jugularent. Cujus quidem rei argumenta abllnde peti possunt ex Eusebio, lib. iii. et iv. de Prmpar.; Theodoreto, Therap. Serm. iii. vii.
et x.; D. Augustino de Civ. Dei, lib. x.; aliisque Sanctorum Patrum locis qllamplurimis: ubi Porpbyrii testimoniis perspicue probatur,
universam illam fabulosam et '1ro),,66!oy gentilium theologiarn fl.'lG!y iep~Y, xal fl.'loev !Jfcnrp~e) continere; dremones, qui bus divinitatis honorem
creca mortalitas tribuebat, infestos et malignos humani generis hostes esse; oracula ab iisdem edita meras esse imposturas, et credulre
hominum simplieitati lubricis et obscuris verborum ambagibus illusisse; sacrificia et maclaliotleS a vera pielale abhorrere: et crassos ac
materiales dtCmones esse, qui Itostiarum vaporem fatidumque nidorem expelant / aliaque hujus generis plura, qui bus i),,),,'lv'x~ !J~'lCTX![ct
a fundamentis evertitur. Unde verissime de hoc philosopho Theodoretus, serm. iii. Grree. Aff. dixit: ' Videtur hoe miraculum Samsonis
renigrnati persimile: ex ore comedelltis e:l'ivit cibus, et ex forti dulcedo. Hooc enim ad refellendum mendacium a mendacii patrono
scripta sunt: et veritatis accusator, prreter animi sententiam veritatis defensor evasit. Deus enim qui linguam vatis Balaam, iruprccari
paratam, benedictionem proferre coegit, is et hujus linguam, rabido furore adversus veritatem concitatam, invitam contra mendacium
convertit.' Neque id solum; sed nostrre quoque religioni luculentum non uno in loco testimonium perhibuit, et Christi divinitatem,
quamvis inscius et invitus, eomprobavit; non secus ae dremon ipse in Evangeliis Christum Dei filiulll confessus est: tale eniro illud est
quod Euseb., lib. v. Prrep. cap. i. ex opere adversus Christianos, et Theodoretus in ipso fine Therapeuticon proferunt, Christi adventu
dremonum potestates atque operationes eessasse; tum quod libro iii. demonetratio ex libro S de philosophia, ex oraculis ab eodem Eusebio,
et D. Augustino, lib. xix. c. 23., adducitur: ubi dremones ipsos de Christi pietate, passione, et immortali gloria !u41~r'w) respondisse
testabatur, quem et ipse propterea nequaquam blasphemandum pronunciabat. Atque utinam vel dremonum magistrorum suorum
modestiam homo effi'::enis lingure et impotentis animi fuisset imitatus, nee blasphemiarum, conviciorurn, calumniarum, et mendaciorum
plaustra in Christllm effudisset: rectius sane, si non saluti, saltern famre ac no mini suo conslllui!:set. Ut hic potissimum variam ac
mutabilem animi inconstantiam et dogmatum contrarietatem ipsi exprobrare liceat, quam in reliquis scriptis jam olim animadvertit
Eunapius; et ill. Annalium Sacrorum auctor ad palinodiam sub Constantino ~1. factam argute magis quam vere pertrahit.

H Creterum qure de opere adversus Christianos 5S. Patrum testimoniis confirmata hactenus proposui, id quoque manifeste videntur
evincere, qure Lactantius, lib. v. de Just. c. 2, de philosopho Christianre religionis oppugnatore seripsit, nequaquam de Porphyrio
intcl1igenda esse. N am prreter rationes superius a me adductas, diversi auctoris opus fuisse apparet, non solum ex diverso Ii brorum numero,
sed ex materia et apparatu diverso. Cum enim Lactantius Hieroclis judicis accuraturn et subtile sacrre Seripturm exarnen miretur, quod
, ejus falsitatem arguere conatus tanquam sibi esset tota contraria, adeo multa, adeo intima enumerl1ssat, ut aliquando ex eadem disciplina
fuisse videretur;'fatetur haud obscure, alterum Philosophioo antistitemnihil simile ad Christianre religionis oppugnationem attulisse. Quin
etiam in persequendo instituto suo, «ioeptum, van urn, ridiculum, et pro inanitate sua conternptum' fuisse scribit: adeo quidem ut Hierocli~
<PIMA~6)) argumentorum robore et vehementia, sive, ut ipse ait, mordacitate, ei prreferre non dubitet. Qure profecto de Porphyrii libris nullo
modo accipere licet, nisi hominem dicendi peritissimum, et in disputando apprime exercitatulD, aXPIU'ta) manifestre convincere velis.
Nemo enim non videt, ql1antopere hooe a reliquorum Patrum judicio discrepent. Creteri coim omnes Hieroclem vel ignorarunt omnino,
vel prre Porphyrio adeo conternserunt, ut nee nomen ejus nunc sciretur, nisi Eusebiu5 operis particulam, qua Apollonium Christo
comparabat, refutasset: sed eontemptum potius quam ignotum fuisse, ex Eusebii libro apparet, qui cretera ejus scriptoris tanti fuil:Sse
negat, ut iis refellendis operam impenderet: quippe qure non illius propria, sed ex aliorum scriptis, non sententiis modo, verum dictionibus
quoque iisdem, ae totidem pene syllabis impudenter sublecta erant. Quibus verbis Hieroclem ea ql100 de sacrarum literarum repugnantia
scripserat, cum ex alii~ Christianismi oppugnatoribus tum prreeipue ex Porphyrio suffuratum fuisse manifeste indicat; et dum alibi iis
responsum oppositum iri scribit, ad Porphyrii refutationern, quam animo jam moliebatur, baud dubie leetorem rejicit. Hunc enim divina
oracula assidua lectione trivisse, et in iisdem subvertendis vehementer exereuisse ingenium, prreter superiora 5S. Patrurn loca, testatur
Theodoretus, Therap. serm. vii., ubi de sacrificiis lege divina constitutis agit: TOUTOI) &xel~w) EVTUX':»Y Ii llOP",JPIO), fl.d.>.a yap !y8IJ'Tpuv! 'T~v
xa9' ~p.(i;y 'Tupeuwy yp«<p~Y, a)"),,O-rpIOY !vU'sgefa) xal ctVr~) a1rO~a(vSJ TO !JUfIY. 'Hrec,' inquit,' cum diligenter Porphyrius perlegisset, (plurimum
namque temporis in iis contrivit, dum suum adversus nos opus procuderet,) ipse etiam sacrificia a pietate aliena esse pronwlciavit.' Sed
ut simire humanos gestus imitantur, naturam tamen suam cum humana non permutant; ita Porphyrium e saeris literis quredam pro
libitu sublegentem veritatem irnitando utcunque expressisse, ipsam vera mini me perdidicisse ait: aM« ""!fl.IY'J'Kf'lrt8'1xos, fl.AAAOY 8~ xo)"o,o,
aAAorplo,s nC)"ol) xa)"),,Uy0fl.EVO).

" Bree de Porphyrii vita et scriptis ad antiquitatis illustrationem hactenus disseruisse suffieiat."





290 NOTES.

promulgated to the world the secret, that the Jews had actually for many ages revived the oral law in America; and
that Spanish historians like Herrera, even if it had come to their knowledge, would have been very cautious how
they hinted at it in their writings. But still, the account of a bearded tribe amongst the Indians inhabiting a
mountainous district of the Gapotecas, who were designated by the Spaniards Mexis or Mixes, and who, according
to their report, exceeded all other Indian tribes in cannibalism, and were cruelly exterminated by them (principally
with the assistance of mastiffs), must excite our suspicion as to whether they might not have been Jews. Herrera,
describing in the seventh chapter of the ninth book of his fourth Decad this people, says: "In the province of the
Miges, that has been already mentioned, which is twenty leagues distant from Guaxaca, the people are of a
good stature, have long beards (which is an uncommon thing in those parts), and their language is very thick in
pronunciation, like that of the Germans: they generally bury their dead in the plains, and every year Commemorate
their deceased kindred, by placing food as an offering uPon their sepulchres. They do this in the month of
November, two days prior or subsequent to that on which we celebrate the memory of the dead. They are a cruel
and warlike people, greatly addicted to cannibalism, and braver than any nation of New Spain: for although the whole
province does not contain a greater population than two thousand men, neither Motezuma nor the Zapotecas, though
a much more numerous people, could ever subdue them. Inhabiting likewise in a united body the same mountains
as the Zapotecas, they never took prisoner man, woman, or child, whom they did not kill and eat; and they persisted
in this custom until they were conqucred. They viewed with satisfaction wars amongst the neighbouring Indian
tribes, in the hope of being able to procure human flesh. They went naked with only a deer-skin girded round their
loins, and this skin was very white and made very supple with the brains of men. As their country was full of steep
hills, free from stones and rocks, very grassy, and wet from constant rains, it was their custom, in order to fly from
or to surprise an enemy, to sit down upon the top of Some hill wherever they chanced to be, and grasping hold
of their feet, let themselves slide down the grass, when they soon reached the bottom, slipping over it by means
of those skins. Some Spaniards have wished to do the same, and have received severe contusions. The mountains
of the Miges were conquered on foot with the assistance of dogs, as horses could not proceed through them. The
town of Saint Ildefonso is founded in them: this town does not contain more than thirty habitations, and consists
of sheds and straw-thatched houses; and the population would often have been massacred, had it not been for their
dogs, which pursued the Indians who came as spies, and were so accustomed to be on their guard that they never
caught an Indian whom they did not kill and eat, since they grew very fat upon them, and distinguished with
much sagacity the Indians with whom the Spaniards were on terms of friendship, from the foe. The captain, Gaspar

-----
of the name of Colon into Columbus might have been in consequence of a tradition existing before the age of Christopher Colon, -- of a
vast continent having been discovered in the ocean by Saint Columba, or some of his disciples; and that those who were unwilling to
allow the saint the honour of the discovery of America, in order to unite the suffrages of posterity in favour of Colon, and to confuse that
tradition in the ambiguity of the proper names, gave the latter the name of Columbus, rather than of Colonus or Agricola. It cannot
be supposed, from the tenour of these observations, that they are intended, by the suggestion of doubts and difficulties, to detract from
the praise so justly due to the great man who is reported to have been the first discoverer of the New World; since here, as elsewhere, we
should defend ourselves by recurring to the precept of Aristotle, who recommended that truth should be preferred even to Plato: neither,
on the other hand, in pointing out the probable guilty excesses into which fanaticism led the Jews, or the too harsh treatment which they
received from the Spanish Government, have we been guided by the slightest desire to gratify feelings of dislike towards any class of
men. But since it is only necessary to exhibit fanaticism in its true colours to make it detestable, and that the interests of the many ought
more to be considered than the feellngs of the few, we are on the contrary persuaded it may be rendering an essential service to the Jews,
and to Christians who are disposed to be intolerant, to address them freely in the language of reason and remonstrance. The age of
religious persecution, fortunately for the world, has long since gone by: it originated amongst the Jews, who ollght to know that the
edifice of superstition and intolerance which their advocates are anxious to uphold, is grown antiquated; and that although it may retain
the outward appearance and huge proportions of past times, it has lost its firmness and solidity: -- repose and tranquillity are necessary
for its existence. As regards state prosecutions on religious grounds, we can only express a fervent desire that the Wilberforces of the
present day, and the friends of the Society for the Prosecution of Vice and Blasphemy, would profit by the following reply, which the
Emperor Akbar made to Jahangueir, his successor on the throne of Hindostan, who inquired of him why, being a true believer, he
permitted his Hindoo subjects to build temples and to adhere to the profession of their false religion: -- "My dear child, I find myself
a puissant monarch, the shadow of God upon earth. I have seen that He bestows the blessings of his gracious providence upon
all his creatures without distinction. III should I discharge the duties of my exalted station, were I to withhold my compassion from
any of those entrusted to my charge. With all of the human race, with all of God's creatures I am at peace: why then should I
permit myself under any consideration to be the cause of molestation or aggression to anyone?" n-- Jahangueir's Memoirs of Himself,
translated by Major Price.




NOTES. 291

Pachecho, conquered these mountains, throwing to the dogs the guilty who rebelled or killed Christiaus; and the
Indians were more afraid of the dogs than of armed men. The lord of Magitlan, which is the chief town
of the Miges, having revolted and killed certain Christians and Zapotecan Indians, eyacuated the place, and
proceeded to lay waste the country, when the captain, Gaspar Pachecho, pursued him with his Spaniards and
Indian allies, and seized by chance an Indian of the Miges nation, the slave of the lord, who had sent him as
a spy to see what the Christians were doing; and on his confession that he had been prescnt at the death of
certain Christians, when he accompanied his lord assisting him in spoiling the land, his accusation was drawn out,
and he was condemned to die. The captain, Gaspar Paehecho, having brought out the dogs, oftered him
his life and to attach him to his service if he would inform him where his lord was concealed, as his only object
was to put a stop to the injuries which the Spaniards and native Indians suffered. He answered that he would
not tell him, and that he might do what he pleased. After many exhortations and promises, which were of
no avail, he commanded that he should be thrown to the dogs, which flying at him and seizing him by the fleshy
parts of the arms and of the legs, the Indian, without uttering a complaint, began to encourage them, looking
first at one and then at another, saying, 'Oateeanes, (which signifies, Ye brave ones,) perform your part well,
since they will thus paint me in the skin of a tyger, and I shall be painted as a good and brave man who would not
betray my lord.' Whilst addressing the dogs with noble courage, they tore him in pieces and ate him. If they hang
them they do not care; for they say that they fall asleep, and that sleeping they pass to dances in another life. At
last the fear of the dogs caused the inhabitants of the whole district, -- ferocious, warlike, enemies of mankiml, and
greedy of human flesh as they were, -- to submit." Historia de las Indias Occidentales, dec. iv. lib. ix. cap. vii. The
language of the Mixes "hablando mui grucso a manera de Alemanes," as Herrera affirms: their thick beards,
"barbas largas cosa rara en aquellas partes," their scanty population, the hatred which they bore to the other tribes
of Indians; and above all, the hatred which the Spaniards bore to them, and the cruel manner in which they hunted
and exterminated them, suggest the idea that the Mijes, Mixis, or Mexis, as they are variously called, might have
been a colony of Jews, who, like the Jews discovered by Monteeinio in the neighbourhood of Carthagena, might
have fortified themselves in the mountains, and so have hoped to escape servitude either to the Indians or the
Spaniards. It would be surprising, -- if it were fair to presume from the silence of Spanish historians either want of
information on their part or of research and curiosity on the part of others, instead of ascribing their reserve to
other causes, -- to find that scarcely any mention is made in their writings of a bearded nation, and of blacks discovered
amongst the Indians oil; although a black skin and a bearded visage afford the surest argument of a mixture of
foreign blood with that of the smooth and copper-coloured Indian race. From a painting which occurs in the eightyseventh
page of the Codex Vatican us, it would appear that the Gapotecas were a bcarded people, as well as the
Mixes. The two nations bordered on each other, and alliances might sometimes have taken place batween them.
If the Mixes were Jews, it is probable that their ancestors constructed the palaces of Mictlan, and other splendid
monuments in the territory of the Gapotecas, which M. Dupaix is not inclined to attribute to the art and industry of
the latter people. That the Mixes were not the barbarous people that Spanish authors describe them, is evident
from the superior knowledge which they possessed of the art of Indian warfare; for whilst the Tlaxcaltecas with an
army of one hundred and fifty thousand men could scarcely preserve their independence against Montezuma, and had
in fact consented to the payment of a slight tribute, -- as is evident from the forty-fourth plate of the Collection of
Mendoza, where the symbol of their state is found amongst those of the other tributary cities and nations, and is
numbered 23, -- the Mixes are said by Herrera to have resisted all the efforts of Montezuma to subdue them,
although their entire population did not exceed two thousand men. Another proof of their possessing a certain


-----
* Peter Martyr says, in the first chapter of his third Decade, "There is a region not past two days journey distant from Quarequa, in
which they found only black Moors, and those exceeding fierce and cruel. They suppose that in time past certain black Moors sailed thither
out of Ethiopia to rob, and that by shipwreck or some other chance they were driven to those mountains. The inhabitants of Quarequa
live in continual war and debate with these black men." Gornara, in describing the expedition of Balboa in search of the South Sea,
mentions these same blacks, although he knew less about them probably than Peter Martyr, who was an earlier writer: "Entro Balboa
en Quareca; no hal10 pan oi oro, que 10 avian alc;ado antes de peleato Empero hallo algullos negros, esclavos del Senor. Pregunto de
donde los avian, y no Ie supieron dezir 0 entender, mas de que avia ombres de aquel color cerca de alIi, con quien tenian guerra muy
ordinaria. Estos fueron los primeros negros que se vieron en lndias, yaun pienso que no se han visto mas." -- La Istaria de las lndias,
fo. xxxiiii. Cap. 'Descubrimiento de 1. Mar del Sur.'




292 NOTES.

degree of civilization is, that they employed historical paintings, in which they recorded the brave actions of their countrymen.

Returning to the consideration of other Hebrew analogies in the Indian rites and ceremonies, -- having already
mentioned the temple of Mexico, the fire that was kept continually burning in it, the celebration of the festivals
of new moons and the offerings of the first-fruits at stated seasons of the year; we may further observe, that
the Mexicans in other parts of their temple service resembled the Jews. Like the Jews, besides sacrifices, they
offered incense, flowers, and golden chains and jewels, to Huitzilopuchtli, or Tetzcatlipoca, their supreme deity, to
whom they ascribed victory in battle, and in whose honour they clothed themselves on certain great festivals with the
skins of those whom they had taken prisoners in war, and even with those of slaves whom they had devoted to
sacrifice. It is unnecessary to quote Scripture to show that to offer incense in their temple was a Jewish custom,
since no nation except the Indians ever came near the Jews in their prodigality in making this offering to the
Deity; but it deserves to be noticed, that the Jews were expressly commanded, in the fortieth verse of the twenty-third
chapter of Leviticus, to carry boughs and branches of trees in their hands as a religious ceremony: "And ye
shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lorel your God seven days.... The Mexicans were accustomed
to decorate profusely their temples with branches of trees and flowers, and to carry them in their hands in certain
festive processions. It is said, in the thirty-fifth chapter of Exodus, of the Israelites: "And they came, both men
and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and btought bracelets, and ear-rings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels
of gold: and every man that offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord." The Mexican paintings show that
the Mexicans were accustomed to present at the shrines of their gods jewels of gold, bracelets, and necklaces: and
it would also appear that they placed loaves of bread in the sanctuaries of their temples before the idols, which must
remind us of the Jewish shew-bread. Acosta, describing in the ninth chapter of the fifth book of his Natural and
Moral History of the Indies, the adoration which the Mexicans paid to their three principal deities, having previously
mentioned Vitzliputzli and Tlaloc, says: "Prooter hooe etiam tertium quoddam idolum colebatur apud Mexicanos,
quod remittendis peccatis destinabatur. Hoc Tezcathlipuca vocabatur." And he shortly afterwards observes: ".iEquo
terrori Indis nullum idolum prooter hoc erat, quod admodum metuebant ne facinora patrata in propatulum ferret.
Festis illis diebus quoo singulis quaternis annis instituuntur, peecatorum remissio publice denunciatur, eo modo quo
deinceps dicturi sumus. Idem hoc idolum pro deo ac domino habebatur siccitatis, ineelioo ac famis, sterilitatis et pestis,
quod ob id alia quoque specie effingebant, in solio insigni considens, et purpureo prootenso velo (GOI'dyn vocant)
in quo hominum defunctorum crania et ossa depicta erant." The purple veil here said to have been spread before the
shrine of Tetzcatlipoca, and to have been painted with skulls and bones, recalls to our recollection the thirty-fifth verse
of the thirty-sixth chapter of Exodus, in which mention is made of the veil of the tabernacle: "And he made a veil
of blue and purple and scarlet, and fine-twined linen, with cherubims made he it of cunning work." Torquemada says
that the skulls and bones which occupied the place of the cherubim in the veil of Tetzcatlipoca, signified that that
god possessed equal power over life and death. In the same way as amongst the Jews none were permitted except
the Levites to enter the secret place of the sanctuary, so the Mexican ritual forbade any but the priests to enter
the sanctuary of Tetzcatlipoca. Acosta, describing the temple of that god, in the thirteenth chapter of his fifth
book, says: "In cujus latere conclave quoddam varii coloris pannis pretiosis tectum visebatur, cujus porta humilis
velo assiduo recingebatur, nulli nisi sacerdotibus accessa."

The Mexican priests, like the Levites, bathed and made frequent use of ablutions in their religious ceremonies:
some of them, like the Jewish Nazarites, permitted their hair to grow without ever cutting it. The sixth
chapter of Numbers, immediately following the chapter containing the law of the trial of jealousy, is exclusively

-----
* Torquemada says, that in one of the Mexican months the Mexicans celebrated a festival by going to a neighbouring mountain
and building a kind of tabernacle of boughs for one of their principal idols. Amongst the Jews, the feast of tabernacles was a great
solemnity. In the forty-second plate of the First Part of the Monuments of M. Dupaix, under No. 97, a stone tablet sculptured in
relievo occurs, containing four figures seated cross-legged, having a very Jewish cast of countenance, with long beards; one of whom
holds what appears to be a branch of palm or willow in his hand. Between them, in the centre, seems to be the plan of a temple.
Exultation is evidently depicted in their countenances; while there is something votive in their attitude, as if they had just escaped
some great danger, or after many toils had succeeded at length in attaining some much-desired object.




NOTES. 293

dedicated to the exposition of the law relating to Nazarites"'; from whence it may be inferred that persons making
such vows were held in great estimation by the Jews. In the thirteenth chapter of Judges it is said that an arigel
appeared to the wife of Manoah the father of Samson, and expressly commanded that the child which he promised
that she should conceive should be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. The vow of a
Nazarite was generally only for a limited time, at the expiration of which he cut off his hair and made an offering
of it, burning it in the holy fire of the altar of the tahernacle, as was enjoined in the eighteenth verse of the
sixth chapter of Numbers; "And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation and put it in the fire which is under the
sacrifice of the peace-offerings." This Jewish rite ought certainly to be considered in connexion with a Peruvian
superstition, into which it might have degenerated, which Acosta notices in the fifth chapter of the fifth book of his
Moral History of the Indies: "Mirum est id sacrificium quod instituunt in superciliorum depilationibus, ilia
enim crinibus nudant. Evulsos crines nonnunquam Soli, il)terdum montihus seu Apalchitis, ali quando etiam vcntis,
ac rebus aliis quas metuunt, sacrificio offerunt."

It is singular that in Mexican paintings the eyebrows in the human countenance seem almost always to be omitted.
As the temple at Jerusalem contained great store of.gold and silver vessels, which the king of Babylon pillaged, so
the Peruvian temples were excessively rich in precious vases, especially that of Pachacama, near Lima; from which,
Acosta observes, Francis Pizarro and his soldiers obtained" ingentes et infandas divitias vasorum tum aureorum, tum
argenteorum." It was customary among the Jews to summon the people to the synagogne by the sounding of horns;
and to blow trumpets t was a religious ceremony, which Moses declares, in the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus,
that God himself appointed: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabhath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets,
an holy convocation." And again in the twenty-ninth chapter of Numbers: "And in the seventh month, on the
first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work; it is a day of blowing the
trumpets unto you." It is certainly not a little curious that, according to Torquemada, the Mexicans should have
been summoned to prayers at stated hours by the blowing of horns, in the same way as the Jews, although they
were acquainted with bells: and that, according to Garcia, they should have approached their temple with the same
reverential custom of pulling off their sandals when within a certain number of paces distant from it t. They
seem likewise to have imitated the Jews in their sacerdotal costume: and Garcia, in the second chapter of the
third book of the Origin of the Indians, treating of the resemhlance of the Indian dress to that of the Jews, says:
"Fr. Agustin Davila, Ar90hispo de Santo Domingo, refiere en su Historia Dominicana del Nuevo Mundo, como en
un pueblo llamado Tama«ulapa, que es en la Misteca, se hallaron unas vestiduras sagradas de el que ellos tenian por
summo sacerdote, mui semejantes a las que se ponian los pontifices maximos de la lei de Moises, las quales tenian
escondidas los Indios." "Brother Augustiu Davila, the archbishop of Saint Domingo, relates in his Dominican
History of the New World, that some sacred vestments were discovered in a town called Tama«ulapa, in Misteca,
which had belonged to the person whom they considered their high priest, which nearly resembled those worn by
the high priests of the Mosaic law, which vestments the Indians kept concealed."

The habit of the high priest of the Jews, the several parts of which are minutely explained in the twentyeighth
chapter of Exodus, is more briefly described in the forty-fifth chapter of Ecclesiasticus: "He exalted Aaron,


-----
* Saint Matthew, referring to some lost prophecy relating to the Messiah, (for none such occurs in any of the books of the Old Testament,)
says: tr It was spoken by the Prophets, he shall be called a N azarenc." Hence some commentators have taken Samson to be a
precursor and harbinger of Christ. But even supposing that some traits of personal resemblance existed between them, and some
analogies in the annunciation which was made by angels to the mother of each, that she should bring forth a son, -- would they not be more
than counterbalanced by the lustful disposition of Samson, which was so opposite to the character of the future Messiah?

+ The Jews attributed as much virtue as the Mexicans to the sound of the trumpet, in awakening by its shrill notes the heart of a
sinner to a livelier sense of remorse for sin. They have a prayer which they use in their synagogues beginning with the words,
"O Lord, we thank thee for having taught us the use of the trumpet." And, extolling its use, they refer to the text in Scripture which
says, "God went up with a noise, the Lord with the sound of the trumpet." Votan was emphatically styled by the Chiapanese the Lord
of the Teponaztli, or hollow drum, which instrument of music was used conjointly in their temples with the trumpet.

++ The Jews were always accustomed to tread barefoot on what they deemed holy ground. God is said, in the third chapter of
Exodus, to have spoken to Moses from the burning bush, and commanded him to put off his shoes because the place whereon he
stood was holy ground.



294 NOTES.

an holy man like unto him, even his brother, of the tribe of Levi. An everlasting covenant he made with him,
and gave him the priesthood among the people; he beautified him with comely ornaments, and clothed him with
a robe of glory. He put upon him perfect glory, and strengthened him with rich garments, with breeches,
with a long robe, and the ephod. And he compassed him with pomegranates and with many golden bells round
about, that as he went there might be a sound and a noise made that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial
to the children of his people; with an holy garment with gold, and blue silk and purple, the work of the embroiderer,
with a breast-plate of judgment, and with Urim and Thummim; with twisted scarlet, the work of the
cunning workman; with precious stones graven like seals, and set in gold, the work of the jeweller, with a writing
engraved for a memorial after the number of the tribes of Israel. He set a crown of gold upon the mitre, wherein
was engraved 'Holiness,' an ornament of honour, a costly work, the desire of the eyes, goodly and beautiful." This
is the description of the dress of the Jewish lligh priest, which differed from that of the other priests and Levites
who officiated in the temple. Josephus, in applying the verses of an old Greek poet to his own countrymen, and
contending from them that his nation had swelled the forces of the Persian army that invaded Greece, clearly indicates
what he considered to have been the military costume of the Jews some ages before, and such perhaps as it was
in his time. The verses alluded to are cited by him in the first book of his treatise against Apion; and are the
following:

H T't' 8' (J7TtOev 8te{3aLV€ 'YEvoe (Jav!-'acrTov ~8€a6at,
r~wO'aav f'flJ <t>Otlllaaav <'t7TO O'TopaTWlJ dCPtEV'TEC,
'Q"OVlI 8' €v ~OAV,uou: opeaL, 7TAaTE'P 1fapa AlI'Vt/,
. AVX}laAEOt, Kopvcpac TpoXoovp,8ee, aVTap tJ7rep8El1
'ITr1TWIJ 8apTa rrpoaWTr' ecpopotJv, €(JKAfJICOTa Ka7r'Vo/."

"Next came a race of men of extraordinary mien, whose dialect was Phrenician, and their habitation in the
Solymean mountains" on the borders of a broad lake, of sun-burnt complexion, with their heads shorn in a circle;
whilst above they wore the skins of horses' heads hardened in the smoke."

If it be objected that this nation could not have been the Jews, because the Jews were forbidden by Moses to
round the corners of their heads or to mar the corners of their beards, it is sufficient, -- without insisting on the
different senses in which the Rabbis might have understood what rounding the corners of their heads was, -- to
observe, that Josephus, a Jew, believed these verses to be written of the Jews his countrymen. And certainly, rebellious
and stiffnecked as the Jews are called in Scripture, the supposition that in this particular they disobeyed the
Mosaic law, involves no difficulty. Many learned men, such as Doctor Prideaux t, have doubted even whether some
of the precepts of the Mosaic law were ever observed by the Jews, or have believed that their observance was discontinued
shortly after their first institution. The Jews were forbidden usury t; -- but what people ever became such
great usurers? They were forbidden idolatry; -- but what nation was so prone to the worship of idols? It may
be further remarked, that since amongst the paintings discovered by Belzoni on the walls in the interior of the
tombs of the Egyptian kings at Thebes, very intelligent judges have been persuaded that they have recognized Jews
in the figures of captives with their hands tied behind them, who have a peculiarly Jewish cast of countenance, and
whose heads are shaven in the manner described by Josephus, the opinion of that historian would seem to acquire
confirmation from the collateral evidence of the Egyptian monuments. The great antiquity of these paintings may
be inferred from the representation of chariots so frequently occurring among them; for when Egypt became intersected
with canals, -- and history informs us under the reign of what Egyptian monarch that occurred, -- it became a
country no longer fit for cavalry, and the use of chariots in war must- have ceased. One thing we learn from the


-----
* Homer makes honourable mention of the Solymeans as a brave race of men, which the Jews confessedly were. The appellation
which the Greeks gave to Jerusalem, '/EP0(1'OAU/kIX, was merely the Hebrew proper name, pronounced with a Greek accentuation. It is
very problematical whether Homer makes any allusion, under the name of the Solymeans, to the Jews.

+ Doctor Prideaux doubted whether the Jews ever allowed to theirland the stated periods of rest ordained by the Mosaic law. The
laws of cleanness and uncleanness relating to men, other writers have supposed must, from their excessive inconvenience, have been
quickly abandoned: and the Jews of the present day entirely disregard them.


++ It is right to observe that they were only forbidden to lend money on usury to their brethren; and this prohibition did not extend to
strangen;. Nibil humanum a me alienum puto, was an apothegm never uttered by Moses, and quite at variance with Jewish ethics.





NOTES. 295

lines quoted by Josephus, -- that the Jews, like the Mexicans, dressed themselves in the skins of beasts in war, and
wore helmets formed out of the heads of animals. But Josephns, although a Jew and a Levite, is an author not
much to be depended upon. To aggrandize his own nation was his aim, -- to fiatter and deceive the Emperor, a duty
which he proposed to himself; hoping by the former to raise himself to personal distinction, and by the latter to
cause favour and protection to be shown to the Jews. Hence, with unblushing falsehood he asserts in his Reply to
Apion, that the Jews, unlike other nations, were a people that lived in perpetual unanimity, unacquainted with
sedition and intestine commotions: although the Scripture informs us, that even in the lifetime of David Absalom
had stolen the hearts of the people; and that in the reign of Rehoboam there was a sweeping revolt of ten of the
tribes' of Israel; and he also insinuates that the Emperor was the Messiah. Framed, however, as the history of
J os'ephus was to shock but as little as possible Roman prejudices and to impose upon the emperors, the Antonines
and Marcus Aurelius were not deceived: those excellent monarchs were not inclined to take Cyrus as a pattern,
or to give any encouragement to the Jews. That Josephus himself had powerful patrons is evident from the arrogant
style in which he replies to Apion. His writings pleased a party in Rome that had been increasing in numbers
and strength from the days of Augustus, who, wishing to see the downfall of the established religion of the state,
favoured both Christian and Jewish writers, because their works tended to bring that religion into contempt. If he
had not been countenanced by many great men, he would scarcely have ventured to impugn the veracity of all the
Greek historians, making it a heavy charge against them that there should be discrepancies in their relations;
or have ridiculously boasted of that enactment amongst the Jews, which provided that none but the priests and
Levites should compose histories or be permitted to write books. Josephus must either have imagined that the
Hebrew annalists were inspired, or were not. If he believed they were inspired, it was absurd in him to utter his
sarcasms against the Greeks because they had not instituted an order of inspired historians. If he did not, it was
a silly notion to suppose that the cause of truth would be promoted by permitting one class of people to write
what they pleased, and no others to contradict them. We may here notice another analogy in the Mexican
and Jewish institutions. The Mexican priests, like the priests amongst the Jews, employed themselves in composing
histories: those histories were paintings, the interpretation of which they reserved to themselves. In
Yucatan when a priest died, books (that is to say paintings) were buried along with him, as Herrera affirms: and
it is a custom with the Jews at the present day to place books on the coffin of the deceased, although not to throw
them into the grave. A description of the dress of the Jewish high priest having becn taken from Ecclesiasticus,
and the testimony of Josephus (who, like the Mexican priests, was himself a soldier as well as a Levite) adduced
to show what was the ancient military costume and equipments of the Jews, something remains to be said of the
dress of the other classes of the Jewish populace. Garcia says, in the last section of the second chapter of the
third book of his Origin of the Indians, "If the dress which the Indians wear is duly considered, particularly the
Peruvian, it will be found very like that worn by the Jews; for they use a tunic or shift, which resembles a surplice
without sleeves, ami over it they wrap a mantle. They substitute sandals in the place of shoes; some made with
wooden soles and tied above, others with soles made of cabuya, which is like hemp, with strings. This kind of
shoe is much more common in New Spain, as the dress which I have mentioned is more common in Peru. The
natives of Peru allowed their hair in ancient times to grow long, like Nazarites, with the exception of that class
who were called Orejones: and those who are yet unconquered wear at the prescnt day their hair in this fashion.
That this was the dress and costume of the Hebrews is evident, as well from their histories as from ancient
paintings, which represent them habited in this apparel; and this kind of dress and sandals was worn by the
Apostles. These two articles of apparel, the mantle and shift, which are worn by the Indians of Peru, were what
Samson laid a wager on, and what are named in Scripture the tunic and syndon, which are the same as what the
Indians of Peru call cusma and pacha, and the Spaniards camiseta and manta."

It would appear, from what Garcia here asserts, (who speaks from observation, having been himself many years in
Peru,) that the dress of the Peruvians was more like that of the Jews than was the Mexican, whilst the sandals of the
people of New Spain were strictly in the Hebrew fashion. * If that learned author, as well as Acosta, had sought

-----
* We know, from the expression of John the Baptist, "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am
not worthy to stoop down and unloose," the nature of the Hebrew sandals, which probably exactly resembled those worn by the
Mexicans.



296 NOTES.

out Hebrew analogies in the customs and institutions of the Indians of New Spain and Peru, before Spanish intercourse
had rendered many of those customs obsolete, and had published their works in the beginning of the
sixteenth instead of the beginning of the seventeenth century, perhaps they would have found that no Hebrew
fashion was wanting in the New World. It is certainly surprising to see how nearly the Jewish costume is imitated
in some of the Mexican paintings. In the twelfth page of that MS. of the Bodleian Library which seems to represent
the migration of the Mexicans, or some other subject connected with a descent into hell, and which is unfortunately
only a fragment of a larger painting, from which a part has evidently been torn off, the figure of a Mexican
priest occurs in a dress very like that of the high priest of the Jews: the linen ephod, the breast-plate, and the
border of pomegranates, described in Exodus, are there in a manner represented. The golden bells are wanting;
but those ornaments will be found, in the valuable painting preserved in the Royal Library of Dresden, attached to
the dress of several of the figures, to which they are appended by certain hemmings or fringes, as was ordained in
the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus, in the case of the dress of the Jewish high priest: "And beneath upon the
hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and
bells of gold between them round about: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon
the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when
he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not." Was it the fruit or
the flower of the pomegranate, we may ask, that was worked on the garments of the high priest? The fruit
appears to be imitated on the dress of the priest in the Oxford MS.; but a flower, which may be that of the pomegranate,
occurs as a symbol in the representations of several of the Mexican temples. It has been remarked above,
that the dress of the Mexican priest bears only a partial resemblance to that of the Jewish high priest: for it will be
immediately perceived, that besides the golden bells, the girdle and mitre are wanting. Gomara Ims observed, that a
girdle sometimes formed a part of the Indian costume"'; and in the great variety of sacerdotal habits in use among
the Indians, there is no difficulty in supposing that what on one occasion might have been worn, might on another have
been omitted. The archbishop of Saint Domingo, Augustin Davila, whose testimony must have great weight in a
question of this kind, has also affirmed that the sacred vestments discovered in TamaS'ulapa were very like those worn
by the high priests of the Jews. The head of the abovementioned priest seems to be ornamented with ribbons
interwoven with the hair: but the Mexican tecutli, or crown, which bore a much closer resemblance to the head-dress
of Aaron than the episcopal mitre, is represented in the same page of the Oxford MS. on the head of another
figure. It also frequently occurs amongst the paintings of the Collection of Mendoza, and is there always painted
blue. This crown or mitre was worn by the Mexican kings and likewise by the judges: the former had it richly
adorned with plates of gold. Those kings united, it is to be supposed, pontifical with regal dignity; although the
ostensible head or the Mexican religion was the high priest, who at his consecration to the office was anointed
with oil of olli mixed with blood. Moses declares, in the sixth verse of the twenty-ninth chapter of Exodus,
that he was commanded by God "to put the mitre on his brother's head, and the holy crown upon the mitre;"
and "to take the anointing oil, and pouring it upon his head, to anoint him:" and in the twentieth verse of the
same chapter, "to kill the ram, and to take of his blood, and to put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron,
and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of
their right foot, and to sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about:" and "to take of the blood that was upon
the altar, and of the anointing oil, and to sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his garments, and upon his som, and upon
the garments of his sons with him: and he should be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons'
garments with him." It is evident, from the passage of Exodus which has been quoted, that the holy crown was
distinct from the mitre: it consisted of a plate of gold, that was tied with a blue lace over the mitre, which was
itself merely a linen cap. Moses having been ordered, in the thirty-ninth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of
Exodus, to make the mitre of fine linen; it. says, in the thirty-sixth and following verses of the same chapter:
"And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, Holiness to the
Lord. And thon shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the fore front of the mitre it

-----
* Speaking of the women of Sibola, he says, "Andan ce"ida., trengan los cabellos." They wear girdles and braid their hair. 
-- La Istoria de las Indias, fo. cxv.




NOTES. 297

shall be. And it shall he upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the
children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may he
accepted before the Lord." Three things deserve to be noticed in the Mexican mitre. It frequently consisted of a
plate of gold on a blue ground;" it was tied to the head by a lace of ribbon; and it was peculiarly worn on the
forehead of the king or the priest. In Pern, a tassel hanging from the head of the Inga was the symhol of regal
dignity; hut some of the Ingas wore a crown more nearly resembling an episcopal mitre, if the portraits of those
monarchs prefixed by Herrera to his Decads are not ideal. +

The breast-plate of the Jewish high priest is thus described in the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus: "And
thou shalt make the breast-plate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make
it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen thou shalt make it. Four square it shall
be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou
shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardins, a topaz, and a carbuncle:
this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third
row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set
in gold in their inclosings." Besides the precious stones, Moses was commanded in the thirtieth verse of the
same chapter to put the Urim and the Thummim in the breast-plate of judgment: "And thou shalt put in the
breast-plate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in

-----
* Torquemada says that the Mexican Capilli, or royal mitre, was of the colour of the Xiuhtilmatli, or mantle worn by the kings of
Mexico, which was blue or purple. The literal signification of Xiuhtilmatli being a purple or blue mantle.

+ The Ingas also wore a rainbow fastened to their heads as the insignia of royalty ~ which, on the supposition that they were of Jewish
origin, might have some reference to God's first covenant with the Jewish patriarch Noah, which is thus recorded in the ninth chapter
of Genesis, ver. 8-17: "And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you,
and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth
with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establi,h my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh
be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the
token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set
my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a
cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh; and the water, shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud;
and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the
earth. And God said unto Noah, Thi, is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon
the earth."

It can scarcely be doubted that the Jews believed that the rainbow was not a natural phrenomenon but an express sign of the cove_
nant made between God and their first patriarch, who may be emphatically so styled, because they were descended from Shern, his
eldest son. And hence it is likely that the rainbow wa, always an object highly revered by them; and that in later days the Ingas
might have assumed it as a royal emblem. The sapphire, a stone of great intrinsic value, was probably held in still greater esteem by the
Jews on account of its azure colour assimilating it in some degree to heaven and to the rainbow. Ezekiel says that he beheld, in his
famous vision described in the first chapter of his prophecies, the throne of God in appearance as the sapphire stone, and his glory
like" the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain." The Mexicans painted the visage of their supreme deity Tetzauhteotle with three
lines of azure blue across it. It is surprising what fanciful theories in natural philosophy the expression It? I do set my bow in the cloud,"
in the thirteenth verse of the above-mentioned chapter of Genesis, has given rise to. Sir Isaac Newton accounted for the appearance of
the rainbow on scientific principles capable of demonstration. But other philosophers, not choosing that that token in the cloud should
have existed previously to the Deluge, have gone so far as to affirm that it never rained before the Deluge, but that the earth was only irrigated
by nocturnal dews. These philosophers, if they had lived at the time of the Deluge, would have reasoned less absurdly if they had
predicted that it never would rain after the Deluge. Their notions of the" mecanique celeste" of the universe must also be very curious,
since they imagine that to suspend or totally to derange the laws of nature is a case which may with probability be supposed, or one
unlikely powerfully to affect the scale in which probabilities are weighed. It has been supposed by some philosophers (the Hutchinsonians)
that if all the sciences were lost, their first principles or elements might be found in the Pentateuch; and they have accordingly
endeavoured to torture the system of Moses into some resemblance to that of Sir Isaac Newton. If the likeness however really exists,
the Jews were such wretched philosophers that they could never discover it. "What correct notion, for instance, could they have
formed of astronomy, when they believed in the existence of a solid firmament over their heads, and imagined that the heavens might fall?
or, being misled by their own interpretation of the sixteenth verse of the first chapter of Genesis, -- "And God made two great lights" the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also," -- maintained that the sun and the moon were
both greater than the fixed stars, because they are both termed great in rererence to them, although the moon is afterwards named
lesser in reference to the sun? 




298 NOTES.

before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgmcnt of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord 
continually." It would appear from the sixth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of the First Book of Samuel,
that the high pricst of the Jews divined by the Urim and the Thummim inserted in his breast-plate: "And
when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not; neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets."
How greatly must the veneration which the Jews werc inclined to feel for the person of their high priest have
been increased by the circumstance of his wearing this mysterious breast-plate I The Egyptian priests, some of
whose customs the Jews seem to have imitated, notwithstanding the hatred which they bore to the Egyptian
nation, wore also, when discharging ilie functions of supreme judicature, a breast-plate with the image of Truth
engraved upon it, as Diodorus Siculus testifies.

The figures in ilie Oxford MS. before referred to, are in the original paintings large and coarsely executed, with
little apparent regard to minute details: it is impossible therefore to decide whether the breast-plate on the priest
represented in the twelfth page, is square or round, or whether it contains one or more precious stones. The breastplates
worn by the Mexican priests appear to have been of different shapes and sizes, and to have been set with
various numbers of precious stones. In the thirtieth page of the original Mexican painting preserved in the
Library of the Vatican, the figure of a priest or some other personage occurs, with a round breast-plate attached by
a chain to his neck; and near him appear to be two other breast-plates, one of a square and the other of a round
form. From the forty-second verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus, -- "And thou shalt make them linen
breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: and they shall be upon
Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near
unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto
him and his seed after him," -- it would appear that the maxtle, worn from a sense of decency by the Mexican priests 
round their loins, very much resembled the breeches which Moses made for Aaron and his sons. It is not improbable,
from the destitute state in which the Israelites quitted Egypt, their long wanderings in the desert, and the
warmth of the climate of Palestine, that necessity at first, with habit superindnced, and entire freedom from the inconveniences
of cold, had accustomed them to be clad in very thin apparel. * This supposition is corroborated by

-----
* It is probable that the lower orders amongst the Jewish populace dressed exactly like the Mexicans, wearing simply a ?max tie girded
round their loins, which slight covering was even dispensed with by their prophets when they prophesied; who on such occasions must have
adopted a fashion very like that which still prevails amongst the Faquirs of the East, being thus described by Isaiah in the twentieth
chapter of his Book of Prophecies, where speaking of himself he says, "In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the
king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; at the same time spake the Lord by isaiah the son of Amoz, saying,
Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the
Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
so sball the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives." That haiah's walking barefoot and naked
was not merely a type of the Egyptian captivity, but also an act agreeable to the usages of the Hebrew prophets, may be inferred 
from the following passage of the nineteenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel. "And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when
they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the
messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise.
And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that
is in Sechu: and he asked and said, 'Where are Samuel and David?' And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he
went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth
in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day, and
all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets 1" To the Greeks this manner of prophesying would have
appeared as extraordinary and unbecoming as the hallowed cave from which the Delphic oracles were delivered, or the tripod and the
inspired priestess, were in the eyes of the early Fathers. The oracles had in fact sunk into contempt for some time before the Christian
era; since, their predictions having so often failed, mankind began at last to suspect them: but that stress which some theologians lay on
the cessation of oracles, which, like the cessation of sacrifices amongst the Jews, they say was occasioned by the coming of the Messiah;
appealing moreover to a treatise of Plutarch on the subject, to prove that the oracles did cease about that tilUe, -- is unnecessary, since
what becomes of their argument, if it can be proved that oracles existed in the New World long after the establishment of Christianity,
and that the Jews there revj"ed their old sacrifices? With respect to oracular inspiration, considered as a long prevailing belief of some
of the greatest and wisest nations of antiquity, it may be observed that it was not so absurd as many Christian writers have represented
it: for the plinciple having been admitted, that men might occasionally receive divine warnings of events likely to compromise great
interests, the idea which suggested itself to the ancients, of establishing oracles, that on the one hand they might not appear to neglect



NOTES. 299

paintings found in the Egyptian tombs, amongst which, figures, intended, as it has been presumed, to represent
Jews, occur in the exact Mexican costume, with a mantle over their shoulders, and the maxtle (to use a Scriptural
expression) girded round their loins. That the Egyptian priests wore but a slight covering may be known both
from ancient paintings and from statnes, some of which may be seen in the British Museum. Before quitting the
subject of Mexican costume, we shall point out another very remarkahle agreement in the Mexican and Jewish
dress. It says in the thirty-seventh and following verses of the fifteenth chapter of Numbers, "And the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the horders of
their garments, throughout their generations; and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue.
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord,
and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring;
that ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God,
which hrought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God." It was to be expected
that so solemn an injunction to the Jews to wear fringes. on the borders of their garments, would be scrupulously
obeyed throughout their generations: accordingly we find, in the fifth verse of the twenty-third chapter of Saint
Matthew, allusion made to this custom, where Christ, rebuking the Scribes and Pharisees, says, "But all their
works they do for to be seen of men; they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments."
Reference to the eighth page of the Oxford MS. before mentioned, will show that it was a Mexican custom also
to wear fringes and borders fastened to the apparel; and an examination of any of the other Mexican paintings
contained in these volumes will fully establish that fact. The Oxford MS. which has heen so often referred to, it
has been already observed, is incomplete. This original Mexican painting is drawn in a very coarse style on paper
of met!; and, unlike the other Mexican paintings, rolls up instead of being folded: some of the figures are
uncoloured, and the subject is prohahly historical or mythological; and it has heen supposed connected with the
descent of some fabulous personage into hell, since in a Christian calendar, that is to say a Mexican painting explanatory
of the rites and doctrines of Christianity, which we have had the opportunity of seeing, hell is always
represented by the symbol of the upper jaw of a serpent; and the Jewish notion of descending as it were into a pit,
the admonitions of Heaven; nor on the other suffer the populace to be deluded by fabe prophets, such as were frequent among the Jews, 
was founded on policy and a regard tor the public good. The necessity of a place, a person, and of a prescribed mode of consultation for
the delivery of the answers of the oracle, suggested to them also the use of the cave, the priestess, and the sacred tripod. The cave was
a temple formed by the hands of Nature; it was ordained that the priestess should be a person of the purest and most exemplary life;
and the tripod was probably for the purpose of containing, when the sulphuric exhalations of the cave were not sufficiently strong, other
ingredients the fumes of which arising might affect the priestess with that mania so finely descrjbed by Virgil in the sixth book of the
Aeneid;

"Cui talia fanti
Ante fores, subito non vultus, non color unus,
Non comtre mansere com;e, sed pectus anhelum,
Et rabie fera corda tument; majorque videri,
Nec mortale sonans, amata est numine quando
Jam propiore Dei;" --

the approach of which it would appear she was fully sensible of, although it was first necessary that the vapour should quite overcome
her reason before the expressions which she uttered assumed a prophetic character. It may easily be supposed that in most cases the
priestess merely pretended to be seized with this divine mania, and pronounced or sung certain preconcerted words; but this supposition
does not involve the other, that those who instituted oracles intended to practise a fraud on the credulity of mankind. They were probably
of Egyptian origin, anel invented expressly for the purpose of checking fraud, and of restraining the people from going to consult those
who pretended to divine by means of dreams and visions; in which species of divination we know that one at least of the Jewish patriarchs
excelled, since clothing could have tended to bring a profession of this kind, exercised by private individuals, sooner into disrepute and
contempt, than the fame of a true and a public oracle which all might consult. The inventors of the oracles seem, by enacting that their 
delivery should be from a tripod, to have proceeded on the principle on which the whole art of divination by dreams was founded; viz. that the
mind when least under the influence of reason and volition, as in sleep, becomes most susceptible of divine revelations: and hence they
thought it necessary that the priestess should first be thrown into a kind of delirium, by the exhalatiolls that emanated from the cave and
the cauldron, before her words could be considered prophetic, and their utterance the spontaneous effusions of the oracle.

'*' We may fairly ask what Sahagun means by saying, in the eighth chapter of his eighth book," Todas estas mantas arriba dichas son
sospechosas." "All the mantles mentioned above are suspicious." Does he mean to say that they all bad fringes I




300 NOTES.
seems also to be preserved. Mention has already been made of ablutions as common amongst the Mexicans; but the
confession which was customary among the Peruvians is still more surprising. Acosta in the twenty-fifth chapter of
the fifth book of his Natural and Moral History of the Indies thus describes it: "Idem sacrilegus mendaciorum pater
in Confessionis etiam ritu instituendo, Romanam Ecclesiam fere in omnibus apprime remulatus est. Peruanis siquidem
persuasit, quod omnium quibus torqucrentur rerumnarum ac morborum origo, a solo peccato sit. Hinc factum,
ut pro iis expiandis, sacrificia plurima conderent et ordinarent. Nee id satis quid,em, verum etiam ore ipso peccata
sua contrito pectore confitebantur, qui mos per universas provincias eas latissime i~undaverat. Hunc in finem certi
confessionarii crcabantur, dignitatum gradibus distincti. Pcculiaria quredam et definita peccata sacerdotibus primariis
reservabantur. Confessoribus vero nonnunquam prenre graves irrogabantur, iis comprimis, qui pauperculi
quod sacerdoti penderent non habebant. Sed et mulieres nonnullibi confessionihus audiendis prreficiebantur. In
provincia Collasuyo, vel dum hodie, mos est, ut pro peccato gravissimo habeatur, si quis vel levissimum quoddam
crimen admissum sacerdotibus (hos Ychuri sive Ychuiri appellant) non revelet. Hi, et sortibus, et quorundam animalium
inspectis extis, de populi peccatis divinabant. Dissimulatores suspectos, lapidibus aut saxis dorso incus sis,
tamdiu verberabant, dnm plcnam omnium patratorum enumerationem elicerent. Eo facto, prenitentire agendre singulis
definitus modus decernebatur. Pro his etiam, diis sacrificia peculiaria offerebantur. Hujusmodi confessiones iterabant,
quoties velliberi, vel parentcs, vel Ca~ique, aut morbo, aut alio adverso quodam casu tentarentur. Quod si fieret
aliquando ut Inga languesceret, aut morbo invaderetur, tum omnes provincire Collas simul confiteri cogebantur. Confessione
manifestata peccat..'l. sacerdos minime revelare audebat, nisi fors in casibus definitis. Qure enumerari ab ipsis
confessoribus peccata frequentius solebant, hrec erant homicidia extra bellum patrata, furta, adlllteria, venelicia et fascinationes,
idolorllm contemptus, festorum profanationes, malre de Ingis ominationcs, et contra hos rebelliones factre.
De internis animi vel cogitationis peccatis nihil angebantur, usque dum Christiani de his quoque velut nocentibus,
eosdem instituissent. Ipse Inga non sacerdotibus, sed Soli tantum confitebatur, qui peccata ips ius ad Viracocham
deferret, et illorum condonationcm ab eodem impetraret. Hoc modo confessus Inga corpus abluebat, firmiter sua
ita abstersum iri peccata persuasum habens. Id hoc modo fiebat: in fluentum proximum ingressus, hrec verba
edebat: 'Soli mea peccata confessus sum, ea fluvius hie excipiens in vastunl mare abripiat, ut in reternum non
appareaut.' Simili modo et creteri confessi, abluebantur; qui mos etiam Mahumetanis solennis dicitur, quem
Guadoi appellant, Indi vero Opacuna vocant. Si cui ex filiis quidam fato abripiretur, hunc peccatorem maximum
arbitrabantur, dicentes propter illius peccata gravia evenire, ut filius loco parentis moreretur; eo quo paulo ante
diximus modo lotus, a gibboso, aut alias a natura mutilo distortoque homine, legis jussu urticis credebatur. Si
quis reger sorte magorum et ariolorum sibi omnino esse moriendum didicisset, nulld 11Iordfilium licet unigenilltm,
obtruncabat, P"o se mactato filio deos placatum iri sperans. Horum rituum etsi Christi ani partem suo adventu
magnam abrogassent, nihilominus tamen Indi apud se, peculiaria quredam confitendi genera furtim diu aluerunt, ex
quibus erant jo/unia, ablutiones, auri a''gentique erogationes, montanorum visitationes, * et plagarum dorso excipiendarlt1n
tolcratus. Superstitiosorum hujusmodi sacerdotum qui regros visitare solebant, in provincia Chicuito
multi adhuc superesse dicuntur. Maxima tamen Indorum pars ad confessionis Papisticre normam paulatim jam
assuefit, quam devotione religiosa amplectuntur. Quinimo singulari quadam Dei providentia ita fuisse constitutum
videtur, ut confessionum usus ante adventum Christiano rum jam dum apud eos vigeret, quo ad hunc recipiendum
addllci possent commodius."

It is not perhaps generally known that the Jews, -- from whom some authors have contended that Christians
adopted the practice, -- were accustomed to use confession. The same arguments which are employed to derive the
Christian mode of confession from that in use among the Jews, will be found equally applicable to the Peruvian;
since the confession of the Peruvians as nearly resembled that of the Jews as does the Christian. The Jewish
confession was very peculiar; the high priest was commanded in Leviticus to confess the sins of the people over
a live goat, which bore them away into the desert: "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the

-----
* The primitive Christians, bearing in mind the rebuke which the Pharisees received from Christ for praying in public places that
they might be seen by men, considered it an act of purer devotion to retire to solitary places to pray. The word' hermit,' originally 
pronounced 'eremite,' is derived from the Greek name for a desert, fPllP.O). In the very early ages, the deserts of Egypt became the resort of
numerous Christians, who retired thither and acquired the fame of superior sanctity; and too often did they come forth again to mix
themselves up with the busy affairs of men, and to tread the path of spiritual ambition.



NOTES. 301

live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their
sins, putting them upon the head of the goat; and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the goat in the
wilderness." It has been stated in a recent Missionary publication, that a custom prevails in Thibet of letting a
goat annually on a certain festival escape into the desert. In Yucatan, according to Herrera, women shortly after
childbirth were exorcised; and their sins appear to have been laid upon a vessel full of wine, which a man was
desired to carry, without looking back, a certain distance out of the city. If it be objected that the Peruvian
confession was very different from that ordained in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, it cannot be denied: but
neither can the inference which may thence be attempted to be drawn be admitted, that the Jews were not the
introducers of confession into the New World. There are the strongest grounds for believing that either to Jews
or Christians the Indians of Peru and Yucatan were indebted for confession; and the account which Acosta has
given of the confession of the Peruvians is replete with Indian superstitions and Jewish notions mixed. The Jews
believed that national and individual misfortunes were generally caused by sin, as many passages from Scripture might
be adduced to show. They were accustomed to cast lots, as may be proved from the eighth verse of the chapter of
Leviticus already referred to: "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other
lot for the scape-goat." Women amongst the Jews were sometimes accustomed to exercise very high functions; as in
the fourth verse of the fourth chapter of Judges, it says; "And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she
judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount
Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgement."

Amongst the crimes which the Indians were specially enjoined to confess, witchcraft'" is enumerated; severe
prohibitions against which may be found in various parts of the Pentateuch. Acosta says, that the Inga after confession
walked into an adjoining river, bidding its waters receive his sins and carry them into the sea, that he might
be for ever rid of them. In page 212 of the first volume of the Religious Ceremonies of all Nations, the following
passage occurs: "The ancient Jews formerly laid all their sins upon a he-goat, which afterwards they drove into
the desert; but the modern Jews instead of a goat now throw them upon the fish. After dinner they repair to the
brink of a pond, and there shake their clothes over it with all their force." This practice is taken from the nineteenth
verse of the seventh chapter of the prophet Micah: "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; 
he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

The Jews as well as the Peruvians entertained a notion that the sins of the father were visited npon the children.
Hence in the ninth chapter of Saint John we are informed, that when Jesus saw the man who had been blind from
his birth, his disciples asked him, saying, "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind 1"
The idea that the sacrifising an only son would be meritorious in the eyes of God, and would atone for a father's
sins, seems, by a strange perversion of precedent and the blindest superstition, to have been derived from the example
of Abraham offering up his son Isaac. The Jews were accustomed to practise great austerities: fasting, sackcloth
and ashes, and cruel volnntary scourgings, were the means which they employed to comply with the injunction contained
in the twenty-sixth and following verses of the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus, and repeated in other parts
of Scripture: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be
a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afllict your souls, and offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make an
atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afllicted in that same day,
he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day,
the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever
throughout your generations, in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afllict your


-----
* "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" is a Mosaic ordinance which Saul, the first king of the Jews, expressly chosen by God and
anointed to the regal dignity by the hands of the prophet Samuel, forgot when he consulted the witch of Endor. Nothing appears more
unaccountable in Hebrew history, than to find that persons appointed to the highest dignities amongst the Jews by the hand of God,
so repeatedly and unhesitatingly broke his commandments. Did this, we may inquire, proceed from want of faith on their part, or from
ignorance of their own national annals?




302 NOTES.
 
souls: in the ninth day of the month, at even, from even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath." The"auri
argentique erogationes" was a Jewish as well as a Peruvian custom. Moses himself says in the thirtieth chapter
of Exodus: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, sayiug, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after
their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; 
that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, everyone that passcth
among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half
shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Everyone that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years
old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less
than half a shekel, when they give an ofrcring unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt
take the atonement-money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your
souls." The usual atonement for the sins of the people was a bullock and two lanlbs of the first year, which were
sacrifised daily on the altar of atonement, as was ordained in the thirty-sixth and following verses of the twenty-ninth
chapter of Exodus: "And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin-offering for atonement: and thou
shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify 'it. Seven days
thou shalt make an atonement for the altar ", amI sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth
the altar shall be holy. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by
day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: And
with the one lamb a tenth-deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of
an hin of wine for a drink-offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to
the meat-offering of the morning, and according to the drink-offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made
by fire unto the Lord. This shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your gencrations at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there I will
meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle
of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron, and his sons, to minister to me in the
priest's office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am
the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord
their God." This solemn compact between the Jews and God, -- the conditions of which were the performance on
their part of continual sacrifices of atonement, and on his that he would be their God, and would dwell among them,
 -- imposed upon the Jews, as long as the old law should exist, the necessity of perpetual sacrifices. But they deny that
the old law has ever been abolished, and triumphantly refer to certain passages in the Pentateuch, where the expressions
everlasting covenant and statute forever occur. We must not therefore suppose that the Jews, obeying the
law of Moses where it enjoins circumcision and abstaining from the flesh of swine, would have discontinued sacrifices,
and the custom of one brother's raising up seed to another, on any other account than because the former would
not have been tolerated by other nations, and the latter would have rendered them odious in countries governed by
different institutions. But on the supposition that they had in early ages colonized America, can it be doubted
whether they would not have felt it a duty to revive their old law in all its vigour, and not to omit sacrifices? Or
admitting that they might have felt scrupulous as to the place in which these sacrifices ought to be performed,when
we recollect that the ten tribes who were under no curse did not go up to Jerusalem to sacrifice, -- is it likely
that those scruples would not have been easily laid aside by the posterity of those who fled from Jerusalem at the
time of its destruction? Again, it should be remembered that the Jews considered it unlawful to consign their oral
traditions to writing: but when they feared that those traditions if not written would sink into oblivion, they did not
hesitate to infringe the law. We are induced, from all these considerations, to believe that the Peruvian sacrifices
of atonement and burnt-offerings were originally instituted amongst the Indians by the Jews; and that time had
corrupted them, as likewise the feast of the Passover, into a mass of superstitions. Acosta, describing the former in


-----
* Protestants very frequently turn into ridicule the Catholic custom of consecrating and blessing church bells; but why should 
this practice appear less reasonable to them, than the making an atonement for an inanimate object, such as an altar, which never could
have committed sin?



NOTES. 303

the twenty-eighth chapter of the fifth book of his History, says: "Octavo mense Chahna Huarqui, centum oves,
omnes cresio colore et Vizcacham referente, cremabantur. Hic mensis cum nostro Julio quadrat. Nono mense
Yapaquis, centum iterum oves spadicei coloris qure prius decollatre, ignibus imponebantur cum mille Cuies, ne glacies,
aerve, ac aqure, aut sol agris damnum darent, immolabantur. Hic Augusto convenit. Decimo mense Coyaraymi,
centum candidre oves villosre cremabantur. Hoc eodem mense, Septcmbri nostro respondente, festum quoque Situa
hpc ritu fiebat. Primo mensis die ante lunre exortum, magnis clamoribus editis concurrebant, et facibus quas manibus
ardentes gerebant, sese invicem contundebant, dicentes, exeat malum, exeat, id Panconcos appellabant. Hoc
ludrico finito, ex fonte publico tum lavabantur, tum ex ordine potabant. Eodem hoc mense, Mamocanas superius
dictre magnum placentularum cum victimarum sanguine pistarum numerum Soli offerebant, de quibus deinde fragmenta
peregrinis distribuebant, ct in omnes totius regni Guacas ac Curacas transmittebant, in signum nimirum
frederis cum Sole et Inga pacti, sicut superius de his fusius enarravimus. Et Ilodie quoque nonnullis in locis hoc
ritu lavari et convivari solent; sed furtim id, quod a festo Situ" profluxit. Undecimo mcnse Homaraimi, Punchaiquis
rursus requo modo centum oves mactabantur. Quod si circa tcmpus illud pluviarUlll inopia esset saturate
atram ovem in campis firmiter deligabant, et circa eam Chicha quoquo versum in ambitu copiose profundebant, nec
eidemalimenti quicquam aut pabuli offerchant, prius quam pluvire decidissent. Hic mensis nostro Octobri par est.
Mense vero novissimo Ayamara, totidem iterum oves offerchantur, et una festum Raymi~antara Rayquis agebatur.
Hoc mense qui nobis November est, pro pueris istis quibus postero mense aures pertundendre crant, necessaria omnia
parabantur, et seniores lustrabantllr, et alia quredam similia peragebantur. Festum illlld Isuraymi vocatum agunt,
cnm pluvire ant nimis frequentes, aut rarre sunt, aut pestis populariter grassatur. Ex festis extraordinariis quorum
innumera ferc erant, nullum Ytu solennius erato Id nullo stato ratoque tempore, sed cum necessitas ali qua postularet,
celebrabatur. Hoc peracturi, biduo integro jejUllant, ab uxoribus abstinent, nec cibum uNum cum sale aut ax;
paratum gustant, nec de Chicha bibunt, et loco tali conveniunt ubi nec pel'egl'inis, nec ulli animali accessus sit. Tum
temp oris, peculiaribus palliis, vestibus ac indumentis, in hunc usum para tis utuntur, et palliis capiti injectis, lento
admodum gradu incedunt, ad sonitum tympanorum impulsorum pedes moderantcs, nec quicquam vocis ac sermonis
edentes *. Processionem hanc integra die ac nocte continuabant, et a sequente luce largiter cdebant, potabant t,
et tripndiabant, binis completis diebus ac noctibus jactitantes scse hoc nomine, quasi preces corum vere exauditre
sint. Hoc festlUn etsi hodie quidem non cum tot ceremoniis et ritibus peragatur ut olim, multa tamen prioribus
similia vel dum Indi remulantur, sed in locis secretioribus saltem nec in propatulo. Ipso corporis Dominici die
choreas Llamallama de Guaeon dictas, et similes alias instituunt; ritus ethnicos in nullo remittentes. Quibus abrogandis
etsi prresules quidem operose incumbant, passim tamen clanculum hujusmodi subinde agitari solent. Hinc
ergo clare nobis cffulget quodnam lucis ct tenebrarum, quod veritatis Christianre et Gentilium superstitionum discrimen
sit. Qure tamen omnia polydredalus Sathanas promiscue confundere, ct nugas suas divime vel'itati commiscerc,
nunquam non Inborat satagitque." It should be observed that the animals called sheep by Acosta were 
llamas, which, though a species peculiar to South America and unknown in the other parts of the globe, were
named sheep by the Spaniards, as well from their resemblance to that animal as from the great utility they
were of to the Peruvians in supplying them with food and clothing. Although inhabiting the coldest heights of the
southern range of the Andes, they have not been discovered so far north in America as New Spain and Mexico.
It is however a very remarkable and no less mysterious fact, that the representation of a sheep or lamb, crowned as it
were for sacrifice and pierced with a spear, should sometimes occur in the Mexican paintings: Fabrega calls it a
crowned or sacred rabbit; and Baron de Humboldt says that, according to traditions which have been preserved to our
days, it is a symbol of suffering Innocence. The Baron describes it in the following passage, which is extracted from
his American Monuments: "Un animal inconnu, orne d'un collier et d'une espece de harnois, mais perce de dards;
Fabrcga Ie nomme lapin couronne, lapin sacre. 011 tl'ouve cette figure dans plusieurs rituels des anciens Mexicains.

-----
* Taciturnity is sometimes enjoined to the Jews at their more solemn festivals, and they wear on their heads occasionally a cloak or
mantle in their synagogues.

+ The Jews, after fasting, often indulged immoderately, like the Corinthians of old, in eating and drinking. How sordid, after all, that
morality must appear, which chiefly consisted in eating and in refraining from eating. This was the morality of the Pharisees, as Christ
informs us, who reproaches them for their frequent fasting, that they might appear unto men to fast; and compares them to whitened
sepulchres, and also taxes them with taking the chief places at feasts.




304 NOTES.

D'apres les traditions qui se sont conservees jusqu'a nos jours, c'est un symbole de l'Innocence souffrante; sous ce
rapport cette representation allegoriquc rap pelle r agneau des Hf:b,·eux, ou ridee mystique d'un sacrifice expiatoire
destine a calmer la colere de la Divinite. Les dents incisives, la forme de la tete et de la queue, paroissent indiquer
que Ie peintre a voulu representer un animal de la famille des rongeurs; quoique les pieds 11 deux sabots munis
d'nn ergot, qui ne touche pas la terre, Ie rapprochent des ruminans; je doute que ce soit un cavia ou lievre Mexicain;
seroit-ce quelque mammifere inconnu qui habite au nord du Rio Gila dans l'interieur des terres vers la partie
nord-ouest de l'Ameriquc?" M. de Humboldt's description applies to a representation of this animal in the Codex
Borgianus. It is also twice painted in the twentieth page of the lesser Vatican Manuscript: in the lower compartment
of which it is alive and adorned for sacrifice; in the upper, dead, with its side pierced with a spear. If the
rabbit had been an animal known only to the Mexicans by tradition, an indistinct recollection of which had been preserved
by means of their ancient paintings, it would not be difficult to suppose that the figures under consideration
were intended to represent it; but as there was no animal with which the Mexicans were better acquainted, this
cannot be the case. In natural history likewise the teeth and the feet are very decisive of the species of animals,
whilst the shape of the ears and of the tail is scarcely considered. And here it will be observed, that the configuration
of the head of the upper figure is much less like a rabbit than that of the lower, whilst the shape of the nose in both
is decidedly different. The same animal is also painted variously in different Mexican paintings, but the characteristic
mark of a divided hoof seems generally preserved. In the second page of the painting preserved in the Royal Library
at Dresden, the style of which differs exceedingly from that of the Mexican paintings, it seems to be four times
represented: the upper figures appear to be descending from the clouds; and the lower is recumbent, emblematical
perhaps, like the lamb of the Hebrews, of innocence suffering under temporary persecution; whilst the fignre above
may possibly represent the genius of Evil oppressing his hapless victim: the long tail and the protruding tongue
common to animals like sheep, cows and horses, which graze, -- but which the rabbit species are without, -- as well as
the divided hoof, sufficiently mark that this animal is of another class. The heads of the three other figures, which are
themselves a combination of real and imaginary forms, can be referred to no particular species; hut nature preponderates
in the shape of the body, legs, and feet of the animals intended to be represented, and plainly indicates the class to
which they belong. It deservcs also to be remarker!, that the same figure of a lamb with its belly formed of the sun's
disk is painted on the pyramidal roof of a temple in the sixth page of the Borgian MS.; and in a curious representation
of Quecalcoatle, as it is to be supposed, seated on a dragon or leviathan, which occurs in the fourteenth page of
the Mexican painting that formerly belonged to Archbishop Laud, and which is at present preserved in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford, the figure of some other perhaps unknown species of animal occurs; it differs from the rabbit in
having a long tail and in the formation of its legs, although it has a somewhat similar head: the meaning of this
symbol, it seems difficult to conjecture. That the rabbit, as Fabrega supposes, was a type amongst the ancient Mexicans
of suffering innoccnce there is no reason to doubt; and the idea of generosity protecting the innocent from the
powerful, deceitful and wicked, could not be better expressed than in the seventy-fifth page of the lesser Vatican
painting, where an eagle is represented rescuing a rabbit from the fangs of a serpent. The bird of Jove there crushes
the noxious progeny of the earth; and the unequal conflict of evil with good terminates in the serpent being
compelled to surrender up his prey. It is probable that the hieroglyphic by which the Mexicans signified suffering
innocence was originally a lamb, imperfect rcpresentations of which are found in the Mexican paintings, and which
in process of time was changed into a rabbit, an animal with which they were better acquainted; traces of the
former still continuing to exist in the Mexican paintings, and to be accounted for on the same principle as Baron
de Hnmboldt explains the presence of the words" Tulanian hululaez" in the song which the people of Cholnla were
accustomed to sing in dancing round their teocalli, and which he says belong to no language now in existence in
Mexico: "Dans toutes les parties du globe, sur Ie dos des Cordilleres, comme 11 l'ile de Samothrace dans la mer
Egee, des fragmens de langues primitives se sont conserves dans les rites religieux." But from whom, it may he inquired,
did the Mexicans borrow the original symbol? The words "Tulanian hulnlaez" form a metrical line, the
measure of which is the same as that of the Antiphonariurn Benc1!Orense mentioned by Montfaucon and Muratori,
which the Irish monks of that monastery were accustomed to sing in commemoration of their deceased abbots, and
which begins, if we are not mistaken, with the words "A solis usque cardine."

Diego de Rosales observes in the following passage, extracted from his inedited History of Chile, that the Indians
on making a treaty of peace were accustomed to kill a sheep, like the Jews making use of the body of the animal,





NOTES. 305

figuratively to denounce vengeance against whomsoever should violate it: "En otras muchas cosas observan muchos
ritos y ceremonias, que usaron miciones muy capazes y politicas; sea una el matar una oveja quando capitulan
pazes. De Abram refiere la Sagrada Escritura, que celebrando la confederacion de amistad con Dios, Ie mando que
partiesse una vacca, y un carnero, y assi mismo una cabra; y esplicando esta ceremonia Nicolao de Lira, dice que era
costumbre de muchas naciones quando capitulaban pazes entresi, dividir una res por m'edio, y passar por alii los que
se confederaban, para dar a entender que los 'que quebrautassen las pazes, merecian ser divididos como aquella res. Y
esto mismo quiere significar estos Indios, matando la oveja de la tierra, y sacandola el corazon, que inerese se haga 10
mismo con el que faltara 'a la paz. Y assi 10 hazen quando cautivan a alguno que les ha hecho traicion, como a los de
su propria naciou por aver les dejado por uuirse con el Espanol; y para uuirse ellos con mas fuerte lazo, y en un
mismo corazon, comen el de la oveja, y el del cautivo que assi matan." -- Historia del Chile, lib. i. cap. xxxii. n. 5.
" In many other things they observe many rites and ceremonies cnstomary amongst acute and cultivated nations; one
is the killing of a sheep when they make a treaty of peace. The Holy Scripture relates of Abram, that when he
celebrated the covenant of amity with God, he commanded him to divide a cow, and a ram, and likewise a goat; and
Nicholas de Lira explaining this ceremony, says that it was customary with many nations, when they made treaties
of peace with each other, to divide something in half, and to cause those who entered into the confederacy to pass
between the parts, in order to signify that those who should break the treaty would deserve to be divided like that
thing. Which is precisely what these Indians mean by killing the sheep of the country and tearing out its heart;
namely, that he would deserve the same thing to be done to him who should violate the peace. This they do,
therefore, when they take prisoner anyone who has been guilty of treason towards them, as also any of their own
countrymen who have forsaken them to join the Spaniards; and in order to unite themselves together by a stronger
bond and in the same heart, they eat the heart of the sheep and that of the prisoner whom they put to death in this
manner." The text of Scripture to which Rosales refers, relating to God's covenant with Abram, is the following,
which is taken from the fifteenth chapter of Genesis: "And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old,
and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took
unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he
not." And in the seventeenth and eighteenth verses the same chapter adds, "And it came to pass, that when
the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp, that passed between those pieces.
In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." In the eighteenth and nineteenth verses of the thirty-fourth chapter
of Jeremiah, the dividing a calf into halves and passing between the parts is expressly said to have been the ceremony
which the Jews performed on making their covenant with God: "And I will give the men that have transgressed
my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me when they cut
the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof: the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the
eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give
them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be
for meat unto the fowls of heaven and to the beasts of the earth." The festival of Capacreyme, which the Peruvians
celebrated in the month of Rayme, the first month of their year, and which Acosta describes in the twenty-third
chapter of the fifth book of his Natural and Moral History of the Indies, and supposes to have been instituted by
the Devil in the New World, in imitation of the sacrament of the Eucharist which Christ had ordained in the old
continent, was probably originally the feast of the Passover, which time, traditions and fanaticism, had grossly
corrupted and changed. The following is the chapter of Acosta referred to, which is taken from the Latin
translation of the original work, inserted in the third volume of the ninth part of De Bry's Collection of Voyages.
It may here be remarked, that Acosta's History in Spanish, whatever may be the cause, is rare and difficult to be
procured, and that in the translation it has been abridged. "Sathanre scelerata arrogantia, ut jam aliquoties
diximus, et meta et modo caruit. Nam non superstitionibus solum et sacrificiis, verum etiam ceremoniis sacramentalibus
quas Salvator Christus in fidelium solatium et refectionem statuit, divinam sibi autoritatem conciliare
ausus est. Comprimis autem sac~am Eucharistiam, quem thesaurum pretiosissimum servamus, distinctis aliquot
modis remulari ccepit, ut nulla re inansa et intenta!a dubias hominum mentes perditioni reternre intricaret; quod hoc
fere modo prrestitit. Peruanis mos est, ut primo anni mense, quem Rayme vocant, appellente, is cum Decembri
nostro convenit, festum Capacreyme agitent; quo sacrificiis suis ordinariis multiplices ritus ac ceremonias ali'luam



306 NOTES.

multis diebus exhibent, et hoc tempore nulli peregrino in auld Cuscand nIDI'an licehat. Finito festo, advenis rnrsus
accessus dabatur ut sacrificiis ct ipsi interessent; qui bus deinde sacramenta hoc modo conferebant. Mamaconas
Solis, quas superius moniales diximus, ex farind maiis cum sanguine alborum arietum eodem die mactatorum, n;ossam
pinsebant et suhigehant, ex qud postea placentulas, eodem die hostitX vice '!Iferri solitas, concinnahant. Hoc facto, ex
divC'J'sis provinciis injiniti l101J!ines confluebant, quos in constituto loco sacel'dotes ex ordine considere faciebant. Hi vero
sac.erdotes posteri ex generatione Iluqui Yupangi erant. Considen/i unicuilibet de placentis dietis minis/rantes,
dicentesque ideo de fragmentis is/is se distribuC'J'e, ut pal'/icipantes, illorum medio, IngO' Peruanorum regi unirentur et
jmdC'J'e cum eo perpetuo coalescerent. Quin et adhortabantur communicantes, ne quam sinistram et disconvenientem
Ingre mentionem ullibi facerent *, sed in rebus ipsi promiscue omnibus toto pectore faverent, vivoque eundem amore
jugiter prosequerentur, cujus debiti hanc porrectam micam testem jam acciperent, qme perjurium et violatam fidem
quocunque tempore haud cunctanter proditura sit. Placentre vero istre magnis ex auro argentoque lancibus prreferebantur,
quas huic uni usui paratas habebant. Peregrini vero ubi fragmentum de placenta acceperunt, Soli de istis
beneficiis gratias devotas fundebant, et tum verbis, tum vultibus, ingentis gaudii signum edebant, dejerantes quod omni
vitre sure tempore, nec contra Solem, nee Ingam, quicquam vel verbis vel opere inique machinaturi sint, sed quod
utrisque in omnibus fidelem operam et obedientiam perpetuo prrestare velint. Cujus in rei testimonium indubitatum
micam oblatam quoque in corpus suumjam ingerunt. Diabolicas has ceremonias requa ratione mense quoque decimo
repetebant, quem Coyaraime voeabant, in Septembrem nostrum incidentem, et hoe eorum festum quoque, prrecipuorum
unum, patria lingua Citua vocabatur. Nec vero solum viritim hoc sacramentum distribuebant, sed placentas istas etiam
ad omnes Guacas et finitima idola per omne regnum transmittebant. Plurimi eas etiam ultro acceptum longis viis
accedebant, qui domum ad suos l'eversi, prretendebant hoc a Sole sacramentum sibi traditum esse, in signum et vinculum
ut illum perpetuo honore et cultu venerarentur. Cacique placentas hujusmodi multas dono accipieballt. Et hic
mos superstitione plenissimlls usque ad tempora Ingre Yupanguy duraverat, qui bono fine plerasque leges ritusque ac
ceremonias abrogans, Numre Romano quadamtenus se similem prrebuit." The Mexicans celehrated a festival called
Etzalqualiztli, in which eating a paste made of the flour of beans constitnted the principal religious ceremony. It is
not improbable that this festival had some relation with the Peruvian Capacreyme, since, infinitely numerous as were
the nations inhabiting the vast continent of South America and the West Indian Islands, the Tultecas seem, with a
few exceptions, to have successfully endeavoured to spread their superstitious rites and ceremonies amongst them.
The Ingas went to war for the express purpose of bringing other Indian tribes over to their faith. Accordingly we
find, that from New Mexico to the extreme province of Chile which resisted successfully the invasion of the Ingas,
the same religion with different modifications of rites and ceremonies prevailed; and circumcision, though not
universally practised, was one of its characteristics. Acosta has observed that it was a Peruvian custom to send to
the different provinces of the kingdom a portion of the victims, or of their blood kneaded into a cake, as a sign of
their confederacy with the Inga and the Sun, "in signum nimirum frederis cnm Sole et Inga pacti." We are
informed in the nineteenth chapter of Judges, that when the Levite whose concubine had been abused by the
Gibeonites, who were of the tribe of Benjamin, wished to revenge himself by the destruction of the whole tribe of
Benjamin, he cut the body of the woman who had died into twelve pieces and sent them into all the coasts of Israel,
thereby to excite a confederacy of all the other tribes against the tribe of Benjamin. "And when he was come
into his house he took a knife, and laid hold on his concnbine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve
pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel." The confederacy which was accordingly formed was so strong,
that the entire tribe of Benjamin, men, women and children, with the exception of six hundred men who had
sought refuge on the rock of Rimmon, were exterminated by the other tribes. The Lord is said to have fought
against the Benjamites in the thirty-fifth verse of the twentieth chapter of the same book. Although, therefore, it is
said in the preceding chapter, that this mode of exciting a confederacy was a new thing in Israel, still, as it did not
meet with the Lord's disapprobation and was attended with such success, the Jews it is to be expected would have

-----
* The Jews were commanded in the Pentateuch not to speak ill of the ruler of their people; which, from the ordinance which follows,
viz. "not to revile the gods," seems to have been a caution to them, in case they should be reduced under a foreign yoke, to regulate their
conduct accordingly. Saint Jude seems to allude to this commandment where he says that" Michael the archangel, when contending
with the Devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation." What a latitude, notwithstanding,
Ezekiel and all the prophets give themselves!





NOTES. 307

long retained a grateful recollection of the assistance which God vouchsafed to that confederacy, and might in
some after age have felt inclined to revive the memorial of it by instituting some analogous cercmony, on the
occasion of their solemnizing confederacies, divested of such circumstances as the peculiarity of the ancient precedent
alone warranted. It would even appear that it had been an old custom of the Israelites, when they wished to unite
all the tribes in a confederacy, to send portions of slain animals throughout the land; since it says in the sixth and
following verses of the eleventh chapter of the First Book of Samuel, "And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when
he heard these tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces,
and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth
after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done nnto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and
they came out with one consent. And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred
thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand." The following verses, taken from the twelfth chapter of Exodus,
descriptive of the institution of the feast of the Passover, deserve to be considered in connection with the passages
printed in italics of Acosta's description of the Pcruvian festival of Capacreyme: "This month shall be nnto you
the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." "Seven days shall ye eat unleavened
bread"'; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from
the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off:' from Israel." "And the Lord said unto Moses and
Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof." "Your lamb shall be without
blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats." The Jews might possibly
have regarded spots as a blemish, and therefore have chosen a lamb of a white colour for sacrifice. + "And ye shall
let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with
fire." "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood I will
pass over you: + and the plague shall not be upon yon to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." "Seven
days shall there be no leaven found in your houses, for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul

-----
* Sahagun says, in mentioning in the fourteenth chapter of his first book the festival of Xochilhuitl, which was dedicated to the god
IVIacuilxochitl, that the Mexicans ate on one of their fasts unleavend bread: "Otros ayunaban comiendo panes azimos, esto es, que
el maiz de que se hacia el pan que comian, no se cocia con cal antes de malerIa, que esto es como armenta (fermento), sino molian el
mahiz seeD, y de aquella arina hacian pan, y cocianlo en el carnal, y no comian chilli, ni otra cosa can ella." Historia Universal de las
Casas de Nueva Espana. "Others kept the fast eating unleavened bread, that is to say, the maize of which they made the bread 
intended on that occasion to be eaten was not, previously to being ground, boiled with lime, since that was as it were leaven; but they
ground the dry maize, and made their bread out of the flour, and prepared it on the comal, and ate neither chilli nor any thing else with
it." Sahagun, by making use of the phrase "panes azimos," means distinctly, 'unleavened bread;' the Spanish word azimos being derived
from the Greek a~uf'l'0~' which signifies' unleavened,' from which was derived the apellation J A~uf'l'«', which the Greeks gave to the Jewish
festival of unleavened bread. It is not a little extraordinary that the Mexicans should have mllned one of their principal fasts, that on
which they ate unleavened bread, Azomalqualo, since this name is so very like that of A~UfLct. which was applied to the Jewish
festival immediately preceding the feast of the Passover, being compounded of a'lomal, the name which the Mexicans either gave
to the fast itself, or to the unleavened bread, and quaIo, which signifies in the Mexican language r to eat,' as in the word teoqualo ' to
eat God: the term which the Mexicans applied to their mode of communion. In the eighth chapter of the third book of Sahagun's
History of New Spain mention is made of the fast of Azomalqualo.

+ Acosta says. describing the festival which the citizens and merchants of Cholula celebrated to Quecalcoatle, that they.sacrificed a
slave to him, who it was requisite should be without spot, wound, or scar. "omni tum macultt, tum pIag!!, ac cicatrice carentem."
lndire Occidentalis Historia, lib. v. C:lp. xxx. And Sal1:'lgun affirms that the Mexicans sacrificed in the munth of Toxcatl a slave of the
same kind to Tezcatlipoca: U Al quinto mes 1Iamahan Toxcatl; el primero dia de este mes bacian gran fiesta a honra del dios que Uaman
Titlacaoa, y por otro nombre Tezcatlipuca; a este teniao par Dios de los dioses. A su honra mataban en esta fiesta un mancebo
escogido que ninguna tacha tubiese en su cuerpo." Historia Universal de las Casas de Nueva Espana, lib. ii. cap. iv.

++ Baron de Humboldt remarks that the Muyscas. or Mozcas. a civilized nation of the kingdom of New Granada, celebrated the commencement
of each of their indicticns by a sacrifice; "the cruel ceremonies of which, as far as our limited means of information permit
us to judge, seem all to rerer to astrological notions. The human victim was called Guesa 'the wanderer' or' houseless;' and Quihica 'a
door,' because his death announced the opening, as it might be called, of a new cycle of one hundred and eighty-five moons." "Le
commencement de chaque indiction etoit marque par un sacrifice dont les d:remonies barbares, d'apres Ie peu que nous en savons,
paroissent toutes avoir eu rapport a des idees astrologiques. La victime humaine etoit appell~e Guesa, errant, sans maison, et Quihica,
porte, parceque sa mort annongoit pour ainsi dire l'ouverture d'uo nouveau cycle de cent quatre-"ingt~cinq lunes."

If the word Gue:sa signified to wander, in the sense of 'to pass by,' or (not to enter' a house, connected as it is with the other word
Quihica 'a door,' this Muysca sacrifice would seem rather to refer to the Hebrew lamb than to astronomical notions. The pure essence
of the stars can hardly be associated in the minds of the most savage nations with bloody religious rites.



308 NOTES.

shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land." From this last
verse it appears that strangers were obliged to comply with some of the ceremonies of the feast of the Passover,
but they were forbidden to eat the Passover. "A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof." "But
every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof." Since the
Ingas of Peru considered themselves the representatives of Viracocha, or the supreme Deity, the covenant with
them was in reality with Viracocha himself. Not only in the sacrifice of the Passover but in other sacrifices, the
eating the victim after it had been killed was strictly enjoined to the Jews; and the sacrifice would have been
imperfect without it, as various texts of Scripture may be adduced to prove. It says in the twenty-ninth chapter of
Exodus, "And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. And Aaron and
his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them:
but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy." And in the sixth chapter of Leviticus, "And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin-offering: in the
place where the burnt-offering is killed shall the sin-offering be killed hefore the Lord: it is most holy. The priest
that offereth it for sin shall eat it; in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation."
And in the twenty-ninth verse of the same chapter, "All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it
is most holy;" and in the seventh chapter of the same book, "And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings
for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he sltall not leave any of it until the morning. But
if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his
sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten. But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice
on the third day shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings be eaten at
all on the third day it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an
abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iuiquity." It is further also ordained, in the nineteenth
chapter of Leviticus, "And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will.
It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be
burned in the fire. And if it be eaten at all on the third day it is abominable; it shall not be accepted. Therefore
everyone that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the Lord; and that
soul shall be cut off from among his people." And it says again in the twenty-ninth and thirtieth verses of the
twenty-second chapter of the same book, "And when ye will ofrer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer
it at your own will. On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the
Lord." And in the eighteenth chapter of the book of Numbers, "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also
have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee
have I given them, by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. This shall be thine of the
most holy things reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat-offering of theirs, and every sinoffering
of theirs, and every trespass-offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee,
and for thy sons. In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male sltall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee. And
this is thine; the heave-offering of their gift, with all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel: I have given
them unto thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever; everyone that is clean
in thy house shall eat of it." "Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine." A further proof of the importance
attached by the ceremonial law of Moses to the act of eating the flesh of certain kind of sacrifices is found
in the tenth chapter of Leviticus; "And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons
that were left, Take the meat-offering that remaineth of the oHerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without
leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy. And ye sltall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy
sons'due, of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire: for so I am commanded. And the wave-breast and heave-shoulder
shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons' due,
which are given out of the sacrifices of peace-offerings of the children of Israel. the heave-shoulder and the wavebreast
shall they bring, with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave-offering before the Lord;
and it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the Lord hath commanded. And Moses
diligently sought the goat of the sin-offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar,
the sons of Aaron, which were left alive, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin-offering in the holy place,




NOTES. 309

seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement
for them before the Lord? Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place: '!Ie should indeed have
eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their
sin-offering and their burnt-offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin-offering
to-day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard that, he was
content." The things to which Aaron alludes as having befallen him are mentioned in the begmnmg of the chapter:
"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire thp,rem, and put incense
thereon, and offered strange fire" before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire
from the Lord, and devoured them; and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that
the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.
And Aaron held his peace."

How unaccountable it appears that the immediate family of Moses, his sister, his brother, and his nephews, -- (his
wife and sons are passed over in silence, and little is said of his father-in-law Jethro, who was a heathen priest,)should
all have rebelled against his authority, and have drawn down upon themselves the severe displeasure of
God; and that Moses himself, who had performed so many signs and wonders, should be liable to the imputation
of having had his faith staggered when the people complained for food in the desert! which charge is insinuated
against him in the eleventh chapter of Numbers. It is evident from the texts of Scripture which have been
adduced, how incumbent was the duty on the priests and Levites to eat the flesh of certain sacrifices: it even appears
that their own consecration and sanctification, as well as the acceptance of the atonement by God in favour of those
who offered the sacrifice, depended on their so doing. The nature, or rather the end of the sacrifice, and not the
species of the animal ofiered, determined whether or not sacrifices were to be eaten by the Hebrew priests t. The
fanaticism of the Jews, + and their blind adherence to the letter of the law, disregarding its spirit, and corrupting it
with their traditions, have been in all ages so great, even when they were in a state of grace and God's peculiar
people, that when time at last draws aside the mysterious veil which has so long concealed from view the ancient
history of America, with which the proceedings of their descendants seem to have been so completely interwoven,
 -- we need feel less of surprise than horror, at finding into what it is probable that their ancient rites had degenerated.
We read in Scripture that the Jews were accustomed to devote to Goel their enemies; and we know that they
never spared any devoted thing. It says, in the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth verses of the twenty-seventh
chapter of Leviticus, "Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord, of all that he

-----
* The sound of holy water hardly shocks the ears of a Protestant; but holy fire is something to which we cannot reconcile our minds.
Nevertheless the Jews did really attribute as much holiness to the element of fire, as Christians of any sect can do to that of water: and
being commanded, in the following verse of the thirty-fifth chapter of Exodus to kindle no fire on the Sabbath.day, ("Ye shall kindle no fire
throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath-day,") it necessarily followed that they must have considered it a religious duty, either to
keep in their fires on Friday night, or to extinguish them then and to rekindle them on Sunday morning: and either way, the superstitious
notions which the Mexicans entertained about extinguishing and kindling their fires might have been derived from the Jews.

+ it is evident that by the Mosaic law, the perfection of the sacrifice, and the efficacy of the atonement made for the sins of the people,
depended upon the flesh of the immolated victim being eaten. And hence the old Jewish sacrifices and the paschal lamb were considered
by the early Christians as the type of the sacrifice of Christ, and of the real presence in the Sacrament. It has become the doctrine
of later ages, that both prophecies and types need not in their fulfilment and manife,tation be complete in all their parts: and hence
Protestants ridicule the notion of transubstantiation, and have pronounced it to be impossible, by an argument contained in the
following distich --

"Hie ubi sum, non sum, sed sum ubi non sum,
Sum nec in ambobus, sum sed utroque loco."

++ When we recollect the extravagancies which, in our own enlightened age and in this free country, the deluded followers of Joanna
Southcote have been guilty of, -- what fanaticism can appear to us too great for Jews to have been seized with in the dark ages? Or how
can we tell, when, raging from persecution and fleeing to some remote corner of the earth, where they got the upper hand of their
enemies, in what sense they might have interpreted the following passage of the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah: "Lift up thine eyes
round about, and behold, all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee
with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth."? We understand Isaiah to mean in this verse the Jewish
children, which were to grow up ornaments to their parents. But what, if they understood it to refer to their enemies, and accordingly
instituted, as a fulfilment of prophecy in the New World, the custom of clothing themselves on solemn festival, in the skins of some
of their enemies whom they had taken prisoners in war?



310 NOTES.

hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed, every devoted thing is
most lwly unto the Lord. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely he put to
death." In compliance with which injunction, Jephthah sacrificed his own daughter, -- Moses caused the women of
Midian and their children, whom the captains of thousands had spared, to be killed, -- and Samuel, the lzigh priest of
the Lord, as he says himself in the fifteenth chapter of his First Book, "hewed Agag in pieces hefore the Lord in
Gilgal," whom Saul had taken prisoner and granted his life. The story of J ephthah, as told in the eleventh chapter
of the Book of Judges, is in all its circumstances much more affectiug and interesting than Joseph's recognition
of his brethren which is so frequently referred to, and would form a fine subject for a tragedy. A victorious
general returns covered with glory from battle: -- he has made a previous vow to Heaven, in the event of victory, to
sacrifice the first object that shall meet him, -- and that object is his daughter whom he tenderly loved, -- dreads
to behold, ani! cannot save! The magnanimity of the victim increases the compassion felt towards her. The
writer of the Book of Judges thus records the fatal consequeuces of Jephthah's vow: "Then the Spirit of the Lord
came upon J ephthah; and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from
Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and
said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever
cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely
be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to
fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou
come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the
children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and,
behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child: beside her
he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas,
my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my
mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth
unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath
taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father, Let
this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail
my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her
companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months, that
she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed ". And she knew no man.
And it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the
Gileadite four days in a year." Moses thus relates, in the thirty-first chapter of Numbers, the destruction of the
devoted women and children of Midian: "And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them, and
Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.
And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded t Moses: and they slew all the males. And they
slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and
Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword. And the children of Israel
took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks,
and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. And
they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. And they brought the captives, and the prey,
and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp
at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes
of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the

-----
* That is to say, offered her up as a burnt-offering. This tragical history seems to have given rise to the Mexican tradition of the
cruel sacrifice of the daughter of the king of Culhuacan, who was afterwards deified by them, and worshiped under the name of
Tonantzin, which signifies, 'our ancestor.' They say that she was the first woman sacrificed by them; but they afterwards instituted
sacrifices of women, accompanied with the stripping off of their skins, in commemoration of her.

+ It is unfottunate that the "Book of the Wars of the Lord," which is referred to in the fourteenth verse of the twenty-first chapter
of Numbers, should, with other portions of Scripture, have been lost, as it would have thrown much light on the proceedings of
those early times.





NOTES. 311

host. with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. And Moses said
unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive r Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel
of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation
of the Lord. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath
known man by lying with him. But all the women-children that have not known a man by lying with him, keep
alive for yourselves."

When the Spaniards first entered Mexico, they found that it was the custom of the Mexicans to sacrifice, in the
court of the Tcocalli or temple, before the shrine of their god, all prisoners taken in war. So anxious on all occasions
were the Mexicans to take prisoners alive for that purpose, that many Spaniards, whom they might easily
have killed in the heat of the combat, owed to this chance their preservation, being rescued by their companions
from the hands of those who were dragging them away to sacrifice. The Mexicans ate the flesh of some of
their human sacrifices"'; but, as Gomara observes, were never seen to taste their blood. By which he seems to
insinuate that, like the Jews, they were forbidden to drink blood t. Their priests, after having flayed other
human victims, clothed themselves in their skins and went about the city asking alms: and the heads of all their
sacrificed prisoners were hung up in a building fronting the principal gate of the temple. If J ephthah sacrificed
his own daughter as a burnt-offering to God, is it too much to suppose that the Jews, who proceeded in remote
ages to America, where they perhaps at first peaceably pursued the occupations of colonists, becoming afterwards
harassed by unprovoked wars on the part of the Indians, (as Montecinio says was the case with the Jews discovered
by him in the neighbourhood of Carthagena, as they informed him through an interpreter,) might in their fury have
devoted them to God, and sworn that they would devour their flesh as that of immolated victims r Or, if the infatuation
of Jephthah was so great that he could not perceive that, although the letter of the law required that those who
were devoted of men should surely be put to death, still an impious vow was not binding; or, that where a mental
reservation could exist, in a case like his, the unfortunate victim of a rash vow ought to have the full benefit of the
plea; (for we can scarcely imagine that Jephthah contemplated in the first instance, when he made his vow, sacrificing
any other victim than an animal, -- or what an example that would have been for a leader of Israel to have set
to the people! and how dangerous might have been the precedent of victory following such a vow I) -- may it not be
supposed that the fanatical Jews of the New World might have considered it obligatory on them to eat the flesh of
their sacrificed victims, according to the letter of the law regarding sacrifices of atonement, and that these sacrifices '
might have been viewed by the Mexicans in that light t r At least, we know that the Peruvians sacrificed annually
two children as an offering of atonement for the sins of the Inga, -- "diciendo, que el pecado que su Rey y Senor
ubiesse echo, 10 pagaban aquellos inocentes en aquel sacrificio:" "saying, that those innocents would by that
sacrifice atone for the sins which their king and lord had committed." This curious fact is stated by Rosales in the
second chapter of the third book of his in edited History of Chile. And it also deserves to be remarked, that
Benjamin of Tudela, a Jew, declares that in his travels in Asia he found that it was a custom with some of his
brethren (Asiatic Jews) to sacrifice children. It is not intended, by alledging such facts, to calumniate Or wound the
feelings of any class of men, but merely to elicit historic truth. Fortunately for the world, both the Jews and


-----
* All the Spanish authors agree, that no sufferings from famine could induce the Mexicans, when closely besieged by Cortes, to eat
the flesh of their countrymen who had been killed: whence it must be inferred that they only ate the flesh of sacrificed and devoted
victims. The Jews were less able to withstand the torments of hunger.

+ Many persons have attempted to prove the humanity of the laws contained in the Pentateuch, from the fact of the Jews being
forbidden to drink blood. But since they are forbidden in the same ordinance to eat fat; the only inference which can be justly drawn is,
that they were a cruel people among whom it became necessary to enact such a law. The prohibition alluded to is contained in the
seventeenth veroe of the third chapter of Leviticus: "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings,
that ye eat neither fat nor blood."

++ Torquemada, in the twenty-sixth chapter of the fourteenth book of his Indian Monarchy, says: "En esta Nueva Espana no la
carnian tan de proposito, segun 10 tengo averiguado, sino sola aquella que era de sacrificios, porque la tenian por cosa como sagrada, y
mas se movian a esto por religion que por vicia." "In New Spain they ate human flesh, not so much from inclination, as the fact has
been verified by me, since they only ate the flesh of sacrifices, as because they considered it holy, -- which custom they adopted rather from
religious motives than from vice." Whatever might have been the cause of the Mexicans first eating the flesh of human sacrifices and
considering it a religious thing so to do, it is probable that hence cannibalism spread itself over many provinces of America and some of
the West Indian islands; and that the less civilized Indian tribes, following the example of the more powerful states, adopted as a
common practice that which with them was purely a religious rite.





312 NOTES.

Christians of the present age are very different from those of past times; and the rage of persecution on the one
side, and of fanaticism on the other, has long since subsided. We must further observe, that as amongst the Jews
it was customary for the priests to flay the victims, and afterwards to take their skins, -- as may be proved from the
following texts of Scripture, (taken from the twenty-ninth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, and the
seventh chapter of Leviticus,) "But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings:
wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified
themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.", "And the
priest that offereth any man's burnt-offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering
which he hath offered," -- so the Mexican priests were accustomed, on the festival named Tlaxipehualiztli, to flay
the victims; and not only to take, but to clothe themselves in their skins. It has already been remarked that the
Mexicans hung up the heads of their sacrificed enemies. And this also appears to have been a Jewish practice, as
the following quotation from the twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers will show: "And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the
Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye everyone his men that
were joined unto Baal-peor. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came, and brought unto his brethren a
Midianitish woman, in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the cougregation of the children of Israel, who
were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the
son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he l'ose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; and he
went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman
through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were
twenty and four thousand. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of
Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, (while he was zealous for my sake among
them,) that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant
of peace. And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood;
because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel." From the command which
was given to Moses, to take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, and
there being as many as twenty-four thousand heads, it is probable that Moses constructed some wooden scaffolding
or stone building with niches, in which to place them. Gomara thus describes the building in Mexico appropriated
to receive the skulls of the immolated victims: "Without the temple, and facing its principal gate, although at a
greater distance from it than a lmlg stone's-throw, was a charnel-house for the heads of men taken prisoners in war,
and sacrificed with the knife. It resembled a theatre, being of greater length than hreadth, and built of lime and
stone, with stairs. Between stone and stone, skulls were inserted, with the teeth outwards. On the top and at
the bottom of the theatre were two towers, formed out of mortar and skulls only, with the teeth outwards; ill
which, as there was no stone or any other material, (at least visible,) the walls had a strange and striking
appearance. On the top of the theatre there were more than sixty lofty beams, placed at the distance of four or
five palms from each other, and full of laths from top to bottom, with a certain space between lath and lath.
These laths formed numerous crosses on the beams, and each division of a cross or lath was inserted through five
skulls, by a hole bored through the temples. Andrew de Tapia, who gave me this information, and Gonzalo de
Umbria, once counted them; and found a hundred and thirty-six thousand skulls upon the beams and the stairs:
they were unable to reckon those in the towers. A cruel custom; inasmuch as they were human heads decapitated
in sacrifice; although it had the semblance of humanity, from the recollection which it was calculated to convey
of death. There were persons likewise whose business it was, when one fell, to place another in its room; so that
that number was never deficient." -- La Conquista de Mexico, fo. xlix.

It is remarkable, that amongst the many charges which Apion brought against the Jews, one was, that they kidnapped
strangers and secretly sacrificed them in the temple, after first fattening the intended victims. To this charge
Josephus replies at considerable length; as perhaps he considered that the well-known fact of the Jewish religion laying
the greatest stress on sacrifices, and requiring that the blood of bulls and of goats should ever be flowing on their
altars, might have given a colour of probability to the charge; especially as among the Greeks, according to doubtful
fame, Agamemnon had been hurried away by the habit of sacrifice to offer his daughter Iphigenia to Diana, although
they were a nation much less addicted to sacrifices than the Jews, some of whose most famous philosophers had





NOTES. 313

condemned the practice as utterly impious to offer death to the God who bestowed life; or to suppose that the
Creator of all could be pleased at receiving from one creature the blood of another. We have, however, the
highest authority, -- that of the Scriptures, -- for affirming that the Jews did frequently perform human sacrifices;
but whether they profaned the temple with them, as they did with the worship of the brazen serpent called
Nehushtan, which was destroyed by king Hezekiah, as it says in the fonrth verse of the eighteenth chapter of the
Second Book of Kings, -- "He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake
in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to
it; and he called it N ehushtan," -- is not stated. We learn, however, from the passage of Scripture which has been
quoted, the curious fact, that the Jews worshiped a serpent in the days of Hezekiah, in remembrance of its
miraculous agency in the age of Moses. But how many ages had elapsed from the time of Moses to the reign of
Hezekiah? And if Judah was guilty of this idolatry, are we to suppose that the other tribes of Israel, whose
idolatries were so much greater, did not equally and for the same reason render homage to serpents? In the twenty-first
chapter of Numbers, Moses gives us the following account of the fiery serpent which he made, and the
cures which were performed through it: "And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye
brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul
loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people
of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned; for we have spokell. against the Lord,
and against thee: pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And
the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every
one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a
pole *; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he heheld the serpent of hrass, he lived."
This serpent, Christians affirm, after Saint John, to have heen a type and symbol of Christ; as that Evangelist
says in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the third chapter of his Gospel: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man he lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not pe ish,
but have eternal life." Not only in Scripture, but likewise in ancient mythology, the same symbols are often found
to have different and even contrary significations, which occasions great difficulty to the scholar and the divine.
With the ancient Egyptians a serpent in a ring signified equally the year, and the immortality of the soul. The
symbols of the goat, the serpent, and the morning-star, hear in Scripture the most contrary applications; and the
horn mentioned in the prophecies, commentators explain in a variety of different ways.

The following chapter, which is taken from the third book of Garcia's Origin of the Indians, we here insert in the
original Spanish, with the translation annexed, both because it contains many Scriptural authorities to prove that
the Jews in ancient times did frequently profane religion by the celebration of human sac.rifices, and likewise because
Garcia inclines to the opinion that their descendants introduced that shocking custom into Peru. This chapter is
entitled" Como los Judios i los Indios hicieron sacrificio de Nifios:" -- "En los libros de los Reies, refiere Ia Sagrada
Escritnra que el Rei de Moab sacrifico a su primogenito hijo sobre el muro,,1 vista de los de Israel, a los quales
parecio este hecho tan tl'iste i lamentable, que no quisieron apretarle mas, i asi se bolvieron a sus casas. Pero mas en
particular refiere la misma Escritnra la costumbre que tenian los Hebreos de los diez tribus de sacrificar ninos, como
consta del contexto del capitnlo 17 de el sobredicho lihro de los Reies. Este mismo genero de crueldad i sacrificio
refiere la Divina Escritura haverse usado entre aquellas naciones bUl'haras de Cananeos, i Gebuseos, i los demas, de
'1uien escrive ellihro de la Sabidnria que sacrificaban a sus hijos; i David se queja que de estos aprendieron los de
Israel sus costumbres, i en particular sacrificar sus hijos i hijas a los demonios, i asi dice elmismo profeta, ' Y sacrificaron
sus hijos i hijas a los demonios.' Hieremias tam bien hace mencion de aquesto mismo; aunque en la manera
de matar i sacrificar a sus hijos variaban los Hebl'eos, como 10 advierte Genebrardo, porque unas veces los sacrificaban
matandolos con fuego, como se dice de Manases, que paso a su hijo por el fuego. Otras veces los sacrificaban
degollandolos, que eso quiere decir David en aquellas palahras, 'Y derramaron la sangre inocente i sin culpa;' aunque
parece que los quemaban despues, que como nota Genebrardo en csto ai varias opiniones entre los Hehreos, diciendo
algunos que despues de haver muerto a aquellos ninos en sacrificio, los quemahan sobre las aras a imitacion i exemplo
"In the thirty.ninth page of the Mexican painting in the possession of M. Fejel'vltry, at Pess in Hungary, a curious representation of
QuecalcoatJc, as it would appear, occurs in the shape of a serpent fixed to a pole.





314 NOTES.

de Abraham, que asi institui6 ofrecer en sacriJicio aDios su hijo Isaac. Otros dicen que encerrados i metidos dentro
de cierta concavidad i hucco del idolo los quemaban, en el mismo idolo encendido con el fuego, mientras los que
estaban presentes al espectaculo haeian ruido, i estruendo, i tocaban los tambores 6 atabales, para que no se oiesen las
voces del nifio. Otros, como son Rabi Salomon, i Kymhi, dicen que los pasaban por medio de las llamas de dos
fucgos 6 hogueras, teniendolos de una parte el padre del nifio, i de la otra los ministros del sacrificio, hasta que el
fuego Ie consumia: de este parecer es Rabi Moises, hijo de Naaman, en los Comentarios del Pentateuco, aunque
Rubi Salomon Jarchi, i Moises Maimonides, intentan disimular esta maldad, aJirmando que solo los pasaban por las
llamas; i asi disculpa a Achaz Teodoreto. Pero sea como mandaren, que 10 que sabemos cierto, es que los Judios
sacrificaban sus hijos, como ja 10 diximos arriba con autoridad de la Sagrada Escritura, ide 10 que David, i Hieremias
dicen a este proposito. Aunque el sacrificar sus hijos a los dioses 10 usaron otras naciones de gentiles, como se ha
dicho, pero pues havemos referido esta perversa i cruel costumbre que huvo entre los Judios, por que no diremos que
de ellos, como de sus ascendientes, la tomarian los Indios del Peru que la guardaron al pie de la letra? De las historias
que tratan del Peru antes que fuese conquistado por nuestros Espafioles, he sacado que sacrificaban los Indios
sus hijos por negocios que importaban al Inga, como en enfermedades suias, para alcanzarle salud. Tambien quando
iba a la guerra, por la victoria, i quando Ie daban la borla al nuevo Inga, que era la insignia de rei como aca el cetro
6 corona, en esta solemnidad sacrificaban cantidad de docientos nifios de quatro a diez afios". Tambien quando
moria Inga, sacrificaban muchos nifios; los quales dice Juan de Betan~os que havian de ser mil, porque asi 10 ordeno i
mand6 Pachacnti Inga antes que muriese. Estos nifios havian de ser varones i hembras traidos de todo el reino, i algunos
de ellos hij os de Caciques, i principales, para que apareados macho con hembra, bien vestidos, icon el servicio i baxilla
de oro que como casados i gente que havia de ir a servir a su rei'j sefior, havian menester, fuesen enterrados en las
partes donde el Inga huviese estado de asiento, hechando tam bien algunos de ellos en la mar. A estas partes i lugares
los lIevaban cada par por si, macho i hembra, con mucha veneracion en unas andas, para ser de esta suerte ofrecidos
en sacrificio por su rei i sefior; i a este sacrificio lIamaban Capac Cocha, que quiere deeir Sacrificio solemne. Gomara
dice que sacrificaban nifios los Indios del nuevo reino de Granada, i los mismos sacrificios que entre los Judios, hall6
Benjamin de Tudela entre los Indios Asiaticos de la isla de Chenaraga 6 Chingara." "The Holy Scripture says in the
Book of Kings, that the king of Moab sacrificed his eldest son upon the wall in the sight of the Israelites; to whom
this act appeared so afflicting and lamentable, that they would not besiege him any longer, but returned home t. The
same Scripture more particularly mentions the custom prevalent amongst the ten Hebrew tribes, of sacrificing children,
as appears from the text of the above-mentioned seventeenth chapter of the Book of Kings. Cruelty of a similar
kind and like sacrifices are recorded in Holy Scripture to have been practised by the barbarous nations of the
Canaanites and the Jebusites, and the rest, of whom the Book of Wisdom says, that they sacrificed their sons. And
David complains that the Israelites had learned from them their customs, and particularly that of sacrificing their sons
and daughters to devils; and therefore the same prophet says, 'And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters
to devils.' Jeremiah likewise relates the same thing. But, as Genebrard observes, in their manner of putting to
death and sacrificing their sons, the practice of the Hebrews was not uniform; for sometimes they sacrificed them,
burning them to death, as is related of Manases, who passed his son through the fire; and of Achaz, who consecrated
and sacrificed his son, passing him likewise through the fire. And sometimes they sacrificed them, beheading them;
since this is what David means by the words, 'And they shed the blood of the innocent, and of those who were
without blame;' although it appears that they burned them afterwards. But, as Genebrard remarks, there is a difference
of opinion about this among the Jews; some saying that after the children had been killed in sacrifice they burned
them upon the altars, in imitation and after the example of Abraham, who purposed to offer up in this manner his
son Isaac to God; and others, that putting them within and shutting them up in a certain concavity and hollow of
the idol, they burned them in the same idol, heating it red hot with fire, whilst those who were present at the spectacle 

-----
* This was almost fe-acting Herod's massacre, who we may here remark was a Jew by religion although not one by blood.

+ This is a mistake; it was the son of the king of Edom, the enemy of the king of Moab, and the ally of the Jews, whom the king of
Moab sacrificed; on which account the Prophet Amos denounces judgment against Moab in the first verse of the second chapter of
his Prophecies: "Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;
because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime." The Moabites, whose hearts were, like Pharaoh's, hardened, would probably,
when they saw the Jews raise the siege of their city, and retreat after the cruel sacrifice of the son of their powerful ally, have imputed
this conduct to cowardice call sed by their own desperation, and have henceforward despi,ed the denunciations of the Jewish prophets.




NOTES. 315

made a noise and shouted, and beat drums and tambours, that the cries of the children might not be heard.
Others, like Rabbi Salomon and Kymhi, say that they passed them between the flames of two 6res or burning piles,
the father of the child holding him on one side and the ministers of the sacrifice on the other, till the fire had consumed
him. Rabbi Moises the son of Naaman, in his Commentaries on the Pentateuch, is of this opinion; although Rabbi
Salomon, Jarchi, and Moses Maimonides try to dissemble this iniquity, affirming that they only passed them through
the flames; which is the way in which Theodoretus exculpates Achaz. However this may be, that which we know for
certain is, that the Jews sacrificed their sons, as we have already said above, on the authority of the Holy Scripture,
and of that which David and Jeremiah say to this effect. Although the custom of sacrificing their sons to the gods
existed amongst other Gentile nations, as has been said, still, as we have referred to this perverse and cruel practice,
found also amongst the Jews, why shall we not say that the Indians of Peru, who follow it to the letter, borrowed it
from them, as likewise from their ancestors? I have found in histories which treat of Peru before it was conquered
by the Spaniards, that the Indians sacrificed their sons when the affairs of the Inga required it: for instance, when
he was sick, for the recovery of his health; and likewise when he went to war, for victory. And when they invested
the new Inga with the tassel, which was the royal insignia, like the crown and sceptre with us, on this solemnity
they sacrificed as many as two hundred children, of from four to ten years of age. They likewise, when the Inga
died, sacrificed a number of children, which Juan de Betan~os says were reckoned at a thousand; for so the Inga
Pachacuti ordered and commanded before he died. It was proper that these children should be both males and females,
hrought from all parts of the kingdom, and some of them the offspring of Caciques and other principal persons, in
order that, matched together in pairs, males with females, handsomely attired, with attendants and golden utensils,which,
like betrothed persons and subjects about to go to serve their king and lord, they were obliged to be provided
with, -- they might be buried in such places as the Inga had been accustomed to reside in, some of them being likewise
thrown into the sea. To these places and stations each pair, a male and a female, was carried by themselves on a
litter, with great reverence, in order to be offered as a sacrifice in this manner for their king and lord. They called
this sacrifice Capac Cocha, which signifies' the solemn sacrifice.' Gomara says that the Indians of the new kingdom
of Granada sacrificed children; and Benjamin of Tudela found the same kind of sacrifices as those used by the Jews
amongst the Asiatic Indians of the island of Chenaraga or Chingara." It cannot he doubted that human sacrifices
were common throughout Palestine. And if the Holy Land was polluted with these ahominahle rites, which the Jews
are said to have learned from their neighbours the Cauaanites, where is the difficulty in supposing that in after ages
they were transplanted to the American soil by their descendants? What but a familiarity with such scenes of horror
can explain the inhumanity of the Samaritan mothers, recorded in the sixth chapter of the Second Book of Kings:
" And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto hiln, saying, Help, my lord,
O king! And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the
winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy
son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow"'. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: anci I
said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son." This occurrence took
place during the famine in Samaria, caused by the besieging army of Benhadad king of Syria. Gomara, who has
described the sufferings which the Mexicans underwent in the last siege of their capital, expressly says, that although
they ate the dead bodies of their enemies, they did not touch those of their countrymen or friends, -- an evident
proof, not of less suffering on their part, but of greater humanity than was possessed by the Jews. It is a very
remarkable fact, that the Indians were accustomed to pass their sons through the fire as a kind of baptism. Boturini,
noticing this practice, says, "En In segunda creci6 cl culto, y al quarto dia despues del parto, passaban por el fuego
quatro veces a los hijos recien nacidos, a manera de purifieacion y bautismo, llamando a esta cercmonia Tlequiquiz-


-----
* These women were Samaritans; but Jeremiah, in the twentieth verse of the second chapter of his Lamentations, informs us that the
Jewish mothers, when Jerusalem was besieged, were equally inhuman in devouring their own offspring. U Behold, O Lord, and consider
to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be.Iain
in the sanctuary of the Lord?" Even Solomon's famous judgment is less a proof of his wisdom than of the barbarity of the people over
whom he reigned; for not knowing which of the women was the real mother of the child, he must have presumed that they were both
capable, sooner than forgo a fictitious claim, of consenting that it should be divided in two, and that the real mother alone would stay
the execution of the sentence; for there would have been no wisdom in his judgment except on the supposition that he believed both
women to be equally bereft of every particle of pity and of feeling.




316 NOTES.

tililiztli; costumbre antigua de sus antcpassados los deseendientes de-Cham, segnn Philon Judio en su libro Biblicarum
Antiquitatum, ' Tunc creperunt hi qui habitabant in terra inspicere in astra, et, incohaverunt ex his imaginari
et divinationcs facere, et filios et filias trajicere per ignem.' Mas debia ser el fuego el mas respetado y sublime de
sus dioses; pnes haviendo Thare que era idolatra del fuego, y padre de Abraham, aeusado a su hijo delante de
Nemrod, como no queria adorarle, y seguir la religion de su familia, Ie mand6 echar en el, y salio intacto por obra
de Dios; de cuyo prodigio admirado Aram confesso por verdadera la ley que professaba su hermano Abraham, como
escribe Lyra in cap. II. Genes et cap. 12. con la autoridad de san Geronimo: 'Vera est igitur Hebrreorum traditio
quod egressus sit Thare cum filiis suis de igne Chaldeorum, et quod Abram vallatus Babylonico incendio, quia
illud ado rare nolebat, liberatus sit auxilio Dei, et ex illo tempore reputetur ei tempus retatis, ex quo confessus est
Deum, spernens idola Chaldeorum.' Y por esto, no me admiro que los Indios como descendientes de los que intervinicron
a fabricar la Torre de Babel, como se did de"pues, cclebrassen tanto a el fuego, hasta colocarlo por geroglifico
y principio de la chronologia, y de sus caraeteres divinos en el Kalendario Tulteco, que fue mucho mas anti guo
que el Mexicano; y Ie llamas sen en el kalendario de el ano natural, Senor de la yerba, que tanto suena Xiuhteuctli;
y por fin que a la decadencia del cydo Indiano Ie dedicasscn tantos sacrificios, y sacassen con grandes ceremonias el
fuego nuevo, assimismo fuesse en el kalendario astronomico el primero de los nueve signos aeompanados, 6 Senores
de la Noche. Subieron aun mas de punto en la tercera edad los sacrificios y ritos; los que referire por entero en la
Historia. Solo advierto que en el kalendario ritual, Ie era dedicada la decima tercia fiesta mobible, dia en clue despues
de grandes ofrenda. y bayles, se nombraban los jueces, y los que debian ser elegidos 6 senalados por feudatorios del
imperio, pOl'que la devolucion de los feudos no passaba de cste termino." "In the second age the worship paid to
fire increased; and on the fourth day after their birth they passed four times through the fire their new-born infants;
as if it were a purification or baptism, naming this ceremony Tlequiquiztililiztli; an ancient custom of their ancestors
the descendants of Cham; as Philo Judreu remarks in his book of Biblical Antiquities: 'Then began those who
inhabited the earth to contemplate the stars and to devise images of them, and to practise divination, and to pass
their sons and daughters through the fire.' But Fire must have been the most esteemed and sublimest of their
divinities, since Thare, who was a fire worshipper, and the father of Abraham, having accused his son before Nimrod
for not choosing to adore it and to follow the religion of his family, wa. commancled to throw him into it; when by
the assistance of God he came out unhurt: and Aram, astonished at the miracle, confessed as true the law which
his brother Abraham professed. As Lyra says in his notes to the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Genesis, with the
authority of Saint Geronime: 'The tradition of the Hebrews therefore is true, that Thare came out with his sons
from the fire of the Chaldees; and that Abram, inclosed within the Babylonian fire becanse he would not adore it,
was delivered by the help of God; and the age of his life was reckoned from that time in which he confessed God,
contemning the idols of the Chaldeans.' On this account I am not surprised that the Indians, as being the
descendants of those who were present at the building of the tower of Babel, as will presently be mentioned, should
have paid such extraordinary respect to fire as to place it as a hieroglyphic at the beginning of their chronology and
divine characters in the Tultec Calendar, * which was much mOre ancient than the Mexican, and should have named
it in the calendar of the natural year the Lord of Vegetation, since that is the meaning of Xiuhteuctli; and lastly,
that at the end of each Indian cycle they should have celebrated so many sacrifices to it, and kindled with great
ceremony the new fire; and likewise that in the astronomical calendar it should have been the first of the nine accompanying
signs or lords of the night. In the third age these sacrifices and rites attained even more scrupulous exactness,
of which I shall give a complete description in my History. I merely observe here that the thirteenth moveable
festival in the ritual calendar was dedicated to it; on which day, after great offerings and dances, the judges were
named, and those who were to be elected or appointed feudatories of the empire; for the grant of fiefs did not extend
beyond that term." Whether the Indians of Peru and Mexico burned their children in the manner of the ancient
Jews in the cavities of idols, is not mentioned by Spanish authors; but it would appear from Acosta, that it was not


-----
* The Flint was the first sign in the Tultec Calendar; but since fire was obtained by the Indians, not from the percussion of the Bint,
but from the friction of two pieces of wood against each other, it was Dot an equally appropriate symbol of that element in each hemisphere.
M. Visconti has observed in a letter to the Baron de Humboldt, that the Mexican method of procuring fire was familiar to the
ancient Greeks; and that the accuracy of the description which the choliast on Apollonius has left us of these "Vg~I«, or fire machines, i.
proved by the plates in his American Monuments.





NOTES. 317

as customary with the Mexicans to sacrifice their children, as it was with the Peruvians, although the former people
were in the habit of offering up burnt-sacrifices. That the (japotecas fabricated small idols, with hollow receptacles
either for blood, fire, or incense, is proved from the researches of M. Dupaix, who discovered near Zachila, the
ruined capital of the Gapotecan empire, several idols of baked clay of this kind. Perhaps future researches may
determine, by bringing to light the idols which are buried in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico, whether the Mexicans
formed any of their large stone idols hollow; as it might then be inferred that such cavities were for the purpose of
receiving victims, either slaves or prisoners of war, although the manner of the sacrifice, whether it was by fire or
not, would not be exactly known. It may here be observed, that the authority which has been adduced to prove that
human sacrifices were in ancient times common among the Jews, is the best that can possibly be recurred to, -- the text
of the Scripture itself, and the commentaries of the most respectable rabbis on it. These rabbis were either Spanish
or Portuguese Jews, who could have felt no disposition to calumniate their countrymen; and it is not undeserving of
remark, that whilst the Jews of other countries in Europe were formerly, as at present, excessively ignorant, those of
Spain some centuries ago were often men of extensive learning. The chief cause of this was, that Spaiu in the middle
ages was only partly under Christian rule. The Saracen caliphs, who greatly favoured the arts and sciences, maintained
their sway during eight centuries in the Peninsula; and the Jews were often physicians, bankers, and astrologers to
those monarchs, and highly esteemed in their court. It is a mistake to suppose, because the Koran casts some censure
on the Jews, that in Mahometan countries people are looked down on in the same degree as among Christians.

With respect to the Mexican ceremony of Tlequiquiztililiztli, it may be observed, that the Jews considered fire
a great purifier. "To be purified seven times in the fire" seems to have been a Hebrew proverb; to which there
appears to be some allusion in the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of Saint Luke: "John answered, saying unto
them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latel,et of whose shoes I am not
worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Fire could here have only been
understood in a metaphorical sense, and not, like water elsewhere, have had a literal signification. Nevertheless,
so early was the rise of fanaticism, that we learn from history that a Christian sect appeared in Spain in the ages
immediately following the Christian era, who burned the sign of the cross into their foreheads, instead of marking it
with the water of baptism. We shall here insert three chapters taken from the fifth book of Acosta's History,
which contain an interesting account of the Mexican and Peruvian sacrifices:

" Professus Deique ac hominis hostis in sacrificiis istis, ad qure varia et diversa miseros homines institutos
compulit, frendentis sui odii radios ubi que effulgere fecit. Sicut enim ista religionis mira proprietas est, ut ad
culturam et venerationem Dei homines adhibeantur; sic pariter mendacii pater constituit ut sibi, velut rerum
omnium auctori ac domino, Dei creatura ipsi pro victima offerretur. Primre omnium oblationes quas exhibuere
homines simplices rudesque, fuerunt Cain, pro sacrificio, fructus terrre; Abelus vero e grege suo pecudem
pinguem offerebat. Idem postea secuti sunt Noha, Abraham, et Patriarchre; usque dum surgens Moyses peculiarem
de ceremoniis librum Levitis condidit, quo multa eaque diversa sacrificia cum ceremoniis quamplurimis
populo Israelitico destinavit. Hoc ergo exemplo illectus, cacozelus Sathanas ad qurecunque sacrificia sibi
quoque ofterenda fatuas gentes illico compulit; illisdem etiam plurimas leges ceremonias ritusque prrescripsit, non
secus ac veteris a Deo latre legis fidissimus remulus esset. Unde similes ab eo in rebus quamplurimis ceremonias
servatas videmus. Creterum omnia sacrificia qure increduli Sathanre offerebant, in tria conferri genera commode
possunt. Primum reruin est anima carentium~ Alterum animalium est. Tertium ipsorum hominum."

"In Peru Cocam offerebant, herb am magni restimatam. Sacra etiam faciebant, oblato mays, picturatis pennis,
chaquira sive mollo alga marina, nonnumquam et auro argentoque, ac ex his imaginibus animalium confectis,
pannis item pulcherrimis ex cumbi, fragrantibus et crelatis lignis, OI'dinarie vero adipe et sevo *. Omnium horum
sacrificiorum finis erat, ut commoda tempestas, felix plantarum incrementum, optata sanitas, et periculorum
vacantIa llnpetrarentur. Secundum sacrificiorum genus Cuies dicebatur, ab animalibus hoc nomine vocatis et plerumque
offerri solitis, (hrec bufonum facie erant,) ab Indis in cibum optari solitis. In casu viros primates concernente,
oves seu pacos, tam lanigeros, quam depiles sacrificiis offerebant; ubi ad numerum earum et colorem, et
oblationis tempus, admodnm curiose attendebant. lEthiopes albi, Alquible vocati, pecora vel majora vel minora
sacrificaturi, hos ritus servabant. Pecudem dextro brachio impositam soli obvertebant, et pro colore ejus mactandre,

-----
* Fat was the ordinary Jewish offering.



318 NOTES.

discreta verba obmurmurabant. Nam si colore vario esset, verba ad Chuquillam sive tonitru fundebantur, ut nulla
aquarum seu pluviarum inopia emergeret. Si vero candida et glabra existeret, aliis distinctis verbis Soli offerebatur,
ut eo anno is serenus luceret, et rerum omnium incrementum vegetaret. Si Guanaco sive cresia esset, sacrificium
id Viracochre in honorem fiebat. Singulis diebus in Cusco hujusmodi cum ceremoniis, Soli ovis non admodum
villosa offerebatur, qure cum rubea camisia cremabatur. Quibus sic una ardentibus corhcs aliquot cacao pleni
injiciebantur, 'luod Villacaronca appellabant. Ad hrec sacrificia peragenda, tum po pulos *, tum pecudes
peculiares secernehant, uni huic rei servientes. Quin imo et volucres offerebant, qui tamen mos apud Peruanos non
reque ac Mexicanos, qui coturnices plerumque sacrificabant, fl'equens erato Porro Peruani in Puna, id est, in locis
desertis vastisque, sacrificabant quotics bellum meditabantur, ut deorum ibi impetratis suppetiis adjuti, hostium
vim commodius obterere possent. Et hrec sacrificia Cuscouic9a, sive Conteuic9a, aut Huallauic9a, vel Sopauic<;
a, nuncupabantur. Hrec his ritibus fiebant. Ex desertis, varii generis aves captantes, spinea ct aspcra
ligna plurima, Gaulli vocata, comportabant. His accensis, uuiversas aves imponebant, quam conjunctionem
Quico appellabant. Postea, tum rotundos tum angulares lapides t depictis tum anguibus, tum leonibus, ac bufonib
us, tigribusque ornatos, al'ripientes, Usac/m1n, id est, victOl'iam nobis largire:j:, et his similia alia verba edebant;
quibus hoc unum dicturi erant, Guacas nostrre efficacia ac vis hostibus nostris nihil fortunati, sed adversa omnia
imo ipsum interitum accieat. Finitis istis, oves nonnullas in caveis aliquot diebus fame maceratas, et exhaustas,
quas Urcu nominabant, promebant. Has dum mactabant hrec verba pronunciabant §. Non secus ac horum animalium
corda deficiunt et languescunt, sic dii nostri hostium nostrorum robur et potcntiam confringant, et proterant.
Quod si carnis adhuc aliquid harum ovium cordibus adhrerescere viderent, qure inedia et fame non absumpta
csset, pro augurio non fausto, sed ominoso, habebant. Nigros quoque canes Apurucos, occisos nonnunquam
offerebant, quos deinde in camporu1n plana aqjiciebant. Tandem ab his dcmptas carnes peculiaris quidam populus
cum singulari ritu vOl·abat. Aliquando etiam pro Inga sacrificabant ut vcneno nullo conficeretur. Hoc faeturi, a
summo mane ad concubiam usque noctem jejunabant. Inde tum cibo tum potu se confertim ingurgitabant; et hoc
sacrificium quia contra dei hostes II fiebat omnium sacerrimum erato Etsi vero tum hrec, tum alia hujusmodi,
bellorum longis continuationibus maxima ex parte abolita jam sint; superstitionum tamen reliquire quredam vel dum
in nonnullorum Indorum cordi bus gliscunt, ita ut obortis fors inter dominos quos Caciques vocant, aut civitates
pagosque, discordiis aut dissidiis, algas Mollo r!ictas, in rivis sacrificent dicantque eos maris filios csse,
mare vero universorum fluminum matrem existere. Pro colorum varietate algis varia nomina imponuntur, qua causa
etiam diversis usibus adhibentur. Alga universis fe1'e sacrificiis inferuntw·. Homines etiam reperiuntur vel hodie,
qui tritam algam inani superstitioue ducti, cum sua Chica, potus geuus est, perfundant commisceantque. Fuerunt
etiam Indi qui in hoc conducebantur, ut profluentis, rivisque et canalibus civitates pagos et oppida ac Charcas
sive agros permeantibus, sacrificia facerent; qure sationis tempore prrecipue fiebant, ne flumina deficerent aut

-----
* This seems a kind of Levitical institution.

+ We are informed by Ezekiel, in the first verse of the fourth chapter of his Book of Prophecies, that he was commanded by God to
pourtray Jerusalem upon a tile, as a type: "Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city,
even Jerusalem: and lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set
battering rams against it round about." The Jews might hence have attached importance to types painted on bricks or stones, as
indicating the vicissitudes of war. And if we consider the nature of the Peruvian emblems mentioned by Acosta, we shall find that they
each consisted of the figure of some animal, which was either formidable in itself to an adversary, or supposed to be capable of directing
some unfortunate influence ngainst the foe.

++ This is quite a Jewish ejaculation, and it sometimes occurs in the Psalms. The chosen people of God, whether their wars were
just or unjust, always fanatically demanded victory from Heaven; absurdly informing God that his honour was compromised by their
quarrels with their neighbours.

~ This reminds us of the then popular charge of witchcraft which Richard the Third brought against Jane Shore, -- that sbe had his
image in wax, which she gradually melted before a slow fire, pronouncing these words: U In the same way as this waxen figure melts,
so may the king's strength gradually waste away!" With respect to omens of success in battle taken from preconcerted signals, it is
probable that the Jews were inclined to place much reliance upon them, ever since the period when, accordingly as Moses lifted up or
let fall his arms, victory declared itself in favour of the Jews or the Amalekites, as recorded in the eleventh verse of the seventeenth
chapter of Exodus.

|| How impious must it be in any nation to call its own enemies the enemies of God! The arrogance of that king who drew down
on himself the displeasure of the gods, and was punished in the regions below for attempting to counterfeit the lightning of heaven and the
thunders of Olympus, fell far short of this presumption.




NOTES. 319

terram rigare desinerent. Pro sacrificiis his obeundis, harioli seu magi sortes mittebant", quo facto, a communione
plebis omnia ea qure sacrificio oiFerenda erant, colligebantur, ct ci qui laborem hunc prrestaturus erat,
oiFerebantur. Horum sacrificiorum tempus, initium hyemis erat, quo flumina alias ex se augescere et exundare
sueverunt, quem tamen eiFectum crecre gentes suis oblationibus assignabant. Fluminibus et rivis desertorum
locorum nihil sacrificii oiFerebant. Prisca vero ilia seatebris rivis et fluminibus oppida agrosque alluentibus.
sacrificandi consuetudo, vel dum hodie apud nonnullorum animos vi get. Fontes tamen et flumina desertorum
non omnimodo aspernantur; sed si quo fors loco, duo flumina sibi aut occurrunt, aut invicem permiscentur, ibi
singulari devotione eadem venerantur, et haustis undis se lavant, ad nonnullorum morborum sanationem impetrandam;
ante lotioncm tamen farina ex maiis et rebus aliis se illinunt, et ritus peculiares edunt, quod ipsum
quoque similiter in balneis prrestant." Cap. xviii. "Ex rebus omnium nocentissimis et flagitiosissimis, ad
quarum patrationem Sathanas infelix Indorum genus illexit, crudelissima certe et immanissima fuit mactatio
hominum, quos ad sui similitudinem rerum universarum conditor Deus initio creavit, ut ejus majestate et
prrestantia prre animalibus creteris perfruerentur. Multis populis is mos fuit, ut qui e servis dominis suis operas
omnium fidissimas prrestitissent, iisque charissimi fuisscnt, cum defunctis heris occiderentur, quo similes illis
operas in seculo etiam altero prrestarent, velut superius prolixius dictum est. Peruani autem, cum fidis servis
ac ministris proprios quo Clue liberos a quatuor ad decem annos natos, sacrificii loco mactatos, oiFerebant; quod
Ingarum plerumque in gratiam fiebat, quoties aut pejus haberent, aut in bellum ituri essent. Si Ingre novo
nodo filamentoso, id signum regire est potestatis non secus ac apud nos sceptrum ac corona, oiFeretur, liberorum
ab annis 4 ad 10 usque, ducentos circiter, una mactabant; quod spectaculum horrendissimum erato Sacrificandi
illi primo frede jugulabantur, quorum deinde corpora truci aspectu et ritu terra obruebantur. Solebant aliis
temporibus liberos decollare, et ipsorum cruore faciem propriam polluere. Nonnunquam et virgines sacrificabaut,
ex iis quas ex monasteriis ad Iugam deduci solitas superius recensuimus. Quorum sacrificiorum impostura nocentis
sima simul et crudelissima extabat. Quoties enim vel ex primoribus vel inferioribus ac privatis etiam viris,
quis regrius habens, a mago suo intelligebat, fatum sibi ineluctabile omnino impendere, tum suos illico filios ac
filias Viracochre immolabat, ac precabatur ut hac victima contentus, patrem cresorum superstitem servaret.
Hl~usmodi immanitatis sacra quoque Scriptum meminit, dum ait regem Moab primogenitum filium suum super
muros in ipso populi Israelitici conspectu immolasse; quo facto horrendo illi eo usque incanduerint, ut deserto
sacrilego loco, ad terras suas reversi sint. Quin et in Sacris legimus sacrificia hujusmodi quoque apud nationes
barbaras ut Cananreos, Jebusitas, ct creteras, solemnes fuisse; sicut de his Liber Sapientire expresse testatur, dum
iuquit: 'Et non suiFecerat errasse eos circa Dei scientiam; sed et in magno viventes inscientire bello, tot et tam
magna mala pacem appellant. Aut enim filios suos sacrificantes, aut obscura sacrificia facientes, aut insanire
plenas vigilias habentes, neque vitam neque nuptias mundas nunc custodiunt; sed et alius alium per invidiam
occidit, aut adulterans contristat, et omnia commista sunt, sanguis, homicidium, furtum, et fictio, corruptio et
infidelitas, turbatio et perjurium, tumultus bonorum, Dei immemoratio, animarum inquinatio, nalivilalis immutatio
t, nuptiarum inconstantia, inordinatio mrechire et impudicitire. Jnfandorum enim idolorum cultura omnis

-----
* The custom of casting lots was so common amongst the Jews, that it is almost impossible not to believe that they were gamesters
at patol or dice, especially as gaming was not forbidden by the Mosaic law although it was punishable by the Mexican code.

+ Nativ-itatis immutatio was the fraudulent insertion or erasion of names from the genealogical rolls in which the Jews were obliged
to register their nativities. These kind of rolls are mentioned in the following verse of the second chapter of the Book of Ezra:
"These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put
from the priesthood." From this passage it is evident that the "nativitatis immutatio," which is erroneously translated in our English
version of the Bible a a changing of kind," was calculated seriously to affect the interests of the most powerrul order in the Jewish commonwealth, -- 
that of the priests. And hence no doubt it is here noticed as a crime of the greatest magnitude; although it was one not more
known, except amongst the Jews, than forgery of bank-notes would be in a country where neither banks nor a paper currency had been
established. It is evident, and indeed the context clearly points it out, that the Book of Wisdom is not here treating of the depraved
manne" of the Canaanites or of the Jehusites, but of those of the Jews themselves. Although Acosta skilfully dissembles the fact,
why should remote posterity deem it to be a duty devolving upon them to palliate the atrocities of the Hebrew nation? Or may we not
with greater reason demand a solution of the deeper mystery, How could such a people have ever become the chosen people of God?
Their annals are merely a long tissue of crime; and the whole is wound up by the alleged commission of a deed which shocks Reason,
although it must not stagger Faith. The Son of God comes into the world, and they crucify him: man the creature becoming in this
manner the murderer of God the creator; and the Jews, the favourites of Heaven, the readiest instruments in the hands of Satan
likewise!





320 NOTES.

mali causa est, ct initium, ct finis.' Hrec tanta sapiens de ism gente. Sed et propheta regius David acetbe conqueritur,
quod filii Israel a barbaris istis hrec flagitia tam avide hauserint, ut filios ac filias proprias dremoni immolarint;
cujusmodi tamen victimas Deus nec un quam postularit, nec probarit, ut qui vitre non destructor sed
dator sit, et in hominum usus universa alia condidcrit; unde Deo minime res grata prrestatur, si in culturam ejus
homo hominem jugulat ac offert. Et licet Jehova quidem exquisitam ilIam Abraham obedientiam in unico immolando
filio Isaac, apprime collaudarit, ut tamen ipsum factum Abraham designaret non permisit. Ex qui bus jam sole
clarius execranda Sathanre prrevaricatio elucet, qui Deum remulaturus, se non saltern adorari patitur verum etiam hominum
immolationibus et innocentis sanguinis tot profusionibus factis, in sinu suo gaudet, et his flagitiis disseminatis,
tum animas tum hom inurn corpora in exitinm reternum conjicit. Hrec ilia rabies et irreconciliabilis inimicitia est, quam
adversus nniversum genus hurnanum impostor pessimus alit fovetque." Cap. xix. "Etsi Mexicani quidem non reque
ac Peruenses liberos suos immolare sueverint, (nam de Me)Cicanis id a nullo historico proditum scimus,) nihilominus
tamen propter cresorum et mactatorum aliorum hominum infinitam multitudinem, inauditft et enormi srevitia ac crudeli
tate non Peruenses solum, sed omnes universi orbis populos ac gentes, multis parasangis, quod aiunt, anteverterunt.
Qui quidem populus quantopere astutia et tyrannide stygii cacodremonis excrecatus et infatuatus fuerit, ex
iis ~itibus pius lector abunde colli get, quos prout servarunt jam ex ordine enarraturi sumus. Primum autem homines
c1uOS immolabant, in hellis captos esse" oportebat. Quod si sclavi captivi deessent, solenne 8uum sacrificium suspen-

-----
* "Vha were deroted victims, as it would appear. The custom of sacrificing prisoners taken in war introduced in course of time the
more cruel custom of sacrificing, when the former could not be procured, slaves purchased for money. The Mexican laws enacted
under severe penalties, that no slaves should be sold for sacrifice, except their masters could prove before a competent number of
witnesses that they had been guilty of the greatest delinquencies against them; such as running away a certain number of times,
committing a certain number of robberies, violating the chastity of any of the female portion of their families, or certain other acts
mentioned by Torquemada. But it would appear that the Mexican merchants and jewellers were not always so scrupulous as to the
manner in which they obtained slaves for sacrifice, as they sometimes kidnapped them in the enemy's country, and sacrificed them at the
festivals which they celebrated in honour of Totec, and afterwards clothed themselves in the skins of the victims. It is probable,
however, that the slaves which they sacrificed were generally guilty of robbery; since Torquemada observes, as a reason for this excessive
cruelty of the Mexican merchants, that the property which they possessed consisting of gold and gem" and being of a nature so likely
to tempt the dishonest, they sought by theie bloody sacrifices to deter thieves from plundering them of any purtion of it. Avarice, then,
seems to have led to this revolting barbarity. It deserves to be remarked, that as amongst the Jews certain cities were appointed as
cities of refuge to which criminals might fly, and escape the punishment of the laws [1] -- so amongst the Mexicans, and amongst most of the
other Indian states, there were appointed place, of refuge to which culprits might fly, and claim the rights of sanctuary. But that
murderers could avail themselves of this privilege, as anciently was the case in Christendom, is neither probable nor asserted by any
Spanish historian. The places of refuge amongst the Indians were the palaces of their king', named by the Mexicans tecpan; and
wherever there was a palace, there it may be supposed was a city of refuge likewise. But it may also be imagined, although it is not so
expressly stated by Spanish writers, that the Mexican teocalli, especially the greater temple of Mexico, were places of refuge; and that
the city of Chollula was a city of refuge. -- In confirmation of some of the facts above stated, we shall here annex an extract from the
fourteenth book of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy, which gives an interesting description of the various kinds of slavery customary
amongst the Indians: --

ft La manera, que estos Indios teniao de hacer Esclavos, era mui diferente de las Naciones de Europa, y otras partes del rvrund01 y
fue cosa mui dificultosa a. los principios de su conversion, acabarla de entender; pero sacada en limpio (en especial segun se acostumbraba,
en Mexico, y Tetzcuco; porque en otras Provincias, que no estaban sujetas a estos Reinos, havia otras maneras de hacer
EscIavos) decimos, que les faItaban muchas condiciones en esta materia, para hacerlos EscIavos propriamente; porque estos Esclavos
de esta Nueva-Espana, algunos tenian Peculio, adquirian, y poseian proprios, y 110 podian ser vendi dos, sino con las condiciones, que
luego dirernos: El Servicio, que hacian it sus Amos, era linzitado,y 110 siemp,'e, oi ordinario; y unos1 que servian por Esclavos, casan.
dose, 0 havielldo servido algunos Aiios1 0 queriendose casar, salian de la servidumbre, y entraban otros sus Hermanos, 0 Deudos, en
su lugar. Tambien havia Esc1avos habiles, y diligentes, que demas de servir a sus Amos, mantenian casa, can Muger1 y Hijos, y compraban
Esclavos, y los tenian, y se servian de elias: los Hijos de los Esclatos 7lacian libres. Todas estas condiciones, 0 las mas, faltan
11 los que las Leies dun pOl' S;e/,vos, y Esclnvos. Estas manera. de hacerse Esclavos pasaban delante de Test;gos, Personas de al/c;ana
edad1 los quales se ponian de la una, y otra parte, para que fuesen como terceros, y entendiesen en el precio, y fuesen Testigos del
conchavo, y estos havian de ser no menos, que quatro, y de aqui amba, y siempre se juntaban muchos a este concierto, como a cosa,
que la tenian por solemne; una de estas Ventas es la que se sigue.

"Havia algunos Hombres, que se daban 81 vicio d. jugar, 11 la Pelota, al J uego, que Ilaman Patolli (como dejamos dicho) y puesto,
en necesidad estos J ugadores, deseosos de continuar el J uego, vendianse, y hacianse Esclavos, y el mas comun precio, porque se
vendian, era veinte Mantas, que es una carga de ropa, que lIaman Cenanquimilli, aunque unas son maiores, que otras1 y asi son de
mas,o menos precio, y asi se daban de unas, 11 de otras, conforme era la disposicion, y Persona del que se vendi a por Esc1avo. Havia
tambien Mugeres, que se daban a vivir suelta, y libertadamente; y para proseguir este mal Estado, que tomaban, tenian necesidad de vestir
curiosa, y galan.mente, y por la necesidad, que pasaban, porque no trabajaban, en la Vida de Amore" que tralan, y por sustent.r la bisarria,




NOTES. 321

debant. Quare veterum morem aut sensum secuti quidem videntur, qui, ut autores testantur, victimas a vietis
deducebant, ut et hostias ab hoste, quasi sacrifieium oblatio hostis sit. Nunc tamen id vocabulum in genere
omnibus saerificiis aecommodatur. Porro ne ullo unquam tempore captivi deessent, perpetuis invicem bellis
digladiabantur. Hinc fiebat ut omni studio vivi vivos captare laborarent, quo pro sacrificiis hostire suppeterent.
Hane ex ereteris eausam Mote<;uma ad Marehionem de Valle prretendit; qui eum rogasset qUI fieret, ut cum tanto.
potenti" auctus, plurima sibi regna subjugarit, soli provineire Tlasealre edomandre non ineumberet, eum ejus tamen
que usa ban, llegaban a. necesitarse mucha, y hacianse Esclavas; porque las que se dahan a este vieio, en 'Tiempo de su Gentilidad, no era
con interes de paga, sino solo con bestial apetito de sensualidad. Estas dos maneras de Esc1avos, primero goc,;aban de su precio, que comrnenc,;
asen a servir; en el Tiempo pocas veces pasaban de Ana, porqne en el,o poco despues se les acababa la fopa, y acabada, entraban sir,, -- 
jendo: estes Esclavos bien vituperables SOD, pues servian el precia de su maId ad, y bellaqueria. Quando algun Nino se perdia, luego 10
pregonaban, y buscaban por todlls partes a su Padre, 0 Madre, (, Persona, que supiese de el, y Ie conociese; y si alguno 10 escondia, 0 iba
a vender, 0 de industria 10 hurtaba, y 10 vendia en otro Pueblo, quando 5e sabia, prendian al Ladron, y hacianlo Esclavo, par haver ven·
dido al Nino, que no 10 era. Los Parientes oel traidor a ~u Senor,o a su Republica, que supieron de la traicioo, ynola descubrieron, oi
manifestaron, hacianlos Esclavos, y al traidor Ie daban la rnuerte, que en otra parte dejamos diclIo. Al que hurtaba en cantidad, hurto
notable, 0 tenia mucha frequentacion, y uso de hurtar, hacianle Esclavo; y si despues de hecho Esclavo tornaba al vicio, ahorcabanle.
Quando dos se concertaban, para ir a hurtar Maiz de una troxe, 0 panera, era fuerga, que el uno de ellos havia de subir a sacarlo
(porque son esta5 troxes como mui gran des tinajas, con sus bocas en 10 alto de elias, y el que ha de sacar 10 que esta dentro, ha de subir
arriba) pues el Ladron, que queria hurtar de este Pan encerrado, no podia solo, por la dificultad del subir, y dar luego desde arriba, 10
que queria sacar del granero, par esto se acornpafiava; y si eran cogidos en el hurta, prendianlos, y averiguaban qual de los dos havia
5ubido arriba, y a este vendian, y al otro castigaban con otras penas menos rigurosas; porque era sospecha de la Lei, que el que subia
a hacer el hurto, fue el que 10 solicito, pues 5e puso a maior riesgo, y mas trabajo, y como a solicitador, que se presumia que era,
dabanle maior castigo. Al que hurtaba pequeuos hurtos, si no eran mui frequentados, con pagar 10 que hurtaba hacia pago; y si no
tenia de que pagar, una, y dos veces, los Parientes 5e juntaban, y repartian entre SI el valor del hurto, y pagaban por el, diez, y doce
Mantas, y desde arriba; oi es de creer, que hacian Esclavo por quarenta, ni cinquenta ma~orcas de Maiz, ni por otra cosa de mas
precio, si el tenia de que pagar, 0 los Parientes; asi 10 afirmaroll los de Tetzcuco (como 10 dice el Padre Frai Toribio Motolinia) y a las
Personas, que no lIegaban a edad de diez Anos, perdonabanles los hurtos, y delitos, que cometian, porque los juzgaban por inocentes, y
por menores de edad.

"En hllrtando alguna cosa de mucho precio, asi como Joias de Oro, 0 Mantas ricas, en cantidad, lllego ponian suma diligencia, en
buscarlo por los Mercados, y avisaban a las Guardas, que siempre residian en la Plaga, que Haman 'I'ianguez; y el primero que daba
con el hurto, y asia al Ladron, se 10 daban, por Esclavo, aunque huviese tambien hurtado a otros, y par esta causa casi siempre
compraban, y vendian en el Tianguez, 0 Mercado; porque tenian por sospechoso, al que fllera de alii vendia, y en el Mercado havia
mucha guarda, y aviso sabre los Ladrones. Tienen, y tenian en los mismos Mercados sus Portales,!I Saletas ahiertas, C]ue miran
al 'I'ianguez, donde se aluergaban los Tratantes, y Pasageros, y tam bien para guarecerse del Agua, quando llueve; y como en el
Mercado, entre otras muchas cos as, se vendian cosas de comer, y se venden, y quedan algunos relieves de elias, de que luego a la noche
hacen su plato, y ceo a los perros: acostumbraban las Guardas del Tianquizco, y a las veces otros muchachos, quando sentian ser hora
de que los Perrillos estaban dentro, pOllian unas redes en las calles, que salen al Mercado, para cac;arlos en elias. Sucedio, pues, que
una vez estando las redes puestas en el Mercado, 0 Tianguez de Tetzcuco, entre los que estaban albcrgados en los Portales, levantose un
Indio, y hUIto la manta a otro, dejandolo descubierto; pero por mui sutil, y ligeramente, que hi90 el lance, rlesperto el desnudo, y el
Ladron huio, y el desnudo fue tras de el, dando voce.s, y como el malhechor iba turbado, qualquier pasu Ie parecia corlo~ y llegando a
desembocar por una de las calles, que salen de la Plaga, caia en la red, que estaba tendida, para los Perros, y alIi enredado Ie prendieron,
verificandose e/! Clio que dice el Prrifeta Isalas: El ternor, y ellac;o fue sobre ti, que eres habit.dor, y morador de la Tierra, y estimas las
cosas de ella, qui ere decir, mas que en el honor propio: por las quales vienes a perderlo, y luego it la manana 10 llevaron a. los J ueces;
los quales Ie condenaron por Esclavo, diciendo, que sus pecados eran grandes, pues Ie havian metido en la red de los Perros; yeste
fue hecho Esclavo, por la circunstancia de haverse enredado, y parecer caso particular.
"Algunos pobres, que tenian Hijos, en especial los Viejos, 0 en tiempo de mucha necesidad trataban Mariclo, y Muger, de remediar
au necesidad, y pobrega, y concertabanse de vender un Hijo, y llamados, los terceros (que eran como corredores de lonja) y testigos,
vendianlo; y acontecia muchas veces, que haviendo servido aquel Hijo algunos Ailos, pareciales, que era bien repartir el trabajo, y
daban al Senor otro de sus Hijos, y sacaban de servidumhre al primero, y no solo holgaba de ello el Amo, mas daba, por el que entraba
de nuevo en su servicio, otras tres, 0 qualro Mantas, 0 cargas de Maiz; y esto estaba asi, en costumbre. Ravia algunos holgaganes,
que tenian poco mas cuidado, que andarse comiendo, y bebiendo, y como les faltaba, vendianse, y gogaban de su precio, y luego que
10 acababan de comer, y de beber, cumen9aban a servir a sus Amos; y esto que se dice de los Hombres, se ha de entender tambien de
las Mugeres."

"Otra manera de hacer Esclavos tuvieron estas Gentes, los quales llamaron Huehuetlatlacoli, que quiere decir: Culpa,o servidumbre
antigua, y era este el modo. Si una casa, 0 dos se vejan~ en necesidad de hambre, vendian un Hijo, y obligabanse todos a tener siempre
aquel Esclavo vivo, que aunque muriese el que sei'ialaban havian de suplir su servidumbre can otro, salvo si el que actualmente servia,
moria en la misma casa de su Arno, 0 Ie tomaba algo de 10 que adquiria; por 10 qual, ni el Amo Ie tomaba, 10 que el Esclavo tenia, ni
queria que habitase en su casa, mas de que Ie llama ban, para que entendiese, en Ia Hacienda de su Arno, como era, en aiudar a labrar,





322 NOTES.

occupatio facilis videretur, responsum a Motecuma aeeepit, ejus rei eausas geminas esse, unam, quod juventus
Mexicana perpetuis exereitiis et laboribus vireseeret, nee torpore et ignavia perderetur, alteram, quod eaptivorum
ae sclavorum quantis ad saerifieia opus esset, satis inde aeeiperet. Sacrifieiorum hree norma erato Maetandi in
supremam aream eapitum mortuorum (de his superius nonnihil pereensuimus) dueebantur, ubi sua serie dispositi
sembraT. y coger las sementeras, y algunas veces traia Lena, y barria; y quando aquel que havian senalado havia ia servido algunos Anas,
queriendo descansar, (, casarse, decia a los atros, que juntamente, con el estaban obligados, y havian gogado del mismo precia, que eotTase
otro a servir algun tiempo; pero no por esto se libraba de la obligacion, oi la Muger, que con el se casaba; mas los que de primero se
havian obligado, con eUos contraian aqueUa misma obligacion, con sus descendientes; y de esta manera solian esth.r obligados los de
quatro, y cinco casas, por un Esclavo a un Arno, y a sus Herederos. El Ana de mil y quinientos y cinco, que fue de mucha hambre, el
Rei de Tetzcuco, Ham ado Nec;ahualpilli, viendo el ahuso de Ia mala Lei; y porque con Ia hambre que huvo no se acrecentase mas,
anulo, y cancela la dicha Lei, y liberta las casas, que estaban obligadas, que fue una fiui prO\'echosa, y necesaria libertad, para el Reino;
y cree el Padre Frai Toribio, que viendo 10 que a cerca de esto havia pasado, en Tetzcuco, higo Motecuhsuma, 10 mismo en esta su
Ciudad de Mexico, y que 10 mismo corrio, por otms partes del Imperio, quitando de las cervices de sus moradores, tan cargoso, y pesado
lugo, libertando estos Esclavos, que nacieron libres, y la necesidad los havia hecho:€'sc!a\'os. Havia algunos Esclavos manosos, yastutos,
que por tener para jugar, a comer, se solian vender dos veces, y estos eran llevados ante la J usticia. y mandaban los J ueces, que este
Esclavo sirviese al que se havia vendido delante de testigos, y con obligacion publica; y si ambas veces havia pasado la ventajuridicamente,
y como la Lei daba el permiso, daban el Esclavo al primer Arno, y perdia su servicio, y precio el segundo, por quanto el Esclavo,
no tenia de que pagar, y Ia primera venta havia sido la valedera.

"Los Bijos del Esclavo eran libres, y 10 mismo eran los de la Esc/ava, como uno de elias fllese libre; y 10 que es mas, que los Hijos de
Esciavo, '!I Esclava, eran tambien libres. Algunos quisieron decir, que si un libre tenia acceso a alguna Esclava, y quedaba prefiada de
la copula, era Esclavo el Varon que cometio acto con Esclava, y servia al Senor de la Esclava; pero esto no fue asi, segun confesion de
los mismos Indios Sabios, que sabian sus Leies, y las practicaban. Asimismo huvo quien quiso decir, que quando alguno tomaba
Mantas fiadas de algun Mercader, 0 otra cosa, de equivalente valor, y precic, y moria, sin haver pagado, que el Mercader de su propia
autoridad hacia Esdava II la Muger del Difunto, por la deuda, que havia quedado debiendo; y si el Difunto bavia dejado Hijo, al Hijo
hacia Esclavo, y no a la Madre. Lo que io se decir en este caso, es, que los Indios no hicieron tal, en su gentilidad; pero los Espanoles,
y Castellanos que 01 viven en e1 Cltristianismo, en especial obrajeros, y aun algunos labradores, quando se les muere ellndio de su obraje,
o labranl,;a, a de otro qualquier servicio, que les hacen, y les deben algun uinero, aunque sea mui poco; llevan la Muger, y Hijos a su
cas a, para que desquiten 10 que el Marino, <> Padre, quedo debicndo, y muchas veces es dinero, que el Difunto recibio, para beber, y
emborracharse, y par fuerfa, para solo tenerlos toda la vida par Esclavos; y de estos casas he vista muchos, en las Guardianias donde he
estario, y ·he dado cuenta de ell.us a los Senores Virreies, y no se si se han podido remediar, por ser infieles los executores, havieudo de
ser mui fieles, pues este es Sll nombre de el que debe de hacer justicia, por obligacion precisa, que para ello tiene. Dios 10 remedie,
porque las cosas de las Indias no tienen remedio Humano, por estar tan apartadas de los ojos de su Rei, que aunque pone los medios de
et remedio. nunca llegan it bien executarse. Lo que en este caso havia, dijeron los viejos de Tetzcuco, que 10 sabian mui bien, porque
algunos de ellos havian sido J ueces antes de las Querras, y entrada de nuestros Espafioles, y sabian mui bien las Leies, por donde se
regian, que pasaba de esta manera: Que si alguno t.omaba fiado algo, y no tenia de que pagar, una, y dos veces, los Parientes se aiun.
taban, y repartian entre 51 la deud", y 10 libra ban de Ia carcel, y de la deuda, que debia; y 5i era Difunto, el Acreedor se entregaba en
los Bienes, a Heredades, si acaso las havia dejado, 0 en otras cosas, asi como muebles, a raiees de casas, y otras semejantes; pero no se
haciajamas entrega de persona que Ie tocase, asi de Muger, como de Hijos.

"Los Esclavos, de mas de servir a sus Amos (como el servicio, que les hacian, no era ordinario) adquirian bienes para 5i, hasta casarse,
y mantener casa, y comprar otro Esclavo, que Ie servia; y asi huvo algunos, que tuvieron Esclavos, en su servicio, siendo ellos Esclavos;
y dice el Padre Frai Toribio, que debia de saber esto aque! Negro, que escrivia de esta Nueva-Espana II otro su Amigo II la Isla Espanola,
tam bien Negro, y Esclavo, cuias palabras eran estas: Amigo. Fulano, esta es buena Tierra para Esclavos, aqui Negro tiene buena
comida, aqui Negro tiene Esclavo, que sirve a Negro, y el Esclavo del Negro tiene Navorio, que quiere decir: Mogo,o criado, por eso
trabaja, que tu amo te venda, para que vellgas a esta Tierra, que es la mejor del Mundo para Negros: y no dijo mal, porque tambien
se tratan muchos de eUos, como mui honrados Espanoles; y los mas 4$afios de quantos hai, Y lllas deshechados mandan a. los Indios,
y los cargan, como si fueran los Virreies de la Tierra. Si los Esclavos eran muchachos. 0 pobres, estabanse en casa, con sus Amos, los
quales los trataban, como si fueran Hijos, y asi los vestian, y les daban de comer, como a tales,y m1lcltas veces los Amos se casaban, con
Esclavas suias, y 10 mismo haciall las Mugeres, que contralan con SliS Esclavos, muertos sus Maridos; y Esclavos havia que regian, y
mandaban la casa de su Senor, como hacen los Maiordomos.

"A los Esclavos, que salian malcriados, perec;osos, fugitivos, y viciosos, amonestabanles los Amos, dos, 0 tres veces, y para maior justificacion
suia, hacian esta amonestacion, dela1lte de testigos; y si todavia permanecian incorregibles, hechabanles la collera, que usaban,
que es una media Argolla de palo, y puesta en la garganta salia, por detra!) encima de las espaldas, con dos agujeros, y por los aglljeros
atravesada una vara larga, con que quedaba presa la garganta, y a. la vara juntaban otra vara, por defuera de los agujeros, y ambas ados
las ataban, una con otra, y la atadura lIegaba a las puntas, a estremidades de las varas, donde no podia a1cansar COll las manos, ni podia
desatarse; y asi los llevaban, por los carninos, y a las veces les hechaban una trailla de cordel, con que los llevaban atraillados; y porque
de noche no se desatasen, a cortasen la ligadura del cordel, atabanles las manos, una sobre otra. Despues que hechaban collera al
Esdavo, 10 podian vender en qualquier Mercado, a Tianguez; y si de la primera, /) segunda venta, no se enmendaban (porque quando Ie





NOTES. 323

firma custodia diligenter servabantur. Paulo post sacerdos quidam prodibat amiculo cinctus, cujus extremitas
continuis jtoccis innexa erato Is ab editiore tcmpli loco desccndens, imaginem seu idolum ex farina maiis cum
melle subactil formatum manibus gerebat. Idoli oculi ex viridi corallio, dentes vero ex granis maiis constabant.
Qua summa vero festinatione sacerdos poterat, per gradus decurrebat; ibi in media area grandem lapidem theatri
mercaban, preguntaba el comprador, quantas veces havia sido vendido) si todavia perseveraba en Sll inquietud, y travesuras, por tres, (,
qualro veees, Ie podian vender, para el Sacrificio, aunque este Sacrificio acontecia pocas veces; porque lodos los que se sacrifuaban, eran
havidos en Guerra. Quando el Esclavo trala una callera, tenia un remedio para iibertarse, y era, que si se podia escapal' de su Amo, '!I
acogerse al Palacio Real, y Casa de los Reies, en entrando dentro era fibre, y nadie Ie podia impedir la entrada, oi bolveria del camino,
que llevaba, sino eran sus Amos, y Hijos de su Senor; y qualquiera otro, que Ie hechaba mano, 0 pretendia estorvarle la entrada en el
Palacio era hecho Esclavo; porque pretendia privarle de aquella ventura) de quedar libre; y por el mismo caso 10 quedaba el Esclavo.
Quando alguno tenia Esclavo, y se vela en necesidad, no por eso 10 vendi a; pero deciale: 1a ves la necesidad, en que estoi; y asi conviene,
que trabajes, y procures de aiudarme, para que salga de ella; hacialo asi el Esclavo, y comen~aba a ir a los Tianguez, 0 Mercados,
cargandose de 10 que valia poco precio, y llevabalo a vender a otra parte donde tenia mas precio, y de alii bolvia cargado de 10 que en su
Tierra era de mas valor, y de esta maDera hacia principio su caudal; y quando crecia, en algun buen numero, empleabalo en cosas
maiores, y asi crecia la ganancia, y con este su trabajo, e industria remediaba la necesidad, y pobre~a de su Arno. Tambien acostulDbraban
estos Senores de Esclavos, dejarlos libres, y horros a su muerte, por causas que para ello declaraban; y si esto HO hacian, quedaban
los Esclavos a sus Herederos, como los demas bienes, que tenia."

We shall only further remark, in addition to this long extract, that slavery of every description was tolerated amongst the Jews. The
Nethinims were their hereditary slaves, who, being Gibeonites and of the number of those nations doomed by them to destruction, saved
their lives by practising a fraud on Joshua, as is recorded in the ninth chapter of his book, who formally, in the twenty-third verse of the
same chapter, pronounced the sentence of perpetual slavery against them: "Now therefore, ye are cursed; and there shall none of you be
freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God." They are again mentioned in the ninth
chapter of the First Book of Chronicles: "So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings
of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression. Now the first inhabitants, that dwelt in their possessions
in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims." From this passage it may be inferred that the Hebrew nation
consisted at that early period of three distinct orders, viz. the priests, the populace, and their slaves. Another class of slaves existing among
the Jews were those properly designated Hebrew slaves: these were their own countrymen; and their slavery was not, except in some
cases, perpetual, since their masters were obliged at the expiration of a certain number of years to release them. Their treatment of them
was also regulated by the following express laws contained in the twenty-first chapter of Exodus and in the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus;
whilst their conduct towards their other slaves seems to have been little restricted by the laws of the Pentateuch: "Now these are
the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall
go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, be shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shaH be her master's, and he
shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 
then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear
through with an awl j and he shall serve him for ever. And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the
men-servants do. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a
strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal
with her after the manner of daughters. If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not
diminish. And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money." -- "And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee
be waxen poor, and he sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant: but as an hired servant, and as a sojourner,
he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with
him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants, which I
brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bond-men. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour, but shalt fear thy
God. Both thy bond-men, and thy bond-maids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; ?<1 them shall
ye by bond-men and bond-maids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of
their families that are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession: and ye shall take them as an inheritance
for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bond-men for ever: but over your brethren, the
children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour." Slavery amongst the Jews was, however, of more ancient date than
their first occupation of the land of Canaan; since even before they entered Egypt, where they dwelt for above three hundred years, it is
recorded of Abraham in the sixteenth chapter of Geuesis, that his wife Sarai having no children of her own, gave him her bond-woman
Hagar the Egyptian as a concubine, whom both then and at a subsequent period she seemed to have considered and treated in every
respect as a slave, although the Jews had not at that time any particular reason for entertaining enmity or aversion to the Egyptians.
But a more convincing proof of the antiquity of the custom of selling if not of buying slaves amongst the Hebrew nation, is afforded in the
thirty-seventh chapter of Genesis, which thus records the criminal conduct of the Jewish patriarchs in selling their brother Joseph to the
Ishmaelites, -- equally so both as regarded their old father, whose favourite he was, as well as the unfortunate object himself of their unjust
envy. "And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said




324 NOTES.

specie positum, asccndebat, qui Quauxicalli, id est lapis aquilaris, vocabatur. Ex hoc theatro scalas aliquot ibi
vicinas scansim ascendebat, e qui bus tamen brevi iterum desultans, alias in latere positas exsuperabat, firmis manibus
suum idolum continuo gcstans. Postea ad locum ilium itabat quo captivi consederant. Horum singulis a summo
ad imum, idolum apporrigchat, dicens, Ecce, hic deus tuus. Re peracta in altero latere per gradus quosdam se
proripiebat. Jam ergo omnes et singuli qui pro victimis aderant, ad locum supplicio destinatum se confcrebant, et
morti prreparabant, qui ex ordine quoque singnlatim neei dabantur. Immolationis autem forma communis sima
ilia erat, quod mactan<lorum, pectoribus diruptis, cor vivum extraherent. Ipsum cadaver cruore undiquaque madidum
e gradibus templi deturbabatur. Sacrificium vero sex sacerdotes peragebant; horum binis mactandi manus, duobus
aliis pcdes, et quiuto collum firmantibus, sextus pectus scissim dirumpebat, et crucntis manibus palpitans cor
evellebat. Hoc munus qui obibat, Chachalmua, id est, rerum conseeratarum minister, vocabatur; quod officium
omnium dignissimum sold luereditatis sllccessione in alios transferebatur, quo modo his in locis feudis posteri succedunt.
Homicidii iste designator pro summo sacerdote ae Papa habebatur, cui pro temporis et solennitatis
conditione diversa nomina indebantur. Pro diversitate temporis, iidem ut nomen, sic vestes quoque permutabant.
Ab officio Pap<e vel Topilzni nuncupabantur. Vestis illius rubea fimbrire vice in extremitate villis appendebatur.
Capite coronam ex pulcherrimis ac flavescentibus pennis textam gerebat. Ex auribus annuli aurei gemmis ornati
dependebant. Labiis versus mentum gemmre quippiam simile insertum erato Sacrifici sex qui hostiam mactabant,
facies manusque atras et informes ostemlebant, quorum quinque eapillos floccis intorserant admodum crispis et
intricatis. Medio capite trenia coriacea revincti spectabantur. In syncipite scuta exilia, papyracea variis coloribus
depicta suffixa gerebant. Vestes ex filo candido atroque contextre variabantur. Hoc habitu ipsi cacodremoni
qufidam tenus similes, fcedis vultibus omnibus astalltibus terrorem certissimum incutiebant. Summus sacerdos


-----
one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit: and we will say,
Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out
of their hands; and sairi, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass,
when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours, that was on him. And they
took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up
their eyes, and looked, and, behold, a company of lshmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrhJ? 
going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, and our flesh: and his brethren
were content. Then there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to
the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben retumed unto the pit; and, behold,
Joseph was not in the pit: and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall
I go? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood: and they sent the coat of many
colours, and they urought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know nmv whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew
it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes,
and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him;
but he refused to be comforted: and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's and captain of the guard." It is evident from this
account, that ten out of the twelve patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel were implicated in the same degree of guilt, and in vain do we
seek for arguments to urge in palliation of their conduct; they were all grown-up men, and had long before arrived at years of discretion:
nor can it even be said that some of them from fear might have followed the multitude to do evil, since their two elder brothers (and primogeniture 
carried with it great weight amongst the Jews) felt some sentiments of commiseration for their younger brother, and for the
affiiction into which they knew that their father would be thrown on receiving the intelligence of his death; and they ditTered in opinion
from the others, who proposed to murder him, and to throw !tim iuto a pit. Reuben indeed seems to have acted a proper part on the
occasion; and his exclamation on not finding his brother in the pit, "The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?" proves that he was not
devoid of every feeling of humanity. But what a scene of hypocrisy was afterwards acted by them all, when all his sons and daughters
rose up to comfort their sorrowing father after having shown him the coat, dipped in the blood, which be believed to be his son's! How,
after reading this history, can we feel or pretend to feel any reverence for the Jewish Patriarchs? Their moral characters were not only bad,
but infamous; and to praise them would be to insult virtue. The Bible records many other crimes which at a subsequent period they
committed; and the evil TepoTt, -- true it cannot be doubted, -- which before this time Joseph had brought to his father of them, was the
cause of their originally hating him. Reuben alone is presented to us under favourable colours; -- but bow great mllst have been the
enormity of which he afterwards became guilty, to have been deprived by his father of his birthright, and to have been cursed by him
(endued moreover with a prophetic spirit, and therefore well acquainted with the vain attempt which he made to spare him the grief of
being deprived of Joseph) on his death-bed, as is recorded in the fourth verse of the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis!




NOTES. 325
magnum latum et acutissimum cultrum manibus librabat. Alius monile ligneum serpentis forma excisum gestabat.
Sex hi sacerdotes idolum suum prretergredientes, submissa veneratione ingeniculabantur. Lapi~; in quem sontes
iIIidebantur pyramidis formam habebat, et in opposito sacelli idoli jacebat. Huic tanta acuties erat, ut in ilium
iIIisus facili opera totus diffinderetur. His omnibus sacerdotibus ex ordine stantibus, hi qui in bello capti pro
victimis servabantur, magna populi frequentia adducebantur ad eum locum qui supplicio destinatus erato Ducchantur
vero nudi. Horum qui primus adstabat hinc pedibus, illinc manibus correptus, in acutum lapidem nudus illidebatur.
Quo facto, dicto ocius, quintus. annulum ligneum collo innectebat. Summus vero sacerdos mira agilitate cultro
pectus discindebat, ex quo palpitans evulsum cor, ita ut fumabat soli veluti ostendens, obvertebat. A quo iterum
conversus ad idolum, viscus in ejus faciem cruentum excutiebat. Ab eo r.adaver per gradus subjectos devolvebat,
qui saxo tam propiuqui erant ut vix binorum pedum intervallum intercederet. Hoc ritu consequenter et alii
mactabantur. Porro in unum cumulum congestis cadaveribus, domini accedentes quem quisque in bello ceperat,
auferebant, et ex carnibus coctis lautas epulas domi, et splendida convivia agitabant. Hoc modo qui una vice
immolarentur, plerunque 40 aut 50 numerabantur. Nam ad hostes vivos capiendos Mexicani admodum agiles
et expediti fuerant. Qui Mexicanis fmitimi erant, hi magna ex parte tum eorum mores, tum leges et statuta,
tum cultus alios remulabantur." cap. xx. "Indorum peeuliaris alia quoque ratio diebus festis sacrifieandi fuerat,
quam Racaxipe Veliztli, id est, hominum excorationem vocabant; ideo quod uni, vel plurihus selavis quos ad
id selegerant, corium detraherent. Hrec detractio a peculiariter ordinatis et deputatis Jiehat. Si quis hoc munus
obiisset, tum ostiatim per omnes plateas et fora civitatis circuibat, saltando et cantillando, neseio quid animi
exprimens. Quos prebendebat, si quid erogare stipis cogebantur, tergiversantibus pellem cruentam in facies iIlidebat
nt cruore difHuerent. Hoc ludicrnm, quamdin pellis integra esset, durabat. Quo tempore ita passim discurreret,
stipis quam plurimum colligebat qure idoli cultibus impendebatur. Hnjns festi ea ratio erat, ut sacrificus cum hostia
sua seu homine mactando aperta lucta prius decerneret hoc modo; selavo de saxo religato in manus gladium cum
scuto indebant, qui si antagonistam sacrificum reqne armatum prostravisset, non saltem a victimre sorte liber
evadebat, sed ducis insuper et bellatoris titulum sortiebatur; quo nomine etiam deinde apnd universos magni fiebat.
Quod si vero in pngna succumberet, nulla mora super lapide isto ex quo revinctus erat, credebatur et mactabatur.
Porro aliud quoque sacrificii genus colebant, ad quod selavum quemdam seligebant qui idolum ipsum reprresentaret,
et illud in omnibus vivus exprimeret; hoc pacto, sacerdotibns suis quotannis selavum unum tradehant incolre
ut viva idoli imago nunquam deficeret. Provinciam ergo hanc initurus, selavns probe primnm lavabatnr et
mnndabatur. Ita veluti initiato, habitum et insignia idoli, et ipsum illius nomen quoque conferebant, et integri
anni decursu selavum non minus ac idolum ipsum destinatis cultibus venerabantur. Duodecim ministris velut
asseelis assiduo ne quo aufugeret, stipabatur. Si fors aufugisset, custodum primarius in ejus locum sufficiebatur qui
idolum referret, et immolaretur. Selavo hujusmodi conclave templi omnium ornatissimum et spectatissimum locabatur,
in quo ageret, et cibum caperet, ct huc ad eum subinde civitatis primates ingrcdiebantur honoris causa, cibum ei
ministrantes, et alia officia honoraria deferentes. Animi causa fors aliqno per civitatem prodeambnlaturum primatum
magnus pone numerus insequebatur. Is quam manibus gerebat fistula nonnunquam cantillabat in plateis, nt sui
prresentis populis aliquod signum daret. Ad perceptum sonitum ex redibus certatim efHuebant tum viri, tnm freminre
ulni~ infantes gestantes, quos ante pedes ejus deponebant, et clivina veneratione per gentem prosequebantur. Idem
et populus reliquus prrestabat. Nocte in admodum firmam caveam ferream" ilium ineludebant ne fuga securus
eluderet, et hoc usque ad festre diei appulsum sedulo ita continuabant, qua pro victima tandem sistebatur. Hoc et
similibus dolis Sathanas futuas gentcs ludos fecerat. Eorum qui hujusmodi insania ab Indis mactari solebant
numerus tantus erat, ut tuto prOnUnClafl V1X possit. Nam pro compertissimo narratur aliquoties ultra 5000 homines
mactatos et immolatos fuisse. Ad quam infandam crudelitatem confidentius patrandam cacodremon superstitiosos
homines hac fere astutia inescabat. Si commodum videbatur, Sathanas sacerdotibus persnadebat nt regulis sign ificarent
purum abesse, quin dii jam fame et inedia conficerentur, et taberent; facerent ergo quod ad rem conferret.
His fatui reges incitati bellum confestim decernebant, et subditis suis ut indicto tempore armati confiuerent,
mandabant, deos enim suos jam victimas et alimenta posccl'e. Scd et per feciales missos hostibus suis bellum
denunciabant, ct denunciationi cansam addebant. Ubi ergo prresentibus armis ntrinque concursum est, pugna

-----
* Since the Mexicans were unacquainted with iron, it is probable that the translator of the Spanish text of Acosta's History into
Latin has here been guilty of some mistake.





326 NOTES.

commissa nihil aliud moliebantur quam ut alter alterum vivum prehenderet. Nec tam se invicem credere et
prosternere, quam capere et ligare studebant, ut nimirum vivas pro diis victimas trophreis adducerent. Hoc loco
ct id sciendum est, Indos nullum quemquam regem creasse et coronasse, quin is prius aliquarum provinciarum
victor factus fuisset, et captivorum plurimos ante se ad deorum sacrificia egisset. Eo pacto in honorem sacrilegi
et teterrimi Sathanre sanguinis humani inrestimabilem copiam assiduo profundebant." -- Cap. xxi.

The reflection that human sacrifices were almost as common among the Jews at one period of their history as among
the Mexicans and Peruvians, must give rise to grave considerations. Neither can we, in attempting to vindicate
the chosen people of God, charge other nations with an equal degree of depravity in this respect; since, whatever
might have been the sentiments of darker ages, enlightened men of the present day would smile with derision at those
who should venture to assert that the Egyptians, the Greeks, or the Romans, in any age offered human sacrifices
in the manner recorded of the Jews by their own Prophets, whose accounts we cannot charge with exaggeration,
becau'se they were inspired; or imagine their words to have been misrepresented, because they are found in Holy
Writ. Isaiah in the fifty-seventh chapter of his Book, addressing the Jews, says" But draw near hither, ye sons
of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom
make ye a wide mouth, and draw ont the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the cliffs of the
rocks f' Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou
poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered a meat-offering. Should I receive comfort in these? Upon a lofty and
high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice." And Jeremiah in the second
chapter of his Prophecies: "Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked
ones thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by
secret search, but upon all these." And in the seventh chapter the same prophet cries, "Cut off thine hair, O 
Jerusalem, and 'cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set
their abominations in the house wldch is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of
Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their dauglders in the fire; which I
commanded them not, neither came it into my heart." And in the nineteenth chapter, wherein is declared the
signification of the type of breaking the potter's vessel, we are informed by Jeremiah that Tophet, or the valley of
Hinnom, which is mentioned in other parts of Scripture as a place famous for the celebration of human sacrifices,
was close to the walls of Jerusalem. The high places which are alluded to could not have been natural hills or
mounds of earth, as they are said to have been built: they had altars erected on a platform above, and were
probably constructed on the same plan as the Mexican Teocalli. The passage referred to in Jeremiah is the
following: "Thus saith the Lord, Go, and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and
of the ancients of the priests; and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry
of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee; and say, Hear ye the word of the Lord,
o kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken
me, and have estranged this place, and have burnt incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their
fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; they have
built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Badl, which I commanded
not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, bchold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of
slaughter." Ezekiel also, in many parts of his Prophecies, testifies as to the frequency of human sacrifices
amongst the Jews, especially in his twentieth chapter: "Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they
walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in
them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger
against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it
should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. I lifted up mine
hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them
through the countries; because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had




NOTES. 327

polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were
not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused
to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might
know that I am the Lord. Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God, Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. For
when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every
high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation
of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink-offerings. Then I said
unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.

Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Are ye polluted after the manner of your
fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? For when ye ofter your gifts, when ye make your sons
to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by
you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. And that which cometh
into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve
wood and stone. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with
fury poured out, will I rule over you." In the twenty-second chapter of the same prophet we find these words with
reference to Jerusalem: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou
judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. Then say thou, Thus saith the
Lord God, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, alld maketh idols against herself to
defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which
thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I
made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. Those that be near, and those that be far
from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone were
in thee to their power to shed blood." And in the twenty-third chapter, Ezekiel reproves Israel and Judah under
the simile of two sisters, named Aholah ann Aholibah: "The Lord said moreover unto me, Son of man, wilt
thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; that they have committed adultery,
and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery; and have also caused their sons,
whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover, this they have done unto
me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. For when they had slain
their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they
done in the midst of mine house. And, furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a
messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst
thyself with ornaments." It says in the twenty-first chapter of the Second Book of Kings: "Manasseh was twelve
years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the
Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had
destroyed; and he reared np altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the
host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In
Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the
Lord. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar
spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set
a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his
son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever.
Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will
observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses
commanded them. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations
whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all fhat the Amorites
did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols; therefore thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, Uoth his ears




328 NOTES.

shall tingle." The sins of the Amorites and the former inhabitants of the land of Canaan are enumerated in the
twelfth chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon, amongst which, that of eating human flesh is mentioned: "For it was
thy will to destroy by the hands of our fathers, both those old inhabitants of thy holy land whom thou hatedst,
for doing most odious works of witchcrafts and wicked sacrifices. And also, those merciless murderers of children,
and devourers of man's flesh, and the feasts of blood with their priests out of the midst of their idolatrous crew,
and the parents that killed with their own hands souls destitute of help. That the land which thou esteemedst
above all other, might receive a worthy colony of God's children. Nevertheless, even those thou sparedst as men,
and didst send wasps," forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little." The Jews are also accused
by the prophet Micah, in the third chapter of his book, of eating human flesh: "And I said, Hear, I pray you, O 
heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? who hate the good,
and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; who also eat the
flesh of my peoplet, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for
the pot, and as flesh within the caldron." This address of Micah is to the princes of the house of Israel who were


-----
* Xicotencatl and Xicochimalco were both Mexican proper narues; the 6rst of which signified" the wasp on the lip," and the
other It the wasp on the shield."

+ Voltaire, inclining to the opinion that cannibalism is a lesser crime than offering a human sacrifice to the Deity, appeals to the
authority of Scripture to prove that the Jews were guilty or both these abominations. Some divines have declared this to be a gross
calumny against the Jews, thereby betraying their own ignorance. The passage alluded to in the writings uf Voltaire is the following:
" Les Juifs en imrnolaient (des gar90ns et des fiUes) Cela s'appelait l'anatheme; c'etait un veritable sacrifice; et it est ordonne, au vingtunieme
chapitre du Levitique, de ne point epargner les ames vivantes qu'on aura vouees; mais il ne leur est prescrit en aucun endroit
d'en manger, on les en menace seulement. MOise, com me nOllS avons vu, dit aux Juifs que, s'ils n'observent pas se3 ceremonies,
non-seulement ils auront la gale, mais que les meres mangeront lelfrs enfans. II est vrai que, du temps d' Ezechiel, les J uifs devaient
etre dans l'usage de manger de la chair humain; car illeur predit, au chapitre xxxix., que Dieu leur fera manger non-seulement les
chevaux de leurs ennemis, mais encore les ca,'atiers et les autres guerriers. Et en effet, pourquoi les J uifs n'auraient-ils pas ~te
anthropophages 1 C'ett ete la seule chose qui eilt manqu6 au peuple de Dieu pour etre Ie plus abominable peuple de la terre." A note
added to the context assigns strong reasons in favour of the construction there put upon the words of Ezekiel: "Void les raisons de ceux
qui ant soutenu qu' Ezechiel, en cet endroit, s'adresse aux Hebreux de son temps, 8ussi-bien qu'aux autres animaux carnassiers; car assurement
les J uifs d'aujourd'hui ne Ie sont pas, et c'est plutot l'inquisition qui a ete carnassiere envers eux. lis disent qu'une partie de cette
apostrophe regarde les bt:tes sauvages, et que l'autre est pour les J uifs. La premiere partie est ainsi concue: ' Dis a tout ce qui court,
a taus les oiseaux, a toutes les betes des champs: Assemblez-vous, hA.tez-vOllS, courez a la victime que je vous immole, afin que vous
mangiez la chair et que vous buviez Ie sang. Vous mangerez la chair des forts, vous boirez Ie sang des princes de la terre, et des beliers,
et des agneaux, et des boucs, et des taureaux, et des volailles, et de tous les gras.' Ceci ne peut regarder que les oiseaux de proie et
les b~tes feroces. Mais la seconde partie a paru aoressee aux Hebreux m8mes: 'Vous vous rassasierez sur rna table du cheval et du
fort cavalier, et de tous les guerriers, dit Ie Seigneur; etje mettrai ma gloire dans les nations, etc.' 11 est tres-certain que les rais de
Babylone avaient des Scythes dans leurs armees. Ces Scythes buvaient dll sang dans les cranes de leurs ennemis vaincus, et mangeaient
leurs chevaux, et quelquefois de la chair hurnaine. Il se peut tres-bien que Ie prophete ait fait allusion a cette contume barbare, et
qu'il ait menace les Scythes (l'~tre traites cornme ils traitaient leurs ellnemis. Ce qui rend cette conjecture vraisemblable, c'e!St Ie mot de
table: 'VOliS mangerez a rna table Ie cheval et Ie cavalier.' 11 D'y a pas d'apparence qu'on ait adress~ ce discours aux anirnaux, et
qu'on leur ait parl~ de se mettre a table. "serait Ie seul endroit de l'Ecriture Oll l'on aurait employ~ une figure si etonnante. Le sens
commun nous apprend qu'on ne doit point donner a un mot une 'lcception, qui ne lui a jamai:5 ete donnce dans aueun livre. C'est une
raison tres-puissante pour justifier les ecrivains qui ont cru les animaux designes par les versets 17 et ]8, et les Juifs designlis par les
\'ersets 19 et 20. De plus, ces mots,je mettraima gloire dans les natiolls, ne pellvent s'adresser qu'aux Juifs, et non pas aux oiseaux; cela
parait decisif. Nous ne porton~ point notre jugement sur cette dispute, mais nous remarql10ns avec douleur qu'il n'y a jamais eu de

-----
plus horribles atrocites sur Ia terre, que dans la Syrie, pendant douze cents annces presque consecutives." Another strong reason for
attaching the sense in which they are here understood to the words of Ezekiel is, that Isaiah expressly says in the ninth chapter of his
Prophecies, that the Jews through the wrath of the Lord of hosts should become cannibals. And the only doubt that can possibly arise,
as to the precise meaning of the prediction of the latter prophet, is, whose flesh was to be eaten, -- whether their own or that of
their brethren; since "every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm" might mean, shall eat the tlesh of his kindred, and of those who
were of the same tribe. At any rate, those who hegan by eating the flesh of their own arms would be, -- very likely to end by devouring
the flesh of their enemies; which seems to be the real sense of the prophecy of Isaiah: since what signification otherwise can the next
disjointed, and, in this case, mutilated sentence bear: "Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh?" It may be proper to cite the
entire passage of Isaiah: -- "Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the
fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and
they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and
they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."




NOTES. 329

guilty of cannibalism. The heads of Jacob were the priests and elders, of whom it is said in the fourteenth verse
of the thirty-sixth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles: "Moreover all the chief of the priests and the
people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the House of the Lotd
which he had hallowed in Jerusalem." It is evident from the passages of Scripture which have been quoted, that
in Jerusalem itself the worship of Jehovah was mixed up with that of idols; the temple profaned probably with
human sacrifices, and the flesh of human victims eaten on solemn festivals. These enormities did not continue for
a day or for a year, but, according to Ezekiel, for many ages, from the time of the children of Israel first entering the
land of Canaan to the period of the Babylonian captivity. This interval comprehends two periods of Jewish history,
that of the Judges, and that of the Kings. Under the judges the Jews were so wicked, that it is said in the last verse
of the last chapter of the Book of Judges, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which
was right in his own eyes." Under the kings, from the age of Rehoboam the son of Solomon to the carrying
away into captivity, scarcely any thing is recorded of the Jews, taken in the mass, but idolatry, witchcraft, and human
sacrifices. Here Jewish history may be properly said to end, almost where profane history commences; for the
prophetic spirit being wanting to the second temple as well as the Urim and Thummim, and the rod of Aaron that
. budded forth almonds, the succession of inspired historians ceased, and the relations of later Hebrew writers are
rejected as apocryphal and uncertain. We however know generally, that the posterity of those who returned from
Babylon and founded the second temple, mnch exceeded in iuiquity their forefathers, and were accordingly visited
with the severest judgments in the destruction of their city and their temple by the Romans, whose standard was
much less an abomination than the unhallowed rites with which the Jews themselves had profaned the sanctuary.
The motto taken by Cortes, "Judicium Domini apprehendit eos," seems obliquely to refer to them; and the Mexican
tradition of the destruction of Tulan, and of the apparition of the child with the putrid head, the pestilential effluvia
proceeding from which destroyed so many of the Tultecas, seems also applicable to Jerusalem, and to the sufferings,
especially that of pestilence, which the Jews sustained during the course of their memorable siege. In referring
the motto of Cortes to the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, which happened so many centuries before his
age, we must suppose, entering into the feelings of the Spanish general, that he recognized in Mexico a second
Jerusalem", and in his own conquests a triumph over the Jews of the New World, as Titus had before vanquished
those of the Old.

The secret correspondence of Cortes with the Spanish Court, which may probably still exist either in the archives
of Simancas, or in the recesses of the Escurial, would, if ever published, throw great light on a mystery which
religious and state policy has long kept concealed. Peter Martyr does not refer to two Or three letters of that conqueror,
but to a "huge volume" which was laid before the Council of the Indies, of which Garcia de Loaisa, the
Emperor's confessor, was president; and he and Gomara, who was chaplain to Cortes, both confess that they have
imposed reserve upon themselves in treating of the Mexican superstitions. In fact, all that Peter Martyr says of
Huitzilopuchtli, the tutelary deity of Mexico, whose temple he briefly describes in the course of his eight Decades,
is comprised in a single line of the fourth chapter of his Fifth Decade, where he writes to Adrian the Sixth, "It is a
fearful thing to be spoken what they declare and report concerning their idols: omitting therefore to speake of
their greatest marble idol Wichilabuchichi, of the height of three men, not inferiour to that huge statue of Rhodes."
And it should also be observed that he does not so much as mention Quetzalcoatl. If it be argued that the Mexicans
could not have been by religion Jews, because the spirit of Judaism was repugnant to a coalition with idolatry and
to the mixture of other rites and ceremonies with its own, and forbade altogether the worship of graven images,
that objection will have no weight when it is recollected what is said of the mixed worship of the Samaritans in
the seventeenth chapter of the Second Book of Kings, and of the eleven hundred shekels of silver, in the seventeenth
chapter of Judges, which a woman dedicated to make a graven and a molten image to Jehovah. The passage
alluded to in the Book of Kings is the following: "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from


-----
* When we read in Gomara and in other early Spanish historians, of the prodigies which preceded the overthrow of Mexico so
nearly resembling those which Josephus records to have happened shortly before the final destruction of Jerusalem, it is impossible not
to perceive the spirit in which these relations were composed, and the feelings which were latent behind the comparison. Half revealed
truth becomes generally, as soon as recognized, persuasive, because those who do not even purpose to bestow information, must certainly
be exempt from the charge of deliberately intending to deceive.




330 NOTES.

Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead
of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the
beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them,
which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast
removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent
lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. Then
the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Cany thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence, and let
them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. Then one of the priests, whom
they had carried away from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans 
had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth,
and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak,
and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the tire to Adranunelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So
they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for
them in the houses of the high places: they feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the
nations whom they carried away from thence."

On the supposition that Cortes discovered the Jewish religion established in Mexico, it is easy to assign a reason
for the three years' delay in sending over regular clergy from Spain, notwithstanding the pressing solicitations which
Cortes, publicly at least, made to the Emperor to that effect: since the real cause might have been a wish to avoid
scandal, and to have time to root out with the secular arm some traces of Judaism, which could not fail to strike a
clerical order of men, however they might have been passed over unheeded by the military followers of Cortes. It
is proper however to observe, that this delay, which secms very extraordinary, considering the age, the zeal of the
Spanish nation, and above all the state of the new vineyard, is ascribed, in the second chapter of the fifteenth book
of Torquemada's History to other causes, amongst which are enumerated the death of the Pope (Leo the Tenth),
and the Emperor's doubts whether he could conscientiously annex to the crown of Spain the newly-discovered
kingdoms. The analogies between many of the Mexican and Jewish superstitions afford convincing proof that they
were derived from a common source: and it is a curious fact, that many obscure passages in Scripture may be elucidated
by referring to the works of Torquemada, Garcia, and Acosta. It is said of Manasseh, in the twenty-first
chapter of the Second Book of Kings, "And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of
which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of
all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever." Commentators have been much perplexed by this verse,
and have confessed themselves unable to explain what the image of the grove could have been-which, if considered
in connection with the following extract from the eighth chapter of the seventh book of Torquemada's Indian
Monarchy, (remembering at the same time that groves and high places, whether natural or artificial hills, are generally
associated together in Scripture, because the high places were planted and ornamented with groves,) may be
easily understood, -- "Estos Indios Occidentales entre muchos sacrificios que hacian, era uno hacer a houra de los
montes unas culebras de palo, 6 de raices de arboles, dandoles cabe<;a de culebra, y unas mufiequillas de 10 mismo
que llamaban Ecatotontin; y estas figuras de culebras y nifios fingidos, las revestian de una massa que llaman
Tzoalli, hecha de semillas de Bledos; y ponianlos en unas arma<;oncillas de madera, hechas a manera de sierras 6
cerros montuosos, sobre cuia cumbre los fijaban. Y esta era una manera de of rend a que ofrecian a los montes
altos y sierras empinadas." "Amongst the many sacrifices which these Indians of the West made, there was one
which they performed in honour of the mountains, by forming serpents out of wood, or of the roots of trees, to
which they affixed serpents' heads, and also dolls of the same, which they called Ecatotontin; which figures
of serpents and fictitious children they covered with dough, named by them Tzoalli, composed of the seed of
Bledos; and placed them on supporters of wood, carved in the representation ofridges of !tills or mountains, on the
top of which they fixed them. This was a kind of offering which they made to the mountains and elevated hills."
Isaiah says, in the sixth verse of the fifty-seventh chapter of his Prophecies, "Among the smooth stones of the
stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered
a meat-offering. Should I receive comfort in these?" The Mexicans were accustomed to place smooth round
stones, which they probably found in the beds of rivers, in their temples, and to use them for altars or some other




NOTES. 331

consecrated purposes. This kind of stone was called a Teotecpatl. The reverence which the Jews felt for smooth
stones might have originated in the ordinance contained in the twenty-fifth verse of the twentieth chapter of
Exodus; "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up
thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it;" -- since it is probable that, in obedience to this probibition, if they formed
the altar of a single block of stone, they reduced it to a proper shape, and polished it by rubbing another piece
of stone against it; or if they puilt it of several stones, that they chose such as were smooth and even, and not
rough and shapeless fragments.

The Peruvians resembled the Jews in another superstition connected with stones, which Acosta thus notices in
the fifth chapter of his fifth book: "Aliquo profecturi, tum aut veteres calceos, aut plumas, aut mansam Cocam
cujus magna ibi copia est, in viarum divaricationibus, vel in montanis ac eorum fastigiis, qme Apachitas nominant
dispergebant. IlIis fors destituti, ad minimum tamen, biviis lapidem imponebant qui instal' sacrificii esset,
juxtaque de itineris felicitate et incolumitate vota faciebant, quorum tunc pro somnio suo compotes quoque reddebantuI'.
Et hrec iIi concilio quodam provinciali Peruano ita enarrata fuerunt. Sacrificiorum hujusmodi in viis
integrre persrepe strues positre reperiuntur. In hanc superstitionis insaniam vetus detortum proverbium esto,
, Sicut qui mittit lapidem in acervum Mercurii, ita qui tribuit insipienti bonorem.' Sicut enim Mercurius lapidum
vim non sentit, sic insipiens non attendit aut curat beneficia sibi prrestita." The proverb cited by Acosta is found
in the twenty-sixth chapter of the Proverbs of Solomon. It is translated in our English version of the Bible, "As
he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool:" which is evidently wrong; as, if it has any
sense at all, it supposes a case that never happened. "' The fortieth verse of the twenty-third chapter of Ezekiel has
already been quoted, and is referred to here on account of the phrase" paintedst thy eyes;" which, though explained
to signify to dye with black the borders of the eyelids, in order to give greater expression to the eyes, would also
correspond with the Mexican custom of partially painting the face, beginning at the inner and proceeding to the
outer angle of the eye. It is surprising that Acosta, -- who has traced no less strong a resemblance between
the ritual observances of the Mexicans and the Jews than Garcia has discovered in their moral codes t, and
who even ventures to express himself in the following terms in the eleventh chapter of the fifth book of his
History of the Indies, -- "Sic quicquid dicant alii, a Domino et Servatore nostro Jesu Christo prope nihil uspiam in
evangelio suo cOllslilulu1n et ol'dinatu7Il est, quod Sathanas variis modis remulari et in superstitiones gentiles convertere
non annisus.it; id quod ex deinceps dicendorum allenlione clarius et manifeslius elucebit," -- should still
reject the rational conclusion adopted by Las Casas, That the Jews had colonized America at an earlier period
than the Spaniards, and had introduced their customs and superstitions amongst the inhabitants of that continent.
Was it, we may ask, in consequence of Acosta's having been so much later an historian than Las Casas,
and having visited America nearly fifty years after that illustrious prelate, when the active exertions of the
early missionaries and Spanish clergy had already rooted out many of the primitive superstitions of the Indians,
that he did not become sensible of what had so forcibly struck Las Casas? Or was it, that he dared not avow
an opinion which would not have been tolerated in the age in which he lived, and was consequently compelled to
advance an absurd hypothesis? Or, finally, had Las Casas access to any means of information of which Acosta was
deprived, -- such as original Hebrew documents, a copy of the Teoamoxtli or divine book of the Tultecas, the History
of Votan, or books in any other languages, which might have been discovered among the Indians I-for where
all has been misrepresentation and concealment, proof cannot be said to exist of alphabetical writing having been
wholly unknown in America, or that it might not have been a secret, like the tepa 'Ypal'l'aTa, or sacred characters of
the Egyptians, which were only known to some of the priests, who might have thought, with that famous nation
of antiquity, that esoteric doctrines were best conveyed to the people through the medium of picture-writing;
because that system of education was best calculated to keep them ignorant and superstitious; and, powerfully

-----
* "To sin as it were with a cart-rope," is another passage occurring in our English translation of the Bible which is liable to the
just animadversions of Bishop Louth. What can be the meaning of such a metaphor? One might almost imagine that a Jewish Rabbi
had been the translator of the passage in question who had been reading in the Talmud a fable similar tu that of Totec, who commanded
the Tultecs to bind the image of Sin with thick ropes, and to drag it out of the city of Tulao.

+ A curious parallel of the Jewish and Iodiao moral law may be found in that chapter of the third book of Garcia's Origin of the
Indians, which he has entitled, "Como 10. Indio. guardaron 10. Precepto. del Decalogo." "How the Indian obeyed the Ten
Commandments."




332 NOTES.

working through their imagination and their fears on their reason, to induce them to believe the most monstrous
fables that fancy could invent of their gods. The words of Las Casas, "Loquela tua manifestum te facit," "Your
speech betrays you," in reference to the Mexicans, or some other tribe of Indians, whom he took to be real Jews,
deserve the most serious attention; because we have here the opinion of a person who was well acquainted with
the Mexicans and Peruvians, and who, proceeding to America immediately after its discovery by the Spaniards, spent
there the greatest part of a long life, and solemnly recorded, in a testamentary document, his couviction of a fact,
which he might have had many reasons fornot choosing to divulge. Acosta's alleged reasons for denying the In dians
to be Jcws or desccnded from Jews, are found in the twenty-third chapter of the first book of his History of
America, to which he has prefixed the inscription, "Qnod multi falsissime illud statuant, Indos ex genere
J udreorum defluxisse." He there says, "Longe autem diversa per Atlantidem qurerenda via est, qua Indiani in
hunc novum orbem pertigcrint. Augurantur itaque nonnulli hujus semitre indicium apud Esdram reperiri, in cujus
libro quarto hrec fere verba leguntur: 'Tu autem vidisti eum colligentem ad se aliam multitudinem pacificam. Hre
sunt decem tribus qure captivre factre sunt de terra sua in diebus Os ere regis, quem captivum duxit Salmanasser rex
Assyriorum, et transtulit eos trans flumen, et translati sunt in terram aliam. Ipsi autcm sibi dederunt consilium hoc,
ut derelinquerent multitudinem gentium, et proficiscerentur in ulteriorem regionem ubi nunquam habitavit genus
human urn, vel ibi obscrvare legitima sua, qUfB non fuerant Se1"Vantes in regione S'ltd. Per introitus autem angustos
fluminis Euphratem introierunt; fecit enim eis tunc Altissimus signa, et statuit venas fluminis usquequo transirent;
per earn enim regionem erat via multi itineris, anni unius et dimidii, nam regio ilia vocatur Arsareth. Tunc inhabitaverunt
ibi usque in novissimo tempore, et uunc iterum cum cceperint venire, iterum Altissimus statuet venas
fluminis ut possint t?"ansi/·e. Propter haec vidisti multitudinem cum pace.'-Hrec itaque Esdrre verba Indis aptare
satagunt, dicentes a Deo illos eo perductos esse ubi nunquam habitarit genus humanum, et terram illam quam ingressi
sint tanto intervallo distantem esse, ut ad cam obtinendam unius et dimidii anni profectione opus fuerit, gentemque
illam natura pacificam esse. Hinc indubitatil. consequentia obtinere volunt, Indos omnino de gente Judaici esse,
quod plerique meticulosi et timidi, superstitiosiquc et acuti, ac mendaces sint. His annectunt Indorum quoque
habitum vestesque, acfacies Judreorum omnino similes esse; nam et ipsos simplici tunica et quadrato pallio amictos,
aut nudis omnino pedibus incedere, aut soleis levibus superne tantum revinctis inambulare; jam vero hanc ipsam
quoque Hebrreorum fuisse vestiendi rationem modumque, tum ex Judaicis historiis, tum ipsorum quibusdam pigmentis
tabulisque antiquis paterc aiunt; ex quibus omnibus haud difficulter monstrari posse autumant, maximam
eorum partem hoc modo vestitam olim fnisse; Samsonem ipsum quoque olim Indorum similia vestimenta saltern
poposcisse, tunicas nempe et syndonem, hoc est, ut Hispani vocitant, Camisettam, et Mantam, contendunt. Sed hrec
mihi omnia conceptus animi videntur mere puerilis et phantastici, qure et ipsa tamen contra ipsorum sententiam longe
durius depugnant quam ut eam quoquomodo stabilire possint. Primum enim satis probe novimus Judreos us os esse
typis et literis; at his carent Indi "; Judrei avide pecunias corradunt conquiruntque; at Indi pecunire summi con-


-----
* This fact has not been deal Iy proved. Nunez de la Vega, the bishop of Chiapa, seems to hint at the existence of letters in America
at a period anterior to the arrival of the Spaniards, when he says that he found in an old Indian calendar the name of Ninus written in the
Latin tongue. Rosales likewise, in his History of Chile, gives the following account of a curious inscription discovered in that province:
"The tradition of some Apostle having come to preach the Gospel in this kingdom is further confirmed by a marvellous thing which
still exists in the valley of Taurua, where there is a stone a yard and a half high, and two in length, on which are imprinted the footsteps
of a man wearing shoes, who there left the impression of his feet, having undoubtedly been accustomed to ascend upon it to preach to the
Indians of that valley, and so leaving his feet imprinted on the stone, and who also wrote on the front of it three lines in plain letters cut in the
rock in characters which no one understands or can explain. Father Joseph Maria Adamo, belonging to the Society of Jesus, a missionary
in the province of Cuio, and who has laboured many years gloriously in the conversion of the Indians of that province, caused them to be
faithfully copied out and transcribed, and sent them to three Fathers of the Company, famous for their skill in languages: to Father
Angelo de Magistris at Cordova, to Father Conine at Peru, and to Father Nicolas Mascardi in Chiloe; and they none of them were
able to read them, so that their signification is still unknown." Garcia states further, from the information of others, that letters
resembling Greek characters were discovered in his time, as it would appear sculptured in stone, both in Peru and in the province or
Chiapa: U El primero fundamento es, que averiguando Yo en el Peru, si havia algunas antiguallas, b congeturas, por donde constase
haver teuido los Indios letras, fui informado de un Espaiiol" que trataba en las Minas de Qamora, que esjunto a. Loja en el Peru, como
entre Qambieta, i Paracllza, Pueblos de Indios de la sobreclicha Ciudad de <lamora, esta una Pena alta con un pico, 0 bordo salida fuera,
en cuia frente estAn esculpidos quatro renglones, cada uno de vara i media de largo, cui as letras parecen Griegas. Y no es contra esto
10 que en muchas partes havemos dicho, que los Indios no usaron de letras, porque las pudieron perder por algun Diluvio, de que ellos





NOTES. 333

temptores sunt; * Judrei cum se non circumcisos videbant circa prreputium, Hebrreos se, aut Judreos haberi posse,
aperte inficias ibant; at Indorum prreputia in totum integra sunt, nec de ism superstitione quicquam compertum
habent t; etsi lEthiopes quidem et populi Orientales circumcisionem sibi adhibuerint. Hrec jam ergo inter
sese collata, quo modo, et qua, obsecro, ratione, plene intelligi queunt? Qui amabo fit, ut cum Judrei de origine
tienen noticia: como los mismos Griegos las perdieron por algun tiernpo, por aquel Diluvio tan famosa de Deucation: "por Guerras,
como sucedio en Espana antiguamente, por la venida de Estrangeros, i de los Moros, en tiernpo del Rei D. Rodrigo.
, '~En unos Edificios antiguos, que ai en el Peru, junto II la Ciudad de Guamanga, a la orilla del Rio, l1amado Vinaque, de quien
hlclmos mencion en la quarta Opinion, refiere Ciec;a, que se haBe. una Lesa, en la qual havia cieltas letras, que parecian Griegas.
"En Nueva-Espaiia, averiguando Yo esto mismo, me refirio un Mestigo de aquella Tierra, que en la Provincia de Chiapa, en unos
Pueblos que ai de Indios algados, que Haman Lacandones, perseveran oi Dia unos Edificios mui fuertes, labrados de Cal, i Canto, con
sus Pilares, i en cada uno de eUos esta un Letrer01 que segun me dijo el sobredicho Mestic;o, parecen ser letras Griegas."

The rumour of inscriptions existing in Yucatan reached the ears of the venerable uas Casas also, who probably only doubted the
fact because he had not the opportunity of going there to verify it. If however such inscriptions had been numerous in the New World,
it is not likely that they would have long survived the mutilating hands of the first Spanish missionaries. We may however remark,
that two curvilinear ornaments, shaped like the letter S, and symmetrically disposed thus -S a- occur upon a broken bust represented
in the ninth plate of the third part of the Monuments of M. Dupaix, under the number 16, which but for their situation would
not have been noticed here; although viewed simply as ornaments, and not as letters, their occurrence is rare in Mexican 
monuments, which is not the case with the other platted symbol between them. The inscription to which Garcia refers, as mentioned by
Ciec;a, is spoken of in the following passage of the eighty-seventh chapter of his Chronicle of Peru: "Of these, the river which is the
largest is named the Vinaq, on the banks of which are situated some large and most ancient edifices, which certainly, judging from their
ruined and dilapidated state, must.have been built these many ages. Having inquired of the neighbouring Indians, who were the
founders of those ancient structures? they replied, Bearded and white men like ourselves, who they say arrived in that country long
before the reign of the Ingas, and there established their residence. And to me it appears that the plan of this and of other ancient
buildings existing in this kingdom differs from that which the Ingas followed in their buildings; for this edifice is square, whilst theirs
were lung and narrow. It is reported, likewise, that certain letters have been discovered upon a block of stone in this edifice, which I
do not affirm; neither can I refrain from entertaining the private opinion, that in fonner times a race of people sufficiently cultivated
and civilized to have constructed both these and other buildings which we do not see, arrived in these parts." -- Parte Primera de la
Chronica del Peru, cap.lxxxvii. pag. 221. From the various authorities which have been cited, it would appear that letters or alphabetical
writiQg had an imaginary if not a real existence in different parts of America very remote from each other; -- in Peru, Mexico,
Yucatan, and Chili. The Peruvian quipos might have been a kind of syllabic writing like that of the Japanese; and the Spaniards seem
to have consigned them to intentional oblivion. As regards the tradition of letters in Mexico, it may be proper to recollect what Torquemada
says of the book which the Indians declared that they buried underground on the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them, between
the columns of which Christ was painted crucified, and the intermediate spaces were filled up with alphabetical characters. The
curious tenure by which those Indians held that book resembled that by which, as Sir William Betham say. in the first volume of his
Irish Antiquarian Researches (which learned and interesting work it is to be hoped he will continue), the ancient Irish family of 
l\ofac Maor were the constituted guardians and keepers of the book of the Canons of St. Patrick, which was otherwise known by the name of
the Book of Armagh, which book was perhaps confided to their care by Saint Columba, or some of his disciples, on condition that they
should hold it in trust. Sahagun affirms, in the following very singular passage of the eighth chapter of the third book of his History of
New Spain, that the children of the Mexicans who were educated in the temples learned hymns which were written down in books in
characters: "les ensefiaban todos iDS versos de canto para cantar que se llamaban divinos cantos, los quales versos estaban escriptos
en sus 1ibros por caracteres." "They instructed them in all the verses which they were accustomed to sing, to which they gave the
name of divine hymns, all which verses were written in their books in characters." This passage, from its singularity, has been
marked in the original MS.; and it is certainly difficult to comprehend how the Mexicans could have recorded words, and a certain succession
of different sounds, the connection of which with things and figures is merely arbitrary, by means of paintings, which would
seem only fit to have preserved a general recollection of events.

-----
* Gumilla asserts the contrary of the Indians of the Oronoco: and the Mexican merchants, who were a privileged class of men very
distinct from the other Mexicans, are said by Torquernada and Sahagun to have been indefatigable in travelling over vast tracts of country,
despising dangers either from the enemy or the difficult nature of the roads which they had to pass, in the pursuit of gain. It would
be interesting to know the real history and origin of these merchants; perhaps they considered themselves the honourable of the' earth, and
boasted of their Tultec genealogy.

+ Acosta here manifestly contradicts himself, as Garcia has observed; since he elsewhere admits that the Mexicans did practise
a ceremony corresponding in some manner to the ancient Jewish rite of circumcision. Herrera, almost in the very words of Acosta,
notices, in the seventeenth chapter of the second book of his third Decade, this custom as prevalent amongst the Mexicans: "A los
ninos recien nacidos sacrificaban las orejas, y el miembro viril, con sacar un poco de !;angre, i esta ceremonia se hacia principalmente en
los hijos de reies, 6 de grandes senores." If however there is any thing equivocal in the words of Acosta and of Herrera, Bernal Diaz
is quite explicit on the subject in the following passage of the two-hundred-and-seventh chapter of his History of the Conquest of New
Spain; "Tenian por costumbre que sacrificavan las frentes, y las orejas, lenguas, y labios, los pechos, bra,os, y molledos, y las




334 NOTES.

et antiquitate sua tantopere glorientur, et candem in altero quoque orbe sedulo asservent descriptam, continuatamque,
soli hi in India degentes, sui generis ccremoniarumque, et Messire, et judaismi, tam turpitcr obliti fuerint"

The three principal arguments by which Acosta endeavours to prove that the Indians could not be Jews, -- viz.
Because they were uncircumcised, Because they did not expect the Messiah, and Because they set no value on
lineage, -- will have little weight with those who consider what strong counter authorities may be adduced to show that
that learned writer was himself mistaken on al! these points. With respect to circumcision, Peter Martyr and Gomara,
whose veracity as historians has never been doubted, both affirm that the Indians were circumcised. The former, addressing
Leo the Tenth, in the tenth chapter of his third Ocean Decade, says, speaking of the Indian fugitive who
came to the Spanish settlement of Darien, "He sayde further, that in his countrey there were cities fortified with
walles and governed by lawes, and that the people also used apparel!; but of what religion they were I did not learne,
yet hadde our menne knowledge, both by the woordes and signes of this fugitive, that they were circumcised. What
piernas; y en algunas provincias eran retajados, y teniao pedernales de navajas con que se retajavan." "They were accustomed to
sacrifice (to draw blood from) their foreheads, ears, tongues, and lips, breasts, arms, and the fleshy parts of their bodies and their legs.
In some provinces they were circumcised, and they had flint knives with which they performed the ceremony." Since no testimony can
be more positive as to a matter of fact than that of Bernal Dinz respecting the existence of this rite amongst the Indians, his means of
information can alone be called in question; but that point he has himself settled, by premising to his account of these sacrifices this
remark: "las (maldades de sacrificios) que yo vi yentendi, porne aqui por memoria" -- "the sacrifices which I have seen and known, I
write down here from memory." Of the History of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, but one opinion has ever been formed; -- that its style is
rude, and the narrative perfectly authentic. Doctor Robertson thus characterizes it: "It contains a prolixl minute, confused, narrative
of all Cortes's operations, in such a rude vulgar style as might be expected from an illiterate soldier. But as he relates translictions
of which he was a witness, and in which he performed a considerable part, his account bears all the marks of authenticity, and is
accompanied with such a pleasing naIvete, with such interesting details, with such amusing variety, and yet so pardonable in an old
soldier, who had been, as he boasts, in Ilg battles, as renders his book one of the most singular that is to be found in any language."
Bernal Diaz appears to have been a soldier who had a great deal of observation though but little learning, and his narrative is very
interesting. With respect to the reality of the exisitence of the rite of circumcision amongst the Indians, since many writers have
affirmed it and many have denied it, we shall draw a line of distinction between these two classes of authors, leaving to others the
task of forming whatever conclusion may appear to them the most reasonable. The earliest Spanish writers who wrote on the affairs of
America, such as Peter Martyr (who scarcely would have ventured to have stated a deliberate falsehood to the Pope, and one too which
he, sooner than any other person, would have been capable of detecting,) and Gomara, (who was chaplain to Cortes, and dedicated
his History of the Conquest of Mexico ?te Don Martin Cortes his son, and therefore had the best means of information,) and Bernal
Diaz, who was one of the first conquerors, -- a title given to all the companions of Cortes; and other Spanish writers also who are
acknowledged to have been men of the greatest learning and research, such as were Garcia and Torquemada, who had themselves
visited America, -- have all declared, that various Indian nations used circumcision. On the other hand, many European literati and
scholars who wrote in the succeeding age, who were not Spaniards, who had never visited America, who were little conversant with
Spanish authors, whose studies were chiefly confined to classical literature, and whose fears were excited by the progress of the
Reformation and by every thing calculated to provoke fresh topics of religious controversy, vehemently denied that such was the fact.
They argued as if they considered it to be derogatory to the honour of God to make the admission; for not being able to derive
the American circumcision, like the Colchiao, the Egyptian, and the Phoenician, from the Jews, without conceding that the
Indians might have borrowed other superstitious from them, and that they had colonized the western hemisphere, -- their only resource
was to attempt to throw discredit upon the testimony of the most respectable Spanish authors; since the other alternative, -- of maintaining
that the Devil had imitated amongst the Indians this revered sign of the ancient covenant which God had made with Abraham, -- might
have appeared to them of dangerous adoption, and likely to entail inconvenient consequences. There is an old remark, than which
none has been more frequently perverted to sophistical purposes, merely from not considering the nature of the truths alluded to, and
distinguishing great moral truths from historical truths, and time taken as an indefinite period, from time amounting to only a few cell..
turies, which is, "Tempus probat veritatem:" this, like the other, t? ("Vox populi, vox Dei," is only true in part, and especially in religious
matters ought to be received with caution. For how is it possible that what was doubtful two thousand years ago should be certain
now. Shakespear somewhere observes, that "uncertainties do crown themselves assured." But still it must be recollected that false
religious creed, are in the beginning like despised weeds, which are blown about and inclined by every wind of doctrine; but that in time
they become trees of stately growth, under which nations repose, and the shade of which often casts a deadly influence around.
Neither are the opinions ofleamed men, or of any particular age, a test of truth, -- since the erroneous opinions which the learned men of
the sixteenth century (emphatically called the enlightened age of the revival of letters) adopted with regard to a portion of contemporaneous
history (for so the history of the state in which religion, civilization, and the arts were found amongst the Indians by the first
Spaniards who visited the American continent may be designated,) afford a striking proof. If, however, the errors of past times cannot
serve the useful purpose of beacons, to light on the way to truth those which follow, they will at least forcibly admonish the too credulous,
who are inclined to take every thing for granted which they believe former ages to have believed, to rellect upon the possibility of a former
age having been itself deceived, and transmitting its delusions to remote posterity.




NOTES. 335

nowe thinke you hereby, most holy Father, or what doe you divine may come hereof when time shall subdue all these
under your throne?" And in the first chapter of his fourth Decade, inscribed to the same pontiff, he gives the
following account of the people of Yucatan: "This nation is not apparreled with wooll, because they have no 
sheepe, but with cotton after a thousand fashions, and diversly coloured. The women are clad from the wast to
the ancle, and cover their heade and brests with divers vayles, and are very carefull that their leggs and feete bee
not seene. They frequent their temples often, to the which the better sort pave the wayes with stone from
their houses. They are great idolaters, and are circumcised, but not all. They live under lawes, and trafficke
together with greate fidelitie by exchanginge commodities without money. The sawe crosses; and beeing
demaunded by interpreters whence they hadde them, some say that a certaine man of excellent beauty passinge by
that coast left them that notable token to remember him. Others report, a certaine manne brighter then the sunne
dyed in the working the'reof. But concerninge the truth, there is no certainety knowne." In the third chapter of
the same Decade he says that the inhabitants of the Island of Cozumella, situated on the coast of Yucatan, * 
were circumcised. And in the sixth chapter, speaking again of that island, in which the Spaniards fDund innumerable
books and rich cotton hangings, he observes, that "they were idolaters and circumcised." Garcia likewise,
in the following passage.of the first section of the eighth chapter of the third book of his Origin of the
Indians, confutes the error of Acosta respecting the use of circumcision amongst the Indians: "Dice 10 quarto el
Padre Acosta que si los Judios no se vieran circuncidados, no se tuvieran por Judios; pues era tan estimado este
precepto, que como dice Maimonides, aun en Sabado era licito executarle; i que los Indios POCD ni mucho no se
retajan, ni han dado jamas en esa ceremonia. En esto se engan6, 10 primero, porque el mismo refiere en su
Historia como IDS Mexicanos sacrificaban el miembro viril a los ninos recien nacidos, i que en alguna manera
remedaban la circumcision de los JudiDs, que usaban los Guaycurues del Paraguay, como dice el Compendio i
Descripcion de Indias. Y Herrera afirma que en Gua~acoalco, i lIuta, se circuncidaban, i en Cuetxala, i que asi
10 tenian por costumbre, 10 qual prueba la conformidad, aunque en Yucatan no se usase, como asegura el P. CDgolludo
contra Pineda e Illescas, i Laet contra Pedro Martir, i Gomara, Ni es tampoco cierto que los Espanoles se
equivocasen con las bubas de los Indios, CDmD disc1lrri6 Laet, de que se ric GrotiD. Lo segundo, porque demns
de 10 dicho de la republica de los Indios que escrivio el P. Roman, i de la Historia General que hi~o Gomara, i de
otras historias de aquellas partes, consta como en otras provincias se circuncidaoan los Indios, de que arriba hicimos
mencion." That the Mexicans and other nations of New Spain, as well as the Peruvian Ingas, who boasted of their
being the descendants of the snn, greatly prided themselves on their origin and the antiquity of their race, may be
proved from the works of Gomara and other Spanish authors, and likewise from the later Chichimecas and Acolhuacans
prefixing the epithet of Teo, or divine, to the patronymic appellations of their ancestors. Gomara gives
the following reason for the kings of Mexico styling themselves Aculhuatli: "Los Senores de Mexico que son
los majores y los grandes, y cn fin los reies de los reies, se precian de ser, y de se llamar de Culhua, diziendo que
decienden de un Chichimecatlh, cavallcro mui esfor~ado, el qual ato una correa al hraS'o de QueS'alcoatlh por
junto al ombro, quando andava y conversava entre los omhres, Lo que tuvieron por un gran hecho, y dezian
ombre que ato a un dios, atara todos los mortales, y assi de alli adelante Ie llamaron Aculhuatli, que como poco a
dixe, Aeulli es el huesso del codo al ombro, y el mesmo ombro. Valio y pUdD mueho despues aquel Aeulhuatli,
y dio eomien~o a sus hijos de tal manera, que vinieron sus decendientes a ser reies de Mexico en aquella grandcza
que MotecS'uma estava, quandD FernandD CDrtes Ie prendio. Assi que parece que vienen de Chichimecatl, aun
que por diversos efetos; y dizen que por difereneiar se, tienen aquel cuento los de Tezcuco, y este los de
Mexico." -- La Conquista de Mexico, fo. cxx.

The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus affirms in the following passage, in direct.opposition to Acosta, that
the Mexicans and other nations of New Spain made great account of lineage: "Altri dicono che non solo scapparono
di questo diluvio quelli due dell' arbore, rna che altri 7 restaronD ascosi in certe grotte, e che passato il
diluvio, uscirono e repararono il mondo, spartendosi per esso; e quelli ehe dipoi successero l'adDravano per iddii,
ognunD in la sua 'nazione; e cDsi Ii Tepaneehi adDravano uno che si diceva Hulhueteotli, et Ii Chishimeche a
Quetzalcoual, et Ii Culue a Tzinacoual, perche d'essi uscirDno Ie generazioni sue; e per questo facevano gran conto -


-----
* The marble image of the lion, which although an animal not proper to America was discovered on that coast, might have had
some reference to the history of Daniel, and have been a memorial of a famous event in the Jewish history.




336 NOTES.

di lignaggi, e dove si trovavano, dicevano io sono del tale lignaggio; et a quel suo primo fondatore adoravano, e gli
facevano gli sacrificii e dicevano che quello era il cuore del popolo, al quale avevano farto un idolo servato in buonissimo
luogo, e vestito, e tutti Ii sucessori mertevano in quelluogo gioje riche, come oro e pietre preziose; inanzi a
questo loro cuore ardeva scm pre legna dove mettevano il Copalo incenso." Nunez de la Vega, Bishop of Chiapa,
in that part of the preface to his Diocesan Constitutions, where he speaks of Votan and of the treasure discovered
by himself in the" Casa lobrega," confirms the account given by the anonymous interpreter of the Vatican MS. of
the great respect, amounting to idolatry, which the Mexicans and other nations of New Spain paid to their ancestors:
since he not only mentions the stone images of the ancient Indian pagans preserved in the cave, but adds, that
their names were in the calendar, and that Votan, who was looked upon by the Indians of one province as the
heart of the people, was the third in order, -- Mox being the first. The calendar to which the Bishop of Chiapa refers
was not the Mexican but the Chiapanese, which Boturini says, in the following passage of his Idea de una Nueva
Historia, corresponded with that of the Tultecas: "Coneuerda cl systema de los Kalendarios de Chiappa y Soconusco
con el Tulteco, que tengo explicado arriba; pues eu lugar de los quatro caracteres Tecpatl, Calli, Toehtli,
Aeatl, se sirven los de Chiappa de quatro figuras de Senores, Votan, Lambat, Been ", y Chinax; y las otras veinte
figuras cuyos nombres son, Mox, Y gh, Votan, Ghanan, Abagh, Tox, Moxie, Lambat, Molo, (en otros MuJu,)
Elab, Batz, Enob, Been, Hix, Tziquin, Chabin, Chic, Chinax, Cahogh, Aghual, sirven en lugar de los veinte
symbolos, Cipaetli, Ehecatl, Calli, Cuetzpallin, Cohuatl, Miquiztli, Mazatl, Tochtli, Atl, Ytzeuintli, Ozomatli, Malinalli,
Acatl, O~elotl, Quauhtli, Temetlatl, Ollin, Tecpatl, Quiahuitl, Xoehitl, para formar la euenta de los dias de
el ano t.

-----
* Omitting the tradition of the Hehrew-Indian nation, which Doctor Cabrera in the following passage of his ehort treatise on the
peopling of America cursorily alludes to, -- "The Licentiate Don Francisco Ortiz also informed me that there is in the possession of the
present curate of Saint Catharine of Yatahuacan a little historical book of an Hebrew-Indian nation, which may probably be that of
Been, mentioned by Nunez de la Vega," (to which tradition, it should be observed, the Bishop of Chiapa lent hi. much higher authority,)
 -- it is impossible not to remark the resemblance which many of these proper names bear to Hebrew. Max is like Moses; Y gh, perhaps
pronounced by the Chiapanese Y sh, resembles Isaac; Gbanan is almost the same as Canaan; Abagh recalls to our recollection Abel;
and all the other names (one or two excepted) are analogous to some other names mentioned in Scripture. Chinax, which is elsewhere
written Chin, seems to refer to Shem; as do Chabin and Eoob to Japhet and Enoch. In the last edition of Garcia's Orig.,. de los
Indios, we find the clause which follows inserted by the editor in the text: hut Garci. notices himself other Indian names which
resembled Hebrew. "El nombre de Joseph havia entre los Indios Hurones; i los Souroquis al fin de sus cantares decian Alleluia, si
se cree a Lesearbot, Duret, Hornio, i Rugero Guillermo, a quien cita: en otra parte, dice, que en la Nueva Inglaterra ai clertos Indios,
cuio idioma conviene con el Hebreo; i el P. Sepp, 6 'fecho dice, que los Calchines del Paraguay tenian muchos nombres Judios, i
observaban varias costumbres suias, como dice Rogers, i en el Compendia, i Descripcion de las Indias se dice, que el Cacique de
la tierra dande se fund6 Antioquia, se llamaba lsac, i su muger J udit." Amongst the names enumerated by Garcia is that of Anna,
which he says signifies in Hebrew' kind' or 'compassionate,' by which name the wives of the Ingas Lloque Yupanqui, and Pachacuti,
were called, who were styled by another title analogous in its signification, Huacha Cuyac, or 'the friend of the poor.' The
Peruvians, like the Jews, were charitable to their own countrymen and brethren: and probably in Peru, as well as in New Spain,
 -- agreeably to the precept contained in the twenty-eighth verse of the fortieth chapter of Ecclesiasticus, "My son, lead not a beggar's
life, for better it is to die than to beg," -- beggars were scarce. Gomara at least informs us that the Spaniards saw none till they arrived
at Cholula, which was an inland city of New Spain; and where they might have been tolerated on account of its being a place of
pilgrimage, and a city renowned for its sanctity: "EI terruino que alcan~an en llano es grasso, y de gentiles labransas que se
riegan, y tan 1leno de gente que no ay un palmo vazio. A cuya causa ay pobres que piden par las puertas, que no 10 avian vista
hasta entences par aquella tierra." La Conquista de Mexico, fa. xxxviii. -- "The territory of open country which they possess is rich,
consisting of well-cultivated fields, which they irrigate, and so populous that not a foot of land is unoccupied. On which account
there are beggars who ask alms from door to door, none of whom had they (the Spaniards) seen till then in that country." -- The
following is the passage alluded to in Garcia, who remarks that in the kingdom of Quito, Abba was the term which the Indians used
to expressfather, as GumiUa observes that it was amongst the Indians of the Oronoco: d Sea 10 que fuere, 10 cierto es, que Anna es
nombre Hebreo, cuia significacion quadra bien al estado, i dignidad de Reina; porque Anna quiere dccir 'graciosa,' 0 'misericordiosa;' i
asi, para maior abund.neia de esta significaci on, i de el nombre que tenia de Anna I. Muger de Pachacuti Inga, Ie daban los Indios
otro titulo, i renombre en 5U lengua, que significaba 10 que Anna: el titulo era, Huacha Cuyac, que quiere decir, (amadora,' i 'amiga
de los pobres.' Tambien ~ando Pachacuti Inga, que diesen este mismo titulo, i renombre al nuevo Senor, i Orejoo, que en eierta
Fiesta armaban caballero. En la provincia de los Puruaes, que es en el Reino de Quito llaman al Padre Abba, la qual voz es Syriaca,
i usaban los Hebreos de ella, segun Martino, par haverseles pegado, i mezc1ado can la suia, en tiempo que vivieron entre los Syrios:
aunque S. Augustin dice claramente, que Abba es voz Hebrea."

+ Boturini assigns the following meaning and etymology to Cipaetli, the first sign in the Mexican calendar: "Siendo Cipactli syncope
de las palabras, ce, icpac, tlatli, como Cicpactonal de ce, icpac, to/lalli, se viene a saber, que Cipactli significa el Padre,uperior Ii





NOTES. 337

The painting preserved in the Library of the Institute at Bologna is probably a Chiapanese calendar, which seems
singularly to confirm what Boturini says of the agreement of the twenty Mexican signs of the days of the year with
those of Chiapa; since the first sign at the bottom of the first page is Mox, which corresponds with Cipactli; the
second is Y gh, which answers to Ehecatl, or the wind; and the third is Votan, agreeing with the Mexican sign
Calli, or the temple. The same agreement will likewise be fonnd between the Mexican and Chiapanese symbols at
the bottom of the seven remaining pages of the calendar, in which the order of the Mexican symbols is preserved,
the sign of the Rabbit (Tocht!i) following that of Mazatl the stag; and Ocelot!, the tiger, that of Acatl, the reed or
arrow". It is probable that when the Mexicans had extended their conquests during the latter part of the reign
of Ahuitzotl, or under Montezuma, as far as Tequantepec and Chiapa, they obliged the Chiapanese, in order
to enforce a uniformity in the celebration of religious festivals, to adjust their calendar to the Mexican; and
hence in the painting of Bologna the calendars are combined. The figure of a heart, in which many of the signs
of the Chiapanese calendar terminate, refers, it must be supposed, to Votan, the signification of whose name was a
heart. Boturini + has remarked, that" the systems of the Indian calendars, as well as the symbols employed in
them, varied, and that the inhabitants of some of the provinces of the diocese of Oaxaca divided their year
into thirteen months; making use, probably, of a lunar calculation, while other Indian states of the same diocese
counted their days by winds and by serpents." He observes in the following passage, speaking of the planets, that
"the week of the Chiapanese, resembling that of the Tuftecas, consisted of seven days," which is the more remarkable,
as the alledged ignorance on the part of the Indians of a week of seven days has been used as an argument to
prove that they could not be descended from the Jews. It is true that the Mexican lesser period of time contained
only five days t; "Los Indios de Chiappa cuentan siete de elias correspondientes a los dias de sn semana, y en las
tados, y Cicpactonal el Padre superior al sol; y assi Cipactli es el primer Padre de toda Ia humana generacion, que dicen los Indios tUVQ
por muger a Oxomozco; y es como si nosotros dixeramos Adml y Ella, los que sublim~ron a honores de divinidad." "Cipactli being a
syncope of the words ce icpac tlatli, in the same manner as Cicpactonal is of ce icpac tonalli, we learn that Cipactli signifies the
Father who is superior to all, and Cicpactonal the Father who is superior to the Son. Cipactli accordingly means the first Father of
the whole of the human race, whose wife, as the Indians say, was Oxomozco, aT, as we should say, Adam and Eve, on whom they conferred 
the honours of divinity." The derivation and meaning which Boturini assigns to the name Cipactli is curious; but since a serpent
seems to have been considered by the Mexicans as the emblem of light, perhaps from the piercing nature of its eyes, which induced
the Jews to attribute the property of wisdom to it, or from its delighting to bask in the rays of the suo, or from its darting motion, or
from the ring which it forms, round like the solar orb, symbolical of eternity, and a fit type of the everlasting revolutions of that luminary;
it may be proper to recollect what the interpreter of the Vatican Codex says of the creation 'if light on the first day, and to
consider whether Cipactli may not be a syncope of the words ee, one, or the first, and izpatli, which is the same as iC}Jatli; the letter
c with a dash under it being pronounced in Spanish like t. The sign which immediately follows Cipactli in the calendar is Ehecatl,
or the wind, which was dedicated to Quecalcoatl, who was the reputed lord of that element. Torquemada says that the images of
Huitzilopuchtli, Quecalcoatl, and Tlaloc, were each represented with a golden serpent bearing different symbolical allusions. That
with which Huitzilopuchtli was girded, being very large and thick, signified the severity of the deity, and that he was as a poisonous
serpent to those who displeased him; and the wreathed serpent in the hand of Tlaloc, the god of water, denoted the thunder
and flashes oflightning which accompany rain. The Jews probably entertained many superstitions about serpents, from the fiery
serpents which were sent against them in the wilderness, and the serpent with which Moses performed so many signs and wonders before
Pharaoh.

-----
* It will be found, on comparing the first eight pages of the painting of Bologna with those of the Codex Borgianus, numbered S I, 3!2,
33,34,35,36,37,38, and those of the lesser Vatican MS., which follow in the same order (page 49), that the signs of the Bologna
calendar read horizontally, correspond with the signs of the other paintings read also horizontally, without any reference to the divisions of
the pages.

+ The authority of Boturini, being a man of great learning, is so often referred to, that some surprise must be felt at Garna's assertion,
that Don ?l\iariano Veytia (who by some chance was appointed Boturini's executor, and became possessed after his death of whatsoever
papers had not been before confiscated) declared that that celebrated scholar confessed to him, on his death-bed, that he should expire
without being able to comprehend the Mexican calendar. Such ao absurd story was probably spread by those who thought that Boturini
many years before he died knew too much.

~ The dies quinta was held in almost as much esteem by the early Christians as the dies septima. The Copts, as Ludolfus informs
us in his Ethiopian Commentaries, entertained a superstitious veneration for that day. As regards the consecratIOn of the sabbath, the
Jews were commanded, by a perpetual ordinance, to rest from all manner of work on the seventh day, because God employed six days in
the work of the creation, and rested on the seventh day. But the progress of modern geological science has induced many learned men to
attempt to put an entirely new construction on the words of Moses, and to ?ma~ntaio, that by six days, he might have meant six 
indefinitely long periods of time; and to this conclusion they have been led by a consideration of the order in which the vanous strata which




338 NOTES.

ruedas y tablas de los symbols Tultecos de los dias de el altO, hallo despues de la triadeeaterida, el numero
septenario tan distinguido en la Escritura Sagrada, por haver en el septimo dia de la creaeion del mundo tomado
descanso el benignissimo Criador." Idea de una Nueva Historia, pag. 43. "The Indians of Chiappa reckon the
number of them (the planets) to be seven, corresponding with the days of their week; and I have found in the
wheels and paintings of the Tultec sigus of the days of the year, the number seven following that of thirteen, so
celebrated in the holy Scripture, on account of the Blessed Creator having rested on the seventh day of the creation
of the world."

The names of the Chiapanese chiefs whose heads are found in the calendar, bear a considerable resemblance to
Hebrew proper names; and even the signs of the Mexican calendar seem to have some reference to the emblems under
which Jacob, when dying, predicted the destinies of his posterity. With respect to the burning incense (sahumar)
to the Ceiba tree, which superstition of the Chiapanese, Nunez de la Vega, treating of their calendar, mentions, -- from
the roots of which, he says, they believed that they derived their lineage, -- it might as well have beenexplained by him
to be in commemoration of Jesse the father of David, "the root of Israel," as to be" an act of adulation to Mnus," which
latter name the bishop supposes to have been corrupted, "first into Ymos, and lastly into Mox," since Boturini
observes, that he could perceive no resemhlance between the names of the other chiefs in the Chiapanese calendar
and those of the descendants of Ninus. Proceeding now to the last argument by which Acosta attempts to prove
that the Indians could not have been Jews, and which Spizelius has employed in a triumphant manner to throw
discredit on the relation of Montecinio, what shall we say when we find from the writings of Acosta himself, as well
as from the works of Sahagun and Torquemada, and the commentary of the anonymous interpreter of the Vatican
MS., that the Indians of New Spain did expect a Messiah whom they even named Mexi, which name exactly
resembles the Hebrew, whose advent they expected in the year of the Cane, which was probably, on that account,
named Xiuhteuctli, or the year of the Lord. Although Cortes himself is silent on the subject, Torquemada has
recorded in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth chapters of the fourth book of his Indian Monarchy, (the
translation of which account is here inserted,) the curious fact, that when that Spanish general arrived on the coast of
New Spain he was not only taken by the Mexicans for their Messiah, but actually received their adorations in that
character, seated on a throne erected for the purpose on the deck of his ship. To this absurd belief of the
Mexicans, Torquemada is inclined to attribute the rapid progress of the Spanish arms, as the necessary consequence
of the general commotion into which their empire was thrown by the rum our, every where circulated, that the Messiah
had come to take possession of the kingdom. The relation of Torquemada is as follows: "When Juan de Grijalva
prosecuted the discovery which Francisco Hernandez de Cordova had commenced along the coasts of New Spain,
he arrived with his fleet at San Juan de Ulua, as has already been said; and since it was a new thing to the
people of the land to behold ships on the sea, -- for never had such a thing entered their imaginations, -- it caused them
great surprise and fear, and they reported the fact to the governors and commanders stationed by the Emperor Motecuh<;
uma through the whole of that district. On hearing these tidings they all assembled, and agreed amongst each
other to go with the intelligence to their lord Motecuh~uma, who held his court in this city of Mexico; and in
order not to proceed on mere surmise to disturb the kingdom, and for more perfect information on the subject
of their mission, they determined to sec that miracle or prodigy which terrified and kept them in alarm and
admiration. They settled, therefore, that some of their number should go to the sea, and embarking in canoes,
compose the earth's surface are placed over each other, and of the contents of each; since in the lower strata, or in those which
are of primitive formation, no remains of human bones, or even of those of animals, have been discovered, the only indication of organic
life being connected with its lowest grade, that of plants: neither in the strata which immediately succeed are human bones discovered, but
only the fossil remains of animals. Whence they contend, that before the creation of man both vegetables and animals existed and had
died, and that the Mosaic account of the creation may be explained in a new manner without derogating from the authority of Holy
Writ. If, however, we consider how express the words of Scripture are, and that Moses, when he wrote the Pentateuch, if he were
inspired, could not have written days for indefinitely long periods of time, without at the same time informing the Jews how they were
to understand hi;; meaning, and likewise admonishing them that their sabbath was not an imitation, as they always believed it to
be, (as regarded the interval of time between rest and labour,) of God's resting from the creation, but only a commemoration of that event;
and further, that the sense in which they would fain understand the words of Moses is quite contradictory to that in which Saint Paul
took them, who says that sin came into the world by man, and death by sin; evidently declaring that until the creation of Adam there was
no such thing as death or sin, -- this new interpretation of the Pentateuch will appear inadmissible.




NOTES. 339

should carry with them refreshments of bread and fruit and other provisions, that, if they were men like themselves,
they might tell them that they came to sell those things to them if they stood in need of them; but should this not
be the case, that they might inform themselves what those vast masses were, and what they contained within them.
The plan was accordingly executed; and some principal Indians, men of resolution, took the charge on themselves,
and embarking in canoes, rowed towards the ships; when seeing on one of them the royal standard fanned by the
breeze, and supposing that in that, as in his proper vessel, the captain of all the others was, they proceeded to it and
came on board., Those in the ship, when they beheld them approaching, stationed themselves so as to observe what
they did: but the Indians, who in the mean time had come alongside of them, made them a profound reverence, and
gave them to understand by signs that their intentions were peaceable, and that they came to sell them provisions
and articles of dress. Those on board inquired likewise by signs of what country they were, and what had brought
them thither. They answered that they were Mexicans. Our countrymen replied by saying, 'Since you are
Mexicans, inform us of the name of your king.' They said that his name was Motecuhc;uma; and on this quitted
their canoes to come on board the ship, which they entered without any distrust, and displayed before them rich cotton
dresses and some articles of provision which highly gratified our countrymen, who exchanged them with the Indians
for blue and green and other coloured beads, which appeared to them to be of a very fine quality and to exceed in value
the dresses which they had brought with them. The Indians having concluded their barter of these articles, and
remaining a considerable portion of the day in the ship, motioned to withdraw; when the captain said to them,
'Farewell; carry these stones to your lord Motecuhzuma, and tell him that we are unable now to see him, since
we are on our return to our own country, but that we shall come back again and sball pay him a visit at his city of
Mexico': on which the Indians embarked in their canoes and reached the shore, where they immediately painted, as
well as they were able, the ships and their rigging, the persons whom they had seen, their dress, their features and
beards, and other particular objects which appeared to them new and strange. They then set off directly for Mexico,
travelling with the greatest expedition night and day without stopping to take rest, and soon arrived at that city, and
proceeded to the palace, confiding to no one the news of which they were the bearers, since it was not customary to
declare or make public the purport of state dispatches before the king had listened to them and was in possession
of the facts. They desired the porters to notify to Motecuhc;uma their arrival, and that they had come in haste.
The king was informed by his attendants in waiting that the governors and commanders of the coasts of the North
Sea awaited his pleasure and had come in great haste to see him. The king was both troubled and surprised, as he
judged that the affair must needs be very urgent, since those whom he had stationed on guard in that district had
come without permission to see him; (neither was his surprise without just cause, since he had strong reasons to
anticipate something untoward, from the prodigies which he had beheld, which prognosticated to him adversity and
approaching ruin, so that he was continually haunted with the suspicions of the great misfortunes which he foreboded).
He replied to the attendants, 'Is it true that the captains of the sea-coast have all come in a body;' They
again addressed him and said, 'Please your Majesty, they are without; let them be summoned into your presence and
see you.' Montecuh<;uma answered, 'Tell them that they may come in, I must see them.' As soon as they had entered
the apartment in which he was, they immediately prostrated themselves to the ground and kissed it, and rising saluted
the king, and said, 'Lord, we are worthy of death for having come without your leave into your royal presence,
but the nature of the business which has brought us is so grave and important that it must plead our excuse. It is an
undoubted truth that we all of us who have come here have seen gods, who have arrived on this coast in large water
houses' (by this term they meant a ship), 'and we have spoken, and conversed, and eaten with them, and given them
rich mantles; and they have in return given us these precious stones which we have brought with us.' They then presented
to him the beads and bugles which they had brought; and said, 'They gave us these beads, and added, Go to
your court and give them to Motecuh<;uma your lord, and tell him that we are on our return to our own country, but
shall come back again and pay him a visit.' To this speech the emperor answered not a word, revolving the matter in
his breast; but he simply observed to the captains, 'You must feel weary after such a long and speedy journey; go and
repose yourselves, and let not a word transpire of the intelligence which you have brought me; I wish it to be kept
secret, lest it should cause a commotion amongst the fickle and easily-excited populace.' The captains withdrew, and
they assigned to them the apartments which they were to occupy, since that was an ancient custom.
'Motecuh<;uma remained alone, pensive, and even very apprehensive of some great change in his kingdoms; for he
was possessed of much foresight, and reflected on past prodigies which had happened, and recollected what his




340 NOTES.

soothsayer had told him; in recompense for which he caused his house, while he was in it, to be thrown to the
ground, and overwhelmed him in the ruins. He also called to mind what his sister Papan had informed him many
years before, and what Nec;ahualpilli had likewise said to him; and it appeared to him that these were not fortuitous
coincidences, but that they portended some great disaster and change in the government: and since weighty matters
of state are wont to be imparted to others and to be debated in council, he immediately caused summonses to be
sent to all the persons of whom his council was composed, who were King Cacama of Tezcuco, his nephew, whom he
sent for by express; Cuitlahuatzin, his brother, the lord of Itztapalapan; Ycihuacohuatl, Tlilpotonqui, Tlacochcalcatl,
Quapiatzin, Tizoc, Yaoacatl, Quetzalaztatzin, Huitznahuacatl, Tlaylotlac, and Ecatempatiltzin, who were his ordinary
counsellors; to whom he declared what had happenecl. And a considerable time having been employed in the interchange
of opinions and conjectures respecting the true state of the case, his council terminated their deliberations by
persuading themselves and being convinced that it was Quetzalcohuatl, whom in times past they had worshiped as a
god, and who they likewise expected would again return to reign over their kingdoms; since he himself had long
before promised them that he would do so, when he departed from thence to the provinces of Tlapala and disappeared
on the coast of the sea, going in the direction of the east; and since they on this account expected him, they
thought that those who had arrived were his train.

"Under this persuasion they resolved that a certain number of persons should be named to go and receive him:
and whilst preparations were making in the mean time for their departure, orders were issued to the commanders
and governors of the sea-coasts to be very vigilant in keeping a watch and look-out for every arrival by sea,
especially on the coasts of Nauhtla, Toztla, Mictla, and Quauhtla; since from those places, as being more conveniently
situated, a better look-out could be kept and more speedy and certain intelligence brought to the court of
any new event. With these commands the governors and commanders were dismissed, and five lords were appointed
as bearers of the present which the emperor sent to Quetzalcohuatl, who were Yohualychan who was the principal,
Tepuztecal who was nearly of equal rank, Tizahua and Huehuetecatl; the fifth and last was named Hueycamecatleca.
They were commanded to proceed as expeditiously as possible to the sea-coast, and to speak on the part of Motecuh~
uma and of his senate to Quetzalcohuatl their lord, and to offer him the kingdom, and a rich present which was
given to them that they might be the bearers of it. And this it was that Gomara and Antonio de Herrera make
confused mcntion of, as having been brought to Ferdinand Cortes by the governors of Motecuh~uma on his first
landing, which they notice in the following words: 'Which present it is said was sent for Juan de Grijalva, when
he touched on those shores; but that, notwithstanding the haste of those who carried it, they found that he was
gone.' The fact was as they state; but I do not understand how those who drew up the account of which Herrera
availed himself, could have omitted that which I say in this chapter, and many other particulars which shall be
observed in the sequel; since the circumstanccs which they mention, and those which I relate, are intimately connected
with each other, and those who could have given an account of the former, could likewise have done so of the
latter; although I think that the error lay in their only seeking information from the Spaniards, who at that period
returned from the Indies, without verifying facts by applying to the Indians, who were mainly concerned in most of
them, or I may say in all, since they were the mark which all who have written on the affairs of the conquest strove
to hit, and were those who were very well acquainted with them, and in the beginning recorded them by means of
figures and characters, and afterwards, when some of the most curious amongst them had learned how to write, wrote
them down; which histories are in my possession: and so high is the estimation in which I hold them, on account
of their language and the style of their composition, that I should be glad to feel myself competent to the task of
translating them into Spanish with the same elegance and grace as the Mexicans penned them in their own language;
and since these histories are true and authentic, I follow them to the letter; but lest the accounts which they contain
should appear strange to those who read them, I affirm that they are merely a true relation of what actually happened,
but that other authors have not noticed them before me, because the few that have written on the affairs of the
Indies were ignorant of the events which then occurred, nor had they anyone to give them the requisite information;
neither should I have mentioned these facts, had I not found that they were verified by Father Bernard de Sahagun,
a grave and pious ecclesiastic, who was of the second number of those who undertook the converSIOn of the natives
of New Spain, but was the first of the first of the investigators of the most secret things of this land, of which he
knew all the secrets, and employed himself for more than sixty years in composing works in the Mexican language,
and in incorporating into it all the information which he was able to acquire.




NOTES. 341

" Amongst the gentiles of the East there was a prophecy which was uttered by Balaam, and is recorded in the
Book of Numbers, which related to the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, which the gentile prophet delivered
in these words: c A star shall be born from Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise from Israel which shall slay the captains
of Moab." And Saint John Chrysostom, commenting upon this passage, cites the authority of some who said that
those gentiles believing in the future birth of that star, they appointed twelve sentinels, who at stated seasons of the
year ascended to the top of a high mountain named Victorial, and remained there during three days, praying to
God, and beseeching him that he would manifest to them the star of which Balaam had prophesied, -- who having
beheld it, the kings came to adore the newly-born infant god. I know not whether the devil, jealous of this prophecy,
and desirous of keeping another people in a continual state of watching and anxiety, instituted this piece of
fraud amongst the Indians of New Spain, -- to understand which it is proper that I should premise, that in ancient
times there was a man of the kingdom of Tula who was named Quetzalcobuatl, as we have observed elsewhere, who
was a famous magician and necromancer, whom they afterwards worshiped as a god, and who was accounted a
king of that country. He was conquered by another greater and more powerful magician, such another as we may
suppose Zoroaster of Babylon to have been, who deprived him of his kingdom; from thence he Hed to the city of
Chollula, whither the other pursued him; when, forsaking that kingdom, he fled to the sea, pretending that the
god, who was the sun, called him to the other side of the sea, to the borders of the East; but he promised that he
would again return with great power to avenge himself of his enemies, and to redeem (redimir) his people from their
affiictions and the yoke of tyranny under which they groaned; for they said of him that he was very compassionate
and merciful: this lie was preserved in the recollection of those who lived in that age, and acquired much greater
credit in all the ages which afterwards succeeded; and the Mexicans so fully believed in his return, that their kings,
when monnting the throne, took possession of the kingdom upon the express condition of being vicars of their
lord Quetzalcohnatl, and of abdicating it on his arrival, and obeying him in it as his vassals.

"This history, therefore, being duly known, we assert that that nation expected Quetzalcohuatl, and believed it as
very certain that he would return to rule over the kingdoms of New Spain; and on every symptom and demonstration
of a change or rumour of any novelty, they immediately thought that it was he: and when they received the intelligence
which we have mentioned in the preceding chapter, and further heard that they (the Spaniards) had arrived in
the quarter wherc he had disappeared, and that they had come in large ships through the midst of so vast and
dangerous an ocean, they felt convinced that it was he, and could be no one else: and for this reason they were
still more vigilant in watching his return; placing sentinels to keep a look-out towards the sea, -- not for three days
only during every month of the year, like the Gentiles of the East, but night and day the entire year round; at the
expiration of which period, Juan de Grijalva having sailed to Cuba, and the expedition of Ferdinand Cortes by the
same route, being the consequence of his return, it necessarily followed that the Indians saw his ships, and, in obedience
to the express commands of their king, they proceeded post to carry him the intelligence, taking with them
paintings, in which were represented the number of the vessels, and the kind of people whom they beheld on board;
all of which they showed to Motecuh<;uma, who, on receiving the news of this second armament, (which was towards
the latter end of February of the year 1519,) assembled those who constituted his council, and other persons possessed
of talents and authority, and communicated to them the tidings which had been brought to him by the sentinels
of the eastern sea-coast, of what had newly appeared on the sea, which confirmed the accounts of the preceding
year; and the matter having been laid before them, they deliberated upon the measures which it might be proper to
adopt; and as, when the Magi entered Jerusalem inquiring for the newly-born king, Herod and all his confederates
and partizans were troubled, and the doctors consulted together and decided upon the place where he should be
born, -- so the Indians who composed the council of the king were troubled together with him, and in great perplexity
replied, 'that since it was true that their god and king Quetzalcohuatl had gone to the kingdom of Tlapala to visit
the god who was the sun, whose return all their forefathers had expected, he likewise who had appeared in the
ships might be that goel, since it was not humanly probable that mortal men could have penetrated so far into the
depths of the ocean, without being swallowed up by its waves; and that therefore they believed that it was he, and
that, since he had come, it was fit that ambassadors and noblemen should be sent to offer him obedience upon the
part of the senate, and to receive him.' Hence, as we may infer, originated the custom amongst the Mexicans of the
monarchy being elective and not hereditary, which we may prove by observing, that if they believed that they had a
living king, who at some time or other was to return to take possession of his kingdom, it was impossible that they





342 NOTES.

could consent that another should enter upon the perpetual possession of it, but only that he should hold it like
a viceroy, who in the absence of a king exercises all the regal functions, with a condition which implies that the exercise
of those functions will be for no longer a period than during the absence of the latter, and that he will be ready and
prepared to forgo them when and as soon as the natural and lawful heir should appear. But this was folly in them,
as was also their believing that that magician had gone to visit the sun, in order afterwards to return to enjoy the
earthly kingdom which he had forsaken: but I can well imagine that, granted that the devil had invented this piece
of fraud, ami devised this trick in order to deceive this nation, it was likewise by permission of God, not for the
sake of keeping these mistaken men in a state of delusion, but in order that as soon as Christians should arrive in
those parts with the annunciation and tidings of his Holy Gospel, they might be already in some measure disposed
to receive it, from the warning which had been given to them, and the anxiety which they felt about another's coming
and depriving them of the kingdom. But if the devil had been able thoroughly to comprehend the matter, he would
have known that Quetzalcohuatl, whom he pretended to be the king and god of that nation, would in reality be the
true God and Lord of the whole creation; and that, in the same manner as Cortes came to strip Motecuh~uma of
the possession of his kingdom, (whom the Indians, unconscious of the meaning of their message, sent to welcome
as Quetzalcohuatl,) so likewise that this lord and supreme king would come in the character of the monarch of the
universe to destroy him, and to dispossess him of the kingdom, especially as they already had had forebodings of the
same; it having been predicted to them ten years before by Paran the princess of Tlatelolco, as we read in a preceding
book in the chapter which treats of the prodigies which portended the destruction of the Mexican empire.

"Returning to my subject, -- I say that those Indians, having arranged with their king what under such peculiar
circumstances onght to be done, prepared a great present (whether it might have been the same as that which had
been scnt for Juan de Grijalva and which had been brought back, or whether it was another like it, or a larger than
the first, I do not know); but one addition which it received was, that they sent with it all the sacerdotal habits which
they said had been worn by Quetzalcohuatl when he was in that country, who, as it would hence appear, was both
priest and king, like Numa Pompilius in Rome: and here we have an example of the pontifical and regal dignities
having been united at one period of time in the world, as we have elsewhere observed. All the articles of which the
present consisted, which Motecuh<;uma took from his treasury in order that they might be sent to those strangers
who had made their appearance by sea, were wrapped up in rich mantles which they put into petacas, which having
been done, Motecuh<;uma made the following speech to the lords whom he sent as his ambassadors: 'Go, my friends,
and discharge faithfully the duties of this embassy, which we entrust to you, this august senate and myself; take care
that nothing detains you on the road, but proceed with as much expedition as possible into the presence of our lord
and king Qnetzalcohuatl, and say to him, Your vassal, Motecuh<;uma, who is at present the regent of your kingdom,
sends us to salute your majesty, and to give you the present of which we are the bearers, together with these sacerdotal
ornaments, which have always been held in the highest veneration and esteem amongst us.' Charged with this dispatch,
the ambassadors withdrew from the presence of the king, and immediately set out on their journey; and travelling
with the greatest possible haste arrived at the sea-coast, which Cortes with his entire company had already reached.
" On their coming to the sea-coast they embarked in canoes, into which they conveyed all their baggage, and
directed their course to the ships of Ferdinand Cortes; and perceiving the flag of the captain's vessel, they rowed
towards it, imagining that there they should find the lord and king whom they sought. All on board the ships intently
observed what passed, and when the canoes reached the captain's vessel, the Indians gave them to understand
by signs that they wished to come on board; those on deck inquired of them whence they came, who they were,
and what they wanted: they replied that they were Mexicans, and that they had quitted Mexico to seek their lord
and king Quetzalcohuatl, who they knew was there. Although the Spaniards did not understand their words, they
knew the purport of them by their signs, and, astonished at their demand, they debated the matter with each other,
and said, What can they mean by saying that their king and their god is here, and that they wish to see him? Cortes
listened to their conversation, and he and all the rest having considered the matter well and deliberated together, they
agreed amongst each other that Don Ferdinand Cortes should dress himself in the richest apparel that he had, and
that they should prepare a throne for him in the fore part of the vessel, on which he should sit counterfeiting
royalty, and that the Indians should then be introduced to see and speak to him. Having accordingly so done, they
told the Indians that they were welcome, and that he whom they sought was there, and that they would be permitted
to see and speak to him. The Indians on hearing this drew their canoes closer to the captain's vessel, and those




NOTES. 343

above assisted them, and lifted up the baggage which they had brought with them: they as soou as they found themselves
in the ship sat down on the deck, and dressed and adorned themselves with their finest ornaments, and untying
their packages disposed the articles of which the present consisted in judicious order. Having so done, they
begged to be permitted to behold him whom they sought; amI were conducted to the fore part of the vessel, where
Ferdinand Cortes was already expecting them, with the mock majesty which we have just mentioned: they were
introduced to him carrying the present in their hands; and when they saw him seated majestically on the throne,
believing that he was their god and lord Quetzalcohuatl, they immediately prostrated themselves upon the ground
and kissed it, -- that being the obsequious mark of adoration with which they did homage to their gods; when, rising,
he who was the priucipal of them all, addressed him, 'Our God and Lord, we welcome your arrival, since we, who
are your vassals and servants, have long expected you. Motecuh9uma, your vassal and the regent of your kingdom,
has dispatched us to your presence that we may salute you in his name, and he beseeches you to accept this trifling
present, and these precious ornaments which you wcre accustomed to wear when you were amongst us in the character
of our king and god.' Having so said, they began to attire him in the ornaments which they had brought;
upon his head they put what seemed like a helmet decorated with gold and gems of great value and with a rich
plume of feathers; they clothed him in a vest of fine texture, named a Xiculli, which reached from the throat to the
waist, and descended to the middle of the arm; they next threw a chain of prccious stones of great value and beauty
round his neck: and in this manner they proceeded to load him from head to foot with ornaments and costly sacerdotal
vestments, adding to the ordinary habits worn by the god Quetzalcohuatl those likcwise which belonged to the
gods Tezcatlipoca" and Tlalocatecutli, all of which they laid at his feet, (as is also customary with them when they
make a present to a person of high rank,) signifying by that aet that they recognised him as the greatest of their
gods. After they had so done, an interpreter said to them in the name of Ferdinand Cortes, 'What! is this all that
you have brought me to welcome my arrival amongst you?' On which the principal ambassador replied, 'Lord and
king! this was what was given to us to carry to your majesty, and no more.' Ferdinand Cortes then desired some
of his men to take them into the cabin and to treat them courteously, allowing them time to i'epose themselves, and
afterwards to set before them provisions of Spain, inviting them to partake of them with all civility and politeness.

When these Indians came on board the ship, many of the men crowded from the other vessels around the captain's
ship to see what was there passing; and they saw and heard what I have related: at which they were astonished, and
were at a loss for suitable terms by which to express what they thought of such great simplicity and of a scene so
new to them.

"They agreed to terrify these messengers by throwing them into irons, loading them with chains, and discharging
the artillery, and challenging them to wrestle with them; all with the object of inducing them to report terrible things
of them, in order that those who heard them might be seized with fear, and dread them as those who wcre fated to
march on to victory, and to become the lords of the country. The Indians slept in the ship that night,. and on the next
day as soon as it was morning the Spaniards put into execution what they had planned the day before: they took the
Indians and threw them into irons, and having chained them by the feet began to fire off the artillery. The Indians, who
beheld themselves prisoners and in irons, confounded with the noise and the th.unders of the cannon and the smell
of the powder, fell senseless on the ground, and there remained for a long space of time as it were dead: the soldiers,
on seeing them in this state, raised them in their arms, and seating them, threw water in their faces, and made them


-----
* Tezcatlipoca was adored, according to Sahagun, under the name of Camaxtle, in some of the states contiguous to Mexico. The
following passage may suggest a reason why to the habits worn by the god Quetzalcohuatl, were added those belonging to Tezcatlipoca:
"Antes de \a Fiesta, quatro 0 cinco Dias, adere9aban todos los Templos, y Salas de los Dioses, y encalaban 10 desollado, y
descostrado de eUos; y tres Dias antes, pintabanse los AchcauhtiFl, uno~ de negro, atros de agul, y otros de blanco, y cada qual como
mejor Ie parecia; y luego a las espald.s de la Casa, 0 Templo principal de el Demonio, bailab.n el Dia entero. Luego vestian la Estatua
de su Dios Camaxtle, que era de tres estados de alto, y junto de $1 tenia otro Idolo pequeno, que dec ian averle tra'ido los pri'11leros Pobla.dores
de esta Republica. E,te Idolo ponian siempre junto a I. grande Estatua de Camaxtle; y tenianle tanta reverencia, y temor, que
no Ie asaban mirar, ni algar los ojos en su presencia; aunque diversas veces sacrificaban delante de el mucha numero de Codornices.
Vestian este Idolo COl! las vestidu1"as del Dios Quetzalcohuatl, en estu ocasion, que era el Dios de los Chololtecas; porque decian estos
Idolatras, que era Bijo de Camartle; y estas vestiduras tralan los mismos Chololtecas, para esta Fiesta, por no estar la una Ciudad, de
10 otra, mas de quatro leguas; y esto mismo hacian los de Tlaxcalla, quando festejaban esotros, a su falso Dios: eran muchas, y se las
vestian con grandes ceremonias, y cubrianle la mala cara can otra peer, y mas fea mascara.lJ-Monarquia Indiana, lib. x. cap. xxxi




344 NOTES.

drink it; on which they recovered from the terror and fright into which they had been thrown, they then took off
their fetters; and the captain said to them, 'I am informedthat the Mexicans are very valiant, possess great strength,
and are good wrestlers, and that one alone would be enough to conquer ten or twenty of his enemies, and to compel
them to submit; on which account, in order to ascertain the truth and to assure myself of the fact, I wish you to contend
with my pcople, that I may see whether you are more valiant than they.' He gave them shields, swords, and lances
for the contest. The poor, unhappy Indians, who, if even they had known how to make use of the arms which
had been given to them, were more dead than alive from the chains and the noise of the artillery, did not only not accept
the challengc, but declined it by saying, 'Lord! this was not the purpose for which we came, nor did Motecuh~uma
send us to quarrel with you, or to enter upon a trial of strength with your people, but only to visit you in his name,
and to kiss your hands as we have done; and if we obeyed your commands, and could be guilty of such great presumption,
we should not only excite his displeasure, but should pay the forfeit of our lives.' To this the captain
replied, 'You need make no manner of excuse, for you must do what I order you; as I have heard of you Mexicans
that you are valiant, and you must use your utmost endeavours in attacking and defending yourselves from my men.'
He could not however prevail upon them; and seeing that they would not either singly, or two and two, or in any
way try their strength and skill in fighting with the Spaniards, -- in order to induce them to accept the challenge, they
loaded them with abusive epithets and dismissed them, telling them that they were cowards and effeminate persons,
and that being such they might go back to Mexico, and that they would come and conquer the Mexicans, who
should all die by their hands; and that they might tell Motecub<;uma that his present had displeased them, and that
they would march to Mexico and would plunder them of whatever they had and take it for themselves. (Whether
they knew what they were saying or no will be seen in the sequel; for they spoke at random, not knowing the
future, and without having made any trial of the land.)

"With this answer, and these threats, (worthy most certainly of the folly of Motecuh~uma and of his counsellors,)
the Indians' cntered into their canoes; and so great was their haste that cvery moment's delay appeared to them the
herald and sad harbinger of death: they immediately therefore began rowing, -- not only the rowers whom they had
brought for the purpose, but all indiscriminately, each urging and exhorting the other to apply a strong hand to the
oar, as well in order to find themselves at a distance from and fairly rid of the ships where they had been treated so
indifferently, as to hasten their return, to give an account to their king of what had passed between them and Quetzalcohuatl.
Proceeding in this rapid manner, they reached a small island called Xicalanco, where they partook of
some refreshment and rested themselves for a short space of time; from thence, continuing their course, they arrived
at a town named Tecpantlayacac on the sea-coast, from whence they journeyed on to Cuetlaxtla, a place situated
some leagues inland, where they slept; the lords and principal persons of that town entreated them to remain there
the following day to rest themselves; but they replied, 'Our haste is urgent; for the embassy with which we arc
charged to our lord Motecuh~uma is of such a nature that it is unprecedented in these kingdoms, and it is not fit
that anyone should know its nature before him; and for this reason it is our duty not to stay to repose ourselves,
but to travel on in haste.' They immediately set off, and proceeded on their journey with such distressed and
harassed feelings, that they reaped no consolation from food or sleep, nothing gave them the slightest satisfaction,
bllt they sighed as they went along, overcome with sorrow, wonder, and dismay; they scarcely addressed each other,
preserving a strange silence; or if at intervals they spoke, they said, 'We have beheld terrible and uncommon things,
which portend evils and great tribulation; but, O Lord God! who are they, and from whence shall they come, who
shall conquer the Mexicans? Are not we the powerful, the ancient, and the dreaded in all these lands? Why do we
allow ourselves to be disturbed and pained? why do our hearts, heaving within our breasts, forbode to us future ills?
 -- this is a sign of some great impending calamity.' With these and similar reflections they occupied their minds on
the road, and arrived by rapid stages at the city of Mexico at' an advanced hour of the night, and proceeded straight
to the palace of king Motecuh~U1na, when they bade the attendants in the ante-room inform the king of their arrival;
and if he was asleep to awaken him, for the business upon which they came did not permit delay or procrastination,
and to say to him, 'Lord! the ambassadors have returned whom you sent to the sea to receive our god Quetzalcohuatl.'
The guards went into his chamber and delivered the message to him, which when Motecuh~uma had heard,
he answered, 'Tell them not to corne in here, but to go to the hall of judgment, and to wait for me there.' He then
commanded slaves to be prepared for a sacrifice, and proceeding to the hall of judgment, he assembled those who
composed his council, and other persons whose office it was to sacrifice the slaves, with whose blood they sprinkled




NOTES 345

the ambassadors. This was a customary ceremony on the arrival of any very important embassy, when the circumstances
which gave rise to it were grave and unusual.

"After the idolatrous ceremony of sprinkling the ambassadors with the blood" of these sacrificed victims had been
gone through, MotecuhS'uma seated himself upon his throne and chair, in order to hear with state and majesty the
tidings which his ambassadors had brought to him: for agreeably to the belief which he had adopted, he was convinced
that it was Quetzalcohuatl who had arrived on the sea-coast; and he expected to receive perfect information
of the arrangements necessary to be made preparatory to his visit. The ambassadors immediately prostrated themselyes
upon the grolmd and kissed it, (which they name in their language Tlalcualiztli, being an idolatrous ceremony
of adoration,) and in this prostrate state, the principal person amongst them, who had gone as superior of
the rest on that embassy, commenced the delivery of the following speech: 'Powerful lord and king! As soon as we
arrived at the sea shore, these your servants and myself, we beheld some very large houses entirely of wood upon the
water, contrived very artificially both within and without, which go through the deep water of the sea like the canoes
which we elUploy here upon our lake and aqueducts: we were told that these houses were called ships; and it would
be impossible for any of us to explain the variety of buildings and things which they contain within them. We went
in canoes to them, and entered the principal ship, or water-honse, where was the flag which they carried with them.
The ships were many; and in each there were many persons, who all stood looking at us nntil we entered the
captain's vessel. We immediately reqnested to see the lord Qnetzalcohnatl, (in search of whom we had corne,) in order
to give him the presents which we had brought with us: and they showed us, in a separate part of the ship, a lord
seated upon a throne, clothed in very rich apparel, and pointing to him with their finger, they said to us, Behold him
whom you seek. We prostrated ourselves at his feet, kissing the ground and adoring him as a god. We next
addressed the speech to him which you commanded, and proceeded to dress him in the robes and jewels which you
gave to us, and delivered to him the other articles of which the present consisted: and having laid it all at his feet,
he gave us to understand that it was very little. That day they treated us well, and set provisions before us, and gave
us an agreeable liquor to drink, which they called wine: that night we slept in the ship. In the morning they wished
to come to a trial of strength with us, and ordered us to fight with them, which we persisted steadily in declining:
they then threw ns into chains and discharged their artillery, which greatly terrified us with thunder and lightning, and
caused us to fall on the ground as if dead. After we had recovered ourselves, and they had obliged us to take some
refreshment, we inspected their arms, their horses, and their dogs which assist them in fighting, at which we were
still more terrified. It would be tedious and would take up too much time to give a minute account of every thing
which we saw: -- they say that they have come here to conquer us and to rob us; that is all we know. If they
should come here, we shall know both what they want, and how far their power may be commensurate with their
will. We can only say that we return back greatly terrified and alarmed.' -- MotecuhS'uma was very much astonished
at the words of the ambassadors; his face changed colour, and he displayed extreme sorrow and dismay; the conviction
took possession of his mind, that he himself as well as all the subjects of his empire would have to suffer
much and to endure many indignities. Under the iufluence of this impressiou he began to weep bitterly, as did likewise
all those by whom he was surrouuded: their tears and lamentations spread afterwards through all classes of the
city, high and low; and they soon began to assemble in groups in the public squares and the streets, and to utter
lamentations, each one exciting the other's grief by the suggestion of melancholy and tender recollections: they spoke
of the great evils which threatened them, and of the ruin and destruction which impended over them, as if they had
already" happened, -- their hearts divining what was afterwards to befall them: all were dejected and a prey to grief;
fathers sorrowing for their sons exclaimed, 'Alas, my sons, what troubles must you see, and, what is worse, what
must you go throngh and suffer!' Mothers made the same lamentations over their daughters; adding other piteous
ejaculations, which their great love and sorrow prompted. They passed the night and an entire day in their
manifestations of public affliction; and MotecuhS'uma, as more interested in preserving the honours and dignities
which it might be his fate to lose, felt more acutely than all the rest."

The above account, of Cortes having been supposed by the Mexicans to be their god Quetzalcohuatl, is so curious

-----
* Aaron was consecrated to the sacerdotal dignity by Moses, with the ceremony or being sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed victim,
as we learn from the twenty-first verse of the twenty-ninth chapter of Exodus.




346 NOTES.

that we cannot refrain from subjoining in a note the original passage in Spanish"; remarking at the same time,
that if most historians have passed over in silence the events here recorded, it was because they had not access to
the same means of information as Torquemada, or even the opportunity of consulting his History, in consequence
of the proscription which the first edition of the Indian Monarchy underwent in the course of the seventeenth

-----
* "Quando Juan de Grijalva vino al Descubrimiento, que Francisco Hernandez de Cordova avia reconocido, por estas Costas de la
Nueva-Espana, negl> can su Annada hasta San Juan de Ulua, (como dexamos dicho) y como era cosa nueva para los Moradores de la
Tierra, ver Navios, en el Mar, porque jamas 10 imaginaron, higoles grande noveda~, yespanto, y dieron Doticia de ella a los Governadores,
y Capitanes, que el Emperador Motecuhguma tenia, por tadas aquellas Poblaciones. Con estas Nuevas, que oiefon, sejuntaron
todos, y deliberaron, entre 5i, de ir a dar estas Nuevas a su Senor Motecuhguma, que tenia su Corte en esta Ciudad de Mexico, Y l)or
no venir a tiento, Ii alborotar el Reina, y por traer ra~on clara del Negocio, determinaron de ver aque! Milagro, u Prodigio, que los
espantaba, y tenia en pasmo, y admiracion. Dieron tra9a de que algunos fuesen a la Mar, y meticlos en Canoas, llevasen refresco de
Pan. y l1ruta, y otras casas de regalo, para que si fuesen Hombres, como eUos, les dixesen, que iban a vender aquellas casas, si de
ellas,tenian necesidad; y que sino 10 fuesen, se informasen de 10 que eran aquellos bultos tan grandes, y de 10 que llevaban dentro.
Hi90se asi, y fueron Indios Principales, y Esfor9ados, a este Negocio, y metidos en sus Canoas, y rernando, fueron acia los Navies,
vieron en uno de eUos el Estandarte Real, que el Aire 10 tremolaba, y pareciendoles, que en aquel, como en particular, iria el Capitan
de todos los otros, encaminaron a el, y llegaroD a Bordo. Los que iban dentro, como los vieron ir, pusieronse a ver, que bacian; pero
los Indios, que ya avian llegado, les hicieron una mui profunda reverencia, y por senas les dieron a entender, que venian de Paz, a
vemlerles cosas de comer, y de vestir; 105 del Navio, tam bien por senas les preguntaron, que de don de eran, y como venian alIi? Ellos
respondieron, que eran Mexicanos. Bolvieronles it decir los Nuestros: Pues si sois Mexicanos, decidnos como se llama el Senor de
Mexico? Respondieron, que se llamaba Moteeuh9uma; con esto los subiel'on al Navio, en el qual entraron sin ningun recelo, y mostraron
Ropa rica de Algodon, y algunas cosas de Vitualla, de que se alegraron los Nuestros, y rescataronselas por Cuentas A~ules, Verdes, y
de otras colores, porque les parecieron a los Indios mui finas, y que en valor excedian a la quanticlad del precio que valia la Ropa, que
neva ron; y aviendo hecho el Rescate, y pasadose mucha parte del Dia, se despidieron los Indios, a los quales dixo el Capitan del
Navio: Id en buen hora, y llevad esas Piedras a vuestro Senor Motecuh9uma, y decidle, que no podemos aora verle., porque nos
bolvemos a nuestra Tierra; pero que vend rem os otra vez, y llegar~mos a verle a su Ciudad de Mexico. Can esto se partieron los Indios,
en sus Canoas, y llegaron a Tierra, uonde luego pintaron los N avios, y Xarcia, como me jar supieron, las Personas que vieron, el
trage, los rostros, las barbas, y otras particularidades, que les parecieron nuevas, y nunea vistas. Pusieronse todos en camino, para
Mexico, y caminanclo a grandisima priesa, de Noche, y de Dia, sin descansar, llegaroD mui en breve a esta Ciudad, y fueron it. Palacio,
sin decir a nadie el Mensage, con que venian: (porque era costumbre entre elIas, que las Embaxadas no se manifestasen, ni dixesen,
hasta que el Rei las oiese. y se enterase de elias) Dixeron a los Parteros, que diesen aviso a Motecuh9uma, de su venida, y como era
COD priesa. Fue avisado el Rei par la Gente de Camara, de como los Governadores, y Maiordomos de las Costas de la Mar del
Norte, estaban alli, que venian can mucha priesa a "erle; alborotose, y sobresaltose el Rei, porque penGo, que el caso avia de ser mui
importante; pues Ia Gente de guarda, que el tenia, en aquella Tierra, venia sin su licencia a verle, (y no fue este sobresalto, que
recibio, sin causa, porque la tenia mui grande de creer qualquier desgracia, par las cosas prodigiosas que avia vista, que Ie pronosticaban
Ruinas, y adversidades, y con esto andaba sospeehoso de acaecimientos grandes, que se esperaban) Bolvio a replicar a los
Criados; que es verdad, que han venido 105 Capitanes de la Costa, todos juntos? Respondieronle otra vez, diciendo, Sefior nuestro,
alii fuera estan, mandelos V uestra lVlagestad entrar, y verlos ha. Dixo Motecuh9uma: Decidlos que entren, verlos hemos. En
entrando dentro en la Sala, donde estaba, luego se postraron en Tierra, y la besaron, y levantandose saluclaron al Rei, y Ie dixerou:
Senor nuestro, dignos somos de muerte, par aver venido sin vuestra Lieencia, a vuestra Real Presencia; pero el Negocio es tan arduo,
y grave, que 10 sufre. Es el caso, que tudos juntos, los que aqui Yenimos, hemos visto Dioses, que han llegado a aquella Costa, en
grandes Casas de Agua, (que asi llaman Ii los Navios) y los hemos hablado, y conversado, y hemos comido can ellos, y les dimos
Mantas ricas, y eUos nos dieron en retorno estas Piedras preciosas, que aqui traemos. Luego Ie presentaron las Cuentas, y Abalorios,
que traian, y dixeron: Estas Piedras nos dieron, y dixeron; Id Ii I" Corte, y dadlas it vuestro Senor Motecuhsuma, y decidle: que
nos bolvemos a nuestra Tierra, y que otra vez bolveremos, y Ie veremos. No respondio el Ernperadora esto ~ada; (que solo 10 estaba
sintiendo en su pecha) pero dixo a los Capitanes, cansados vendreis de tan largos, y acelerados earninos, id, descansar, y no digais
a nadie esta Embaxada, que quiero secreto en ella; porque el Pueblo facil, y bullicioso, no se altere, y Ii su tiempo as namare, y
avisare de 10 que conviniere. Salieronse los Capitanes, y dieronles Salas, clonde estuviesen (como antiguamente 10 acostumbraban).
It Motecuhguma quedbse solo, y pensativo, y allll bien sospechoso de mucha novedad en SLlS Reinos: porque era de mui buen
entendimieuto, y consideraba los prodigios pasados, y traia it la memoria 10 que su Adivino Ie avia dicho; por 10 qual Ie hechl> la
Caso encima, y 10 malo, y acordavase de 10 que su Hermana Papan Ie avia dicho, anos antes, y 10 que Negahualpilli tambien Ie avia
clicho, y pensaba, que no eran acase estas cosas, sino que venian amena9ando algun gran mal, 0 trueque de Govierno. Y como los
negocios graves quieren comunicacion, y consejo, higo luego llamar a tod05 los que 10 eran de el, que fueron el Rei Cacama de Tezcuco,
su Sobrino, al qual embil> Ii llamar por la Posta, y Ii Cuitlahuatzin, su Hermano, Senor del Pueblo de Itztapalapan, y Ii Y cihuacohuatl,
Tlilpotonqui, Tlacochcalcatl, Quapiatzin, Tizoc, Yaoacatl, Quetzalaztatzin, Huitznahuacatl, Tlaylotlac, y Ecatempatiltzin, que eran de
su Consejo Ordinario, a los quales manifesto 10 que pasaba, y aviendo dado, y tornado en pareceres, y adivinan~as, de 10 que podia
ser, concluieron su Consejo, con persuadirse, y creer, que seria Quetzalcohuatl a quien, en un tiempo adoraron por Dios, de quien
tam bien pensaban, que avia de venir a ReinaI' otra vez en estas Tierras, por averlo dicho el mucho antes, quando paso de aqui, a las




NOTES. 347

century. It furnishes, moreover, an explanation (affording by so doing a new proof of its authenticity) of what
almost all historians have pronounced to be the unaccountable conduct of Montezuma, in sending repeated
embassies and rich presents to the Spaniards, and in still persisting in forbidding them to approach his court;
since their threats in the first instance to burn and plunder his city, and their reception of his ambassadors, must 

-----
Provincias de Tlapala, y se les avia de'"parecido en la Costa de la Mar, e ido acia aquellas Parte, Orientales, y como por esta causa
Ie esperaban, entendieron ser el, el que avia Ilegado.

"Con esta persuasion, que tuvieron, determinaron, que se nombrasen Personas, que fuesen a recibirle, yen el interin que iban, se
les mandb a los eapilaDes, y Governadores de las Costas, que pusiesen gran cuidado, y vigilancia en atalaiar, y descubrir 10 que por
el Mar vi niese, en especial en los Lugares de N auhtla, Toztla, Mictla, y Quauhtla, para que de aquellas partes, por ser mas cornodas,
se viese mejor, y mas presto, y se traxese calion mas ejerta, de 10 que pasaba. Con este recaudo [ueron despachados estos Governadores,
y Capitanes. Fueron nombrados cinco Senores, para que llevasen un Presente, que el Emperador embiaba a Quetzalcohuatl; los
quaies fueron Yohualychan, y este fue por Maior, Tepuztecal, que era casi igual al primero, Tizahua, y Huehuetecatl, y el quinto, y
ultimo se llamaba Hueycamecatleca, y mandoseles, que con la maior brevedad posible fuesen a la Mar, y hablasen de parte de Motecuhyurna,
y su Senado, a Quetzalcohuatl su Senor, y Ie ofreciesen el Reino, y un gran Presente, que les fue dado, para que Ie llevasen.
Este es el que dicen Gomara, y Antonio de Herrera confusamente, que traxeron a Fernando Cortes quando saIto en Tierra, por parte
de los Governadores de Motecuh~uma, y esto dicen par estas palabras: el qual presente, se dixo, que avia embiado a Juan de
Grijalva quando llego en aquellas partes, sino que por mucha priesa, que se dieron, los que Ie lIevaban, hallaron que era ido. Y fue asi;
pero no se, como los que pusieron en estilo aquella Relacion, de que se aprovecho Herrera, se clexaron esto, como en este Capitulo
10 dexo referido, y otras muchas cosas, que en 10 que se sigue se diran; porque aquellas, y estas, son eorresponsiv3s, y qui en dio ragon
de 10 uno, pudo darlo de 10 otro; aunque pienso, estuvo el yerTo en no hacer estas Inquisiciones, e T nformaciones, mas que can los
Espanoles, que entonces vinieron, y no las averiguaron con los Indios, que tam bien les toea mucha parte de elias, yaun el todo; pues
fueron el blanco donde tad as las casas de la Conquista se asestaron, y son los que mui bien las supieron, y las pusieron en Historia a
los principios, par sua Figuras, y Caracteres, y despue3 que supieron escrivir algunos Curiosos de elios, las escrivieron, las quales tengo
en mi poder, y tengo tanta embidia al Lenguage, y estilo can que estan escritas, que me holgare saberlas traducir en Castellano, con
la elegancia, y gracia, que en su Lengua Mexicana se dicen: y par ser Historia pura, y verdadera, la sigo en todo; y si a los que las
leieren parecieren novedades, cligo, que no 10 son, sino la pura verdad sucedida; pero que no se ha escrito basta aora, porque los pacos
que han escrito los sucesos de las lndias, no las supieron, ni huvo quien se las dixese; ni tampoco Yo las escriviera si no las hallara
averiguadas de el Padre Fr. Bernardino de Sahagun, Religioso Santo, y Grave, que fue de los segundos, que entraron en la Conversion
de esta N ueva-Espafia, y de los primeros, el primero Investigador de las cosas mas secretas de la Tierra; y supo todos los secretos de
ella, y se oeupb mas de sesenta anos en escrivir Lengua Mexicana, y todo 10 que pudo alcan~ar en ella.

"Huvo entre los Gentiles de elOriente una Profecia, dicha por Balaan, y referida en el Libro de los Numeros, en orden a la
Venida de el Hijo de Dios, en Carne Human.; la qual declaro el Profeta Gentil, con e.tas palabras: Nacera una Estrella de Jacob,
y levantarse ha una Vara de Israel, y consumira, y roatara los Capitanes de lVloab. Y San J unn Chrisostomo, sobre este lugar, refiere
el dicho de algunos, que di:<eron, que como aquellas Gentes tuviesen creido el Nacimiento de esta Estrella, que pusieron doce
Atalaias, que en ciertos tiempos de el Ano subian a un Monte alto, llamado Victorial, yestaban tres Dias orando aDios, y pidiendole
les manifcstase 1a Estrella, que avia dicho Balaan, y que la vieron, y entonces vinieron los Reies ala Adoracion de el Nino Dios reeien
Nacido, y Ie adoraron. No se si embidioso de esta Profecia el Demonio, y deseoso de tener otro Pueblo en continua vela, y vigilancia,
ordenb entre los Indios de esta N ueva-Espafia, este embeleeo; para cuia inteligencia hemos de advertir, que en tiempos pasados
huvo un Hombre en Tierra de Tula, que se lI.mO Quetzalcohuatl, (como dexamos dicho en otro lugar) gr.n Magico, y Nigromantico,
al qual adoraron despues par Dios, y rue tenido par Rei de aquella Tierra. Este fue vencido de otro Hechicero maior, y mas
poderoso que el, (que debio de ser como otro Zoroastes en Babilonia) y Ie despojo de el Reino. l'uese huieudo a la Ciudad de
Cllo!ulla, y alii Ie siguio, y corrio: y dexando el Reino se fue acia la Mar, fingiendo, que el Dios Sol, Ie lIamaba a la otra parte
de el Mar, par la Vanda de el Oriente; pero prometio de bolver despues, con mucha pujanc;a, a vengar sus injurias, y a redimir su
Pueblo de agravios, y tiranias; porque decian de el, que era mui Humano, y Misericordioso. Esta mentira se conservo en aquellos
Tiempos, y se fue reforc;ando con mucha maior opinion, en todos Jos que despues Ie sucedieron: y fue tan creida su buelta de estos
Mexicanos, que los que entraban Reinando, recibian el Reino COIl esta condicion, de que eran Tenientes de su Senor Quetzalcohuatl,
y que en viniendo se 10 dexarian, y Ie obedecerian, como Vasallos, en el.

"Sabida, pues, esta Historia, decimos, que como estas GentelS aguardaban a este Quetzalcohuatl, y tenian por mui cierto, que
a.via de holver a Reinar a estos Reinos, de esta Nueva-Espana, qualquier demonstracion, yarnago, que avia de alteracion, y rumor
de alguno, que aparecia, luego pen saban ser el: Y como traxeron las nuevas, que en el Capitulo pasado dexamos dichas, y mas de la
parte par donde vinieron, en que se avia desaparecido, y en N a\'ios tan gran des, enmedio de un Mar tan aneho, y peligroso, persuadieronse
a que era el, y no otro; y por esto pusieron maior cuidado, en la vigilancia de su huelta, atalaiando el Mar, no tres Dias
en todos los Meses de el Ario, (como los Gentiles de el Oriente,) sino de Dia, y de Noche, todo el Ailo entero: Al fin de el qual,
como Juan de Grijah'a fue a Cuba, y de su ida, resuito la venida de Fernando Carles, par la misma Derrota, que el primero, fue
fuerc;a, que los Indios viesen los Navios, y con el Mandato expreso, que tenian de su Rei, fueron par Postas a dar el aviso de eilo,
.llevando pintado, el Numero de los Navios, yia manera de la Gente, que vieron andar en elias: Lo qual todo mostraron a Motecuhguma;
yean el nuevo aviso, que tuvo de esta segunda Armada, (que rue par fin de Febrero de el Ana de mil quinientos y diez y
nueve) hi~ Junta de los de su Consejo, y de otras Personas de Prend.s, y Autoridad, y dioles parte de las nuevas, que avian traido




348 NOTES.

have made him very unwilling to receive such visitors in Mexico; and his remaining doubts as to whether Cortes
might not be Quecalcoatle, and his cannon some preternatural agency by which to subjugate his enemies, together
with the consciousness that all his subjects would be ripe for rebellion on the first report that their god had come
to take possession of his kingdom, -- must have suggested to his prudence the precise line of conduct which he 

-----
las Atalayas de la Costa de el Oriente, de 10 que de nuevo avia aparecido en la Mar, que confirmab. las pasadas de el Ano antes. Y
confiriendo el caso, trataron de 10 que convenia hacer: Y como quando entraron los Magos, en Jerusaleo, preguntando por el Rei
nuevamente nacido, se turbo Herodes, y todos los de su Alian9a, y Valia, y confirieron los Doctores el caso, y dieron ra90n de el Lugar
de clande avia de tener su Nacimiento. Asi estos lndios de el Camejo de el Rei, turbados con el, y confusos, dixeron: que pues era
"erdad, que su Dios, y Rei Quetzalcohuatl avia ido a los Reinos de Tlapala, a verse con el Dios Sol, al qual todos sus Antepasados
avian esperado, que tambien 10 seria, que era el que en los Navios avia aparecido, pues no parecia ca:;o Humano, que Hombres
Mortales anduviesen por la Mar metirlos, tan dentro de sus Aguas, sin que huviesen perecido en ellas; y asi creian !:ief ei: y que pues
venia, era ragon, que fuesen Embaxadores, y Personas Principales a darle la Obediencia, de parte de aquel Senado, y a recibirlo.
,De aqui pudieramos inferir, que estos Mexicanos tornaron la costumbre de elegir Reies, y no acostumbrar en su Republica, que 10
fuesen pOl' herencia; 10 qual pudieramos probar, can decir, que si creian, que tenian Rei "'ivo, y que en algun Tiempo avia de holver
ala Posesion de su Reina, que no avian de consentir, que olro entrase en el, con Posesion perpetua, sino como los Governadores, que
en ausencia de los Reies sirven el Oficio, como la Persona Real, con Ia limitacion, que dice solo el Tiempo de Ia ausencia, estando
prestos, y aparejados de hacer dexacion de el, cad a, y quando que venga su Natural, y legitimo Heredero. Pero esto fue locura en
ellos; como tam bien 10 fue creer, que este Encantador iba a. verse con el Sol, para bolverse despues a goc;ar de el Reino Temporal,
que avia dexado: Pero bien creeria Yo, que ya que el Demonio invento este engano, y causo este embuste, para tener enganadas estas
Gentes, que tam bien seria permision de Dios, no para que en el engano perseverasen estos Hombres errados, si no para que quando
llegasen los Chl'istianos a estas Tierras, con el Apellido, y voz de su Evangelio Santo, estuviesen ya algo dispuestos para reeibirle, con
el apercibimiento, y cuidado que estaban, de que avia de venir otro a. despqjarlos de el Reino, y Senorio; y ~i el Demonio 10 alcan~ara
bien a entenrler, supiera que este Quetzalcohuall, que el fingia Rei, y Dius de estas Gentes, avia de ser Dios fl'erdadero, Rei,.0/:Seiior
(Ie todo 10 Cl'iado, y que como Cortes Ie venia a quitar la posesion de el Reino, a Motecuhc;uma, (que sin saber 10 que se decian los
Indios, Ie embi:tron a recibir par Quetzalcohuatl) asi tambien este Senor y Rei Soberano, venia en habito de Rei Universal, a destruirlo,
y quitarle el Reino; maiormente que ya tenian pronosticos de ello, y aviso de Papan, la Senora de este Tlatelolco, que antes diez an05
10 avia dicho (como vimos en el Libro pasado, en el Capitulo de los Prodigios).

(I Bolviendo al proposito, digo, que determinados estos Indios con el Hei, de 10 que se avia de hacer, ordenaron un gran Prcsellte;
ora sea el que antes avian lIevado it Juan de Grijalva, y que 10 hu\,iesen buelw; ora otro tal, u maior, que avia sido el primero; pero
10 que huvo mas fue, embiarle con el todas las Vestiduras Sacerdotales, que decian que usaba Quetzalcohuatl, quando estaba en la
Tierra, que segun esto, era Sacerdote, y Rei, como N uma Pompilio en Roma; yaqui se veri fica, como el Saeerdocio, y el Reino
ha and ado junto, en algun tiempo, en el Mundo (como en otra parte deeimos). Todo esto, que Motecuhgumadio de sus Tesoros, que
se llevase a los que avian aparecido en la Mar, 10 embolvieron en Mantas ricas, y las pusieron en Petacas, y heeho todo esto, bab!"
Motecuh~uma a los Senores que iban por Mensageros, de esta l'nanera: Id Compaiieros mios a cumplir esta Embaxada, a que os
embiamos, este Gravisimo Senano, y Yo: Mirad, que no os detengais en ninguna parte, si no que can toda la,brevedad posible, llegueis
a la Presencia de nuestro Senor. y Rei Quetzalcohuatl, y decidle: V uestro Vasalto Motecuhguma, que ahora tiene la teneneia de yue::;tro
Reino, nos embia a:mludar a Vuestra Magestad, y nos dio este Presente, que aqui traemos, con las Insignias Sacerdotales, que siempre
han tcniclo en grande estimaeion, y honra. Con este despacho se partieron estos Embaxadores de la presencia de el Rei, y siguieron
su camino; y con la maior priesa que pudieron, "inieron a la Costa clonde ya avia llegado Fernando Cortes con tada su Compafiia.
d Quando lIegaron estes,Mensageros de Motecuh~ulDa a la orilla de la Mar, entraronse en Canoas, y metieron todas sus cargas en
elias, y fueroose a los N avios de Fernando Cortes, y viendo el Estandarte de la Capitana, fueronse a ella, por parecerles que alii estaria
el Senor, y Rei que buscaban: Los que venian en los Navios, todos estaban a la mira de 10 que pasaba; y como las Canoas lIegaron a
la Capitana, hicieron senas los Indios de querer eotrar; y los de centro les preguotaron: Que de donde,'enian, y quienes eran, y que
querian? Ellos respoodieron, que eran Mexieanos, y que veniao de Mexico a buscar a su Senor, y Rei Quetzalcohuatl, que sabian que
estaba alii. Aunque los Espanoles no entendian las palabras, conocieron el intento, por las senas, y maravillados de su demanda, tratabau entre
si, el caso, y decian: Que quiere decir esto, que dicen estos, que aqui est it su Rei, y su Dios, y que Ie quieren ver? Esto oio Fernando
Cortes, y el con todos pensaron bien el caso; y despues de averlo platicado, concertaron, que Don Fernando Cortes, se ataviase can las
mejores Ropas que tenia, y Ie aderegasen un Trono en el Alcagar de Popa, donse sentase, representando Persona de Rei, y que estando de
esta manera, eotrasen los Indios a verle, y it hablarle. Heeho esto, di~eron a los Indios, que fuesen mui bien venidos, que alii estaba el que
buscaban, y que Ie veri an, y haQlarian. Aviendo oldo esto los Indios, juntaron sus Canoas, a bordo de la Capitana, y los de arriba los
aiudaron a subir, y metieron dentr<? las cargas que llevaban. Luego que entraron, asentaronse sobre Ia Cubierta, y ataviaronse, y vistieronse
10 mas galannmente, que pudieron, y desatando sus cargas, pusieron en mui buen orden su Presente. Hecho esto, pidieron licencia
para vor al que buscaban, fueron lIevados al Alca~ar, donde ya Fernando Cortes estaba aguardanrlo. con la representacion de M agestad,
que hem os dicho. Ellos entraron dentro, con su Presente en las manos, y como Ie vieron en aquel Trono, y Magestad, creiendo que
era !lU Dios, y Senor Quetzalcohuatl, luego se po~traron en Tierra, y la besaron; (que era la Adoracion Latria, con que reverenciaban a
sus Dioses) y levantandose, dixo el que iba por M aior de todos elias: Dios nuestro, y Senor nuestro, seais mui bien venido. que graodes
tiempos ha1 que os esperamos nosotros vuestros Siervos, y Vasallos: Motecuhguma, vuestro VasaUo, y Teniente de vuestro Reino, nos





NOTES. 349

adopted: since his last resource, when all other expedients had failed, was to resist with arms the invading god. It
is singular that neither Cortes nor his chaplain Gomara (who wrote a History of the conquest of Mexico, which he
dedicated to Don Martin Cortes the son of the general) should say a word of the scene which was acted on board the
Spanish ship, in which Cortes sitting upon a throne personified Quecalcoatle and received the ambassadors of 

-----
embia a vuestra Presencia, para que en su Nombre as saludemos: y dice, que seais mui bien venido; y as suplica, que recibais este
pequeno Don, y estos Ornamentos preciosos, que usabadeis entre nosotros en quanta nuestro Rei, y Dios. Y aviendo dicllO esto,
comengaron a vestirle, con aquellos Ornamentos que Ie llevaban: Pusieronle en la Cabe~a una piega, hecha a manera de Almete, en que
avia mucha Oro, y Piedras de mucho valor, y un Plumero, rica mente adere9ado: Pusieronle una Vestidura, que se lIamaba Xiculli,
que cubre desde la garganta hasta la cinta, y los medios bra~os de Tela preciosa: Luego Ie hecharon al Cuello un Collar de Piedras
preciosas, de mucha valor, y hermosura; y de esta rnanera 10 fueron vistiendo, de la Cabega a los Pies, can Ornamentos, y Vestiduras
Sacerdotales, de grande precia. y estimacion; afiadiendo a los ordinarios del Dios Quetzalcohuatl, los que eran tam bien de los Dioses
Tezcatlipoca, y Tlalocatecutli, los quales todos Ie pusieron a SUli pies, como diciendo en esto, que a. el reconocian por el Maior de sus
Dioses (como hacen quando dan algun Presente a alguna Persona constituida en Dignidad). Despues que hicieron esto, dixoles el
Interprete, en Nombre de Fernando Cortes: Pues no traeis mas de esto para recibirme? Al qual respondi~ el Principal de ellos, y
dixo: Senor. y Rei nuestro" esto nos dieron que traxesernos a v uestra M agestad, y no mas: Luego Fernando Cortes mando a los Suios,
que los llevasen al Castillo de Proa, y los tratasen humanamente, y dexasen reposar, y que luego les diesen de Comer, de las casas de
Castilla, con toda benevolencia, y cortesia. Quando estos Indios entraron en el Navio, vinieron otros muchos de los otros Navios, it \o'er
10 que cn la Capitana pasaba, y vieron, y oiefon 10 clicho, de que quedaron admirados, y no sabian que decirse, a tan gran simplec;a, y
novedad.

"Trataron de espantar a esto3.Mens~geros, con aherrojarlos con Grillos, y Cadenas, y con disparar la Artil1eria, desafiandolos, para
que luchasen; todo esto a fin de que fuesen diciendo cosas espantosas, para que los que las oiesen se atemoric;asen, y les cobrasen miedo,
que era el que los avia de hacer Senores de la Victoria, y Tierra: durmieron alii aquella Noche, y otro Dia de Mafiana pusieron por obra
10 que el Dia antes avian tratado. Fueronse a los Jndios, y metieronlos en Colleras, y hecharonles Grillos a los Pies, y comenc;aron a
disparar la Artilleria; los Indios, que se vieron Presos, y aherrojados, y cornbatidos de tanto ruido, y Truenos de la Artilleria, y olor de la
Polvora, caieron sin sentido en Tierra, y estuvieron por ruui grande rata, como muerlos: y como los vieron asi los Soldados, cogi~ronlos
entre los Brazos, y sentandolos, los becharon Agua en los Rostros, y dieronsela a beber, con que bolvieron de el pasIno, y asombro, que
de 10 hecho avian cobrado. Quitaronles las Prisiones, y dixoles el Capitan: Sabido he, que los Mexicanos son mui Valientes, y de
muchas fuerc;as, y mui diestros en luchar, y que uno solo basta a veneer, y rendir, diez, y "einte de sus Enemigos; por 10 qual, y por
satisfacerme de esta verdad, y salir de esta duda, quiero, que lucheis can mi Gente, para vet si sois mas Valientes, que ellos. Diales
Rodelas, Espadas, y Lansas para que acometiesen; los Jndios, pobres, y desventurados, que quando supieran usar de aquellas Armas,
que les avi~n dado, cstauan con las Prisiones, y ruido de la Artilleria, Illas muerlos, que vivos, no solo no aceptaron el Desa6o, pero
escusaronsc de el, diciendo: Senor, no es eso a 10 que vcnimos, ni Motecuhcyuma nos manda, que viniesemos a renir, ni a probar fuerc;as,
can vuestra Gente; si no que solo os visitasemos de su parte, y os besasemos las Manos, cumo 10 bemos hecho; y si hiciesemos 10 que
nos mandais, y nos atreviesemos a tan grande de.sacato, no solo nos reniria par eUo, pera quitarianos las Vidas. A esto replica el
Capitan: No teneis que escusaros con ninguna racyon, porque aveis de hacer esto que os ruando; porque tenemos Doticia de Vosotros,
los Mexicanos, de que sois Valientes, y aveis de haeer todos vuestros poderlos, para of ender, y defenderos de los mios. No pudieron
reeabario can eUos: y viendo que no querian uno a uno, ni dos a dos, ni de ninguna maDera, para experimentar sus fuerc;as, y destrecya
en el pelear; (para si viniesen con elias alguna vez a las Manos) injuriaroillos de palabra, y los despidierun, diciendo: Que eran
Coban1es, y Afeminados, y que se fuesen como tales, a Mexico, que ellos venian ya a Conquistar a los Mexieanos, y que a sus Manos
rnoririan todos; y que dixesen a Motecuhc;uma, como su Presente no les avia agrarlado, y que yendo ellos a Mexico, les robarian quanta
tenian, y 10 tomarian para si (si estos supieron los que se dixeron, ~ no, bien se hecha de ver, pues hablaron a tiento, no sabiendo 10 por
venir, ni aviendo hecho cata de las cosas de la Tierra).
"No estaban tan habiles, y resabidos nuestros Espanoles, quando Graco Pretor, y Capitan Romano, andando en las Conquistas de
Espana, 11egb a pCJOer Cerco a la Ciudad de Certima, cuios Moradores, viendose cercados, se fueron it el, y Ie dixeron que confesaban ser
sus fuerc;as f1acas, para contra los Romanos; que a no ser asi, ellos se defenderian, como mejor pudieran, a cui a causa Ie pedian los
dexase pasar Iibremente hasta el Real, que tenian ya puesto en Campo los Celtiberos, pam. pedirles aiuda, y Socorro; y que quando no.
se 10 diesen, ellos determinarian entonces 10 que mas les conviniese. EI Capitan Sempronio Graco, (como dice Tito.Livio) les concedio
esta licencia, libre, y liberalmente, y pocos Dias despues bolvieron, traiendo eonsigo otros diez Embaxadores de los Celtiberos, los quales
negaron delante de Graco, y toda aquella Magestad Romana, que la representaban, can grande Autoridad, a la manera, que los Capitanes
Romanos acostumbraban; la qual acrecenta Graco entonces, para darles Audiencia con maior Autoridad, y Pompa, a estos Embaxa_
dares. Nota Tito.Livio, que era la hora de Medio Dia, (y que haeia mucho Calor) y que antes de hablar, ni decir su Embaxada,
pidieron al Pretor, que les mandase traer de heber; e1 qual, riendose de su lIanecya, y simplicidad, manda, que se 10 traxesen, y aviendo
ya bebido, una vez, y demandandoles la sed, otra, holvieron a pedirla, a que no pudieron reprimir la Risa los Romano~, viendo la mucha
simplicidad de la Gente, y 1a poca Urbanidad de su Trato, maiormente para con Romanos, que ~ra Gente Resabid,a, Avisada, ~ mui
Cortesana. Aviendo, pues, ya bebido otra vez, it contento de los Embaxadores, dixo el mas Anclano de ellos: AlIUt somas emblados,
de parte de los Celtiberos, a preguntarte, con que confian~a nos mueves la Guerra I A la qual pregunta respondio el Pretor: que en
confianc;a de un mui grueso, y escogido Exercilo, avia venido a hacerla, y que si querian verlo, que e-I era contento de mandarselo




350 NOTES.

Montezuma. The incident was too extraordinary to have escaped the memory of either; and from the silence of
both it must be inferred, either that it never happened, or that they had some reasons for consigning so curious
a piece of history to oblivion. The first supposition is altogether improbable, because it directly contradicts the testimony
of authors of the strictest veracity, who had the best means of information upon the subject, and likewise 

-----
mastrar, para que lIevasen illas Suias maior claridad, y certidumbre de su valor, y fuer9a. Y respandienda los Embaxadores, que
gust.rian de ella, mandl> Graca a los Tribunas, que se Armaseo, y Adere9.sen mui pampasamente, asi los de la Inranteria, y de I> Pie,
como los de a Caballo, y que Escaramuc;asen todos por el Campo. Hic;ose asi, y con mucha atencian, 10 vieron todo los Embaxadores.,
y aviendolo bien vista, se despidieron del Pretor, y se bolvieron a sus Capitanes, los unos para dar respuesta de su Etnbaxada, y los otros
con eUos, para traer la que alii se les diese, it. los de Cerlima. Los Embaxadores de los Celtiberos, dixeron, clara, y abiertamente it sus
Capitanes, que no coo\'enia embiar Socorro a los Cercados, por ser la Gente que era tan robusta, y dispuesta para las Armas; y los
Cercados se dieron, viendose solos, y sin aiuda, de aquellos en quienes confiaban. Dos casas vernos en este caso: La uoa, la simplicidad
Antigua, de nuestros Espafiales en la llane9a con que piden Agua; Y la atra, la astucia de el Pretar, de ensenarles Sll Poder, y Pujan9a,
para acobardarlos, y hacerles terner, y que mas facilmente se Ie rindiesen; y esto mismo sucede a estos Indios can Cortes, iendo en paz,
buscando a su Dias Quetza1cohuatl, a los quales atemori4io, con las casas dichas, para que su temar fuera maior, y que can ~l represen..
tasen a Motecubsuma, el poder de los Castellanos, para que pudiese tanto el ternor en elIas, como la fueJ'4ia de las Annas, can que avian
de combatirlos.

"Con estes temores, y respnesta, (digna par cierto de la Iocllra de MotecubCjuma, y de los de su Consejo) se entraron los Indios en sus
Canoas, y tan apriesa, que qualquiera momento de dilacion, les parecia anuncios, y nuevas tristes de su muerte: y can ella comen~aron
a remar, no solo los Remeros, que para esto lIevaban, sino todos, sin diferencia, incitandose, y animandose los unos, a los otros, para que
Remasen fuertemente, tanto par apartarse, y alexarse de los Navios, donde tan mal les avia ido, quanta por venir ad. a dar ra~on a su
Rei, de 10 que can Quetzalcohuatl, les avia. pasado. Con esta priesa lIegaron a una Isleta, que se llama Xicalanco, donde comieron, y
repasaron un poco, y de alii se partieron, y llegaron II un Pueblo, que se llama Tecpantlayacac, que estaba en la Ribera: De alii fueron
a Cuetlaxtla, que estl> algunas Leguas la Tierra adentra, hicieron aqui Nache; ragaronle,los Sefiores, y Principales de el Pueblo, que se
detuviesen aquel Dia, y descansasen; eHos respondieron: La priesa que llevamos es mucha; porque la Embaxacla con que vamos a
nuestro Sen.or Motecuh~uma, es tal, que nunca jamas se ha visto su semejante en estos Reinos: Y no es menester, que ningun oteo la
sepa antes que el, y por esto nos cum pIe no descansar, sino caminar can priesa. Luego se partieron, y iban tan turbados, yapresurados,
que en ninguna cosa reciLian consuelo, ni en el comer, oi en el dormir, oi les daba contento cosa ninguna. Iban suspirando, afligida, y
afectuosamente, atonitos, y angustiados. Callaban todos, guardando silencio estrano, y quando se hablaban a solas, 10s,uDos, a los otro~,
decian: avemos vista casas tan espantosas, y raras, que son indicio, de que ban de venir sobre Nosotros grandes males, y tribulaciones.
Pero Senor Dios, quienes seran, ° de donde vendran aquellos, que nos han de conquistar a Nosotros los Mexicanos? Que somas los
Poderosos, Antiguos, y Temidos en todos estos Reinos? Por que causa vamos tan angustiados, y atribulados? Que nuestro Cora~on
con golpes, que nos da en el pecho, nos dice la pena, que llevamos? Jndicio es este de algun gran mal, que se nos acerca. En estas, y
otras consideraciones, rueron su Camino, y a brevisimas Jornadas, llegaroD it esta Ciudad de Mexico, algunas horas pnsadas de la Noche,
y fueranse derechas a los Palacios del Rei Matecuh9U1na, y dixeron I> los de la Camara, que diesen aviso al Rei, de su lIegada, y que si
estaba durmiendo, 10 despertasen, porque el caso no sufria tardanga, oi dilacion; y que Ie dixesen: Senor, buelto han los Embaxadores,
que embiastes a la Mar, I> recibir iI nuestro Bios Quetzalcahuatl; entraron las Guardas 1\ decirsela, y quando 10 oil> Matecuh9uma,
dixa: Decidles, que no entren aca., sino que se vaian ilia Sala de la J udicatura, y que alii me aguarden. Luega mando aprestar Esclavas,
para un Sacrificia, e yenda 11 la Sala del Juzgado, cangrego los del Canseja, y Ministras, que hicieron el Sacrificia de los Esclavas,
con cuia Sangre rociaraD a los Embaxadores. Esta Ceremonia usa ban quando venia alguoa Embaxada de mucha importancia, en casas
graves, y nuevamente acaecidos.

"Despue.s que fue hecha aquella Idolatrica Ceremonia, de rociar it los Embaxadores, con la Sangre, de los que avian muerto;
sentose Matecuh9urna en su Trona, y Silla, para air can Aplausa, y Magestad, la Embaxada, que los Mensageros traian: porque segun
creia, tenia por averiguada, que era Quetzalcahuatl, cl que avia Hegada I> la Costa del Mar, y aguardaba la ra90n cierta, de 10 que
determinaba en orden de su Venida. Luego los Mensageros, postradas en Tierra, 1a besaron; (que en su Lengua Haman Tlalcualiztli,
que es Ceremania Idalatrica de Adaracian) y asi postradas, comen~1> el Principal, que avia ida par Maiar, a esta Embaxad., de esla
manera: Senor Paderosa, y Rei nuestro, luega que llegamas a la Orilla de el Mar, estas Criadas tuias, y Yo, virnos dentra de la Agua,
unas Casas grandisimas, todas de Madera, con grandes Artificios dentro, y fuera, las quales andan poe el Agua honda de la Mar, como
las Canoas, que aca. Nosotros usamos, para nuestra Laguna, y Aceq1lias; dixeronnos, que estas Casas se Uaman Navios, y ninguno de
Nosotros sabra decir los diversos Edificios, y cosas, que en s1 contienen. Fuimos en Canoas a elIos, y entramos en el principal Navio
(0 Casa de Agua) dande estaba el Estaodarle, que tralan. Eran los Navias muchas, y en cada uno venia mucha Gente, y todas nos
estuvieron mirando, hasta que subimos en el del Capitan. Luego procuramos ver al Seuor Quetzalcohuad, eD cui a busca ibamos, para
darle el Presente, que llevabarnos, y mostraronnos en una Piega apartada, un Senor sentado en un Trono, mui ricamente vestido, y
sefialandolo con la mano, nos dixeron: Este es el que buscais; postramonos a sus Pies, besando la TiefJ'a, y adorandolo, comO aDios;
luego Ie di.~:imos, 10 que nos mandaste, y Ie compusimos con los Vestidos, y Joias, que nos diste, y presentamosle 10 demas, que llevamos
para darle, y puesto todo a sus pies, nos dieron a entender, que era poco. Aquel Dia nos trataron bien, y nos dieron de corner, y de
beber de un licor bueno, que llamaron Vino; aquella Noche dormimos en el Navio; a Ia Manana quisieron probar nuestras Fuer~asl y
mandabannos pelear con ellos; escusamonos COD mucha fuerga, y resistencia. Aprisionaronnos, y soltaran pie9as, que con sus Truenos,




NOTES. 351

indirectly even that of Gomara himself; since he affirms that the Mexicans, when they beheld the Spanish fleet
approaching, declared that it was Quecalcoatle who was coming, bringing his temples along with him (" con sus
templos a cuestas "). It is necessary to come thereforc to the other conclusion, -- that Cortes kept the matter a secret
because there were those who did not wish it to be known in Europe that he had been taken for the Messiah in
America. But great as was the folly of Montezuma in thus blindly following the faith of his ancestors, it does not
surpass that of some of the modern Jews, inhabitants of Morocco, who annually confine in a coffer a virgin
of their own race, in the hope that she may give birth to their expected Messiah. The fact which is here related
upon the testimony of a modern traveller will perhaps be denied by those who can see nothing ridiculous Or monstrous
in any thing that is the subject of Jewish faith or practice. The last authority which shall be adduced to
confute the argument which Acosta triumphantly brings forward to prove that the religion of the Mexicans had no
tincture of Judaism mixed with it, and that the Mexicans could not be descended from the Jews, -- viz. that they did
not expect a Messiah, -- is taken from the twenty-fourth chapter of the fifth book of that learned writer's celebrated
work, The Natural and Moral History of the Indies. He there calls Quecalcoatle by his other appellation of
Topiltzin, which signifies our son, since that is the name of which Tolpicni is evidently the corruption; which
Topiltzin the Mexicans believed had gone to Tlapallan (the conntry of the Red Sea), and was at some future period
to return to them from thence; the Jews probably having applied to Quecalcoatle the prediction "Out of Egypt
have I called my son," and made him take that imaginary voyage in order to fulfil ancient prophecy by bringing him
back again. * -- It will be seen from the following extract that Acosta and Torqncmada nearly agree in their accounts
of Montezuma's embassy to Cortes and of the principal circnmstances which attended it.

-----
"Anno regni Mote9umae 14, nati vero Salvatoris nostri Christi 1517, in boreali oceano naves, multis populis
conspicuae apparuerunt, magna sane Indorum admiratione. Qui ut sciscitarentur, qnaenam illae gentes essent, Canois
suis, cibariis varii generis, ac pannis, vendendi specie onustis, ad ipsas naves quamproxime successerunt. Illis vero
ab Hispanis ill naves receptis, pro cibis ac vestibus fila aliquot lapidum rubrornm, flavorum ac viridium data sunt:
y Relampagos nos espantaron mucha, y nos hicieron caer como mueflos. Despues, que bolvimos en Nosotros, Y DOS dieron dE. comer,
virnos sus Armas, y sus Caballos, y sus Perros, que les aiudan en la Pelea, de que no~ espantamos mucha mas; y seria cosa mui prolixa,
y larga, contar tadas las cosas, en particular. DiceD, que vienen aca, a conqnistarnos, y a robarnos, no sabemos mas; 51 vinieren aca,
sabremos 10 que quieren, y 10 que pueden; solo decimos, que venimos grandemente espantado!:i, y atemori9ados. Mucho se admiro
Motecuh~uma, de 10 que estos Embaxadores dir.eron, y mudaronsele los colores de el rostro, y mostro mui gran tri5te9a, y desmaio.
It Asentosele en el Cora9on, que se avian de ver en mui grandes. trabajos, y afrentas, asi el, como todos los de su Imperio, y Reina:
movido de este sentimiento, comen90 a Horar amargamente, y todos los que can el estaban; y estas lagrimas, y Hanto, corrio despues por
todos los de la Ciudad. asi Chico!, como Grandes; luego cOOlen9aron par las Pla9as, y Calles a hacer corrillos, y a llorar, los unos can los
otros, incitandose a este Hanto con ra90nes tiernas, y seotidas: Decian los grandes males, que amena9aban, Y la ruina, y caida, que avian
de tener, como si ya estuvieran en ella, adivinandolos el cora90o, 10 que despues les sobrevino. Andaban todos cabizbaxos, y llorosos;
los Padres, doliendose de sus Hijos, les decian: Ay de mi, y de vosotros Bijos mios, que grandes males aveis de v~r; y 10 peor es, que
los aveis de pasar, y sufrir. Lo mismo decian las Madres it. sus Hijas, con otras iastimas, que el grande amor, y triste9a les ensefiaba.
Con estas rnuestras de triste9a pasaron la Noche, y el Dia todo, y Motecuh9uma, como mas interesado en el honor, y honra, que podia
perder, 10 sentia mas, que todos."

-----
* This prophecy is cited by Saint Matthew in the fifteenth verse of the second chapter of his Gospel, who there refers to what Hosea
says of the Messiah in the first verse of the eleventh chapter of his Book of Prophecies: "When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
and called my son out of Egypt;" who would appear to speak historically as well as prophetically. The clearest prophecies relating to
the Messiah are, however, supposed to be found in the Psalms, which, as being a portion of Scripture so frequently recurred to to prove
that Christ was the true Messiah, it is the more surprising should have been in very early ages interpolated by the insertion of the following
passage in the eighteenth verse of the 103rd Psalm (the 104th in the English Bible). "ll1ic passeres nidificabunt, Erodi domus dux est
eorum." HSparrows shall build their nests there, the house of Herod shall be their resort." Had this prophecy been genuine, it would have
been even more famous than that which made mention of Cyrus by name so many years before he was born; since the events to which it
related, -- the desolation of Jerusalem, and its ruined habitations, the abode no longer of man but of sparrows; and the express mention
of the name of Herod in reference to the punishment which awaited him for his massacre of the children of Bethlehem, -- would have
stamped it with the seal of far greater importance. It may he proper to observe, that in the Venetian vulgate, Herodii is substituted for
Erodi, which latter reading Sir William Betham found in (an ancient copy of the Psalms, which he imagines was transcribed by the hand
of Saint Columbkill himself, who was born in the year 521 and died in 597. It is probable that the interpolated passage was originally
connected with the remainder of the sentence by some such expression as (but as for the wicked and their habitations.' The remark
above, that Hosea seems to speak historically as well as prophetically, is made in reference to the twenty-second verse of the fourth chapter
of Exodus, where God thus addresses Moses: "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel to my son, even my
first-born."




352 NOTES.

quos Indi pro gemmis accipiebant. Et cum de regis sui magnificentia multa jactassent, discedentes dicebant, se
gemmas bas suo domino dono exbibituros esse., 'His ergo Hispani mandahant, ut regi suo nunciarent, quod,
qui dedissent brec, ipsum jam convenire non possint: facturos tamen, ut in reditu suo ipsum compellent et invisant.
Hoc nuncio Indi in Mexico properabant, et in linteis, qurecunque vidissent, accurate depicta ferebant, nempe tum
ipsas naves, tum homines, et borum habitum: et simul acceptos ab ipsis lapillos quoque promebant. Quibus auditis,
cum Mote~uma oppido obstupesceret: ne quicquam cuiquam de bis revelarent, uunciantibus serio interdixit.
Sequente die consiliarios suos cogens, pannos ac lapillorum lineas iis ostendens, quid his rebus medii obvertendum
sit, in commune consulere jubebat. Sententiis. collectis, decretum est, ut in littoribus maris diligentes excubire
fierent, et si quid novi accideret, ad regem mature enunciaretul'. Sequente anno 1518, e littoribus classem illam
prospectarunt, quam Marchio de -Valle, Don Ferdinandus Cort~s moderabattir. Hujus indicio accepto, Mote<;uma
graviter percellebatur. Et cum 'de istis rebus cum subditis conferret, universi responderunt, haud dubio avum
magnum Quetzalcoal, qui jam ab oriente, quo abierat, rediret, classis ill ius prrefectum esse. Nam per omnem Indium
passim magnus rumor vagabatur, quod olim 11 potentissimo quodam domino deserti fuissent, qui abiens ipsis certum
reditum spoponderit: de qua re alibi plan ius acturi sumus. Tandem vero commnni decreto, cnm boiiorariis amplissimis
quinque insignes legati ad Hispanos emissi sunt, qui eos pro more exciperent et salutarent, dicerentqne, nihil
se nescios esse, magnum imperatorem Quetzalcoal jam rursus appellere: ideoque servum ej us Mote<;umam ad ipsum
legatos amandasse, qui dicerent, Mote<;umam Quetzalcoal servum esse. Legati autem Hispanos Indi cujusdam,
Marinre, quem secum adduxerant, interpretatione intelligebant.

Is enim Mexicanre lingure peritus erato Hane itaque salutationem Ferdinandus Cortes admodum proposito suo
in eivitatem ingrediundi idoneam fore ratus, conclave suum exornari jubebat, et Legatos ad se intromittebat. Hune
Indi tanta submissione et veneratione adibant, ut quin adorarent, parum abesset. Dieebant autem, servum Mote<;
llmam ipsum salvere jubere, et gubernatoris loco civitatem ejus baetenus moderari. Scire enim se, jam advenam
non nisi Tolpieni esse ipsissimum, qui ante plurimos annos ad Mexicanos reditum pollicitus esset. Juxta Ferdinando
quoque vestes eas, quas-Tolpieni, cum inter ipsos olim versaretur, gestare solebat, offerebant, devote rogantes, ut eas
cum ereteris oblatis donariis accipere non dedignetur. Acceptis muneribus Cort~s se ipsum illum esse, quem salutarent,
respondebat. Quod Legatis apprime placebat, se tam familiariter et amice ab advcnis traetari baberique.
Qure certe Dueis hujus comitas merito laudanda est. Omnino enim secum decreverat, gentem banc beneficentia et
lenitate lucrari: cui instituto jam delatre occasiones non inidonere futum videbantur. Etsi vero, ut diximus, Cortes
votum hoc unicum haberet, ut comitate et mansuetudine gentes bas ad Evangelium agnoscendum invitaret: enormia
tamen immanissimorum istorum homicidarum, ac Sathanre mancipiorum peccata de crelo ingentem prenam sollicitabant:
adeo ut moderationi Christiana! nullus h1c locus esset. Radix enim arefacta excindenda erat: ut un ius crecitas
dicente Apostolo, alterius beatitas esset. Postero die duces et classis prrefecti universi in prretoria navi deliberabant,
qua via, quo modo, cum Mote~uma Rex admodum opulentus et potens sit, autoritatem sibi quandam apud Mexicanos
conciliarent, ut ab ipsis strenui Heroes haberentur, et ut, licet numero pauciores, prre incolarum formidine in
Mexico facile reciperentur. Isti captationi ut viam aliquam struerent, tormenta simul omnia, qure in navibus erant,
certatim displodebant: quo fragore Indos, rerum harum nescios, usque adeo terrebant, ut crelum sibi in caput deruere
putarent. Postea Indos ad con/lictum Hispani invitabant. Quod cum Indi detrectarent: magna infamia timiditatem
ipsis Hispani exprobrantes, deinceps eos durius tractabaut, et gl~dios, hastasque, et bipennes, armaque similia,
metus et formidinis incutiendre gratia ipsis ostendebant. His jam factis offensi Indi, de Hispanis longe aliam sententiam
ferebant, dicentes dominum ae regem suum Tolpicni inter ipsos haud quaquam versari, sed eos Deos hostesque
peregrinos esse, qui ad perdendos se huc contendissent. Legatis vero in Mexico redeuntibus, Mote<;uma in
domo quatuor columnarum sacris vacabat. Ad quem prius quam itarent, infelix homo magnnm captivorum numerum
mactabat, quorum.sanguine Legatos perspergens, hoc ritu felix nuncium captabat. Cum vero de forma navium
armorumque indicium acciperet, horrore totus rigebat: tandem que multis deliberationibus habitis decernebat, ad
hos advenas exigendos et perdendos nullum medium commodius prostare, quam ut eos vi 'magica, quam artem admodum
familiarem babebant, et per quam maxima srepius opera communione diaboli confecerant, arcerent. Congregati
ergo undelibet magi Mote<;um", jurato stipnlabantur, hos peregrinos e suo territorio penitus ejicere. Quo facto
in secreta et commoda loca, ubi cum diabolo deliberarent, et ex arte sua efficacius operarentur, secedebant. Tentatis
itaque tentandis omnibus, nulla tamen parte Christianis nocere se posse videntes, ad regem redeunt, dieuntque, qui
foris in navibus versarentur, altiores ct potentiores creteris hominibus esse, ut quibus nulla incantatio, nulla effasci





NOTES. 353

natio damnum inferret vel minimum. Hoc ergo medio nihil succedente, viam Mote"uma aliam ingress liS, simulat,
quasi adventu hospitum apprime delectaretur: et per omnes suas provincias mandat, ut subditi crelcstibus diis
istis jam advenis in omnibus ministrarent, et parerent. Nuncium hoc, et quod simul Hispani de ipsorum Rege,
et ejus regni ratione et opulentia curiosius inquirerent, Indos universos in mrerorem maximum conjpctabat.
Qure res vel ipsi quoque regi id intelligenti dividire erato Cum vero magos suos iterum, quid faceret, consuluissct,
jusserunt, ut se alicubi absconderet. Facturos sc etiam promittebant, ut in ea loca abduceretur, lIbi 11 nemine
mortalium un quam inveniri posset. Hoc cum ipsi cons ilium inane videretur, decrevit, hospites suos expectare,
etsi cum vitre dispendio ea res futura sit. Tandem vero e palatio suo regio in aliam domum se efferebat, ut in illo
peregrini Dii commodius haberent."

We come now to the last striking trait of resemblance between the Jews and the Mexicans, which consisted in
their mutual proneness to idolatry, to which we shall give the morc general appellation of divination; understanding
by that term not only the worship which they paid to inanimate objects and to the beings of their own imaginations,
but likewise the predilection which both nations equally manifested for diviners, dreamers of dreams, secrs of visions,
and false prophets; -- this was the class of people who led astray the Jews, and these were they who guided the
Mexicans. If Scripture had been silent respecting the gross state at which idolatry had arrived amongst the J ews,from
the mention which it makes of the frequency of their human sacrifices, of their passing their children through
the fire, and of their shedding innocent blood very much, in allusion to their immolation of infants in the valley close
to the gates of Jerusalem, called Tophet, -- it might reasonably have been supposed from an afortiore mode of reasoning,
that the Hebrew nation exceeded in idolatry every other nation of the world. But we are enabled, appealing to
the authority of the Old Testament, to give a faithful account of the rise and progress of idolatry amongst them, (decline
it never experienced any,) and to prove that in this contest all other nations must yield to them the palm. And
here we may remark, that if but one good result be attained by bringing prominently forward so disgusting a page
of history as that which records the Hebrew idolatries, -- the placing the religions of classical antiquity in a more
favourable light, by the contrast which they present to the bloody superstitions of the Jews, whose morals it has been
so much the fashion to commend, -- it will not be inconsiderable; since it will tend to advance the cause of truth.
With the Jews idolatry was coeval with the foundation of their state, and existed amongst them even before they
were a people, which may at first appear paradoxical, although if we refer to the thirty-first chapter of Genesis, we
shall find the fact placed beyond the possibility of contradiction: for Rachel the wife of the patriarch Jacob is there
said to have stolen her father Laban's idols, for the purpose of carrying those objects of her reverence to the country
whither she was going. And Laban himself, although the grand-nephew of Abraham, and acquainted with the true
God, who sometimes appeared to him in visions, as it would seem from his address to Jacob on overtaking him after
his flight, was still an idolater, as we learn from the same chapter of Genesis; which gives the following account of
the cause of the quarrel between Jacob and Laban, of the subsequent departure of the former from the house of the
latter, and of Rachel's stealing her father's images. "And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it
was not toward him as before. And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the laml of thy fathers, and to thy
kindred; and I will be with thee. And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, and said
unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before: but the God of my father hath been
with me. And ye know, that with all my power I have served your father. And your father hath deceived me, and
changed my wages ten times: but God suffered him not to hurt me. If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy
wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all
the cattle ringstraked. Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. And it came
to pass, at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams
which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. And the angel of God spake unto me in a
dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes and see, all the rams which
leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am
the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee
out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. A nd Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is
there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted of him strangers? for he
hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. For all the riches which God hath taken from our father,
that is our's, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do. Then Jacob rose up, and set





354 NOTES.

his sons and his wives upon camels: and he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the
cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. And
Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. And Jacob stole away
unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. So he fled with all that he had; and he rose
up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. And it was told Laban on the third day
that Jacob was fled. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook
him in the mount Gilead. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take
heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his
tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, What
hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives taken with
the sword? Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might
have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp? And hast not suffered me to kiss my
sons and my daughters? Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but
the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good
or bad. And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house; yet
wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?" The conduct of Rachel in secretly carrying away her father's gods must
appear very strange; and idolatry in her, who as well as her elder sister Leah had been for so many years the wife
of a patriarch, was much more scandalous than in her father Laban. But throughout the Jewish history the same
inconsistencies are met with in the characters even of persons ofthe greatest reputed sanctity, whom the Jews would
hold forth as models for example to all succeeding ages: and it is very unaccountable how such persons, in whom
faith was the evidence of things seen, should on so many trying occasions have exhibited in their conduct a total want
of it. Of Moses himself it is said, that in the wilderness his faith was staggered. If David's conduct in taking the
wife of Uriah did not argue a want of faith, he at least displayed the greatest presumption, in so openly defying God
and the prophet Nathan. But it is most strange of all, that Solomon's faith in the existence of only one God should
have become so completely shaken in the latter years of his reign: and that the Jews en masse, immediately after
emerging from the Red Sea, ere well the fiery bolt that destroyed Pharaoh had retnrned to the hand that launched
it, should have called up on Aaron to make them a golden calf, and have exclaimed, on beholding the finish which
that master's hand had given to the image, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt." The faith of Abraham, however, in paying such ready obedience to the commands of God, as to be prepared
to shed the blood of his own son upon his altar, is, after all, the high example of faith which the Jews propose for the
admiration of all succeeding ages; -- may it ever remain inimitable! but we fear that it has been imitated by his
descendants in the New World. Whether the sins of the later Jewish kings proceeded from their want of faith, or
want of knowledge, it would be difficult to say; since we read in the twenty-second chapter of the Second Book of
Kings, that in the reign of Josiah a copy of the book of the law was found in the house of the Lord by Hilkiah the
high priest: from the mention of which curious fact, and the subsequent steps taken by Josiah, it is very evident
that the Mosaic records had nearly been lost through the utter contempt which the preceding evil generations had
felt for them, and that their preservation has been owing to the discovery of this chance copy; which may serve also
to explain why the Book of the Wars of the Lord, and the Books of Nathan, and of Iddo the Seer, &c. &c. have irrecoverably
perished. At the same time it may be observed, that the Psalms, the only portion of the Old Testament
which the laity of Europe were permitted to read during many a long and dark age, although they were required to
believe its entire contents, might have heen that portion only which the priests and Levites allowed the Jewish populace
to exercise their private judgments upon. And hence but a few copies of the Pentateuch probably existed amongst
the Jews before the period of the Babylonian captivity, and perhaps no where else but in the temple; which would explain
how, without its being so much the fault of the people, all the copies of the Pentateuch might have been lost except
the one which was found in the reign of Josiah, who lived towards the latter end of the seventh century before the
Christian rera. Under the Judges, under the Kings, during the captivity, and after the captivity until the period of the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews abandoned themselves to all kinds of idolatry: they built high places
(or teocallis), they planted groves, they worshiped idols under every green tree, they adored the sun and the moon and
all the host of heaven; they burned incense to the famous brazen serpent called Nehushtan (which in this manner damned
more souls through idolatry than it had ever cured bodies of diseases); they worshiped other serpents; the kings





NOTES. 355

of Israel made new molten images of calves, probably in recollection of the Egyptian Apis, for certainly they must
have forgotten the calf of Aaron, which had brought down plagucs and not blessings upon the house of Israel; and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem offered up their homage to the queen of heaven, who was perhaps the same as the
Mexican goddess Chalchiuitlicue. The practice of all these idolatries and of far greater abominations did not last for
a day or for a year only; but from the reign of Rehoboam the son of Solomon, from whom the ten tribes revolted, to
that of Zedekiah the last king of Judah, who was carried away captive to Babylon; and from the reign of Jeroboam
the first king of Israel, to that of Hoshea the last, who was also carried into captivity by Shalmaneser king of Assyria.
It is true that in the reigns of the very few Jcwish kings, whose names are mentioned in terms of approbation in the
two Books of Kings, and in the Second Book of Chronicles, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, the people, influenced by
their example, became less corrupt: but it must not be forgotten that the time existed when there was only one
true prophet in all Israel, as Elijah feelingly declares in the twenty-second verse of the eighteenth chapter of the First
Book of Kings, "Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's true
prophets are four hundred and fifty men:" and the followers of Moses did not amount to more than a few thousand
persons. This state of things amongst those who boasted that they were the chosen and the sole people of God,
can more easily be imagined than described. How they ever could have arrived at it may be matter of wonder; but it
should at the same time be a lesson to their descendants to moderate their pretensions to the possession of an
honour to which it is clear their merits never entitled them. It may here be proper to prove, from Scripture, some
of the facts alleged above; the truth of all of which must be admitted by those who may not think it right to undermine
the authority of the English version of the Bible by appealing from it to the Hebrew text, or wise to set up
their own suppositions against the interpretations which the most learned Hebrew scholars, including the Rabbis,
have put upon the very same passages of Scripture. With respect to the similitude of the Hebrew high places to
the Mexican teocallis, the former of which it might at first be supposed were natural hills; it is evident, from the
manner in which they are mentioned in many places of the Old Testament, that they were artificial constructions.
This may be clearly inferred from the words of Ezekiel in the twenty-fourth verse of the sixteenth chapter of his
Prophecies, where he says, addressing Judah, "Thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee
an high place in every street." Of Josiah it is said, in the twenty-third chapter of the Second Book of Kings, "And
the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars
which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them
down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem,
which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for
Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom
the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile." It seems probable from this account that the
Hebrew high places had altars upon their upper area, like the Mexican temples, and courts below; and that they 
were dedicated, as were those temples, to different deities. It would also appear from what follows in the same
chapter, of Josiah spying the sepulchres and causing the bones to be taken from them and burned upon the altar, * 
in order to pollute it, -- that the bones of the Jewish priests and nobles were deposited, like those of the Mexicans, in
sacred mounds or tumuli within the precincts of the temple. That the Jews worshiped the sun, the moon, and the 
planets, may be proved from the fourth, fifth, and eleventh verses of the above-mentioned chapter of the Second Book
of Kings, which records the following acts of Josiah: "And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the
priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door,'to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels
that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem
in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom
the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round
about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to
all the host of heaven. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering
in of the House of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and
burned the chariots of the sun with fire." That the tribe of Judah offered incense to the brazen serpent is stated in


-----
* The thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel, where that prophet prophesies over a multitude of dry human bones which he beheld in a
vision, is a very extraordinary chapter; it might have laid the foundation for some of the many superstitions which the Mexicans practised
with dry human bones.




356 NOTES.

the fourth verse of the eighteenth chapter of the Second Book of Kings, together with the further curious piece of
information that they had done so from the days of Moses (who, according to Scripture chronology, lived in the
fifteenth century before the Christian era) until the reign of Hezekiah, which was about seven hundred years later;
who, it is said, "removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the
brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it
N ehushtan." That the residue of the ten tribes, or the Samaritans, worshiped serpents, is declared in the fifteenth verse
of the eleventh chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon: "But for the foolish devices of their wickedness, wherewith
being deceived they worshiped serpents void of reason, and vile beasts, thou didst send a multitude of unreasonable beasts
upon them for vengeance." The Jewish populace, after they had sunk into the grossest idolatries, might probably
have felt disposed to pay superstitious reverence to scrpents, on account of the tradition of the mighty prodigies
which that reptile had been the instrnment of performing in the hands of Moses; and their diviners and soothsayers
might have been tempted to impose upon their credulity, by further availing themselves of the current notion that it
was the most subtle of the beasts of the field, and hence an animal lit for the purposes of divination. It is very extraordinary
that the Mexicans should have assigned to the serpent the same quality of superior wisdom as the Jews did,
since we read of no other nations except the Jews and the Mexicans who believed in that fact in natural history.
Doctor Nardo Reccho, who epitomized, by order of Philip the Second, king of Spain, that portion of the writings of
Hernandez which related to the plants of New Spain, says, speaking of the Olliuhiqui or Coaxihuitl, that that plant
received the latter appellation, equivalent in signilication to serpent's grass, and was also named 'the plant of the wise,'
because the Mexicans attributed wisdom and prndence to the serpent: "Alia planta Olliuhiqui, a seminis coriandro
similis rotunditate, eadem Coaxihuitl, id est, serpentis herba, nuncupatur: tribuunt serpentibus sapientiam et pruden/iam,
quare sapientium planta appellatur. Sacrifici enim Indi, cum videri volebant versari cum superis, ct responsa accepisse
ab eis, ea vescebantur planta, ut desiperent, milleque phantasmata et dremonum obversantium effigies circumspectarcnt:
tribuit enim id Solano maniaco Dioscorides "; quare sat ius fuisset herbam desipientium et maniacorum,
et non sapientium nuncupare." -- Rerum Medicarnm N ovre Hispanire lib. I. cap. v. From the allusion in Scripture
to the deaf adder that refuses to listen to the voice of the charmer, charm he Jlever so wisely, it would appear that
other species of serpents were considered of a more tractable nature by the Jews. A curious representation of a
Mexican juggler charming two serpents with a wand, one of which is bending towards him to lick his hand, occurs
in the seventeenth page of the Mexican painting belonging to M. de Fejervary.

The custom of worshiping serpents, -- in which the Jews resembled the Mexicans, who sometimes adored Quecalcoatle
under that form, -- was however far more innoccnt than another kind of worship which that extravagantly
idolatrom people are said in the fifteenth verse of the eleventh chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles to have
paid to devils; "And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he
had made." Jeroboam is here signified, to whom the ten tribes revolted from Rehoboam, who, like all usurpers,
studied in the first acts of his reign to gratify the inclinations of the people; -- but over what sort of people must he have
reigned, when this was the line of state policy which he thought it advisable to pursue! This single verse of the
eleventh chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles is sufficient, by justifying an appeal from arguments to facts,
to confute volumes of laboured apology which have been written in the defence of the Jews, by those who are their
mistaken friends, rather than real well-wishers to the great family of mankind, from whom the Hebrew nation was
so early separated, and whose professed hatred to idolatry was, as the ancient philosophers alleged, rather a hatred
to the rest of the human race, and to institutions which differed from their own, than any real aversion to idols; + 
and hence the opprobrium which the epithet of uncircumcised, when uttered by the Jews in reference to their
enemies, carried with it, although religion might well blush that such a reproach should ever have been cast in her
name. With respect to the worship which the Jews are said in more places than one in Scripture to have paid


-----
* The Tultecas, according to Mexican tradition, were well acquainted with the medical properties of herbs. It is singular that they
should have ascribed to some of them the same imaginary virtues as the old physicians, which coincidence was probably not owing
to mere chance. The Aristolochia of Dioscorides was named by the Mexican. Phapuame, the reasons for the etymology of the Greek
and Mexican proper names being the same.

+ Maimonides we believe it is, who, in his decisions on questions relating to the Hebrew laws, denies that a Jew would be justified
by the written law of God in killing an idolater simply because he was an idolater, admitting at the same time, that if he saw such a
person drowning, it might be a question in their law whether he would have a right to save him if he refused to become a proselyte




NOTES. 357

to the queen of heaven, it would appear from Jeremiah's expostulation with his countrymen who had fled in great
numbers into Egypt when the rest of their brethren were carried captives to Babylon, that they continued that
worship in the country which had again afforded to the outcast seed of Israel an asylum; since the only reply which
they made to that prophet was that which is recorded in the forty-fourth chapter of his Book: "Then all the men
which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude,
even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word
that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do
whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah,
and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we
left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, we have wanted all things,
and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven,
and poured out drink-offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings
unto her, without our men?" This chapter of Jeremiah is further deserving of the attention of those who may be
inclined to suppose that America was colonized by Jews belonging to the ten tribes who were carried away in the
earlier captivity of Shalmaneser, because it unequivocally declares that Egypt was the country where the Jews who
had escaped the Babylonian captivity sought an asylum; and it is so much more probable that some of these Jews
might have passed over to America from a port in the Mediterranean, than that, as grave writers contend, the
Euphrates should have divided, like the Red Sea, to afford a passage either to all or to a portion of the ten
tribes, who, crossing over it, they suppose journeyed through Tartary, and arrived at the narrow straits which
separate the old from the new continent, and in this manner proceeded to America. If, however, we may be
permitted to venture an opinion upon so obscure a question, it would be, that America was colonized by the Jews at
a much later period than that of either the Assyrian or the Babylonian captivity, -- shortly after the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Romans; and that in succeeding ages other colonies, consisting both of Jews and Christians,
visited that continent. It is unnecessary to adduce other passages from the Old Testament, more especially out of
the Books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, to prove the degsedation of the state at which idolatry had arrived
amongst the Jews: and we have purposely refrained from referring to the works of some of their most eminent
Rabbis, whose writings teem with portentous narratives, lest the facts alleged should appear to rest upon doubtful
authority, or at least be pronounced to be apocryphal. We cannot omit, however, to insert in this place a short
extract from the Jewish author Maimonides, whose notions upon the subject of ancient judicial astrology seem
nearly to have accorded with the practice of the Nagualists, as described by the Bishop of Chiapa in his ninth
pastoral letter: "The ancient astrologers having consecrated to each planet a colour, an animal, a tree, a metal,
a fruit, a plant, -- formed from them all a figure or representation of the star, taking care to select for the purpose
a proper moment, a fortunate day, such as a conjunction or some other favourable aspect: they conceived that by
their magic ceremonies they could introduce into those figures or idols the influences of the superior beings after
which they were modelled. These were the idols that the Chaldean Sabeans adored, and in the performance of
their worship they were obliged to be dressed in the p1'oper colour. Thus the astrologers by their practices introduced
idolatry, desirous of being regarded as the dispersers of the favours of heaven; and as agriculture was the
sole employment of the ancients, they succeeded in persuading them that the rain and other blessings of the seasons
were at their disposal: thus the whole art of agriculture was exercised by rules of astrology, and the priests made
talismans, or charms, which were to drive away locusts, flies, &c." Maimonides, More Nebuchim, part 3. chap. 9.
It is only necessary to observe upon this curious passage of Maimonides, that the Mexicans consecrated a particular
colour-blue, green, or red-to each of their heavens, which were nine in number. The following is Nnnez de la
Vega's account of the Nagualists: "The Nagualists practise it (divination) by superstitious calendars, wherein are
inserted the proper names of all the Naguals, of stars, the elements, birds, beasts, fishes, and reptiles, with
observations upon the months and days, in order that children, as soon as they are born, may be dedicated to that
which in the calendar corresponds with the day of their birth: this is preceded by some frantic ceremonies and the
express consent of parents, which is an implicit pact between the infants and the Naguals that are to be given to
them. They then appoint the milpa or place, when after the completion of seven years they are brought into the
presence of the Nagual to ratify the engagement; for this purpose they make them renounce God and his blessed




358 NOTES.

mother, instructing them beforehand not to be alarmed or sign themselves with the cross; they are afterwards to
embrace the Nagual affectionately, which, by some diabolical act or other, appears very tame and fondly attached
to them, although it may be a beast of a ferocious nature, as a lion, a tiger, &c. They persuade the children by
their infernal cunning, that this Nagual is an angel sent by God to watch over their fortunes, to protect, assist, and
accompany them, and that it must be invoked upon all occasions of business or occurrences in which they may
require its aid." It is to the Mexican paintings, the works of Garcia and Torquemada, and the Old Testament, that
we beg to refer those who may desire to be better acquainted with the Mexican and Jewish idolatries, which tend
mutually to illustrate each other. Ezekiel in the eighth chapter of his Book of Prophecies gives the following
account of a vision, in which he beheld the idolatry of the Jews. How applicable would this description" So I went
in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel
pourtrayed upon the wall round about" (the prophet here refers to the temple of Jerusalem, and the sanctuary
of Jehovah) have been, as applied to the greater temple of Mexico, the walls of which were ornamented with
very curious imagCl"!l carved in stone, which Cortes thus describes in his letters to Charles the Fifth: "Hay bien
quarenta torres muy altas, y bien obradas, que la mayor tiene cincuenta escalones para subir al cuerpo de la torre;
la mas principal es mas alta que la torre de la iglesia mayor de Sevilla. Son tan bien labradas, assi de canteria,
como dc madera, que no pueden ser mejor hechas ni labradas en ninguna parte; porque toda la canteria de dentro
de las capillas donde tienen los idolos, es de imagineria, y zaquizamies, y el maderamiento es todo de mazoneria, y
muy pintado de cosas de monst1"lIOS, y otras figuras y labores." "And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth
month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand
of the Lord God fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the
appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as
the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit
lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of
the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to
jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the
way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said
furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do, even the great abominations that the house of
Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see
greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And
he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold
every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the
wall rounel about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the
midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his !land,. and a thick cloud of
incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do
in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath
forsaken the earth."

Idolatry has existed in many countries in many forms, and it must be confessed that if the fine arts have greatly
contributed by the splendour of architecture, the perfection of statuary, and inimitable paintings, to elevate the
religious feelings of the soul, their proper use has not unfrequently been perverted. But there is a great deal of
difference between what are called the idolatries of heathen nations: the Egyptian interests the mind by its
mysteries; that of the Brahmins by the sacred solitude of their contemplative life; and the images in the Grecian
temples, by the more than mortal beauty with which the sculptor sought to invest them. But it is idolatry accompanied
with living sacrifices, altars reeking with gore, Jewish and Mexican idolatry, that excite our feelings of
abhorrence and disgust. With respect to the simply placing a statue in a niche or on a pedestal in a temple, since
many wise men and Christians have approved of the practice and even recommended it as useful, notwithstanding
the reasoning of the ignorant anabaptists and iconoclasts, who, with the cross for their banner, declared that all
things were common; the conclusion at which we arrive is, that, since it is not guilty, it is innocent. If the Jews
were forbidden to make graven images, it was probably on account of their moral debasement; and because Moses





NOTES. 359

could not tell under what figures they might have represented Jehovah himself, a reason which has been assigned
by Lyra * (a celebrated commentator on Scripture) for God's having chosen to appear to them in the burning bush
rather than in any other manner; and, lastly, because he knew they were a nation utterly destitute of taste for the
fine arts, and feared that they would disfigure the ark by placing in it busts rescmbling those of the Zapotecas,
which M. Dupaix believes to have been in the style of the ancient Egyptians. Of this we may be sure, judging
from the Talmud, (that deformed web of sacred history and tradition which the Jews assert to be the mirror of God,)
that if once they had been permitted to consign the allegories of Scripture and the miraculous events of their own
history to painting and sculpture, the most monstrous productions would have emanated from their school, and
devils rather than angels would have been the offspring of the imaginations of a people disordered with visions, and
ever prying into futurity through dreams. In the chapter of Ezekiel, immediately preceding that referred to above,
the following remarkable verse occurs, "Make a chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of
violence." It is possible that in obedience to this recommendation the Iuga Guainacapa caused the famous golden
chain to be made, which the Spaniards were so disappointed at never being able to discover.

We are induced to cite another passage from the twenty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, because some of the allegorical
representations of the Mexican paiutings ineline us strougly to suspect that the Mexicans were acquainted with that
prophet's famous parable of the boiling pot, which he thus delivers: "Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month,
in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of
the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. And utter a
parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Set on a pot, set it on, and also
pour water into it: Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it
with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and bum also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and
let them seethe the bones of it therein. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot
whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to
cover it with dust; That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top
of a rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city! I will
even make the pile for fire great. Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let
the bones he burnt. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and
that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed. She hath wearied herself with
lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. In thy filthiness is lewdness:
because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till
I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I


-----
* Lyra was a Jew who embraced Christianity; and possessing a great store of Rabbinical learning, wrote a commentary on the
Scriptures, calling in the Talmud to illustrate the Bible. His commentary became very famous, as it gratified the taste of those who
thought that the history of the Jews could never be too wonderful, or the account of the discourses which God held with the Hebrews
patriarchs descend too much into minutire. It however gave occasion to the following Latin distich: tl Si Lyra non lyrasset, Lutherus non
saltasset." The Talmud has in fact ever been viewed with jealousy and aversion I.>y the greatest doctors of the Church (of course we do
not here mean the Protestant church, -- for where did that church exist during the many ages that preceded the Reformation I), whether
on account of the traditions which it contains so frequently contradicting Scripture, or because the Jews affirm that Moses received it
together with the written law from God during the forty days in which he conversed with him in Mount Sinai, aT, as we are rather inclined
to believe, because it shows that the Jews were a nation of such boundless credulity, and so inordinately fond of the miraculous, that,
not content with the miracles which Scripture says God wrought in their favour, they invented with unblushing falsehood thousands
more; and these pretended miracles might have a tendency to bring the other class into disrepute: since it is in vain to argue that the
truth of the facts recorded in the Old Testament rests entirely upon internal evidence, and in no degree upon the character for veracity
which the Jewish nation may be entitled to claim. We may here observe, that the Talmud being an obnoxious book to Christians,
unceasing efforts during ages have been made to destroy it; hundreds of thousands of copies of it have been burned by decrees of the
Popes, at Milan and the other large towns of Italy. But will anyone therefore contend that in the same way as the Jews have been
miraculously dispersed, so its anathematized pages have been miraculously kept together? With respect to Jewish conversions to
Christianity, we may observe that they are very rare, although apostacy is commOD, and infidelity general amongst the Jews of the present
day, which perhaps the writings of their own countryman Spinoza may have had some share in producing, and the customs of modern
times, which do not confine a Jew within the pale of his own sect, but allow him to mix freely with other classes of the community, and
thus to divest himself of ignorance and the absurd prejudices of caste.





360 NOTES.

will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings,
shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God."

The paintings more particularly referred to are contained in the twenty-ninth and thirty-second pages of the
Borgian MS., and in the forty-first, the fifty-fifth, the seventy-seventh, and the seventy-ninth of the Lesser Vatican
MS.: but the figure of a boiling pot is found in other Mexican paintings, and the scum is not unfrequently represented
on it. From the following passage in the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, it appears that a boiling
pot was a type of evil and affliction to the Jews; and it might have had the same signification in the Mexican
paintings: "Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I
have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root
out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to huild, and to plant. Moreover the word of the
Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. Then said the
Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. And the word of the Lord came
unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething-pot; and the face thereof is
toward the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants
of the land. For, 10, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come,
and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof
round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshiped the works of their
own hands." Other Mexican paintings, perhaps, contain allusions to the future restoration of the dispersed tribes
of Israel; and we may remark that it is not improbable that the three female figures in the eighty-ninth and
ninetieth pages of the Lesser Vatican MS., represented each of them as suckling an infant, and no doubt introduced
there with some mysterious design, may refer to the famous prophecy of the return of the Jews to their own
country, with which Isaiah closes his book, which is as follows: "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with
her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied
with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For
thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing
stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall he borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his
mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your
heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall he known toward
his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his
chariots like a whirlwind, to rend his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his
sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shalt be many. They that sanctify themselves,
and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and
the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come,
that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among
them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow,
to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles '!far if, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they
shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord
out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy
mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of
the Lord. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new heavens and
the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh 
come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that
have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall
be an abhorring unto all flesh."

The supposition that the three female figures with infants at the breast refer to the above prophecy, is chiefly
founded upon the situation which they occupy in relation to the Mexican paintings which precede and follow them;
since the representation of the Branch is found in the same page as one of these figures, and that Quecalcoatle
slaying the Leviathan occurs in the next leaf, which appears to be a consummation of all the shadows, types, and





NOTES. 361

symbols with which that and the other Mexican paintings abound. It may further be remarked, that in the same
manner as the prophets used very strong language when predicting God's indignation against the Jews on account
oftheir sins, and his retributive vengeance, so the Mexicans would naturally, if they had wished to symbolize that
language by paintings, have made use of very terrible and'revolting images, to do justice to the energy of the
prophet's conceptions. How, except by a revolting picture, could they have expressed in painting the following
denunciation contained in the thirty-fourth chapter of Isaiah -- "The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is
made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lamhs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lcrd
hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with
them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust mz.de fat with
fatness. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion."
Some of the representations contained in the Mexican paintings seem to be not unallied to events which happened
at a very early period of Hebrew history, and which became the theme and boast of the Jews of all succeeding
ages. Of this description was the exploit of J ael, who, although a woman, destroyed Sisera, the captain of
the enemies' host, by driving a nail into his temples while he was sleeping in his tent, -- a faint tradition of which
might have been preserved amongst the Mexicans. In a Mexican painting in the Bodleian library at Oxford is
a symbol very much resembling the jaw-bone of an ass, from the side of which water seems to flow forth; which
might allude to the story of Samson slaying a thousand of the Philistines with such a bone, which remained miraculously
unbroken in his hands, and from which he afterwards quenched his thirst. In the first page of the
Borgian MS. a remarkable representation of Quecalcoatle (as the head-dress of the figure seems to indicate) vomited
from the jaws of some amphibious animal occurs; in reference to which curious painting it would be interesting to
know whether the Jews had any tradition that their Messiah would be uevoured by a monster, who would afterwards
be compelled to yield up his prey, like the serpent in the seventy-fifth page of the Lesser Vatican MS., which a fierce
eagle forces to disgorge a rabbit, -- the symbol of suffering innocence amongst the Mexicans, according to Baron de
Humboldt, which corresponded to the lamb of the Hebrews, and which perhaps was a type substituted for the latter
by the Jews of Mexico, and referred by them to Quecalcoatle, in the same manner as their brethren of Peru appear to
have replaced the sacrifices of sheep in the Old Continent by those of llamas in the New, the former species of animal
being unknown to the Indians before the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them. Or, finally, shall we suppose that
the Mexicans might have had some acquaintance with the Book of the prophet Jonah, and have transferred a portion
of his history to the mysterious page of their own, which recorded the disappearance of Quecalcoatle in the Red Sea.
The writings of that prophet being amongst the most ancient in the world, (since he lived as is generally supposed
about the time of the Trojan war,) and the adventures of his life being connected with the present subject of inquiry,
we shall here insert his entire Book, which we shall be the more readily excused for doing, since it is very brief, and
occupies only two octavo pages of the Old Testament; affording at the same time a new argument in favour of the
Jews having colonized America, and transported thither their rites and traditions: "Now the word of the Lord came
nnto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness
is come np before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went
down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go
with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and
there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and
cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them.
But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to
him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think
upon us, that we perish not. And they said everyone to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know
for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him,
Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou?
what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord,
the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said
unto him, Why hast thou done this? for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, becanse he had
told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea
wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the





362 NOTES.

sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is npon yon. Nevertheless the men rowed
hard to bring it to the land; but they could not; for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore
they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's
life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah,
and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly,
and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his
God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of
the belly if hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the
seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast
out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the
soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of
the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption,
o Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee,
into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake
unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second
time, saying, Arise, go lmto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah
arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of
three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose
from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused
it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither
man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be
covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the
violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that
we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that
he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very
angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in
my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow
to anger, and of great kindness, and repentedst thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my
life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah
went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the
shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to
come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding
glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it
withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat
upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to
live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry,
even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured,
neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that
great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their
left hand; and also much cattle 1"

The cause of the prophet Jonah's anger, it may be remarked, was, that God by sparing Nineveh should have made
him a false prophet, who had foretold unconditionally its destruction within forty days. But if our admiration for the
prophet be not in consequence diminished, will our feelings of respect for the man undergo no alteration [1] Jonah was,
nevertheless, the most famous type of the Messiah, to whom Christ himself refers in the following passage of the
twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, on occasion of the Scribes and Pharisees asking him for a sign to
satisfy them that he was the Messiah: from whence it may be inferred in what estimation the Book of Jonah was




NOTES. 363

held by the 'Jews, who, having lost so many other books of Scripture, had preserved this for nearly nine hundred
years, until the age of Christ. "Then certain of the Scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we
would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh
after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three
days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth." Many of the Mexican paintings would seem to imply that the Mexicans were acquainted with
various books of the Old Testament, and had even attempted to express in brilliant colouring and in hieroglyphics
the very same metaphors as had heen employed by the prophets, whose frequent denunciations of vengeance
against the Jews and other nations, on account of their sins, might have laid the foundation of a school for
painting amongst the Mexicans, which sought to convey the same ideas of religious terror to the imagination,
but through the medium of another sense. How, it may be demanded, could so many Scriptural allegories
and images have presented themselves to the minds of the Mexicans, if they had not had some acquaintance
with the forcible, not to say gross, language (but well adapted to the morals of the people addressed,) in which
the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah upbraid the Jews? and from what other source could they have been
derived? Sahagun says, that in the reign of Ytzcoatl, the lords and principal persons amongst the Mexicans
(who were the priests, the Mexican government being a theocracy,) burned all their ancient paintings, that they
might not, by falling into the hands of the laity, sink into contempt. If this passage be not, as we suspect it is,
wholly an interpolation, (since no sufficient reason is assigned why the Mexicans, after having preserved for so many
ages the ancient Tultec paintings, should have destroyed them at a comparatively late period of time, not long
before the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them,) but, on the contrary, founded on a tradition partly true, -- it might
relate to the destruction of the Teoamoxtli (or divine book of the Tultecas) in the reign of the above-mentioned
Mexican king; from which the Mexicans might have borrowed these notions and metaphors. The following are
passages in the Old Testament which seem to have suggested types and symbols to the Mexican painters. The
prophet Jeremiah in the twenty-first verse of the eighth chapter of his Prophecies thus figuratively describes the
grief which he felt at the afflicted state of his countrymen; which passage of Scripture might likewise have induced
the Mexican priests to paint their faces black, as a symbol that they mourned and were afflicted for the sins of the
people: "For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people
recovered?" That the Hebrew prophets sometimes blackened their faces, is evident from the very curious account
of the type (which, like that mentioned in the first chapter of the prophet Hosca, was more than mere words,) which
is contained in the twentieth chapter of the First Book of Kings, by which Ahab was made to pronounce judgment
against himself. Habakkuk, uttering a denunciation against the Jews on account of their wickedness, in the sixteenth
verse of the second chapter of his Prophecies thus apostrophizes Jerusalem: "Thou art filled with shame for
glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto
thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory." The following passage in the first chapter of the same prophet
has something mysterious in it, in reference as well to a curious representation in the twenty-sixth page of the Borgian
MS. of fish taken in a net, (which perhaps were named by the Mexicans Tlacamichin, (or men-fish,) on acconnt
of the configuration of their heads,) as to a custom existing amongst the Matlatzincas noticed by Sahagun. It also
seems to imply a charge of cannabalism against the Jews, which is darkly hinted at in more places than one in
Scripture. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou
upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous
than he? and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? They take
up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice
and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion
is fat, and their meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the
nations?" The prophet Nabum, in the fifth and sixth verses of the third chapter of his Prophecies, denouncing the
fall of Nineveh, puts the following expressions into the mouth of God: "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord
of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms
thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock."





364 NOTES.

Terror is an attribute with which all the Hebrew prophets loved to invest the Deity. Thus Habakkuk, in the third
chapter of his Book of Prophecies, describing the presence of Jehovah, says; "Before him went the pestilence, and
hurnillg coals went forth at his feet." And David, in the eighteenth Psalm, employs similar language: "There went
up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it." The voice of God is
in various places of the Old Testament likened to the roaring of a lion; as in the thirtieth verse of the twenty-sixth
chapter of the Book of Jeremiah: "Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The
Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation;
he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth." And in the
thirteenth verse of the forty-second chapter of Isaiah: "The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up
jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies." The latter prophet twice
borrows a simile from the hissing of a serpent: "And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and
will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly." "And it shall
come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivcrs of Egypt,
and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria." The twenty-sixth verse of the fifth chapter of Isaiah, and the
eighteenth verse of the seventh chapter, are the passages of Scripture referred to. As terror was, according to the
Jewish belief, the chief attribute of the Deity; so fire, as being the most destructive of the elements, was the symbol
to which the prophets most frequently resorted to heighten their descriptions of his power and majesty. Thus Daniel,
in the seventh chapter of his Book of Prophecies, recording a vision in which he beheld God, says; "I beheld till
the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his
head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued
and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened."

Daniel's description of his vision resembles in its imagery (if we may be permitted to make use of that term) a
passage in the ninth chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun'S History of New Spain, in wllich the newly elected king
of Mexico returns thanks to Tezcatlipoca, who it is to be presumed was Xiuhtccutli, which proper name signifies
literally 'the God of Heaven,' or 'the God of years.' The following is the passage alluded to: "Quien soy yo, Seiior
mio? y que es mi valor, quc me pongais entre los que vos amais y conoceis, y teneis por amigos y escogidos, y dignos
de toda honra, y nacidos y criados para las dignidades y tronos reales, y para este efecto los criasteis habiles y prudentes,
tomados de nobles y generosos padres, y para esto criados y euseiiados, y que fueron nacidos y bautizados
en signos y constelaciones en que nacen los Seiiores, y para ser vuestros instrumentos y vuestras imagenes para regir
vuestros reinos, estando dentro de ellos, y habhlndo por su boca y pronunciando ellos vuestras palabras, y paraque se
conformen con el querer del antiguo Dios y padre de todos los Dioses, que es el Dios del fuego, que esta en la alberca
de agua entre almenas cercado de piedras como rosas, el quel se llama Xiuhtecutli, el qual determina, examina y concluye
los negocios y litigios del pueblo y de la gente popular, como lavandoles con agua, al qual siempre acompaiian
y estan en su presencia las personas generosas arriba dichas?" "Who am I, O Lord? and of what account, that you
should place me in the rank of those whom you love and know, and number amongst your friends and your elect,
whom you esteem as persons worthy of the highest honours, and to be such as are born and educated for dignities
and royal thrones, and accordingly have endowed them with talents and prudence, selecting for the purpose those
who are descended from noble and illustrious parents, who have been brought up with these expectations, and who
have been baptized in the signs and constellations which preside at the birth of kings, that they might become your
instruments and your images to govern your kingdoms, you being in them and speaking through their mouth, and
they pronouncing your words, that thus they might act in conformity to the will of the ancient God and father of
all the Gods, who is the God of fire, whose habitation is in the waters, which battlements encompass where he dwells,
surrounded with rocks as it were with roses, whose name is Xiuhtecutli, who determines, examines, and brings to an
issue the controversies and disputes of the people and of the multitude, cleansing them as it were with water, before
whom are ever present and in attendance the noble persons above mentioned?" The supposed habitation of Xiubtecutli
(the Mexican god of fire) in the waters, might almost lead us to imagine that the Mexicans had perused the
following verses of the eighteenth Psalm, and thence borrowed the notion: "There went up a smoke out of his
nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down:





NOTES. 365

and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the
wind. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the
skies". At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The Lord
also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire."

It has elsewhere been observed, that the deity worshiped by the Peruvians under the names of Pachacama and of
Viracocha (the former of which signifies the Creator) was probably the same as Tezcatlipoca; and it might be conjectured,
from the figure of a man riding upon somc unknown animal, which is carved upon the cover of the box said to
contain the quipoes, (or records of the Peruvian monarchy,) that the Peruvians were not ignorant of the metaphor" And
he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind" -- and had even attempted to make it
the subject of an ornamental device. Reserving for another place all further mention of these quipoes, we shall only
remark here, that whatever opinion may be formed of them, there cannot be the least doubt that the box is a specimen
of ancient Peruvian workmanship. Exact delineations of the various figures carved upon the sides of this box will
be found in the fourth volnme of plates, each of which it will be observed, except the lower, represents a religious
subject. On one side is a model of the famous temple of the sun at Cuzco, and on the other of that of the moon,
before it is the pond in which, when the image of the moon became reflected, the priests and people offered up
their homage to the queen of night T' At each end are figures of the sun and the moon encircled with rays, with a
human figure in the orb of each, -- the symbol perhaps of the Peruvian trinity, which, according to Acosta, was one
god, "trinus uno" and" unus trino," consisting of three persons, the father of the sun, the sun, and the brother of
the sun; to the last of whom the moon might have been dedicated, as the sun seems to have been to the first.
Upon the top or principal side of this box, Pachacama seems to be represented riding upon an animal not unlike a
cherub, the velocity of whose flight may be typified by the swallow carved upon its wing; the speed of the former
being thus made to appear equal to that of the latter, since the swallow, the swiftest of birds, seems here unable to
outstrip the cherub. The figures of the birds, beasts, fishes and creeping things around, may allude to the epithet of
Pachacama (or Creator), nnder which the Peruvians adored their principal deity: for although they believed, as did
also the Mexicans, that that deity was incorporeal, they still, like the Jews, personified him in human shape. To the
objection which may be urged against onr hypothesis, derived from the graceful attitude in which the person there
represented appears to sit upon the animal which he is riding, and the proper position of his knees and legs, -- implying
that the carver of the box was not entirely unacquainted with European horsemanship, -- four solutions may be
offered. First, that he had seen some Tultec paintings in which men were represented riding on horses; secondly, that
that position was chosen by the artist hecause it appeared to him the most graceful; thirdly, that it was the effect of
accident rather than of design; or, lastly, that the Indians might have had horses before the arrival of the Spaniards
in the New World. The last snpposition may perhaps appear absurd; nor would it have been here had recourse to, if
Peter Martyr, the most celebrated historian of America and the first in order of time, had not seemed in one passage
of his Ocean Decades to be in doubt upon this point, and to have been embarrassed by conflicting statements; scepticism
being moreover admissible regarding every thing either asserted or denied of the Indians, but more especially
of the Peruvians and the Ingas, by the licensed Spanish authors, whose works appeared in the sixteenth century.
We shall here remark, that the Peruvians entertained as much or even greater superstition for fire than the Mexicans,
believing like them that that element was an instrument of destruction in the hands of the deity. Many
passages in Scripture might have induced the Jews to entertain such a notion; from whom the Indians probably
derived it: but we shall here only refer to the mysterious mention of it in the seventh chapter of the prophet Amos:
"Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up
of the latter growth; and, 10, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. And it came to pass, that when they
had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, a Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall
Jacob arise? for he is small. The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord. Thus hath the Lord


-----
* The Mexicans believed that Tlaloc dwelt amidst clouds aDd dark waters; and hence they paid a superstitious reverence to the
summits of high mountains which were perpetually covered with mists and dark clouds, believing such places to be his habitation.

+ The rejoicings which the Jews, of former ages at least, solemnized to the full moon are well known. Although we do not read that
Solomon provided his temple with a pond for the priests and Levites to bathe in. Scripture informs us that he made a molten sea for that
purpose, which contained innumerable baths, and it is to be supposed stood in the court of the temple.





366 NOTES.

God showed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did
eat up a part. Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The
Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God. Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord
stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest
thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people
Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries
of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." The account by Amos,
of the Lord appearing to him upon the top of a wall, might have suggested to the imaginations of the Mexicans the
sudden and unusual modes of apparition which they ascribed to Tezcatlipoca. The prediction with which the above
passage closes is also very remarkable, from the terms in which it is couched; since why should the prophet have
added the epithet" of Isaac" to the high places, if he had not alluded to the most abominable of all human sacrifices,
that of children by their parents, in imitation of Abraham, whose voluntary offering up his son Isaac, even
some of the Rabbis have been disposed to believe, gave rise to the horrid custom of infanticide, so common amongst
his descendants; since an error likely enough to have been incurred by so blind and infatuated a people as the Jews
would have been sufficicnt to have led to that dire result; -- the supposing that it was the act and not the faith of
Abraham that was pleasing to Jehovah, and that on other such occasions if no ram was caught in a thicket, or other
miracle interposed to prevent the completion of the sacrifice, it was a sign that Heaven willed it to take place, and
that the act itself would be meritorious. That the Jews, like the Peruvians, entertained notions of the efficacy of a
vicarial human sacrifice and atonement, is evident from what the prophet Micah says in the seventh verse of the
sixth chapter of his Prophecies, reprobating their customs: "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the
sin of my soul." In the sixth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Exodus, God commands Moses to address the
following language to the Jews: "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." And Josephus, in
his Treatise against Apion, boasts that his countrymen were a kingdom of priests, who rendered a pure homage to one
God, the Creator of the universe. * The Mexicans resembled the Jews in being also a nation of priests; and their prophets
were not unlike the Hebrew prophets, who are so frequently accused in Scripture of deceiving the people with lies.
It is very remarkable that both nations were equally inclined to pay superstitious attention to dreams: the Mexicans
had paintings expressly for their interpretation; and it is highly probable that" ltincfons et origo malorum." The
Jews believed in two kinds of divine inspiration, the distinct nature of which will be more clearly understood from
the perusal of the twelfth chapter of Numbers; from which (but more especially from the sixteenth chapter of the
same book) it would appear not improbable that the whole tribe of Levi laid claim to the possession of inspiration
by dreams; for that is the only inference to be drawn from the address of Korah and the princes of the congregation
to Moses and Aaron: "Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them,
and the Lord is among them,." since presumptuous and impious as those men were, they would scarcely have ventured
to have told Moses to his face that the Lord spoke mouth to mouth with them as with him (the only other
mode of inspiration), it being so easy moreover to disprove the fact. A broad line of distinction is drawn in the
sixth and eighth verses of the above-mentioned chapter of Numbers between these two kinds of inspiration; the
former of which was received by the priest or prophet in a sleeping state, and the latter by Moses in his full senses
and awake. This chapter we the more readily insert here at full length, because it has been elsewhere referred to


-----
* Some writers have contended that the licentiousness of the Poets having lessened the respect which the Romans entertained for their
ancient faith, -- the Philosophers, to remedy the evil of irreligion (but not of atheism, which is opposed both to the feelings and the constitution
of human nature), thought to substitute pure theism for polytheism; hoping that an entirely new religious system in name would effect
a reform in real religion, which they judged to be nothing more than a pure and spontaneous feeling of gratitude from man towards the
unknown Author of his existence and happiness. They soon, however, discovered their error, and perceived that such a religion would be
too simple and abstract for the grossness and the ignorance of the age in which they lived; and they became anxious to retrace their
step', and sought to restore the statue of Jupiter to the Capitol, and to replace Minerva in her hallowed fane. Two parties had, however,
grown up in the state, each professing the most opposite principles: both supported by different allies; the one bad reason, common sense,
and learning on its side, with the great disadvantage of being obliged to defend many old abuses to the prejudice of reform; the other
called in the aid of foreign superstition, availed itself of the passions and physical force of the multitude, conciliated the favour of the
government, obtained imperial decrees, silenced their opponents by appealing to laws and penalties, of which they were themsehoes both
the framers and executors, and soon acquired absolute power, -- establishing at the same time a reign of terror and of persecution.




NOTES. 367

as presenting a new feature of aualogy between the Mexican and Hebrew migrations, in refercnce to the history of
Chimalman, who was shut out altogether from the Mexican camp in consequence of her quarrel with her two brothers,
the leaders of the Mexicans. "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom
he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by
Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all
the men which were upon the face of the earth.) And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and
unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the
Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam:
and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will
make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who
is faithful in all mine honse. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches;
and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle;
and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was
leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done
foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he
cometh out of his mother's womb. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And
the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be
shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. And Miriam was shut out from the
camp seven days; and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people
removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran." The displeasure of Moses as recorded in the
above chapter, who, although slow to provocation and very meek, could not help on that occasion, as it would appear,
making an appeal to God against Aaron and Miriam, renders their justification very difficult. One thing, however,
may be said in palliation of their conduct: Moses had contracted two idolatrous marriagcs in succession, in defiance
of Abraham's admonition to Eliezer his steward not to make choice of a wife the daughter of an idolater for Isaac,
which he could not have been unacquainted with, and of a law afterwards promulgated by himself; for the first wife
of Moses was a woman of Midian, the daughter of the priest of that land, and his second wife was an Ethiopian,
whom it would be wrong to confound with the former; since the supposition would be absurd that Aaron and Miriam
should have quarrelled with Moses so long afterwards, on account of a marriage to which it is evident that they had
already become reconciled. In reference to an observation made above, that the Jews and Mexicans were inclined to
consider dreams as.... O£<ov, (or possessing a divine nature,) we cannot help here expressing the strongest conviction that
never would those two nations have fallen into such abominable superstitions, or suffered their priests so grossly to
deceive them, but for the strange persuasion which they were under, that the Deity commonly communed with mortals
by means of dreams and visions. What opinion would the ancient philosophers have pronounced on such a doctrine?
In what language would the orators have sought to expose to public contempt those witnesses whose evidence could
not be disproved, because they unblushingly asserted that they bad dreamt that the fact was so, and impiously maintained
that their dream was God, or in other words a vision of the dcity? If the great mind of Brutus, when harassed
with anxiety for the fate of his country, could have created a phantom of its own imagination which appeared to
address him in his tent?-what monstrous visions might not the Mexican and Jewish priests, who had employed the
day in sacrificing, and whose hands and garments had been so lately drenched in blood, have fancied that they beheld
when sleep took possession of their frame? The Mexican priests fasted to excess; and it is admitted that fasting
makes the imagination more active in dreams. They probably, therefore, when in the morning they took up the
brush to compose their mythological paintings (a task which Torquemada says belonged more peculiarly to a class of
Mexican priests remarkable for the austerity of their lives), found their invention much sharpened. The Jews might
be cmphatically styled" a dreaming people;" and it is probable that whenever any disaster threatened their state, public
attention was more generally directed to dreams; the population bccame more credulous, and impostors more numerous
and bold. Supposing for a moment that the inhabitants of this vast metropolis (London) could be induced to surrender
up their judgments to the guidance of a few persons, who told them to place implicit faith in dreams, -- what disorders
would not ensue? Some of the multitude of dreamers would necessarily dream what would turn out true, who would
be accounted prophets and inspired persons; the truth of their dreams would be insisted upon; and if religion could





368 NOTES.

once be identified with them, the popular delusion would be confirmed. Since no event can have more than two issues,
when a prediction relates simply to the fact of its future accomplishment, -- and the lying Hebrew prophets, as Scripture
designates them, often prophesied on both sides of the question, -- it necessarily followed that they even were sometimes
true prophets. Saint Jerome has observed that it is no difficult thing to deceive the people; and he might have added,
that it is frequently a very profitable thing. If the Roman augurs, whom Cicero is disposed to riclicule, -- affirming that
they could scarcely meet each other in the streets without smiling, from the consciousness that their art was only calculated
to cajole the populace, -- -had wished to heighten the respect which the public felt for their order, by encouraging
the belief that they could predict the future through dreams, as well as by the usual way of divination; such pretensions
might possibly have been maintained by the stratagem of depositing, either in the temple of Jupiter or of
Minerva, predictions framed so as to be adapted to all probable contingencies. One might have foretold and recorded
his prophecy in writing, that the third Punic War would take place; another that it would not: one that if it did, it
would be disastrous to the Romans; another that it would be fatal to the Carthaginians. And these prophecies
having been laid up for some future race of priests to consult, and put in order after the event to which they related
had occurred, they, by selecting the true from the false, and treating the latter as the Sibyl did her books, might by
dexterously producing the former, and appealing to signatures and the faded character of the hand-writing as the
proof of their genuine nature and authenticity, have easily induced the people, who are naturally inclined to the marvellous,
to credit them, and who are disposed, moreover, to think it sinful to doubt any thing which their priests pledge
their words to be the fact. But if it be objected to this fictitious case, that a preceding generation of mankind cares
in general very little for those who follow them; the reverse, it may be replied, experience shows to be the feelings
of religious corporations, with whom the credit of their order is always a paramount consideration. We shaU here
insert some passages from the Old Testament, to prove how common lying prophets and pretended seers of visions
were amongst the Jews. The first example shall be borrowed from the eighteenth chapter of the Second Book of
Chronicles, which records in the following manner the events that followed the league which was entered into by
Jehoshaphat and Ahab, the kings of Judah and Israel. "Now J ehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and
joined affinity with Ahab. And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and
oxen for him in ahundance, and for the people that he had with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead. 
And Ahab king of Israel said unto J ehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead?
And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.
And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day. Therefore the
king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to
hattIe, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand. But Jehoshaphat
said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said
unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never
prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not
the king say so. And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of
Imla. AmI the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their
robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before
them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these
thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead,
and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the messenger that went to call Micaiah
spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word
therefore, I pray thee, be like one of their's, and speak thou good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even wllat
my God saith, that will I speak. And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to
Ramoth-gilead to battle, or sball I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into
your hand. And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to
me in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no
shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of
heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that





NOTES. 369

he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that
manner. Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said
unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the
Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. Now, therefore, behold, the
Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. Then
Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit
of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go
into an inner chamber to hide thyself." Jeremiah is, however, that true Hebrew prophet who inveighs most frequently,
and in terms of the greatest asperity, against the false prophets who in his days went about deceiving the
people; which perhaps he was the more inclined to do, having himself been often taken for a false prophet by his
countrymen, and on one occasion being in imminent danger of his life, as we learn from the seventh, eighth, and
ninth verses of the twenty-sixth chapter of his book; "So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard J eremiah
speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of
speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and
all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying,
This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were
gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord." The following passages, in which mention is made by name
of these false prophets, occur in the fourteenth, the twenty-third, the twenty-seventh, and the twenty-ninth chapters
of the Book of Jeremiah: "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the
sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the Lord said unto me,
The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto
them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart."
"Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets: all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like
a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full
of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their
course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found
their wickedness, saith the Lord." "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I
have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are
prophets of the deceit of their own heart." "Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to
your dreamC1's, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, sayiug, Ye shall not serve the king
of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out,
and ye should perish." "Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye
shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not sent them, saith the Lord,
yet they prophesy a lie in my name, that I might drive you out; and that ye might perish, ye and the prophets that
prophesy unto you." "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners,
that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they
prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord." From the threat contained in the
following passage of the thirteenth chapter of Jeremiah, considered in connexion with what is said in the Second
Book of Chronicles, of the Lord's putting a lying spirit in the mouth of the Hebrew prophets, it would appear that
their prophesying falsely was sometimes the Lord's doing, that is to say, caused by him: "Then shalt thou say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's
throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. And I will dash
them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have
mercy, but destroy them." This state of things made the Hebrew people very credulous, and the false prophets very
bold, as will more fully appear from the perusal of the twenty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah: "And it came to pass
the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month,
that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the Lord, in the
presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have
broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of
the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:




370 NOTES.

And I will ?lmng again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah,
that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then the prophet Jeremiah
said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood
in the house of the Lord, even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words
which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried away captive, from
Babylon into this place. Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the cars of all the
people; The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and
against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the
word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him. Then
Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. * And Hananiah spake
in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuehadnezzar
king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his
way. Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the
yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Thou
hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also. Then said the
prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord bath not sent thee; but thou makest
this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth:
this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the
same year in the seventh month." It is not surprising, the priests and the people being so inclined to listen to false
prophets, that Jeremiah should have heen under the disagreeable necessity of recording, in the twentieth chapter of
his Book, the contumelious treatment which he received from the constituted authorities of the state, or that that
treatment should have induced him to remonstrate in rather strong terms with the Lord. "Now Pashur the son of
Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was
by the house of the Lord. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks.
Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. For thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and
thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive
into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labonrs
thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their
enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in
thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there,
thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies. O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived:
thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me. For since I spake, I
cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision
daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine
heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." The imprecations
which Jeremiah utters in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the above chapter, against the day on which he
was born, and the man who brought the tidings of his birth to his father, -- the former being pronounced against an
inanimate object, and the latter against an unoffcnding person, -- seem almost nnreasonable, or at least argue that he
did not at the moment appreciate at its proper valne the high honour of being a prophet, Or the fame and reputed
sanctity of character which he would enjoy during all succeeding ages. We are induced to add to the foregoing
complaint the following passage from the fifteenth chapter of the same prophet, for the sake of pointing out an

-----
* It may be proper to remark that Jeremiah had placed a yoke upon his neck as a type that what be prophesied would surely come to
pass. The horns of iron mentioned in the eighteenth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, which were made by Zedekiah the
SOD of Chenaanah, were intended to show that Ahab the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah would push and overthrow
Syria: the latter, however, was a false prophet, who carried plenty of other metal about him besides iron.





NOTES. 371

approximation in the customs of the Jews and the Mexicans, and a singular analogy in the choice of the simile
mouth, as used by the latter in reference to Tetzcatlipoca, and here employed by God himself: "O Lord, thou
kllowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy long suffering:
know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto
me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. I sat not in the
assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me
as a liar, and as waters that fail? Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and
thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them
return unto thee; but return not thou unto them."

Commentators have been at no little trouble in endeavouring to explain to others, and rightly to comprehend
themselves, the meaning of Jeremiah's apostrophe, I am called by thy name, O Lord God of Hosts; and some have
even, rather than admit that the passage was too difficult for their ingenuity, taken refuge in a supposed mistranslation
of the Hebrew: the literal interpretation of the text of Scripture seems, however, to furnish its right meaning;
which is no other than that Jeremiah was called by his countrymen by the honorary appellation of the God whose
priest and prophet he was. This text may receive some illustration from the following curious passage of Sahagun's
History of New Spain, in which that learned author gives some account of the ancient Tultecas: "Eran muy
devotos y gran des oradores, oraban It un solo Senor, que ten ian por Dios, al qual Ie llamaban Quetzalcoatl, cuyo
sacC1·dote tenia el mismo nombre que tambien Ie llamaban Quetzalcoatl, el qual era muy devoto e aficionado It las
cosas de su Senor y Dios, y por esto tenido en mucha entre ellos, y asi 10 que les mandaba 10 hacian y cumplian y
no excedian de ello; y Ie solia decir muchas veces que habia un solo Senor y Dios que se decia Quetzalcoatl, y que
no queria mas que culebras y mariposas que Ie ofreciesen y diesen en su sacrificio." Historia Universal de las Cosas
de Nueva-Espana, lib. x. cap. 29. sec. 1. "They were very religious and much addicted to prayer; they worshiped
only one Lord, whom they considered God, and they named him Quetzalcoatl; whose priest bore likewise the same
appellation, being also named Quetzalcoatl, who was very devout and zealous in the service of the Lord his
God, and on that account held in great veneration by them; so that whatever he commanded them to do they did,
without failing in any part of their obedience to him; he was accustomed frequently to declare that there was one
only God and Lord, whose name was Quetzalcoatl, and that he required no other sacrifices but snakes and
butterflies." We have elsewhere observed, that Scriptural phrases, a Jewish train of sentiment and Hebrew
metaphors, present themselves abundantly in almost every line of the sixth Book of Sahagun's History of New
Spain, which contains the prayers which the Mexicans addressed to the gods, the speeches which on solemn
occasions they made to their kings, and the advice which they gave to their children. We here only wish to refer to
the 376th page of the fifth and preceding volume of the present work, in order to point out the probability that
God's promise to Jeremiah, "Thou shalt be as my mouth," was known to the Mexicans; since the newly elected king
of Mexico, in a prayer of thanksgiving to Tetzcatlipoca, there emphatically says of kings in general, "Vuestros
instrumentos y vuestras imagenes para regir vuestros reynos, estando dentro de ellos y l!ablando por su boca, y pronunciando
ellos vuestras palabras." "They are thine instruments and thine images to govern thy kingdoms, thou being
in them, and speaking through the mouth, and they pronouncing thy words." We may further remark, that the
Mexicans, like the Jews, used very free language in remonstrating with the Deity. Torquemada and Acosta assert
(perhaps exaggerating querulous chiding into positive insolence) that the Mexicans did not hesitate to apply the epithet
bellaco to Tetzcatlipoca, when they imputed some bitter disappointment to his rejecting their vows. One more
passage shall be adduced from Scripture, to show in what utter contempt the Jews held even that prophet, whose
denunciations of vengeance and unchastened invective render his Book (laying aside its inspiration) one of the most
extraordinary that can be found in any language. Ezekiel in his twentieth chapter thus bears witness to the little
estimation in which his predictions were held by his countrymen; "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me,
saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy againt the forest
of the south field; and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold,
I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not
be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord
have kindled it: it shall not be quenched. Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?"




372 NOTES.

One reflection must occur to those who meditate upon the history of the Jews and Mexicans, -- that the two
nations were equally addicted to idolatry, and that human sacrifices were quite as common amongst the Hebrews in
the days of the prophets, as they afterwards became among the Mexicans and the Peruvians: the temple itself was
profaned by them, and it cannot be doubted that men were devoted and sacrificed to Jehovah. This state of things
being considered, it is not at all surprising that from time to time prophets should have risen up amongst the Jews
who endeavoured to bring their countrymen to a sense of their guilty excesses, by threats of speedy and dreadful
di vine vengeance. Since, where was the rational Jew whose heart must not have sickened at the name of Tophet,
and of the valley of the Son of Hinnom? Or who could have required inspiration to teach him that human sacrifices
were displeasing to the Deity i The Hebrew prophets were all of them believers in a Deity of a purer nature as
regarded the acceptance of sacrifice, than the mass of the people imagined the God who brought them out of Egypt to
be; and who, as we have elsewhere observed, seem to have put a false construction upon that Mosaic ordinance which
declared, that none devoted of men should live; and to have perverted to a dangerous precedent the faith of Ahraham
in offering up his son Isaac; as also not to have benefited by that page in their own history, which recorded the
destruction of all the first-born in the land of Egypt in a single night, by the same Deity who immediately afterwards
ordered the first-born, both of man and of beast, to be set apart (or devoted) unto him, in commemoration of that
dreadful decree. If Mexican history had been handed down to us entire, we should probably have found that the
Mexicans were not entirely destitute of prophets who denounced the vengeance of Tetzcatlipoca against those who
sacrificed human victims at his shrine; since it has not failed to inform us that Nezahualcoyotl and Nezahualpilli disapproved
of such sacrifices and proposed to the people their abolition; and that the former of those renowned kings
built a temple in Tezcuco in honour of the Supreme Being, in which he only allowed incense to be burned, prayers to
be offered up, music by means of plates of metal to be sounded, but no image wl,atsoeve,' to be placed. As regards the
idolatry of the Greeks and Romans, it may confidently be asserted, that it was the purity of their idolatry, compared
with that of the Jews and the Mexicans, that was the sole reason why their philosophers did not all become prophets.
Yet still it should be recollected that Socrates fell a victim to his zeal for reforming the religion of the state; and it
cannot be doubted, if human sacrifices had been customary in Greece in the days of Pythagoras, that he who pronounced
even sacrifices of animals to be impious, would have loudly protested against them; and if his protest had been written
down by his disciples and been accompanied with threats, that Jupiter to punish the Grecks would either excite a
civil war amongst them, or cause a Persian invasion, or finally would afflict them with any other evil which he might
have thought near or probable, -- he perhaps in after ages would have been revered in Greece as an inspired prophet.
We pass, by an easy transition, from dreams and visions to fables. It may, however, be deemed a more rational
task to compare the laws of the Mexicans and the Jews with each other than their fables, which were infinite in
number and similar in kind; for the imagination both of the former and the latter people, -- unlike that of the
Greeks, which loved to soar to the sunny heights of Olympus and the purple pavilions of the gods, or to repose
on the banks of winding streams, or visit the battle plain, -- dclighted in exploring the hidden centre of the earth,
and in compelling, with magic rings, spells, and incantations, genii to reveal hidden treasures, and witches
to conjure up the ghosts of the dead. We shall therefore leave to others the task of unravelling the meaning of
the Mexican and Hebrew fables; who, if they can obtain the assistance of a learned Rabbi, will find their labour
much lightened; although we cannot refrain from insertiug here two Mexican fables, extracted from Boturini's
short but learned treatise, because the former seems to contain a confused tradition of Christ and the prophet
Daniel; and the latter, Boturini confesses, is founded on the Mosaic history of the sun having stood still at the
command of Joshua. These fables in the original Spanish are as follow: "EI primero, y mas celebre Symbolo de
los Planetas, es el del Sol, que los Indios llaman Tonatiuh, y fabulosamente el Buboso, en su lengua Nanahuatzin.
La Fabula Indiana de su transmntacion refiere, que, satisfechos los Dioses de las virtudes Heroicas, que havian
exercitado en esta mortal vida algunos particulares hombres, y resueltos it premiarlas, convocaron en un gran llano
a todas las Gentcs de esta Edad segunda, y mandaron que en una hoguera, que en el havia, y 11 la sazon vomitaba
llamas, se arrojassen los Esforzados para transformarse, y passar 11 Divinos honores. Congregados, pues, al rededor
de la hoguera los principales Senores, empezaron 11 disputar entre 51 it quien Ie pertenecia arrojarse el primero, en
cuyo tiempo se aparecio a uno de ellos enfermo, buboso, y podrido el Dios Centeotl Inopitlzin, esto es, el Dios
'huerfano, solo, y sin padres, diciendole: Que haces aqul? No ves que tns Companeros se detienen en vanas
altercaciones. Arrimate a la hoguera; echate a las llamas, para dar fin it tus males, (IUC con heroyca constancia




NOTES. 373

supiste tantos anos placidamente soportar, y hallarlls el principio de immortales grandezas. Hizolo assi el Buboso
y. con dissimulo arrastrand~se se p.r~cipito generoso en el fuego, con grande admiracion de los demas, los que atento:
Vleron, que lentamente se Iba d~mtlendo, ~ transformando en las mismas llamas; y no pareciendo yll vestigio alguno
de cuerpo humano, baxo del Clelo un AgUIla hermosissima, que entrando en la hoguera, Ie arrebato 11 las Celestes
mansiones, y es casi 10 mismo, que executo Jupiter con Ganimedes, principal Joven de Troya, haviendo embiado
a un Aguila, que Ie lIevasse al Cielo, para que alii Ie sirviesse de Copero, de que nacio en parte la causa de los
disgustos de Juno, y de los desayres, que hizo 11 los Troyanos, segun Virgilio 1. iEneid. verso 30. et sequent.

----,' manet alta mente repostum
Judicium Paridis, spretreque injuria formre,
Et genus invisum, et rapti Ganymedis honores.'
y Ovid. Metamorph. lib. 10. fab. 4.
, Nec mora: percusso mendacibus al!re penn is
Abripit Iliadem, qui nunc quoque pocula miscet,
Invitaque Jovi nectar Junone ministrat.'

Y aunque algunos Autores, con ineptas, y torcidas interprctaciones, afearon el verdadero sentido de esta ruidosa
Fabula, 10 cierto es, que los Indios no quisieron dar a entendcr otra cosa, sino que el Sol era un fuego verdadero,
por cuya razon algunos Filosofos modernos colocan a este Elemento en el Sol, y pruchan ser sus manchas los
humos, que exhala, sin haver menester para mantenerse cosa, que 10 alimente, por ser su innata materia abundantissima,
y no poderse oprimir de los cuerpos vecinos; y aUll en caso que necessitasse de ella por 10 que desperdicia
en la Ec1iptica, se Ie anade otro tanto de sutiles materias por ambos Polos; y nos dice Ovidio Metamorph. lib. 2.
fab. 1. que haviendo Faeton obtenido de su padre el Sol la merced de poder governar, aunque por un dia tan
solamente su Luminoso Coche, puso con su inobediente derrota, y con la cercanla de sus llamas en extrema
confusion los Cielos, y Tierra, y obligo a Jupiter para remediar tan grande, y nUllca visto des orden, Ie derribasse
a fuerza de rayos, precipitandole muerto sobre las tierras de Italia.

, Utque ferant requos et crelum et terra calores,
Nec preme, nee summum molire per rethera currum.
Altius egressus crelestia tecta cremabis;
Inferius terras. -- --
ambustaque nubila fumant.
Corripitur flammis, ut qua-que altissima tellus;
Fissaque agit rimas, et succis aret ademptis.
. ---- magnre pereunt cum mrenibus tubes:
Cumque suis totas popnlis incendia gentes
In cinerem vertunt. Silvre cum montibns ardent.'

Confirmase 10 dicho de otra Fabula de los mismos Indios, pero radicada en la verdad historica, de quando por
mandato de Josne se detuvo el Sol en favor de los Israelitas. Dicen, pues, que el ano de siete Conejos, baviendose
qnedado el Sol immobil, fueron excessivos los ardores, que se originaron en la tierra, y que el Mosquito se Ie
presento delante, diciendole: Senor del Mundo. Acaso quieres abrasar de el to do la tierra, y reducir el Mundo en
cenizas, pues cansado detienes tu regular curso, y te quedas immobil a las suplicas de los Mortales? Pero viendo
que no Ie respondla, y se estaba sin movimiento, se Ie acerco, y Ie pico en una pierna, la que retirando volvio 11
proseguir su derrota. El mismo hecho, con otros sales poeticos, refiere tambien Ovidio diet. loc. fab. 4. describiendo
los desmayos, y detencion del Sol a causa de la mnerte de su hijo Faeton, y nos dice, que a instancia de los
Dioses volvio a tomar la rienda de sus caballos, y proseguir su cUrsO regular.

, Squallidus interea genitor Phaethontis, et expers
Ipse sui decoris, qualis, cum deficit orbem,
Esse solet: lucemque odit, seque ipse, diemque;
Datque animum in luctus; et luctibus adjicit iram:
Officiumque negat mundo ---




374 NOTES.

Talia dicentem circumstant omnia solem
Numina: neve velit tenebras inducere rebus,
Supplice voce rogant, missos quoque Jupiter ignes
Excusat, precibusclue minas regaliter addit.
Colligit amentes, et adhuc terrore paventes,
Phc:ebus equos.'"

The following is the translation of the latter fable. "The justice of the above observations is further confirmed
by another fable of these same Indians, which is founded upon historical fact. They affirm, then, that on the year
of Seven Rabbits the Sun stood still; when, the earth becoming scorched to an excessive degree, a mosquito presented
itself before him and addressed him, 'Lord of the World, is it yom intention to bmn up the whole earth and to
reduce the universe to cinders; since, fatigued as it were in your regular course, you stop and remain immoveable to
the prayers of mortals." When receiving no answer, the Sun continuing motionless, the mosquito approached nearer
to him and stung him upon the leg, which, drawing back he again renewed his conrse." This fable is particularly
deserving of attention, because it furnishes strong grounds for supposing that the Mexicans were not only acquainted
with some of the circumstances preceding and attending the flight of the children of Israel from Egypt, and their
subsequent wanderings in the desert, but had also preserved traditions of the events which immediately followed
their occupation of the land of Canaan under Joshua. It must also be admitted, that this tradition cannot be
classed amongst the number of those which connected with a belief in the Deluge, in the existence of giants, and
with legends of the golden age, have been discovered nearly amongst all nations. On the contrary, it bears a Hebrew
stamp and character; for, although the fancy of Ovid induced him poetically to describe the consternation which the
gods and men were thrown into by the rashness of Phaeton, who drove the chariot of the Sun out of its old course,
when Jupiter interposed to restore order to nature; and Pope has sublimely imagined the effect which the suspension
of the laws of gravity for one moment would produce throughout the universe, in the often-quoted lines of his
Essay on Man, -- 

"And, if each system in gradation roll
Alike essential to the amazing whole,
The least confusion but in one, not all
That system only, but the whole, must fall.
Let earth unbalanced from her orbit fly,
Planets and suns run lawless through the sky;
Let ruling angels from their spheres be hurl'd,
Being on being wreck'd, and world on world;
Heaven's whole foundations to their centre nod,
And nature trembles to the throne of God.
All this dread order break -- for whom? for thee?
Vile worm! -- Oh madness! Pride! Impiety!" --

we are not at liberty to seek in the region of poetry and fiction grave arguments on which to found historical
conclusions. The annals of the Jews alone inform us, that thrice within the last four thousand years, words pronounced
by mortal lips have effected the greatest changes in the sun, both as regards its orbicular motion and the
motion of its rays. The following miracle is recorded in the tenth chapter of Exodus as having been performed
by Moses, in order to compel Pharaoh to let the children of Israel depart out of Egypt, (the representation of which
occurs in the twelfth page of the Borgian MS.): "And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward
heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched
forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt th1'ee days. They saw not one
another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
In the tenth chapter of the Book of Joshua we read, that at the command of that chieftain of the Jews the
solar orb stood still for a considerable period of time: "Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the
Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand
thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the vaUey of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,




NOTES. 375

until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher.? So the
sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day
like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel."
From a comparison of the following passages, taken from the twentieth chapter of the Second Book of Kings, and
the thirty-eighth chapter of the Prophecies of Isaiah, it is evident that there was a time when the sun's motion, whether
it should go backward or forward, depended upon the will of king Hezekiah: "And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,
What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall
the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the
shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet
cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of
Ahaz." "Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the
God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen
years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I
will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So
the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down."

Sacred history declaring that the sun has stood still, and profane history being altogether silent on the subject, it
is evident, or at least highly probable, (if the Mexican fable was founded upon historical truth, as Boturini supposes
it to have been,) that it was derived from a Hebrew source. This assumption will acquire further corroboration if it
can be shown that this fable is accompanied with any of the characteristics that usually belong to the miracles
which are related in the Old Testament. Those miracles are in general the greatest that can be conceived, brought
about by the most insignificant means, and frequently wrought for the purpose of accomplishing ends which to
erring human judgment must appear comparatively trivial: since of what importance, after all, can the issue of the
greatest battles in support of the most just of causes, and fought by the most glorious of nations, appear when
compared with the derangement of the laws of the universe? We are not informed of the precise object of the
sun's standing still in the Mexican fable; but a mosquito or some stingiug fly was that which caused it to go on
again: and it deserves to be remarked, that flies are particularly alluded to by Moses as instruments by which
the Deity accomplished great ends. One of the plagues sent upon the Egyptians was a plague, as it is probable,
of stinging flies, which is thus described in the eighth chapter of Exodus: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise
up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus
saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will
send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of
the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the
land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that
I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division bctween my people and thy people: to-morrow shall
this sign be. And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and
into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies."
In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses of the twenty-third chapter of Exodus, God promises to extirpate
the enemies of the children of Israel who dwelt in the land of Cauaan, by means of hornets: "I will send my fear
before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their
backs unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Cauaanite, and the
Hittite, from before thee." The same promise is repeated in the twentieth verse of the seventh chapter of
Deuteronomy: "Moreover the Lord thy God will seud the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide
themselves from thee, be destroyed." And it is referred to as having been carried iuto execution in the twelfth verse
of the twenty-fourth chapter of Joshua: "And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before
you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword." It is evident from the passages of Scripture
which have been quoted, that the mosquito's agency introduced into the Mexican fable of the Sun having stood still,

-----
* The Book of Jasher has been unfortunately lost. Not long ago it was reported to have been found, and to be in the possession of
a Jew in this country.





376 NOTES.

makes it still more probable that it was derived from a Hebrew source. It may be also proper to remark, that there
are certain prophecies in Scripture respecting the sun, which seem all to be represented as fulfilled in the Mexican
paintings. "The sun shall be darkened," "it shall be tnrned into hlood," are denunciations which often occur in the Old
Testament; and the sun is frequently painted in the superstitious calendars of the Mexicans darkened and st"eamin,g
with blood. The great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, which is mentioned by St. John in the
twelfth chapter of the Revelations, appears also to have presented itself to the imagination of the Mexican painters;
and commentators, by consulting the plates contained in the present work, will be relieved from the difficulties which
one and all confess that they have felt in guessing what this curious costume could have been. As regards an observation
which we have made above respecting the miracles recorded in the Old Testament, -- that in general neither
the end to be attained, nor the means by which the miracle itself is effected, bear any proportion in magnitude to it,
 -- we must do the Rabbis the justice to give their solution of this difficulty, which they explain on the principle of
Aaron's rod, which became a serpent, swallowing np the rods of the magicians which became serpents also, as
narrated in the twelfth versc of the seventh chapter of Exodus, giving us to understand by this explanation, that the
Jews rest their claim to he considered God's peculiar people, solely upon the magnitude of the miracles which he
performed in their favour, and on their superiority over all other miracles: for they absurdly suppose that to work
miracles, provided those miracles be neither grrat nor many, may be the lot of common mortals, even when their end
is mischievous. If this mode of reasoning of the Rabbis be just, the whole system which they are anxious to uphold
would fall to the ground; since what could be proved by miracles, if the origin ascribed to them be of so precarious
a nature, and if they may be referred to more than one cause? yet this is the only solution which the Rabbis offer
for God's accomplishing the most trivial ends by the greatest miracles. The ancirnt philosophers believed that they
understood too little of the Deity, of nature, or of man, to place much faith in miracles and prophecies, or to admit
any extravagant inferences to be drawn from them. They would have allowed little more to the man who called
himself a prophet, than that he was to be credited in those particular predictions which he had uttered, which time
had already shown were true; and his further demands would have been rejected with contempt. If to reason by
analogy on physical questions can never lead to more than probable conclusions, how manifest is it that such a mode
of reasoning must be much more inconclusive, where the subject itself is above nature and consequently beyond
reason, which miracles confessedly are! And yet the Hebrew people, the most ignorant and unphilosophical of all
nations, were those who deduced conclusions of the greatest latitude from them. That the Jews were a very unphilosophical
nation, may be proved from the literal sense in which they chose to understand the thirteenth verse of
the tenth chapter of Joshua; inferring that, as the moon was commanded to stand still as well as the sun, not only
had the latter motion, but likewise that, since the second command could not have been for the sake of adding to the
light of the sun, it must have been to prevent the moon coming into collision with the sun, which would have been a
necessary consequence on the supposition that those luminaries were two large balls which revolved in the same
circle round the earth. The ancients entertained in common the erroneous belief in the sun's annual motion
through the signs of the zodiac: but the Jews are the only people in the world who seem to have been ignorant of
the earth's motion round its own axis. Before terminating these notes, we shall point out some analogies in the
miscellaneous customs of the Jews and the Mexicans. Both nations were most punctual in the payment of their
religious offerings, first-fruits, &c. The Mexicans, as Montezuma informed Cortes, feared if they failed in this
portion of their religious duties that they would incur the severest vengeance of the gods: and the prophet Malachi,
or rather God speaking through the mouth of that prophet, assures the Jews that they would lie under a peculiar
curse if they did not bring the full quantity of tithe to the temple. It is probable, from the curse denounced and the
blessing promised in the following passage of the third chapter of the Book of Malachi, that the Rabbis would soon,
on establishing themselves in the New World, have taught their Mexican and Peruvian converts the necessity of
complying with this preccpt of the old law; "Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me. But yc say, Wherein
have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole
nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine honse, and prove me now
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open yon the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord
of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." The




NOTES. 377

paintings of the Mexicans show that censers were used in profusion in the ceremonies of their religion: and it appears
from the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of the sixteenth chapter of Numbers, that they were in as common
use amongst the Levites: "And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and
they, and Aaron, to-morrow: and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord
every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer." The Mexicans
were accustomed to mark their respect for the persons of ambassadors by burning odoriferous pcrfumes in censers
before them, which it would seem from the forty-sixth verse of the second chapter of the prophet Daniel was a
ceremony with which the Jews were acquainted: "Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon bois face, and worshiped
Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him." The Mexicans, like the
Jews, used the ceremony of prostration when admitted to the presence of their kings. How gratifying, therefore,
must it have been to the vanity of the latter people, who were at that time captives in Babylon, to learn that the
haughty rnler of Asia had prostrated himself to the earth before a child of their nation! And into what repute must it
have brought the art of interpreting dreams! The Mexicans were accustomed to decorate the inner walls of their
temples and palaces with figures painted in vermilion. And we learn from the twenty-third chapter of Ezekiel that
a similar custom prevailed amongst the Jews; since the prophet, describing Samaria and Jerusalem under the type
of the two sisters Aholah and Aholibah, there says of the latter, "When she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the
images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire
upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their
nativity: and as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into
Chaldea." The Mexican priests lodged round their temples in chambers built for the express purpose; and it says
in the twenty-seventh verse of the ninth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles, that a certain portion of the Levites
lodged round the temple constrncted by Solomon: "And they lodged round about the house of God, because the
charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them." The Mexican temples contained
fountains or ponds in their court-yards in which the priests performed their ablutions; and Solomon is said, in the
seventh chapter of the First Book of Kings, to have made a molten sea which contained two thousand baths, which
served the same pnrpose, and it is to be snpposed stood in the court of the temple. Althongh images were forbidden
to the Jews, still frequent mention is made in Scripture of cherubim carved as ornaments upon wood: these cherubim
were perhaps sometimes merely winged heads, such as now decorate tombs; and it is probable that the Jews ornamented
the outside of their edifices with similar heads sculptured in stone. M. Dupaix has observed that heads
sometimes of a very cadaverous aspect were inserted by the Mexicans into their walls, for the purpose, as he supposes,
of giving a relief to their monotonous appearance. (Representations of these mural ornaments will he found in the
fifth plate of the second part of his Monuments of New Spain.) The Mexican priests were accustomed to pierce
their bodies with lancets formed out of a diaphanous stone named the Y ztli; and to draw blood from their arms,
legs, wrists, tongues, ears, &c. And it is said of the idolatrous Hebrew prophets, in the twenty-eighth verse of the
eighteenth chapter of the First Book of Kings, "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with
knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them." Every thing that related to the preserving unextinguished
the sacred fire which burnt in their temples, was considered by the Mexicans as a matter of the utmost consequence. 
And it would appear from the following passage of the first chapter of the Second Book of Maccabees, that the Jews
attached scarcely less importance to the keeping in the fire of their altar: "For when our fathers were led into
Persia, the priests that were then devout took the fire of the altar privily, and hid it in an hollow place of a pit
without water, where they kept it sure, so that the place was unknown to all men. Now after many years, when it
pleased God, Neemias, being sent from the king of Persia, did send of the posterity of those priests that had hid it
to the fire: but when they told us they found no fire, but thick water; then commanded he them to draw it up, and
to bring it; and when the sacrifices were laid on, Neemias commanded the priests to sprinkle the wood and the
things laid thereupon with the water. When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone, which afore was
hid in the cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled." The manner in which the Jews kindled
their sacred fire is not precisely known. That it was a religious rite, accompanied with certain ceremonies, cannot be
doubted: and we may even be permitted to believe, from the expression in the fourteenth verse of the nineteenth
chapter of Ezekiel, -- "And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches which hath devoured her fruit," -- that they were
acquainted with the Mexican method of kindling fire from wood. Many passages in the Old Testament would lead




378 NOTES.

us to imagine that the ground plan, at least, of the greater temple of Mexico resembled that of the temple of
Jerusalem"; and the temple of Palenque (of which a representation will be found in the twelfth plate of the third
part of M. Dupaix's Monuments of New Spain) was perhaps in its basement story not unlike the steep and pyramidal
rock, the four sides of which were fashioned and rendered smooth by the labour of man, (according to Josephus,)
upon which the Hebrew temple was built; whilst its upper area, divided into different courts, with porticoes having
light against tight, and containing various edifices, might have imitated in some degree Herod's temple, in the inner
court of which was the sanctuary, which rose like a tower high above all the other buildings. It is generallyadmitted
that the temple of Solomon was twice rebuilt; first by the Jews under Ezra after their return from the Babylonian
captivity, and at a later period by Herod.. It is most extraordinary, however, that the plan of that temple,
which was drawn out by God himself for David to be given to Solomon, -- as we are informed in the nineteenth verse
of the twenty-eighth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles, "All this, said David, the Lord made me understand
in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern," -- should have become unintelligible to later
generations: for we defy Mr. Nash or any other eminent architect, whatever learning or ingenuity they may bring
to the task, to comprehend the description of Solomon's temple, as given in the First Book of Kings and the First
Book of Chronicles; and can assure them that they will reap little assistance from consulting the vision of Ezekiel,
as recorded in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth chapters of that prophet's Book. What is here asserted admits the
most simple proof; since it is only necessary to recur to plans of that temple, which celebrated scholars have caused
to be engraved and inserted in their works, to find that they almost all materially differ from each other; whilst the
Rabbis in their plans mix absurdity with ignorauce. It cannot be expected that much light should be thrown upon
the question by Josephus, whose description of Herod's temple is inapplicable to that which was founded so many
ages before by Solomon, and who is besides an historian who is guilty of the greatest exaggerations: but an obscure
passage in the fourteenth chapter of his Jewish Antiquities, seems to afford grounds for supposing that the Hebrew
temple was built upon a hollow artifical platform, like many of the Mexican temples. The following is the passage
alluded to:,,' AveAwv 8e TOVe dpxa,ovr. 6Efl€AWVC;, Kat KaTa{3aA0ftEVOC; ETepOlJr., E7r' aVTWV TOV vaoll ~yelpe, /-'''IKE' IlEV P ov-ra
'1r1JXttlV, TO 8' ll1f01; Ie 7rEPlTTOtC;, OtJl:, "<t' XPOVft.' aVlJ€~7j(JavTwv TWV 6E~EA'WV, ~1T€(3f1. Kat 'T'OVTO P.El' KaTa TOUe; Nepwvoc; KatpOUC;
',re"(€Ip€!V <"(VWK€!!,€V." "But Herod having takcn away the ancient foundations and laid new ones, erected the temple
upon them, which was one hundred cubits in length, and twenty additional cubits in height, which (latter) number of
cubits it sunk, the foundations after the expiration of a time having collapsed. In the age of Nero we resolved to build
it up again." It is obvious, from the reasons above assigned, that we cannot compare the temple of Jerusalem, as a
whole, with any of the Mexican temples, because we have not a perfect idea of all its parts; it is only therefore from
scattered passages of Scripture that we are enabled to guess that there were many features of resemblance between
these different structures. That Solomon's temple was high, we learn from the twcnty-first verse of the seventh
chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, where it is expressly so designated: "And this house, which is high,
shall be an astonishment to everyone that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto
this land and unto this house?" That it had an ascent, which was probably by steps, up to it, is incidentally mentioned
in the ninth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, which contains an account of the queen of Sheba's
visit to Solomon: "And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had
built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel;
his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord; there was
no more spirit in her." That the temple, when repaired by Simon the high priest, had a double height, (which phrase
is very obscure,) we learn from the following passage of the fiftieth chapter of Ecclesiasticus: "Simon the high
priest, the son of Onias, who in his life repaired the house again, and in his days fortified the temple: and by him
was built from the foundation the douLle height, the high fortress of the wall about the temple." This description
would be almost applicable to the architecture of the temple of Palenque, or to the platforms of more than one
story upon which the Mexican temples were built. The roof and the windows of the house of the forest of
Lebanon, built by Solomon, are thus described in the seventh chapter of the First Book of Kings; from which it
would appear that the roof of that house was supported by transverse beams resting upon three rows of pillars;


-----
* It deserves to be remarked, that the name of the holy house, which Josephus always bestows upon the temple of Jerusalem, is the
literal signification of the Mexican term teocalli.




NOTES. 379

which was the plan adopted by those who constructed the palaces of Mictlan, although in those paiaces, the halls
being long and narrow, single rows of pillars were judged sufficient to support the roof: "And it was covered with
cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. And there were windows in three rows,
and light was against light in three ranks. And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light
was against light in three ranks.

M. Dupaix has remarked, that the sides of the Mexican temples almost invariably corresponded to the four
cardinal points, whilst the staircases were always on the east, because the chapel above looked towards the east;
and when the ascent was by a single staircase, faced the upper landing-place. The same was the position of the
temple which Ezekiel beheld in his vision, as is cvident from the first verse of the forty-seventh chapter of his
Proplleeies: "Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from
under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the cast, and the waters
came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar." The stairs of the altar
appertaining to this temple are said, in the following passage of the forty-third chapter of the same prophet, to have
looked towards the east: "And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares
thereof. And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the
border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look
toward the east." It had also many courts, like the greater temple of Mexico, as Ezekiel declares in the twentyfirst
verse of his forty-sixth chapter: "Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the
four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court." From the fourteenth verse
of the thirty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah, it appears that the temple of Solomon had many courts likewise: "Then
Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord:
and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me." A causeway is also mentioned in
the sixteenth verse of the twenty-sixth chapter of the First Book of Chronicles, as leading to the latter temple: "To
Shuppim and Hosah the lot came forth westward, with the gate Shallecheth, by the causeway of the going up, ward
against ward." The Jews were commanded by Moses not to make an altar of hewn stone: smooth uncut stones were
therefore probably used by them in the construction of the altars belonging to their temple. And Sahagun affirms
that the court of the greater temple of Mexico was paved with smooth and uncut stones as slippery as glass.
Josephus records the vast size of the blocks of hewn stone of which the temple of Jerusalem was built. And
M. Dupaix expresses his astonishment at the equally large masses of granite which he discovered in the walls of
the palaces of Mictlan; wondering at the same time by what means they had been worked, since their perfectly
smooth surface bore no marks of the chisel; and he could not believe it possible that the founders of Mictlan had
reduced those blocks to proper shape and dimensions merely by the friction of one stone against another. It did
not occur to M. Dupaix that emery might have been employed in working them, with several kinds of which
Sahagun says the Mexicans were acquainted; which in conjunction with the saw would have given to those
stones the smooth surface that he describes. It appears from the ninth verse of the seventh chapter of the First
Book of Kings, that the stones with which the temple of Solomon was constructed were sawed both on the inner
and the outer side: "All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws,
within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court."
That the Tultecas were the founders of many of the most splendid monuments of the New World may be inferred,
not only from the signification of the proper name Tulteca, which means an m'chilect, but likewise because the
figure of a feathered serpent is sometimes represented in Mosaic on their walls, which undoubtedly referred to their god
Quetzalcoatl. A gigantic serpent of this description ornaments the ruins of the fortress of Xochicalco; and here
we may observe, that the original drawing of that monument (from which the fifteenth plate in the first part of the
Monuments of New Spain has been taken) has suffered considerable mutilation, one half of it having been torn off.
Since nothing appears more admirable in the architecture of the New World than the beautiful and durable Mosaic
ornaments which cover the walls of the palaces of Mictlan, it is highly probable that those structures were erected
by the Tultecas; and they furnish an argument in favour of the belief, that the Tultecas were originally a Jewish
colony which in remote ages had settled in America; since we do not read that any other nation of the old continent,
except the Jews, ever introduced this style of ornament into architecture; whilst Josephus, it should be remarked,
commends in the highest terms the skill which his countrymen displayed in uniting together the stones of which




380 NOTES.

the walls of the temple were composed, the joints of which were scarcely visible. And the art of working in mosaic
seems probably alluded to in the sixth verse of the third chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, where the
embellishments which Solomon added to the temple are thus described; "And he garnished the house with
precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold of Parvaim." The walls of the Mexican temples were delicately
plastered, and frequently ornamented with stucco, especially those of the temple of Palenque, the exterior of which
presented to the eye groups of colossal figures, which viewed from the ground must naturally have suggested to the
mind of the beholder the relievos which decorate the temple of the Parthenon; save that in the former, the
immortal genius of the Greeks was wanting. That the Jews were accustomed to add this kind of ornament to their
buildings we learn from the simile contained in the seventeenth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Ecclesiasticus:
"A heart settled upon a thought of understanding is as a fair plastering on the wall of a gallery." M. Dupaix, in
describing the figures in plaster upon the walls of the temple of Palen que, notices, as a peculiarity in them all, the
excessive size of the nose. He did not perhaps know that Solomon ascribed beauty and majesty to countenances
distinguished by that characteristic, as he intimates in the comparison introduced in the fourth verse of the seventh
chapter of his Song: "Thy neck is as a tower of ivory, thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of
Bath-rabbim, thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus." Since it cannot be doubted
that Solomon was the Q1'biter elegantiarum of Jewish taste, it may be inferred that the peculiar physiognomy of the
above-mentioned figures, (which induced M. Dupaix to think that they represented an extinct race of mankind,) was
ouly, as regarded the junction of the nose with the forehead, an exaggeration of the Hebrew line of beauty into a
complete curve.

In some of the temples of Yucatan, according to the testimony of Captain Don Antonio del Rio, statues of men witli
palms in their hands, in the act of beating drums and dancing, are formed in stucco on the walls: and it should be
observed, that to rejoice with branches of the palm-tree was peculiarly a Hebrew custom, the observance of which
Moses strictly enjoined to the Jews. -- The following passage is extracted from Captain Don Antonio del Rio's narrative
of his visit to the ruins of Palenque, (which preceded, and probably led to, the more extensive researches of M.
Dupaix,) in which he takes occasion to mention other ancient temples existing in Yucatan.

"The Rev. Father Thomas de Soza, a Franciscan friar of the convent of Merida, many years collector of alms
destined for the holy house of Jerusalem, who, in pursuing the duties imposed upon him from his situation, had
repeatedly traversed the province, fortunately happening to be at Palen que, favoured me with a circumstantial
account of that country, of which I shall now avail myself in his own words.

"At the distance of twenty leagues from the city of Merida southward, between the curacy called Mona y Ticul
and the town of Nocacab, are the remains of some stone edifices; one very large building has withstood the ravages of
time, and still exists in good preservation: the natives give it the name of Oxmutal. It stands on an eminence of
twenty yards in height, and measures two hundred yards on each fa"ade. The apartments, the exterior corridor, the
pillars with figures in medio-relievo, and decorated with serpents, lizards, &c. formed in stucco, beside which are
statues of men with palms in their hands in the act of beating drums and dancing, resemble in every respect those
observable in the buildings at Palenque. Eight leagues distant from the same city to the northward are the ruined
walls of several other houses, which increase in number as you advance in an easterly direction. In the vicinity of
the river Lagartos, at a town called Mani, which is under the actual jurisdiction of the Franciscan friars, in the
middle of the principal square, stands a pillory of a conical shape, built of stones; and to the southward rises a very
ancient palace, resembling that at Palenque, which, according to tradition, was inhabited, upon the, arrival of the
Spanish conquerors, by a petty Indian sovereign called Htulrio, who resigned it to the Franciscans for a residence
while their new convent was building, after which it was used for several years as a public hospital. The erection
of this palace was long anterior to the time of Htulrio, who replied to the inquiries of the fathers relative to the
period of its construction, that he was totally ignorant of its origin, and only knew that it had been inhabited
by his ancestors. From hence we may draw some inference respecting the very remote antiquity of the Palencian
edifices, buried for so many ages in the impenetrable thickets covering a mountain, and unknown to the
historians of the New World, by whom no mention whatsoever is made of their existence. On the road from
Merida to Bacalar there are also many other buildings both to the north and south, according to my informant's
narrative, a description of which I conceive unnecessary, not only from being desirous of avoiding prolixity, but
because the identity of the ancient inhabitants of Yucatan and Palenque is, in my opinion, evidently proved by the





NOTES. 381

strong analogy of their customs, buildings, and acquaintance with the arts, whereof such vestiges are discernible in
those monuments which the current of time has not yet swept away."

M. Dupaix observes, that he sometimes discovered a plain cylindrical stone at no great distance from the Mexican
temples. This stone he is inclined to think might have been destined for gladiatorial sacrifices: but from the absence
of the groove through which the rope ran that was fastened round the waist of the combatant, (which Sahagun
makes particular mention of in describing those sacrifices,) we imagine that this stone was a Tehuehuetl, or stone
dedicated to acts of penance. And here again the manners of the ancient Jews and the Mexicans seem to approximate;
for the latter did penance by ascending upon a cylindrical stone, and the former by sitting in a circle, as the two following
extracts (the one from Boturini's Treatise, the other from A View of the Jewish Religion,) will more fully show.

"Por mas celebre refiero la Fabula del Penitente yappan. Dicen de ellos Indios, que acercandose el tiempo de
las Transformaciones, se aparto, para captarse la benevolencia de los Dioses, de su Muger, y Parientes, y retirandose
a hacer vida casta, y solitaria en un lugar desierto, donde se hallaba la Piedra dedicada a los Actos Penitenciales,
que llamaban Tehuehuetl, subio a ella, y dio principio It su penitencia. Observaronle los Dioses con atencion, y
dlldosos de la firmeza de su propos ito, pusieronle por Guarda a otro hombre enemigo suyo llamado Yaotl, que
significa 10 mismo que Enernigo, para que desde lexos Ie estuviesse continuamente espiando, y diesse cuenta de sus
acciones. Mantuvose Yltppan por mucho tiempo con stante, y rechazo con valor a muchas Mugeres, que los mismos
Dioses Ie embiaron para tentarle. Y mientras alia en los Cielos se celebraban las castas victorias del Penitente,
Tlazolteotl, Diosa del Amor d~shonesto, como desayrada, y reputada por de pocas fllerzas, empezo It hablar,
diciendo: 'No creais Altos, e Immortales Dioses, que Yappan tenga heroicos esfuerzos para concluir su penitencia,
y merecer de vnestra benignidad alguna de las Transmutaciones sublimes. Baxare Yo, y luego vereis, como es
fragil su proposito, y fingida su contiuencia.' Hizolo assi, y saludandole con agrado, dixo: 'He'l"1nano Yappan, Yo
la Diosa Tlazolteotl, assombrada de tu constancia, y apiadada de tus trabajos, vengo a consolarte;' y viendole muy
encumbrado, repitiole: 'Que camino tomare, 0 por qual senda he de subir a hablarte /' No conocio el Simplon la
treta, y respondiola: 'Seas muy bien venida: aguardate, que baxare por ti; y despues la fue subiendo a la Piedra
Penitencial, donde encendido de sus impudicos amores, y encubierto de las vestiduras de la Diosa, cometio torpe
sacrilegio con ella, pensando que tendrla alguna dis culpa, por haver sido su yerro con una Diosa, 0 porque ella 10
callarla a las demas Deidades. Indignaronse los Dioses de haver el falso Penitente profanado tan Divino lugar, e
YilOtl, que de lexos vio el abominable sncesso, olvidado de avisarlos, y cegado de su interna enemistad, se fue en
derechura a Yappan, diciendole: 'No te averguenzas, Penitente Hypocrita, de haver faltado a tu propos ito, y engaiiado
a los Supremos Dioses /' y de un golpe de Macana cortole immediatamente la cabeza, en cuyo instante los Dioses
Ie convirtieron en Alacran, quedando en la misma figura, que se hallaba, quando con los brazos pretendia hacer
resistencia a su Enemigo, quien aiiadiendo mayores delitos, fue luego en demanda de la Muger del Penitente, a
quien por la misma enemistad del Marido igualmente aborrecia. Llamabase esta Tlahultzin, que quiere decir, 'La
Encendida.' Traxola al sitio de la Piedra Penitencial, diciendola: 'Has de saber Tlahultzin, que los Dioses me
ordenarou estuviesse en estos contorDOS por espia de la penitencia, que aqui propuso cumplir tu Marido, el qual
violando tan respetado lugar, cayo en pecado torpe, por cuya causa Ie corte la cabeza, que traigo conmigo: Y por
si acaso Ie diste tu motivo, para que te dexasse, y tomasse por medio su fingido, y mallogrado retiro, he de hacer
conti go, 10 que hice con tu Marido; y al punto Ie corto tambien la cabeza, y fue de la misma suerte, por los
disgustos, que dio al Marido, transformada en Alacran encendido, y abalanzandose a 10 baxo de la Piedra Penitencial,
hallo it Yappan en su misma figura. Por esto dicen los Indios, que los Alacranes encendidos nacieron de Tlahultzin,
y los cenicientos, y obscuros de Yilppan, y que ambos se esconden baxo de las piedras por la verguenza, que tuvieron
de su pecado, no atreviendose a parecer en publico, y huyendo siempre de la luz. Que es 10 mismo, que sucedio
a Nyctimene convertida en Lechuza, por haver fraudulentamente contaminado con nefario incesto el Talamo del
Rey su padre."

"For conclusion of this chapter, I cannot but relate in what doing the most learned Rabbins think they observe
a most religious and holy fast. We read in Medrasch Debharim Rabba to this purpose; 'So soon as Moses saw
that the decree of death was signed against him, he enjoyned himself a fast, and having made a cake (or a circle as
the exorcists and necromancers use to do, or a round pit for so the glosser expounds it) he put on sackcloth, poured
ashes upon his head, and placed himself in the midst of his cake (or circle), fasted and prayed incessantly, resolving




382 NOTES.

not to move thence till God had altered his decree, which presently was done.' Doubtlesse this pleasant storie had
its original from that nursery of Jewish fables their Talmud, where in the treatise of Fasting we read, That a
certain holy Jew, whose name was Chone Hammaagal Carter, did the same when he would obtain any thing of
consequence, or necessary; as when it had not rained all February and the corn did want rain, he seated himself in
the midst of such a ?cake (or circle) and said, 'Lord of the world, thy sons look upon me as one dear unto thee as a
son is to his father. I swear by thy holy name I will not depart hence till thou hast had compassion on thy sons.'
He had scarce ended, they affirm, when it began to rain.

"You will wonder more (if any absurdity is to be wondered at in the writings of the Jews) that the prophet
Habakuk is said to have done the same: Hab. 2. 1. It is written, 'I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon my
tower, and I will watch to see what he will answer me: 'that is, Here I stand in my cake (or circle), and expect
whilest thou answerest me why the wicked are so long lived, as Rabbi D. Kimchi out of the Rabbins writes on this
place. So miserably blinded are the Jews and given over to a reprobate sense, that they are not ashamed to speak
thus grosly, brutishly, and stupidly of the word of God, and interpret the Scripture out of their own mad fancies."
We cannot refrain from observing, in reference to the fable of Yappan, (under which proper name that of Job may
perhaps be disguised,) that it has a tincture of Jewish superstition: for although the Jews were left completely in
the dark by Moses in every thing relating to the doctrines of heaven, hell, the devil, a future state of rewards and
punishments, and the immortality of the soul, which furnished the chief grounds of the disputes between the Pharisees
and the Sadducees; they still believed in an evil spirit who accused them before God, when watching their
actions he became aware of their having sinned, whom they named Satan, or the adversary: and this doctrine they
collected from the Book of Job. We may add, in reference to the second quotation, that the Mexicans, like the
Jews, were accustomed to do penance by sitting on the ground, in which posture their priests are often represented
in the Mexican paintings. The object of this penance frequently was to obtain rain; and they might have imitated
either Quecalcoatl, who procured rain by fasting, or the prophet Jeremiah, who declares in the third verse of the
third chapter of his Prophecies, that the wickedness of the Jews was the cause of showers having been withholden;
and in his prayer for the people to God, in the fourteenth chapter of the same Book, he expresses himself in language
very analogous to that which we find in the eighth chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun's History of New
Spain was used by the Mexican priests in their prayer to Tlaloc for rain. The Mexicans attached great importance
to the sacred vestments worn by their priests, which were carefully preserved in their temples; and in this they
resembled the Jews. In the twenty-fourth verse of the eighteenth chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon, the following
virtues are ascribed to the pontifical costume of Aaron: "For in the long garment was the whole world, and in the
four rows of the stones was the glory of the fathers graven, and thy majesty upon the diadem of his head." They
were fond of wearing dresses of scarlet and of showy colours, as were also the Jews. The exclamation of the prophet,
"Who is this that cometh from Bozrah 1" and many other passages of the Old Testament might be cited to show that
the Jews entertained a great predilection for scarlet: and a coat of many colours was given as a mark of peculiar
kindness by the patriarch Jacob to his favourite son Joseph, as we learn from the following verse of the thirty-seventh
chapter of Genesis: "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age:
and he made him a coat of many colours." The Mexicans not only excelled in the fabrication of cloth and hangings,
but delighted likewise in introducing monstrous and uncouth figures into the labours of their loom; a taste that in
former days prevailed amongst the Jews, who being forbidden by their law to imitate things that existed in nature,
had no choice left but to imagine monsters. To this Jewish custom, Claudian alludes in the following verses:

----," Jam frugibus apturn
lEquor, et assuetum sylvis delphina videbo;
Jam cocleis homines junctos, et quidquid inane
Nutrit Judaicis qua; pingitur India velis."

It may be proper to remark that some critics, unwilling to allow the Jews the fame which Claudian ascribes to
them, have, with a total disregard to prosody, wished to substitute the word Attalicis for Judaicis. A cross somewhat
resembling the Greek letter tau occurs not unfrequently in the Mexican paintings. And it deserves to be noticed, that
in the kingdom of Naples the Jews in former ages were compelled to wear a badge of that description, as Bayle and
other authors assert. The representations of ravenous beasts tearing and eagles devouring are so often found in




NOTES. 383
the same paintings, that it might almost induce one to suppose that there was an intended allusion to the third verse
of the fifteenth chapter of the Prophecies of Jeremiah: "And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord:
the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. "

The last argument which we shall adduce to prove that the Jews in early ages colonized America, is the prophetical
denunciations of the Old Testament, that they should be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; -- which required
for their literal fulfilment (since what dependence can be placed on prophecies that are not to be literally fulfilled I)
that the Jews should be removed to Peru and Mexico; and could never have contemplated that an entire hemisphere
would remain until the sixteeuth century after the Christian era untrodden by the chosen people of God. N or will
it avail those who wish, by giving less latitude to the words of Moses, to contend that his prediction has been fully
accomplished, -- to insinuate that he was perhaps ignorant of the existence of America, and therefore did not mean to
prophesy that the Jews would be scattered over that continent: since this would be arguing absurdly, that human
knowledge prescribes limits to Divine inspiration. Since the prophecy relating to the dispersion of the Jews, and
its alledged full accomplishment, has always been used as a lever to lift and support an enormous weight, -- the
acknowledgement that we should not have recurred to it here but for the sake of one class of persons, who will
prefer this to every other kind of proof, and that we do not now address this argument to any others, may appear
somewhat gratuitous. But we hope that by doing so, those that may henceforward find it disagreeable to admit that
the Jews had in early ages colonized America, will find it impossible to recede; and that an accumulation of evidence
will compel them to confess that the old law has been revived in that continent, and that the sceptre has been
restored to Judah. The reasons that induce us not to consider this last argument of a general kind, are the
following: First, the Mosaic records are not admitted by all persons to be inspired: and arguments drawn from their
inspiration to prove that America was colonized by the Jews, would eviclently be thrown away upon those who did
not believe in them. Secondly, The Jews themselves may feel in doubt, -- understanding in a limited signification, as
Christians have done, the words of Moses, "shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth;" and not considering
their dispersion to be a judgment inflicted upon them on account of the crucifixion of Christ, (to which
Moses makes not the slightest allusion,) but a punishment on account of their disobedience to his law, which he
threatened them would actually happen, -- whether the accomplishment of all the prophecies relating to their dispersion
might not have occurred at the time of the Babylonian captivity; for the second temple wanting prophecy as well as
Urim and Thummim, of course there could have been no prophecies of more dispersions after the return from
that captivity: and the predictions uttered during the seventy years might have referred to the probable future lot
of the Jews dispersed in Egypt and elsewhere. The Jews may therefore ascribe their dispersion after the subjugation
of their state by the Romans until the present time, first to political and afterwards to religious causes, and not
consider the argument drawn from Prophecy as affording conclusive evidence that they had in remote ages colonized
America. Amongst the following denunciations pronounced by Moses against the Jews, will be found that, relative
to their future dispersion, which is contained in the twenty-fifth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy:
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all !!is
commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and
overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket
and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the
flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do,
until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast
forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land,
whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an
inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall
pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under
thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down
upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go
out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth."




384 NOTES.

If the prophecy of Moses related to the dispersion of the Jews after the Christian era, how very remarkable must it
appear that he should denounce vengeance against them in case they should disobey those laws which Christ himself
came into the world to repeal, and that the Apostles should have attempted to make proselytes of the Jews! It
may therefore be inferred that neither Moses, nor the other prophets who followed him, contemplated any other
dispersion than that caused by the Babylonian captivity. It would even seem, from the following passage of the
twenty-fourth chapter of Jeremiah, that if the prophecy of Moses was not fully accomplished at the period of the
Babylonian captivity, as far as it related to Zedekiah, the princes of the tribe of Judah, the residue of the Jews that
were unwilling to qnit Babylon, and their brethren who had fled into Egypt to escape from the Chaldean yoke; it
was with respect to those who returned to their country and rebuilt Jerusalem. But it was the descendants of the
latter who crucified Christ, whose dispersion is imputed to that cause, and appealed to as a standing miracle at the
present day. "Again the word of the Lord came nnto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like
these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring
them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil;
surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem,
that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: and I will deliver them to be removed into all the
kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach, and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I
shall drive them."

It may truly be observed, that what is named an appeal to a standing miracle, whether it proceed from the mouth of
Christian, Jew, or Mahometan, is generally an argument addressed by the unlearned to the completely ignorant, who
judge by their senses of the truth of that respecting which their reason cannot assist them in forming any conclusion;
and who have not leisure to reflect, or means to know, whether the effects which surprise them may not have been
brought about by a train of physical and moral causes. There was a time when the colour of the skin of the negro
was reckoned a standing miracle; the Jews consider the preservation of their Talmud a miracle of that description;
and Protestants, and all other seceders from the Church of Rome, declare that the locality of the Holy See upon
seven hills is a standing miracle, and the fulfilment of prophecy; even the temple of Jerusalem in ruins, has been
maintained by some learned writers to be a standing miracle. The dispersion of the Jews may either be a miracle or
may not, since it might have been brought about by the operation of political and religious causes combined. The
geographical situation of Judea, placed exactly in an angle between Europe, Asia, and Mrica, and in the vicinity of
the sea, favoured a political dispersion after their city and territory had been reduced under the Roman yoke. This
dispersion, in the first instance compulsory, might afterwards have assumed a voluntary character, when the love of
gain, for which the Jews have in all ages been distinguished, had taugbt them the advantages of spreading themselves
through the various cities of the Roman empire, which comprehended in its vast extent all civilised Africa, Asia
to the Euphrates, and Europe as far north as Britain, and west as the Ocean. They were then a dispersed
people, before they felt the rage of Christian persecution, from political causes only: but other causes soon combined
to disperse them still more, and to entail dispersion and reproach upon their posterity. The Church declared that
the dispersion of the Jews was a proof of the truth of Christianity, that they were an accursed race, who had crucified
the Saviour of mankind; and pointing to the prophetical books of the Old Testament, which denounced such a
judgment against them, called upon the laity to cooperate with prophecy to vex and harass the Jews; who from that
moment became like the unconscious pieces on a chess-board, -- instruments that were moved about by the bands of
those who played a deep game; whilst the various Christian states, aiding the ecclesiastical with the secular arm,
permitted and encouraged their several corporations to pass laws and regulations, the object of which was to scatter
and disperse the Jews, and never to permit them to remain beyond a certain time within the same city or town.
We have here shown by what natural causes,the present dispersed state of the Jews may have been effected. But
those who prefer miraculous agency to plain and simple probabilities, will, we fear, cut short our reasoning upon the
subject, in the usual manner, by putting a question with a conditional promise annexed, -- that if we can point out to
them another nation on the globe that has remained for ages a dispersed and separate people like the Jews, they will
admit that their dispersion is not miraculous. To which we must reply, by promising to do so after they have in




NOTES. 385

formed us of some other nation, who, like the Jews, have been accused by a number of powerful states and empires
contiguous to their own, of having crucified their God, who-believiug that that God had ages before denounced
his bitterest vengeance against the entire nation of those whom he foresaw would become his murderers, and had
sentenced them to be dispersed, -- resolved to cooperate with prophecy and to carry into execution the will of God.
External political causes, over which the Jews could exercise no contronl, combined in the first instance to make them
a dispersed people; but religious causes, to which they themselves lent willing aid, contributed, after they became
dispersed, to keep them a separate people, however identified by local habitation with the subjects and citizens
of other states. Amongst these may be enumerated the following: The rite of circumcision, and the ridicule
attached to it immediately after it ceased by the abolition of the old law to be a religious symbol in the opinion of
Christians: The feast of the passover, and the ceremonies attendant upon it, as described in the twelfth chapter of
Exodus, which necessarily congregate the Jews together once a year in the cities of the several states in which they
may reside, and form a kind of national, as well as religious, bond between them: Their strict observance of their
oral laws respecting marriages, which at the same time that they serve to remedy the evil which their dispersed state
would seem to entail upon them, viz. diminution of population, strictly forbid them to intermarry with persons of a
different faith: The entire spirit of the Mosaic law, which was framed for the express purpose of making and keeping
the Jews a distinct people; &nd finally, The crime of which they are accused, of having crucified the Saviour of
mankind. If due regard be paid to all these natural causes, which in former ages, when Christendom groaned
itself under despotism and was enveloped in ignorance, operated powerfully on the condition of the Jews, and which
still continue to affect them in a mitigated degree, -- the unreasonableness of the demand of those who are
determined not to imitate the incredulity of Saint Thomas, and who require that another nation precisely circumstanced
as the Jews should be pointed out to them before they will cease to believe that their dispersion is a
miracle, must be apparent to all.

The time has perhaps arrived when authentic monuments, affording matter upon which to found reasonable discussion,
will enable men of information to decide upon the certainty or the probability of the Jews having in early
ages colonized America. The notion prevailed-the conviction was probably felt in Europe at the beginning of the
sixteenth century, that this was the case: bnt those who entertained these sentiments, although furnished with the
necessary proofs, might have been compelled to keep the secret locked up in their breasts, lest they should have
cast a scandal upon a received religious notion, that the dispersion of the Jews was the fulfilment of Prophecy: since
how, if it could have been shown that the riches of Peru, or the throne of Mexico, or political ascendancy in any
part of the New World, had become the lot of the dispersed Jews, would the prophecy seem to be accomplished
respecting them, where it says that they should borrow and not lend, and that they should be the tail and not the
head? We cannot refrain from inserting in this place a passage from the 424th page of the fifth volume of the
present work, because the expression outcasts (desechados), as applied by the Mexicans to themselves, is there so
singularly introduced, and savours so strongly of the tone of complaint in which the Jews, wherever residing and
however well off in their temporal concerns, have been accustomed to indulge ever since the fall of their empire.
" Nota, hijo, esta palabra, que 10 que te tengo dicho te sea espina y aire frio que te aflija, paraque te haga humillar
y volver en tl. Mira, hijo, que has nacido en tiempo de trabajos y aflicciones, y te ha enviado Dios al mundo en
tiempo de gran pobreza; mira, que yo soy tu padre; mira, que vida pasamos yo y tu madre, que no somos tenidos
en nada, ni hay memoria de nosotros; aunque nuestros antepasados fueron grandes y poderosos dejarronnos aquella
potencia y grandeza? No, por cierto; mira a tus parientes y a tus afines, qne no tienen ser ninguno cn la republica
sino que viven en pobreza y como desechados; y aunque tu seas noble y geueroso de claro linage, conviene que
tengas delante tus ojos, como has de vivir." "Remember the words which I now address to thee, my son; let them
be a thorn in thy heart and a cold blast to afflict thee, that thou mayest humble thyself and betake thee to inward
meditations. Consider, my son, that it has been thy lot to be born in a time of trouble and sorrow, and that God
hast sent thee into the world at a period of extreme poverty. Behold me, who am thy father; see what a life I and
thy mother lead, and how we are accounted as nothing, and the memory of us has passed away. Although our
ancestOl's were powerful and great, have they bequeathed to us their power and greatness? No, truly; cast thine
eyes upon thy relations and kindred, who fill no public offices, but who live in poverty and as outcasts. Wherefore,
although thou thyself art noble and illustrious and of famous lineage, it becomes thee to have ever present before thine
eyes how thou oughtest to live." The Jews themselves, as it has been elsewhere observed, have entertained a strong




386 NOTES.

belief that America has been colonized by their race, grounding that belief on what is said in certain chapters of the
Old Testament of the People of the Isles, (to which isles a Hebrew appellation, derived from a Hebrew word signifying
the West, has been given; evidently showing that they could not have been Ceylon, or the islands of the
Indian Archipelago,) as also on many analogies in the laws, rites, customs, and ceremonies of the Indians, but
more especially in the following passage of the thirteenth chapter of the second apocryphal Book of Esdras: "And
whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him; those are the ten tribes which were
carried away prisoners out of their own land, in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria
led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land. But they took this
counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country,
where never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And
they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the Most High then showed signs for them,
and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go; namely,
of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there until the latter time; and now
when they shall begin to come, the Highest shall stay the springs of the stream again, that they may go through:
therefore sawest thou the multitude with peace." Assuming on the best grounds that the apocryphal Books of
Esdras are not inspired, -- since except on good grounds learned men would not have pronounced the judgment which
they have upon them, the Church would have made greater use of their authority, and time would not have convicted
any portion of their narrative of falsehood, -- we shall not notice the reveries to which the above passage has given
rise amongst the Rabbis; but shall, as a way of promoting the end of science, which is truth, endeavour to invalidate
by just objections what ill deserves the name of proof of any kind. It will be at once admitted that if the Apocryphal
Books of Esdras are not inspired they are a forgery; and that in that case it would be improper to attach more
weight to arguments drawn from any passages contained in them, favouring the conclusion that the Jews had colonized
America, than to mere human authority. The following, then, are reasons for believing those books not to
be inspired. First, since it is admitted that the truth of the Christian religion, and that Christ was the real Messiah,
the Son of God, are mainly proved by the prophecies contained in the Old Testament; and a more famous prediction
relating to his advent, with the time clearly defined (which is seldom the case in Hebrew prophecies), is
contained in the seventh chapter of the Second Book of Esdras, than can be found in any of thee other prophetical
books of the Old Testament, in which he is mentioned by name four hundred years before his birth; -- it must be
presumed, the Church making such little use of the authority of this book, and none of the Evangelists referring to
it, it was not considered genuine. The silence of the Evangelists may be accounted for by supposing that it was
not in existence when they wrote; and the Church's rejecting it altogether in the beginning, and afterwards pronouncing
it to be merely apocryphal, was probably because the real story of its fabrication was in the beginning
well known, and became in after-ages forgotten. The dream of Esdras, as recorded in the eleventh chapter of the
Second Book of Esdras, which is penned so exactly in the style of the prophet Daniel, bears evident allusion to the
Roman empire, the triumvirate, and the twelve Cresars, as must immediately suggest itself to the mind of even a
careless reader, on the perusal of the first verse of that chapter: "Then saw I a dream, and, behold, there came up
from the sea an eagle, which had twelve feathered wings, and three heads."

The time when this book was composed may therefore easily be inferred; and the circumstances of the forgery
coming to the knowledge of the philosopher Porphyry, might have induced him to form the opinion which he did
of the Book of the prophet Daniel. The following is the prophecy of Esdras relating to the advent of the Messiah:
"Behold, the time shall come, that these tokens which I have told thee shall come to pass, and the bride shall appear,
and she coming forth, shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth. And whosoever is delivered from the
aforesaid evils, shall see my wonders. For my son Jesus shall be revealed with those that be with him, and they that 
remain shall rejoice within four hundred years. After these years shall my son Christ die, and all men that have life.
And the world shall be turned into the old silence seven days, like as in the former judgments: so that no man shall
remain." Secondly, because time has convicted Esdras of falsehood, when speaking of the age of the world and the
time which it had still to last, he definitely says in the tenth, eleventh, anel twelfth verses of the fourteenth chapter
of his Second Book: "For the world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax old. For the world is divided
into twelve parts, and the ten parts of it are gone already, and half '!I a tenth part: and there remaineth that which
is after the half of the tenth part." But how, according to Scripture chronology, -- the age in which Esdras lived being





NOTES. 387

considered, and the time which has since elapsed, -- can the declaration contained in the chapter referred to be considered
otherwise than as manifestly false? At the same time we cannot omit to notice here an analogous usage
of the Jews and the Mexicans, -- that of dividing time into a certain number of ages; nor refrain from observing that
the expression of Esdras like as in the former judgments affords an indication that he at least, and perhaps many
other Jews in his age, believed, like the Mexicans, that the worId had been several times destroyed. Thirdly,
because if the apocryphal Books of Esdras are to be considered as inspired, the other books of the Apocrypha
which possess equal claim to inspiration must be considered inspired likewise: but some of these History convicts
of falsehood, and others are replete with absurdities: for example, the united testimony of all profane historians
contradicts the account given in the first chapter of the First Book of Maccabees, of Alexander the Great dividing
during his life-time his kingdom; and nothing can be more absurd than the eighth chapter of the Book of Tobit.
We trust that the reasons which have been adduced for rejecting as inspired the testimony of Esdras, will induce
those who may in future discuss so obscure a question in history as the time when, and the passage by which,
the Jews migrated to America, not to refer to that author in proof of their marvellous journey by dry land through
the midst of the Euphrates; since it is evidently borrowed from the Mosaic history of the division of the waters of
the Red Sea, at which it may be observed Esdras elsewhere glances, when he says that God spoke to him out of a
hush, as ages before he had done to Moses. We have already alluded to several causes which conspired to spread
the veil of oblivion over the history of the New World; to which may be added, that the attention of the learned in
Europe, at the latter end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, was diverted from dwelling long
upon anyone event, by the magnitude of others, which had either recently happened or which were continually
occurring around them, such as were the magic effects of the art of printing, and the rescuing from oblivion many
of the long-lost works of antiquity; the progress of the Reformation, the destruction of the Greek empire, and the
gigantic and sudden growth of the Ottoman power in Europe; as also the Portuguese discoveries in the East.
Europe in fact knew and cared very little in the sixteenth century about the proceedings of the Spanish Inquisition
and the clergy in America. Since, however, nothing will now tend so much as free discussion to throw light upon
a most mysterious page of history, we shall conclude these remarks by citing, -- in anticipation to the objections
of those who may choose to contend that Jewish antiquities will be profaned by coming in contact with Mexican,a
passage from Aristotle's Treatise on Rhetoric, that contains an argument which furnishes a complete refutation
to all the reasoning of those who in the present day assert (protesting by so doing against the very principle of
the Reformation) that it is for the interest of Religion, that the truths which she teaches, and the ordinances of
Leviticus and Deuteronomy, should be part and parcel of the law of England; which is in other words to deny the
truth of that approved motto of antiquity, "Magna est veritas et prrevalebit;" to maintain that error is in its nature
superior to truth, darkness to light, and evil to good; and to attempt to compel the people to acknowledge by
means of excessive fines and arbitrary imprisonment, that the Jews were the chosen people of God. The Brahmin
who pronounced Pope's Universal Prayer to be deserving of being inscribed in golden letters upon a tablet in the
temple of Vishnou, would probably have judged this sentence of the Stagirite worthy to have been uttered by
the lips of Brahma, to whom hypocrites were odious, since hypocrisy is here met on its own ground of argument,
and left altogether without a reply: "Ai.. TaA~8~ Kat Ta {3eAT<W TV cpua...vauAA0'llaTOTepa Kal ",8aVWTepa, W~ a7rAw~
ei7r€lv, (fial TWV EvaVTlwv.)" -- "That which is true, and by its own nature better, can always, simply speaking, be more
easily reduced to argumentative form, and is more persuasive than that with which it is at issue." It must be
confessed that the wisest of philosophers pays here only a just homage to truth; since the doctrine that it should be
believed but not contradicted at once destroys its great test, which is the willing assent of mankind.


SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS.

Four and eight were very favourite numbers among the Mexicans. They fasted every fourth year eight days, m
memory of the destructions of the world, and every eighth year four days in recollection of the fall of man. But
besides the invention of fasts and feasts as a method of keeping alive religious reminiscences (in which they strongly
resembled the Jews), they devised other means. And if we may believe Boturini, the Tultecas actually built towers




388 NOTES.

in memory of the tower of Babel, -- perhaps he might have said of the temple of Jerusalem. It would also appear
from a drawing in the collection of M. Dupaix, representing a curious coin obtained by him in the city of Ciudad
Real, that they recorded in m,;dals the temptation of Eve and the loss of Paradise. Boturini, in the 113th page of
his Idea of a New General History of North America, says, "The Indians likewise celebrated their said origin in
ancient songs, and retained such perfect recollection of the Tower of Babel, that they sought to imitate it in various
monstrous edifices of the New World." "Celebraron assimismo los Indios su dicho origen en antiguo8 cantares, y
tuvieron tan viva la memoria de la Torre de Babel, que la quisieron imitar en America con varios monstruosos
edificios."

Never was there a nation that attached the importance which the Jews did to types and memorials. In their
persons, on their clothes, in their eating and drinking, in what would be considered the most indifferent actions
of life, the past and the future were ever present before their eyes. Circumcision reminded them of their
covenant with God, which nevertheless they were continually breaking; their fringes and the phylacteries which
they wore on their foreheads, of the obligation imposed upon them to keep his laws; their not eating the sinew
of the thigh of a sheep or of any other animal, of Jacob's wrestling and prevailing with God, when the sinew of
his thigh shrank. Hence it is not too much to suppose, without going so far back as to the rem of the tower of
Babel, that the Jews did on their arrival in America, and on their acquiring wealth and power in that continent,
determine to commemorate their ancient temple, by building there other temples of great magnificence in imitation
of it; such as were the temple of Pachacama, (or of the Creator,) situated at the distance of four miles from the city
of Lima; and the greater temple of Mexico. The foundatioll stones of the former of these temples are said by some
Spanish writers to have been soldered together with gold and silver, and the interior was plated with gold; as was also
the still more famous temple in Cusco, which was likewise dedicated to Pachacama, who, as the priests pretended, delivered
oracular answers to those who came to inquire of him. The Tultecas, who were great artists, and who excelled in
working in jewellery, an art, the name of which both in French and English is derived from the proper name Jew,
probably recollected that exclamation of David in the Psalms: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand
forget her cunning." But David alludes more particularly to the temple: and it is a fact notorious to all, that
wherever Jews exist, the recollection of their temple and of its destruction is preserved amongst them; and the
coming of the Messiah, their own restoration, the New Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of the temple, continually occupy
their thoughts. Do such feelings, we may inquire, proceed from religion or from patriotism? From the latter we
should be inclined to imagine, kept up and cherished by the Rabbis; for what Christians believe religiously, the
Jews believe patriotically.

The retrospect, however, of the city and the,holy hill, which their ancestors seem to have founded in the New
World, and called Churula after Jerusalem, and Tlachihualtepetl (or the Hill of Sacrifice) after Mount Sion, will not be
50 agreeable to the Jews of the present age as the prospect of the 'sceptre returniug to Israel.' Many customs of the
Mexicans, strongly savouring of Judaism, besides that of circumcision, have already been noticed: such as their wearing
fringes fastened to their garments; practising frequent ablutions; attending constantly public places of worship, to
which they were summoned by the blowing of horus, as the Jews are to the synagogues; anointing themselves with
oils; addressing each other with the appellation of Brother * and Sister; their priests allowing their hair to'grow long


-----
* Sahagun, in the first section of the twenty-ninth chapter of the tenth book of his History of New Spain describing the manners of the
ancient Tultecas, says that they were accustomed to address each other by the appellation of Brother and Sister: "Estos dichos Tultecas
eran buenos hombres y allegados ala virtud, porque no decian mentiras, y su manera de hablar y saludarse unos a. otros era, SenoT, y Senor;
hermano mayor, y Seilor hermano menor, y su habla en lugar de juramento era, es verdad, es asi, asi es, esta averiguado, y si por si, y no
por no." "The said Tultecas were good men, who studied virtue in their actions, for they never uttered a falsehood; and their style of
address and salutation was Sir, or Sir my elder brother, or Sir my younger brother. In speaking they never made use of an oath, but said
verily, or so it is, or it is so, or it is true, or yea, yea, nay, nay." There is something evangelical in the style of salutation and affirmation
which Sahagun in the above passage ascribes to the Tultecas; and since that author says in the fourteenth section of the same chapter of
the ancestors of the Mexicans, that they believed life to be a dream or sleep, from which the dead awoke. If that notion had been borrowed
from the Jews or the primitive Christians, how admirably it would illustrate the following passage of the ninth chapter of the
Gospel of Saint Matthew: "And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said
unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn."




NOTES. 389

like Nazarites, though some were tonsured *; their frequently doing penance, strewing dust on their heads, and
blackening themselves with ashes as a sign of mortification, and eating earth + at the festival of Tetzcatlipoca. ++
But something remains to be said of the external religious marks or signs which both the Jews and the Mexicans
wore on their faces and bodies. In the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, the following ordinance occurs: "And it shall
be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy
mouth." As among the Jews the head, as being the nobler part of the body and the seat of reason, was adjudged
the place most worthy of receiving the memorials of the law, -- so among the Mexicans the nose and ears, parts
corresponding to the eyes and temples of the Jews, were the places destined to receive their religious badges or
memorials. It is impossible, on viewing the singular symbols attached to the noses of many of the figures
represented in the Mexican paintings, not to imagine that they were religious memorials, or to refrain from
instituting a comparison between them and those worn by the Jews, especially as they seem to contain obvious
Hebrew allusions. The reversed temple or teo calli might have been worn by the Mexicans as a memorial of the
destruction of the second temple; as the feasts of Purim, and of the dedication of the temple in the days of Judas
Maccahreus, were instituted by the Jews in ages long after that of Moses, -- one of them at least being a civil rather
than a religious enactment, although religiously observed. The serpent which is sometimes substituted in the place
of the teocalli, might have alluded to the temptation of Eve; since the fall of man and the loss of Paradise were
events which the Spaniards found the Mexicans in the sixteenth century still bewailing. But the amphisbrella or
double-headed serpent probably refers to the two cltiefs designated by the common name of Ometeuli, and frequently
represented in the Mexican paintings by the figure of two persons seated back to back, the one holding a
serpent and the other a rod in his hand. This figure occurs in the forty-second page of the Borgian painting, and


-----
* The priests who were tonsured professed to follow the example of Totec, who was otherwise called Xippe, which name, according
to Torquemada, signifies bald or tonsured. "Este demonio Xippe, que quiere decir, Calvo 6 Ate9ado, era mui temido de todos,
y por esta causa mui honrado, en especial porque tenian por eoaa mui cierta y averiguada, de tiempos mui antiguos, que daba muchas
enfermedades a los que no Ie hanrahan, y sacrificaban; y las mas ordinarias de las que Ie atribuian, eran viruelas, hinchac;ones, apostemas,
sarna, y enfermedad de ojos." It is recorded in the eleventh verse of the thirteenth chapter of the Acts, that Saint Paul struck the sorcerer
Elymas blind. The proper name Xippe is variously written Xipe, Chipe, and Thipe; and Totec is sometimes added to it.
t The Jews considered eating earth a mark of the greatest humility and reverence, as we learn from the twenty-third verse of the fortyninth
chapter of Isaiah; where, speaking of the return of his own countrymen to their native lano, and the homage which other nations
would then show them, he says, "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to
thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord." Looking on the ground
and averting the eye from the face of persons greatly their superiors, as well as strewing brauches on their road, were equally signs of
reverence amongst the Jews and Mexicans.

+ The Mexicans appear to have borrowed other customs from the Jews; such as the complimentary ceremony of offering strangers water
in which to wash their feet; in reference to which it is to be supposed the festival which was given by the Mexican merchants to their
friends and kindred on their return home from traffiCking in foreign parts, which is described in the nineteenth chapter of the First Book of
Sahagun's History of New Spain, was named Lavatorio de pies. Excommunication likewise, or putting out of the synagogue, seems to
have been imitated by the Mexicans in a practice which is noticed by Sahagun in the fonowing passage of the twentieth chapter of his
Second Book: It Si alguno de los ministros del templo, y otros que llamaban Qllaquavilti, y los viejos, se volvian a sus casas y no Uegaban
a donde habian de matar los ninos, tenianlos por infames e indignos de ningun oficio publico, de hay adelante lIamanlos Mocauhque que
quiere decir dexados." "If any of those who officiated in the service of the temple, or others who were designated Quaquavilti, or the
old, returned home without going to the place where the children were to be sacrificed, they were accounted infamous and unworthy of
holding any public office, and were named thenceforwards Mocauhque, which signifies put out." Sahagun observes, in the twenty-first
chapter of his Second Book, that some of the Mexican soldiers were instructed in the use of the left hand in battle instead of the right: and
a passage occurs in the Old Testament in which soldiers who fought left-handed are mentioned in terms expressive of some admiration.
It may appear diverging into another train of argnment to remark, that Coatl (the signification of which is a serpent, and which was a very
common proper name amongst the Mexicans,) corresponds in some measure to the Hebrew name Nehushtan, which, as we learn from the
eighth verse of the twenty.third chapter of the Second Book of Kings, was that which was borne by the mother of Jehoiachin king of
Judah. Lest we should omit (by reserving for another place) mention of a mysterious fact, we sban here observe, that it is singular
that the Spanish Inquisition should have caused Saint Andrew's crosses to be painted upon the dresses of Jews sentenced to be
burnt at the solemnization of acts of faith, as Basnage asserts in the twenty-eighth section of the twenty-first chapter of the Seventh Book of
his History of the Jews; since that symbol, as weU as a cross resembling in shape the Greek letter T, which was in Naples a badge of disgrace
which the Jews were compelled to wear to distinguish them from the rest of the community, is not of unusual occurrence in Mexican
paintings. And the question is curious, what gave rise to the use of these symbols amongst the Mexicans? and what made Christians select
them as ignominious marks by which to stigmatize judaism ~ since the coincidence seems extraordinary.




390 NOTES.

in the twenty-first page of the Mexican painting preserved in the Library of the Vatican. Whatever may have been the
attributes which the Mexicans assigned to these two chiefs, their countenances are terrific like those of all their other
deities. That they exercised some influence over the good or bad fortune of the days of the year, and that divination
or medicinal cures were pcrformed by means of the signs allotted to the different parts of their bodies, seems to be
clearly expressed in these paintings. It may here be proper to observe, that the Italian interpreter of the Codex
Vaticanus is mistaken in attributing the signification of the Trinity, or the place of the Trinity, to the Mexican proper
names Ometeuli and Omeyoea; for ome in the Mexican language is two and not three, -- yey being the term by which
to express the latter number: neither does teuli mean a god but a chief; since the Mexican names for Goel were
teot! and teutl, to which tecutli or tlato, words which signify lord or king, were sometimes added. The Mexicans,
as Torquemada observes, called the Spaniards teulis long after they had full proof that their actions were by no
means divine, and when they had killed many of them. But they never named them teotl or gods; and it was the
vanity of the Spaniards that induced them to boast that the Indians believed them to be, or called them, gods;
Cortes himself excepted, whom they at first supposed to be Quecalcoatl. The three different kinds of symbols
which the Mexicans wore on the lower part of their faces having been noticed, and their probable allusions
explained, it may be proper to institute a closer comparison betwecn them and the Hebrew memorials: nor will
it avail the Jews to say, should they wish to disclaim consanguinity with the Mexicans, that departure from ancient
precedent, -- either as to the place on the face on which these memorials were to be worn, or in the form itself of the
jewel or ornament appended, or in the substitution of an historical for a moral allusion, -- furnishes any serious
argument against the supposition here advanced; for departure from precedent is more justifiable than the abolition
of a divine law. And what has become of their phylacteries, and of the memorial between their eyes? Why have
they discontinued the observance of a statute which was ordained to be kept throughout their generations? It
would really appear that the Jews, whenever occasion requires or a difficulty occurs, understand the words always,
for ever, and throughout their generations, in a contrary sense to that which they usually bear: but they ought to
know that if they interpret Scripture thus, it is the same thing as divesting language of the property of truth or
falsehood; and that this latitude of interpretation renders the task of convicting any of their doctrines of inconsistency
absolutely impossible.

It may very reasonably be doubted whether the Jews of the present day know exactly the nature of the memorial
which their ancestors wore between their eyes: Some believe it to have been a jewel which was fastened on the top
of the nose between the eyes. If this opinion be correct, the change of place from the upper to the lower part of
the nose would be no great deviation from ancient usage or the letter of the law; since the memorial would still be
between their eyes, and the greater convenience of fastening it might in the first instance have caused the transition.
But if it be objected, that it was customary with the Jews to wear a jewel, but that the Mexican symbols were an
ornament of a different kind, it must be recollected that the expression "jewels of gold and jewels of silver' occurs
in Scripture without any reference to precious stones; and that the reversed temple worn by the Mexicans was a
plate of gold or of silver, and consequently a jewel of one of those metals. Coati likewise, the primitive meaning
of which in the Mexican language is a serpent, and the secondary signification a twin, is said by some writers
to mean a gem also; in the same way as the Latin word gemma is derived from gemellus, the same analogies
suggesting the use of this metaphor in both languages; for we associate with a gem the idea of harmony and exact
correspondence with something else of the same kind. If, therefore, coatl signified in the Mexican language both
a serpent and a gem, and the Mexicans considered it a religious duty to wear a coatl as a memorial, they might have
worn indifferently either a plate of gold or a serpent. Other nations have also worn ornaments on the head as
memorials. Unlike as the Greeks were in every respect to the Jews, whose wisdom appeared even foolishness in
their eyes, still Thucydides records that the Athenians wore golden grasshoppers in their hair as a memorial of
their origin, that they were not descended from foreign tribes, but sprung from the earth which they then inhabited.
This, however, was a civil and not a religious institution. If memorials were in nse in Greece, they consisted
of solemn games, instituted in commemoration of departed heroes, whose souls they imagined were enjoying
happiness in the Elysian Fields, or translated to the society of the immortal gods. A greater calumny has never
been uttered against the most famous men of antiquity, than that of denying that they believed in the immortality
of the soul, or in a future state of rewards and punishments. And since the Jews have been very forward in making
this accusation, we may be permitted to ask them, what gave rise to the bitter hatred which existed between their



NOTES. 391

two most famous sects, of Pharisees and Sadducees; and how, since both appealed to the written word of God
and to the law of Moses, could they have interpreted the Scriptures in such a manner as to elicit contrary doctrines
from them on such a great question as that of the resurrection? If it be true, (and it is a remarkable truth,) that the
Mosaic code of laws, voluminous as it is, and delivered as it was from Mount Sinai, contains no allusions to a future
state of rewards and punishments or to an after life, but only promises temporal rewards to virtue; such as long
life, riches, abundant seasons and rain, victory over the enemy, freedom from pestilence, famine, and invasion;
denouncing corresponding evils against the wicked, as may be seen in the twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus, and in
almost every chapter of the Pentateuch; the Sadducees might perhaps have opposed the silence of Moses and of
God in the Pentateuch, to what they considered the inferior authority of the Book of Job, supposing that if such
important doctrines as those of a future life and of a state of rewards and punishments after death had been taught
from the chair of Moses, to which all bowed, they would have been repeated over and over again distinctly in the
Pentateuch, as was the case with other inferior points of the law, and would not have been obscurely alluded to in
such vague terms as that of 'showing mercy unto thousands.' Being Jews likewise, and believing that the covenant
which they made with God was to be an everlasting covenant, they expected no new dispensation; and the essence
of a covenant being the conditions of which it consists, those conditions being changed, the covenant does not
remain the same: and hence they might have supposed that the insertion of any new articles in that which God
had made with their fathers, would be falsifying the oath which he sware unto Abraham and unto Isaac and unto
Jacob, which did not contemplate the abolition of the old law, and was totally silent on the subject of the immortality
of the soul and a future state of rewards and punishments. And since it is said of Moses, in the last chapter
of Deuteronomy, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face," they might have been unwilling to receive from later and inferior prophets, doctrines which had not been
revealed to him, and therefore have rejected those vital articles which Moses knew that the Egyptians held most
sacred. That the ancients fully believed in the immortality of the soul, and in a divine retribution in another world
for good or evil actions performed in this, is attested by the surviving works of their greatest philosophers and
poets. Aristotle's hymn, beginning with the words "'ApeT~ 7roAvl'ox9a 'Ieve! {3POT€Ut'," would alone be sufficient to
vindicate Philosophy from the unfounded charge of atheism; and the odes of Pin dar perpetually inculcate the same
salutary doctrines. Five hundred years before the Christian rera, the Greeks assembled at the Olympic games
listened with rapture to the following verses of the Theban bard, in which he describes the rewards and punishments
of a future state. "Ei 8e,.uv EX€L 'TIt;, O;~€V 'TO,ueAAov, o"n OaVOVTWV (-'Ell Ev9a8' a~T"tK' d.1raAap.vol tj>pevet:; ?rOtva€; €TtO'av; 'Ta S' Ell
'T~8€.6.t04; apXf!- dA1Tpa KaTa '"'lac. 8lKa4€' nc., €XfJprt AO)'OV <j>paaac; ava'YK~. iaov8e VlIKTEt1atV aiEL, iaa S' ell «!'Epatt; aAWV EXOVT€C;,
a7rOVeC1T€pOV eaOAot V€f'oV'Tat (3LOTOV; ou x()ova TapaUUOVTEC aAK<,.l xepwv, ov8e 1TOVTWV v8wp KeLvav 1Topa 8taL,.av; aAAa 1Tapa pev
..0,.'~.~., ~., ' ' Tlf'Wtl: vewv O,,.LV€I; EXa,pOV WOpKtaU;, aOaKplJV vef'oVTaL alwva; TOl 0 a1TpoaopaTOV OKxeOVTt 1TOVOV; OO'OL 0 ETOl\ltaO'av EI; Tptt;,
€KaTepw(), p.elvaIlTel;, a1l"0 7raf'1Tav a8lKWV €XELV tfliXav, ETelAav b.wl; 080v trapa Kpovoll 'TVpO'lV, EvOn IlaKapwv vaO'oll wKEav,8Et; avpar..
1TEpmveOV0'1V, avBetta 8e xpvaOlJ CPAE'YEl,'Ta ",ev xepao(}ev a1T' ayAawll 8ev8pewv, v8wp 8' aXAa cpep{3et, opp.otat TWV xepae; ava7rAeKOVTL
Kal aTE'At.'.a VOll;, {oV3lat'e;" el l opuaa te; 'Pa"oa f'av9 vot;, 'ov 7TaTYJp e'xEKt povoe; 'ET OLP01' aU. Ttf 1Tape"o pov, 1Toall; 0 7raVTWV 'peat; 'V7 TepTaTOV
, a IT ' K ttl'  'A ',.,., Z ','  exou:mt; upovov; YJIEVC; T€ KaL ao,uOI; EV TOleJ'tv aIE1ov1"'a" X,IIEa 1'" eVElK €1TEL YJvor, TlTOP I\lTa(c; E7rElaE p.aTtJP'
To return to the consideration of the memorials in use among the J ews. -- That which was placed between their
eyes was not the only one which they wore on their faces. They fastened phylacteries likewise to their temples,
which were pieces of paper containing written portions of the law. Memorials of this kind the Mexicans, who were
not acquainted with the art of writing, could not have worn; but the Zemes, or charms, which Peter Martyr says that
the Indians of Haiti, or the island of Saint Domingo, bound on their foreheads when they went to war, seem to have
been a remnant of Jewish superstition: nor, when we recollect that the Jews laid the foundation of their cabalistic
art in Scripture, and used the letters of the divine name, or the tetragram, in their magical incantations, need we feel
at all surprised that the Hebrew phylacteries should have degenerated into Zemes? Some persons may feel inclined
to suppose that the Mexicans substituted for those phylacteries pieces of cloth or cotton, which they inserted in their
ears; since the former ceasing to contain portions of Scripture, and their use and intention having been probably
long forgotten, they could have only been looked upon as religious ornaments, which it might have been found more
convenient to wear in the ears than to fasten to the hair above the temples: -- boring the ears for the reception of
these ornaments was a religious ceremony amongst the Mexicans and the Peruvians, which Acosta and Torquemada
both record. The former of these writers, in the twenty-eighth chapter of the Fifth Book of his Natural History of



392 NOTES.

the Indies, says of the Peruvians: "Hoc mense (Ayamara), qui nobis November est, pro pueris istis quibus postero
mense aures pertundendre erant, necessaria omnia parabantur, et seniores lustrabantur." "In this month (Ayamara),
which is November with us, every thing necessary was prepared for those boys whose ears were to be bored in the
following month, and the elders purified themselves, and other similar preparations were made." And Torquemada, in
the thirtieth chapter of the Tenth Book of the Indian Monarchy, describes the Mexican ceremony which took place
on the last festival of their year, which was named that of Xiuhtecutli: * "Este mismo dia luego en riyendo el alva,
comen~aban a agugerar las orejas a los nifios, y los be<;,os de la boca, y hechavanles en las cabe<;as un casco de plumas
de papagaio pegado con oco~otl, que es resina de pino, dando a todos los nifio·s y nifias sus padrinos y madrinas,
para que los instruiescn y ensefiasen en las ceremonias y servicio de este y de todos los otros dioeses." "On this same
day when morning dawned, they began to pierce the ears and the lips of the boys, and to pnt upon their heads
a plume of parrots' feathers glued together with oco~otl, which is resin of the pine, giving to all the boys and girls
their own godfathers and godmothers, in order that they might teach and instruct them in the ceremonies and services
of this and of all the other gods."

This accordance in the practice of an arbitrary rite in the case of two nations, so remote from each other and so
different as were the Mexicans and the Peruvians, might lead ns to expect a correspondence in some of their other
rites and ceremonies: and since Boturini informs us that he discovered one of those knotted cords called by the
Pernvians Quipus, and by the Mexicans Nepohnaltzitzin, in the possession of a principal Indian of the province
of Tlaxcallan (although he adds, "Estaba tan carcomido de la antiguedad, que solo me pudo instruir de que los huvo,
aunque escasos." (" It was so consumed by age, that it only served to convince me that they had been used,
although sparingly"), -- it would appear equally probable that paintings resembling those of the Mexicans, had
formerly existed in Peru, although consigned to perpetual oblivion by the prudence of those who thought that
such documents had better never be brought to light. The same reason may be assigned for Enrope after the
lapse of three centuries, being, before the publication of the American Monuments of Baron de Humboldt, ignorant
whether the soil of the New World possessed any remarkable monuments of antiquity. Garcia citing Laet,
and likewise on his own authority, says that paintings were used in Peru, but that the style of their execution
was rude; which he seems to have inferred from the inspection of some confessional paintings of the Peruvians.
We have had an opportunity of seeing some specimens of a similar nature, painted by the Mexicans after their
conversion to Christianity, exceedingly rude, in which hardly a trace of the old style of Mexican painting can
be discerned: and the same may have been the case with the later Peruvian paintings, from which it would be
wrong to form an estimate of the degree of excellence which the art of painting had attained in the time of the
lngas; since it is probable, that, identified with the fables of a false religion, it was speedily consigned with them
to oblivion. It is certainly very extraordinary to find from the "Oronoco Illustrado" of Gumilla, and Coreat's
Voyages to the West Indies, that Indian nations so remote from each other as those of the Oronoco and the tribes
who lived on the confines of Peru on the banks of the La Plata, as well as the Chalchaques, a people situated
between Peru and Tucuman, all used circumcision, and strictly abstained from the flesh of swine. Captain Cook
also discovered that circumcision had extended itself to the Islands of the South Sea. How, to use the words of
Gumilla, are these moral phrenomena to be explained? That the Jews were always eager to make proselytes, and,
like Saint Paul before he became a Christian, would not hesitate to employ force as well as persuasion to effect
conversion, is a notorious fact; and circumcision being amongst them, what baptism is with Christians, a means of
grace, and the rite by which in fact a heathen was admitted to be a Jewt, it is highly probable that their zeal, or


-----
* Xiuhtl in the Mexican language signifies blue, and hence was a name which the Mexicans gave to heaven, from which Xiuhtecutli
is derived; an epithet signifying' the God of heaven,' which the Mexicans bestowed upon Tezcatlipoca or Tonacatecutli, WilD alone ilJas
painted with a crown, as Lord of all; as the interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis affirms in the l07th page of the Translation, to
whom they assigned thefirst and the last places in their calendar, emphatically styling him the god of fire. Xiuhtl also signifies a year (from
the sensible dependence of the seasons upon the sky), and a crop of grass (because vegetation ushers in the new year); and Xiuhtecutli
may bear the other interpretation of the god of years, or the everlasting one; which connected with the Mexican notion of fire, being the
element more peculiarly sacred to him, recalls to our recollection the ninth and tenth verses of the seventh chapter of Daniel, descriptive
of the vision in which he beheld the Ancient of days, from before whom issued a fiery stream, and whose throne was like the fiery flame.

+ The fifteenth chapter of the Acts is very remarkable, as not only showing how early dissensions crept into the church, but how unsettled
were its doctrines on some material points. It is singular that none of the Apostles should have silenced the believing Pharisees
by declaring the sentiments of Christ upon the subject of circumcision.




NOT E S. 393
rather the rage for proselytism which animated them in the early ages, introduced circumcision amongst the Indians.
From an examination of some of the Mexican paintings, it would appear that circumcision amongst the Indians was
not confined to the human species. But the Bible alone informs us that the Jews sometimes circumcised their slain
enemies, -- an example of which is recorded in the twenty-seventh verse of the eighteenth chapter of the First Book
of Samuel.
The Mexicans, besides using this rite, marked the breasts and arms of their children on the festival of Toxcatl with
another sign or token, which Torquemada compares, in the following passage of the sixteenth chapter of the tenth
book of his Indian Monarchy, with the analogous ceremony of marking the sign of the cross upon the breasts and
the foreheads of the faithful amongst Christians with the holy oil or chrism: "It is no slight thing to note, that on
this day the priests made a scar on the breasts and stomachs of all the male and female children, and on the wrists
and fleshy parts of the arms of others, imprinting them as it were with the iron and mark of the Devil, to whose
service they offered them, in order that they might be known as his, in the same way as God commands that those of
his fold should be anointed on their breasts with the holy oil, and on their foreheads with the most blessed cross of his
passion and death; since this is the sign with which God is accustomed to mark those who are his, as circumcision
was formerly amongst his ancient people, which is now the cross and the holy chrism. Hence Saint John bade the
persecutors and murderers desist from their work of slaughter until the people of God and his servants were marked
on their foreheads, since this is a kind of sign by which he distinguishes those who are his, as the owners of cattle
mark their herds with some particular print or sign." Whether the Indians of the Island of Saint Domingo and of
Cuba, -- whose language is said to have been half Hebrew, and who in many of their customs nearly resembled the
Jews, -- practised the same rites as those in use amongst the Indians of the continent, it would be difficult to say;
but that they possessed traditions in common with them, evidently derived from a Hebrew source, is plain from the
following relation of Torquemada, which we cannot refrain from inserting here in the original Spanish: "Verdad
es que los de los Indios de la Isla de Cuba dicen que tuvieron conocimiento que havia sido el cielo y las otras cosas
criadas; y decian que por tres personas, y que la una vi no por tal parte, y las otras dos de otras; y que tuvieron
gran noticia del diluvio, y que se havia perdido:el mundo por mucha agua; y decian los viejos de mas de setenta y
ochenta anos, luego al principio que eutraron los nuestros en equella isla, que un viejo sabiendo que havia de venir
el diluvio, hi~o una grande nao, y se meti6 en ella con su casa y muchos animales, y que embi6 un cuervo, y no
bolvi6 por comer de los cuerpos muertos, y que despues embi6 una paloma, la qual bolvi6 cantando, y trajo una
rama con hoja que parecia hobo, pero que no era hobo; el qual sali6 del navio, y hi~o vino de las parras monteses, y
se embriag6; y teniendo dos hijos, el uno se ri6 y dijo al otro, Hechcmonos con el; pero que el otro Ie rino, y cubri6
al padre; el qual despues de dormido el vino, y sabida la desverguen~a de el hijo, Ie maldijo; y que al otro di6
bendiciones, y que de aquel havian procedido los Indios de estas tierras; y que por esto no tenian saios ni cap"s;
pero que los Castellanos procedian del otro, por 10 qual andaban vestidos, y ten ian cavallos. Lo sobredicho refiri6
un Indio viej 0 de mas de setenta anos a Gabriel de Cabrera; porque un dia rinendo con el, y llamandole perro,
respondi6 que por que Ie renia, y llamaba perro, pues todos eran hermanos? Vosotros, Ie dijo, no procedeis de un
hijo de aquel que hi~o la nao grande para salvarse del agua, y nosotros del otro? Y 10 mismo refiri6 el mismo
Indio delante de muchos Castellanos, haviendolo publicado su amo. Esto dijo aquel Indio; y parece atinar con 10
que la Sagrada Escritura dice de Noe, y de sus hijos; aunque ierra en decir que no fueron mas de dos; y si por 10
dicho quisiere alguno arguirme que estos son descendientes de Can, no se 10 concedo; pero tam poco se 10 negaria,
quando quisiese afirmarlo, por 10 que dejamos dicho; aunque caso tan dudoso y obscuro debemos remitirlo aDios,
que es c1aridad de todas las cosas y las sabe como ellas son, y no cabe duda en su saber infinito." Monarquia
Indiana, lib. xiv. cap. xix.

"It is true that the Indians of the Island of Cuba say that they knew that the heaven and other things had been
created; and they affirm by three persons, one of whom came from such a part, and the other two from" other parts;
that they were perfectly informed also of the deluge, and that the world had been destroyed by a quantity of water.
The old men above seventy and eighty years of age reported, when first our countrymen settled in that island, that
an old man knowing that the deluge was abont to happen, bnilt a large ship, in which he embarked with his honsehold
and many animals, and that he dispatched from thence a crow, which did not retnrn, staying to prey upon the
dead carcases; and that he afterwards sent a dove, which came back cooing, bringing a leafy branch which resembled
a hop, although not one: on which he qnitted the ship, and made wine of mountain grapes and became drunk; and



394 NOTES.

having two sons, one of them laughed, and said to the other, Turn him into jest; but the other reproved him, and
covered his father; who having slept off the effects of the. wine, and knowing the impudence of his son, cursed him, and
pronounced a blessing on the other: and that from the former of these the Indians of those countries were descended,
who on that account were without coats and cloaks: but that the Spaniards proceeded from the other, and were
therefore well apparelled and rode horses. The above story was told by an old Indiau more than seventy years of
age to Gabriel de Cabrera; who quarrelling with him on a certain day, and calling him a dog, he asked him why
he quarrelled with him and named him a dog, since they were all brothers? You, (says he to him,) do you not
descend from the one son of him who built the large ship to escape from the water, and we from the other? And the
same story was told by the same Indian before many Spaniards, his master having spread it abroad. This was the
account given by that Indian: and it seems to allude to that which the Holy Scripture says of Noah and his sons;
although he errs in saying that the sons were only two: should anyone hence endeavour to persuade me that the
Indians are the descendants of Cham, I do not admit it, but neither will I deny it, should they choose to affirm it
on the grounds of what we have just stated; although we ought to leave a matter, so obscure and doubtful, to God,
who is the light of all things, and understands their nature and essence, and to whose infinite' wisdom the
portion of doubt does not fall." This curious relation Torquemada judges to be so well authenticated, that
he not only gives it a place in his History, but allows that it may serve as a basis on which to reason respecting the
origin of the Americans; although he at the same time professes that he will not be bound by the conclusions which
others might be tempted to draw from it. The tradition of the inhabitants of Cuba certainly deserves to be compared
with those of the people of Michuacan and Nicaragua, who also approximated to the Mosaic history in
their accounts of the Deluge; although the former of the last-mentioned nations believed that it was the colibri, or 
the humming-bird, and not the dove, that returned with the branch of the tree. The Indians of Chili, according to
Rosales, had likewise a tradition of the Deluge: but he observes, that shells and other fossil remains discovered in
abundance on their highest ranges of mountains, might have suggested that idea to them. And it cannot be denied
that even the sagacity of savages might have arrived at this conclusion, totally unaided by divine inspiration: nor
would it have exceeded their moral comprehension to believe that such a convulsion was caused by the sins of
mankind provoking God to vengeance. On the contrary, they would have been more inclined to attribute such an
event to that, than to any other cause; for savages and ignorant and superstitious nations are frequently disposed,
in proportion as calamities are great, which befall numbers of persons or single individuals, to attribute them to a
particular and signal divine judgment inflicted upon them for their sins: although such a mode of reasoning is
not more to be despised for its absurdity than condemned for its injustice, since it tends to deprive misfortune of
all sympathy, and to involve innocence and guilt in a common mass. That the Indians of Chili, -- reading in the
volume of Nature that their highest mountains had been submerged in the ocean, and the bones of animals mixed
with shells testifying to them that that inundation had been accompanied with a destruction of animallife, -- should
not have supposen that such an accident might have occurred in the order of the universe, is likely enough; as
likewise that their piaques, or Priests, -- who pretended to be in the sccrets of Heaven, and to have rain, thunder, and
good and bad seasons at their command, -- should have sought, by appealing to this past judgment, to render their
own denunciations of the future more probable, and to maintain by these means their ascendancy over the deluded
minds of the people. But, as Rosales observes, this argument alone is not sufficient to prove that Saint Thomas, or
any other Apostle, had preached the Gospel in Chili. It is a very remarkable fact, that the curse which Noah
in the twenty-fifth verse of the ninth chapter of Genesis pronounces against the posterity of his son Ham or Cham,
to which the traditions of the Island of Cuba evidently referred, -- "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall
he be unto his brethren;" by which expression, h=brethren, is meant mankind in general, and not the Jews in
particular; for the descendants of the three sons of Noah comprise all mankind, -- justified slavery in the eyes of
the early Christians, and of some of the Fathers of the Church; which was also sanctioned by the Mosaic laws,
and is not forbidden in the New Testament, except in the case of Christians, who were not permitted to have other
Christians for their slaves; although by the feudal laws, the ascripti gleba, or vassals of the soil, were in a
much worse situation than the domestic slaves amongst the Greeks. It cannot be denied that that is the most
goading system of slavery where the law, not content with vesting in the owner a right to the industry and personal
lahour of his slave, impowers him likewise to use cruel treatment towards him, and does not protect his honour
and civil rights by the same penal enactments and provisions as those of the other members of the community, -- as 




NOTES. 395.

in the case of the betrothed female slave amongst the Jews, the violation of whose faith was only to be punished
with scourging, whilst the other party seems to have escaped with impunity, for the reason alleged in the twentieth
verse of the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, "because she was not free." A great distinction is made, in the code of
laws professedly delivered by God himself from Mount Sinai to Moses, between slaves and those who were free, and
between Hebrew slaves and such as were bought by the Jews from other nations. It is ordained in the twenty-first
chapter of Exodus, that" if a man smite his servant, or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be
surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two he shall not be punished,Jor he is !.is money." It
would little avail a West Indian planter of the present day, if his slave died on the third day from a beating which
he had inflicted upon him on the first, to urge this obsolete Hebrew law, even in palliation of the crime of murder,
much less to excuse it. But we must recollect what God says by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, in the twentieth
chapter of his Book of Prophecies, in reference probably to this as well as to many other laws of the Pentateuch:
"Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live." The Ten
Commandments are but a small portion of the laws which Moses received from God in the various conferences
which he from time to time held with him; but the greater part of the others are inapplicable to modern times, as
may be proved from their not being fouud in the statute books of England, France, and the other enlightened states
of Europe, or from their having been expunged from them". It is said in the eighteenth and nineteenth verses of
the thirty. fourth chapter of Jeremiah, that" the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the
priests, made a covenant before God when they passed between the parts of the calf which they cut in twain." The
eunuchs, who it is siugular should be mentioned as parties to this covenaut, were slaves whom the Jewish princes
and nobles, in the true spirit of Oriental jealousy, retained in great numbers in their houses and palaces. And it is
to be supposed, as well from their being included in the covenant as from their being kept by the Jews, that the silence
of Moses sanctioned a barbarous custom amougst the owners of slaves, which Acosta observes was also prevalent in
Peru. The modern opposers of slavery (and we trust that their laudable efforts will be crowned with the fullest
success) will hardly believe that its ancient advocates justified it on the authority of the Scriptures, reasoning in the
following manner, according to Torquemada: "God created man free, and not only free, but possessing lordship: for
as soon as he had created him, he gave him the entire dominion over every thing; and made him lord over the birds
which fly in the air, and the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the earth. He created him in his own image and likeness,
and did not ordain that one man should be lord over another, which was the reason why the first righteous men
were shepherds, and not kings, that in this manner we might understand the order of nature, and the evil which resulted
from sin. The name of servant is not found in Holy Scripture, until it is related in Genesis, that righteous Noah
having drunk of the wine of the vine which he had planted, fell on the ground drunk, with his body shamefully exposed.
Cham, his son, saw him, and called his two other brothers that they might likewise see their father and turn him into
jest; but the two good sons, impressed more strongly with feelings of propriety, approached him with their faces
turned backwards, and covered him. Noah afterwards recovering from his intoxication, and knowing the turpitude
of his bad son, prouounced a malediction against Canaan, the son of Cham, and said, 'Cursed be Canaan; let him
be a servant to his brethren.' These words afford grounds for the conclusion, that captivity and servitude were the
punishment of sin; since this curse which the holy patriarch uttered, was not to avenge himself of an injury, but a
prophecy, and a denunciation of what was to befall his posterity, the descendants of Cham; and St. Chrysostom
remarks, as if wondering that a brother born of one womb, and the son of the same mother, became, on account
of the sin which he committed against his father, the slave (esclavo) of his brother; since before this fault and
transgression, servitude and slavery did not exist, for, each possessing enough to satisfy his own wants, no one
thought of deriving profit from the service of another. Saint Augustin likewise says, that God, on account of his
having created man in his own image, did not grant him dominion over men, but only over irrational animals; the


-----
* The penal laws against witchcraft were repealed some sessions ago by Farliament; and not many years before, that part of the law
relating to trials by ordeal, which was named Trial by Combat, was also repealed. It is singular that the Indians of New Grenada should
have employed a trial by ordeal nearly resembling the trial of jealousy ordained by Moses among the Jews: this curious fact is stated by
Simon, in the inedited portion of his Noticias Historiales, which work contains an interesting account of the Muyscas, a civilized people
of South America. We cannot retrain from observing, that England has much reason to be indebted to one statesman for many emendations
recently introduced into the system of her laws. It is impossible that a code modelled after the caprice of rude ages should be
as perfect as national vanity frequently pretends.'




396 NOTES.

former kind of servitude having originated in the sin of Cham the son of Noah, by reason of Ilis transgression; and
that accordingly as by the sin of man death came into the world" (as Saint Paul observes), so by the sin of Cham
came slavery (esclavonia), as the Doctors remark, and the Holy Scripture asserts, saying, 'Cursed be Canaan, let him
be the servant of the servants and domestics of his brethren.'" Remote as was this curse, and trifling comparatively
as was the cause in which it originated, it is not too much to say, that dire have been its consequences in destroying
the peace and the happiness of mankind. It has been the scourge of two vast continents, Africa and America, and
of the populous islands of the Western Atlantic sea; it has retarded the progress of civilization: and if a tree is
to be judged of by its fruit, the vine planted by Noah should be execrated by every friend of the human race. In
the breast of that holy patriarch it is true that it only awoke the hilarity of intemperance, and in that of another
the fire of unlawful lust; but it has steeled the hearts and the consciences of succeeding generations of mankind;
aud, far more cruel than the sword of Agag, it has rendered millions of mothers childless amongst women. The
Jews themselves, if they had wished to stigmatize and to brand with ignominy all the enemies of their tribe, could
not have invented a fable more proper for the purpose than what we learn from Moses in the Pentateuch to be
matter of real history. If for a moment we consider who the near and remote enemies of the Jews were, we shall
find that the lineage of all of them may be traced up to one or other of the cursed descendants of Cham, or to Lot
and his two daughters. The Moabites and the Ammonites were the bitterest enemies of the Jews; they were the
incestuous progeny of Lot. The Canaanites, the dispossessed inhabitants of the land of Canaan, who were to he
utterly destroyed, were the immediate descendants of Canaan the fourth son of Cham, who is said to have first told
his father of the intoxication and nakedness of Noah. Under this general name were comprehended many different
nations, which the Scripture declares to have been equally descended from Canaan, of which the principal were the
Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgasites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Hittites, and the
Sidonians, or Phoenicians, whose ancestor was Sidon, the eldest son of Canaan; whose posterity, notwithstanding the
curse pronounced against him by his grandfather, laid the foundation of the future glories of Carthage, the rival in
after ages of imperial Rome. The friendship which existed between Hiram king of Tyre and Solomon, may
perhaps be alleged as a proof that the Sidonians were not reckoned by the Jews amongst the number of their
enemies: but they being defacto the possessors of a territory which dejure belonged to the seed of Abraham, and
addicted to the same idolatries as the other inhabitants of the land of Canaan, were equally included by Moses in
the sentence of utter destruction; and could not, except in direct disobedience to the word of God and by the basest
duplicity, have been treated by the Jews as friends and allies: since, professing friendship to the Tyrians, the issue of
the first-born of Canaan, against whom the curse of Noah was chiefly directed, could only have been smiling to
deceive those whom they knew that they had irrevocably sworn to destroy. If the judgment pronounced by Moses
against the Phoenicians was never executed by the Jews, the only reason was, that they were too formidable a people
for them to attack; although it is probable that not without repining they beheld themselves masters of only a
comparatively small territory in Palestine, whilst their original grant comprehended all the country lying between
Egypt and the great river Euphrates, although on that side the name" horrendum late" of the kings of Babylon
was an effectual barrier to their ambition. The remaining enemies of the Jews, although with the exception of the
Philistines in a secondary degree so, were the Assyrians or Babylonians, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Philistines,
and the Edomites. All these nations were bitterly hated by them; and, although their nearest neighbours, were the
constant theme of the denunciations of their prophets; and the genealogies of all, one excepted, are traced up in
Scripture to Cham. The Assyrians were descended in the liue of Nimrod from Cush the eldest son of Cham, as
were also the Syrians; the Egyptians were the posterity of Mizraim his second son, and likewise the Philistines;
but the Edomites, who are coupled in the Psalms with the Moabites, where David speaking in the name of God in
the first person, as was usual with the Jewish prophets, says, "Moab is my wash-pot, over Edom will I cast out my
shoe," were of the seed of Abraham and of the lineage of Shem; although the Scripture has likewise affixed a stain
on their nativity, by declaring them to be of the outcast race of Esau, who sold his birthright to his brother Jacob
for a mess of pottage; Edom the eldest son of Esau, and by the mother's side a descendant from Cham, being
their progenitor. It is singular that some of the early Spanish writers who were much more inclined to believe
that the Indians were descended from the Jews than from the Canaanites, should have imagined that Yucatan was


-----
* This should silence the disputations of geologists about extinct species of animals.




NOTES. 397

named after Joktan the brother of Peleg, and the son of Heber the ancestor of the Hebrews. It has been already
observed that the Egyptians, the ancient task-masters of the children of Israel, were the offspring of Mizraim the.
son of Cham, whose slaves the Hebrews were for more than three hundred years; the curse pronounced by Noah
being for that long period of time reversed, and the enslavers in their turn the enslaved, the posterity of Shem
becoming in fact the servants of the servants of Cham. Later prophecies, however, doomed Egypt to be the basest
of kingdoms, which (according to the interpretation which many commentators put on Scripture) arts, science,
and naval and military power are never again to adorn: but modern events clearly show that these prophecies are
not to be understood in the sense which commentators choose to assign to them. Reasoning by analogy fails us
in the case of Egypt; or we should say, that if the sceptre had not departed from Judah when Shiloh came, because
Herod the Tetrarch governed in Judea as viceroy of the Cresars, -- neither is it wanting in Egypt now that, under the
Sultan, Mahomet Pacha rules that fertile region, which promises again to be the centrc of arts, industry, and civilization,
and which (let the part which its fleet took at the battle of Navarin decide) begins to resume a respectable
rank amongst nations. If it may appear surprising to some. that so remote a cause as the curse pronounced by Noah
against his son Cham should have operated by itself so powerfully in Spain and Portugal as to have laid the foundation
of the slave-trade; turning our attention nearer home, we shall find that about the same period another dead letter
text of the Pentateuch produced a traiu of consequences, not so important, because neither so lasting nor so productive
of human misery as the former, but which, nevertheless, afforded the Spanish king a pretext for sending the
Armada against England, threatening to inundate Europe with blood; and which, if queen Elizabeth had had children,
would have revived feuds as deadly as those of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, ami caused Britain to weep
as bitterly for a verse in the Old Testament, as she has made Ireland rue others contained in the New. Who
for a moment could have supposed that a law that was made only for the Jews, -- namely, that brothers should
marry brothers' widows, -- and which no other nation ever adopted, would have accelerated the progress of the Reformation,
altered the succession to the English crown, nearly plunged the country into civil war, and cost a queen of
Scotland and of France her head. There is not the least difficulty in tracing all these effects to this main, though
remote cause. If Moses had not commanded, and Christ had decided! y condemned such marriages when the Sadducees
came to him, tempting him, as was their custom, to induce him to contravene some part of the Mosaic law,
and thereby to draw on himself the indignation of the people, Julius the Second would not have granted a dispensation
to Henry the Eighth to marry Catharine of Arragon; nor would Ferdinand of Spain have given his consent,
or Henry the Seventh have solicited it. But the Pope was persuaded that where morals and not ritual observances
were in question, the doctrines of the New Testament could not impugn those contained in the Old": for although
in the case of divorces, when the Pharisees tempted Christ with the Mosaic law, which permitted a man to divorce
his wife for the most trivial causes and to marry again, his reply was, that because of the hardness of their hearts
they were permitted to do so, although it was not so in the beginning: still the case of marriages of brothers- and
sisters-in-law was very different; since the Mosaic law not only permitted but positively commanded such marriages;
and to refrain from them was to transgress the express will of God, as declared by the mouth of Moses his prophet.
When the Sadducees, therefore, who denied the doctrine of the resurrection, appealed to the laws of Moses to disprove
it; they argued on the assumption that if souls were immortal, the laws of Moses could not be just, and therefore
could not be from God; for that it would have been unjust in Moses to have deprived the first husband at the resurrection
of his wife, by compelling her to invalidate her former by a later contract. The reply of Christ to the Sadducees
is remarkable, not so much on account of the assurance which he gives them that marriages do not take place in a
future state, as because he omits the opportunity which presented itself of expressing any opinion on these Hebrew
marriages; although on another occasion he censured the frequent divorces of the Jews, which the law of Moses
authorized. And therefore it is the more astonishing that those divines, who on account of their denying the supremacy
of the Pope have been named the champions of the Reformation, should have shared Henry's antipathy to
one part of the Mosaic law which had not been condemned by Christ, and yet have retained a strong predilection for
another which he had formally disapproved: for although they protested against the king's marriage, they did not


-----
* This point being conceded, the question reduced itself simply to the consideration of whether the Pope had a right to dispense with
the obligations of the Canon Law, which England, by becoming party to a treaty that was to guarantee the throne of Portugal to the legitimate
issue of the house of Bra~anza, was lately disposed tacitly to admit.




398 NOTES.

protest against his numerous divorces; nor did a conscientious scruple arise in their minds, as to whether the unfortunate
women whom he beheaded during the life-time of Catharine of Arragon could be really guilty of the crime of
adultery; or in other words, whether they were in point of law his wives. Assuredly if such marriages as are here alluded
to had been instituted amongst any other nation than the Jews, or by any other legislator than Moses, they would
have incurred lasting infamy; and later ages would not have hesitated to have imputed them to the sordid avarice of
the people amongst whom they were encouraged, who recurred to such means to secure to families the dowry which
the marriage of the widow into another family would have deprived them of. Even amongst the Jews, (if we may be
permitted to attempt to penetrate the designs of Moses,) the securing the dowry and inheritance of the widow to the
family of her deceased husband, -- which could only be done by a compulsory law,obliging her to marry his next brother,
 -- was as much the object of the Hebrew legislator, as the other plea of raising up seed to the elder brother in Israel:
for the Jewish laws, which aimed by every possible means at increase of population, -- unlike those of most other
nations, which had a greater regard for female delicacy, -- not only sanctioned but commanded, under the penalty of
legal disgrace, reiterated marriages to widows. And hence we have an example in the New Testament ofa woman who
married seven brothers in succession and survived them all, who if a Romau matron had expostulated with her on
her conduct, would probably have scornfully demanded of her, "Id cinerem, aut manes, credis curare sepultos ?" -- so
different are the manners and ways of thinking of different countries, and so repugnant were the morals of the Jews
to those of the Romans and the Greeks! It is easy to see the distinction which Moses makes between the sanction
which he gave to divorces, and the obliga'tion which he imposed on brothers to marry brothers' widows: but if
further proof be wanting to show that the latter law was not only permissive but imperative, it is afforded in the
example of divine punishment which Scripture holds out to the disobedient, in the history of Judah and his three
sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. This history is contained in the thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis; and two things are
very remarkable in it: The first is, that although special inspiration had not informed the more ancient patriarchs
that they ought not to marry their own sisters, it had revealed to them the law of circumcision, and of raising up
seed to an elder brother, which four hundred years later were again to be ratified amidst thunder and lightning from
Mount Sinai; since, except on this supposition, Judah's command to Onan in the eighth verse of the same chapter,
and his apology for Tamar in the twenty-sixth verse," She hath been more righteous than I," (after having previously
ordered her to be brought forth and burnt,) would be quite inexplicable, or would involve that patriarch by his own
confession in a crime somewhat analogous to that which drew down his father's curse on his eldest brother Reuben.
The other is, that Saint Matthew in the first chapter of his Gospel traces up the genealogy of the Messiah, (who,
according to ancient prophecy, was to be of the tribe of Judah,) to Judah and Tamar through Phares, which doubtless
involves a mystery which has not been suffered to pass unheeded by the ancient commentators on Scripture; as
here it was not the younger brother, but the father himself, who raised up seed to his eldest son, and preserved his
own name in Israel. Since the reflux of religious opinions is generally as violent as their resistless tide, and it has
become the fashion of modern times to condemn slavery chiefly on Christian grounds, we fear that, reprobating in
the highest degree such an odious traffic with our fellow-creatures, we shall offend a class of persons whose zeal
much exceeds their knowledge, by candidly avowing that the Old Testament history, the Mosaic law, the customs of
the Jews, and the curse pronounced by Noah against Cham, appear to give a strong sanction to it; neither would
it be very difficult to show, if the occasion required, by appealing to the experience of past ages, and opposing the
opinions of many centuries to those of the present day, that our ancestors interpreted Scripture, on this and many
other important points, in a manner very different from ourselves, and deduced from it doctrines in every sense most
opposed to ours. It was certainly not the publication of a book like Doctor Sepulveda's in justification of slavery,
but a decree of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, -- who had taken the advice of all the learned in the land, and consulted
the Spanish universities, whose fame in theology was in that age great, -- that doomed the inhabitants of the islands
and continent of America to slavery. This decree was sanctioned by the Council of the Indies; and a more solemn
act could not have emanated from higher constituted authorities. If it was reversed not many years afterwards, this
was in consequence of the evils which followed, but was no condemnation of a conceded point in divinity and law.
Those who may wish to learn more of the opinions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries on the subject of slavery,
can consult the writings of Las Casas and of Doctor Sepulveda, who although the supporters of contrary systems, at
least as far as American slavery was concerned, pretended equally to ground their conflicting reasonings on Scripture.
Doctor Sepulveda's work has been termed by later authors a bloody book; but Las Casas's short and pathetic nar




NOTES. 399

rative, entitled 'The Destruction of the Indies,' by which he endeavoured to excite the compassion of his sovereign
towards his Indian subjects, deserves still more that appellation; since every page describes some new scene of blood
and slaughter. Whole provinces and islands are there represented as depopulated for the sake of working the mines;
the sea causes thousands of Indians to perish in the pearl fisheries; and the sugar plantations and other laborious
works of agriculture swept away the scanty remains of the Indian population. It ought not then to be imputed to
Las Casas as a crime, that pitying the Indians, a long residence amongst whom had taught him to consider them as
his children, when he beheld them sinking under burthens which the robust negro was so much better calculated
to bear, he should have recommended the importation of slaves from Africa to the West Indies and the continent of
America. That illustrious prelate, * who at a most advanced age frequently crossed the stormy Atlantic from motives
of the purest philanthropy, would scarcely, in advocating the rights of one large portion of mankind, have wantonly
trampled on those of another, if his mind had not been subject to errors from which human nature is not exempt.
The peculiar error of Las Casas was the impression which he was under, that slavery was authorized by Scripture;
that it was the punishment of sin, and the unavoidable accomplishment of prophecy; and that the colour and the
features of the negroes were the sign which clearly indicated that they were of the cursed race of Cham, who were
to be the servants of the servants of the posterity of Shem. The prejudices entertained some centuries ago in favour
of African slavery from the colour of the skin of the negroes, which for many ages was considered a standing miracle,
that, like the dispersion of the Jews, corroborated the truth of Scripture, will be best understood from the perusal
of the following chapter of Torquemada's Indian Monarchy, wherein it is apparent that that learned and excellent
man partook of the errors of the age in which he lived. This chapter is intitled, "Donde se prosigue la materia
del pasado, y se prueba ser el color negro nacido de la maldicion que N oe hech6 {, su nieto Canaan." "A continuation
of the subject of the preceding chapter, wherein it is proved that a black skin was caused by the curse which Noah
pronounced against his grandson Canaan." "Siguiendo la materia de el capitulo pasado, y el parecer de hombres
sabios, y doctos, que 10 afirman, decimos, que de aquel descomedimiento, que Can tuvo con su Padre Noe, quando
hi~o alarde, y manifestacion de las partes verendas del viejo a sus Hermanos Sem, y Jafet, resulto la Maldicion, que
el Santo patriarca hecho It su Nieto Canaan; y en pena de aquel descomedido, y desvergon~ado pecado, les mudo
Dios el color, y no solo a los descendientes de Canaan, pero tambien a sus primos, hijos de esotros Hermanos, es

-----
* Las Casas has sometimes been called a fanatic; hut were it even the case, how much more desirable would it be if modem religious
fanaticism flowed in a similar channel. His fanaticism was merely an ardent desire to oppose the dignity of bis sacerdotal character, his
acknowledged talents and learning, and the mildness of old age, to brutal oppression and injustice. How different was zeal like his from that
of Mr. Irving's, or some other popular preachers of the present day, to whom a crowded audience flocks, scarcely knowing why, except
that they expect to hear new truths delivered in a new manner. We fear, however, that the speech of Festus to Paul would not have been
addressed with much propriety to them. But nothing appears more intolerable than their wilful ignorance of modern history, or at least
open defiance to the principles laid down at the Reformation; since, although belonging themselves to no ostensible church, and 
denying many of the Articles of the Church of England, they still would make the soil of Britain that of persecution. Neither do they
pay the slightest regard to the Christian precept of not speaking evil of dignities; but, as it were in mockery of Saint Jude, pour forth
unceasing railing accusations against him whose majestic station is quite forgotten by them, because they know that his power is remote,
and that they are protected by the laws of another state. The principle, that any church has a right to force the conscience, or to impose
silence on the tongues or pens of the lowest members of the community, should be rejected; but this right, when assumed by new and
schismatic churches, becomes odious in the extreme, and differs as much from the exercise of the formeF, as the usurping ruffian from the
crowned king. It is impossible that anyone can read and meditate on the history of the Protestant Reformation without having his mind
assailed by such a conviction. But if we are inclined to recoil with horror from flames lit up by Orthodox persecution, with what unqualified
disgust must we turn from the page of history that records the death of the unfortunate Servetus, -- whilst imagination pictures to
us the gloomy founder of Calrinism seated in the shape of an ill-omened vulture upon a neighbouring rock, and contemplating with
steady eye the expiring fires of a pile that might well have drawn down the deadliest bolt of Almighty wrath. Servetus may be conSIdered,
in reference to Calvin and the pernicious tenets of his sect, to have" vindicated the ways of God to man;" for how short-sighted must
those of that school be, who do not perceive that if their doctrines of absolute predestination are inconsistent with the notion of man's
being an agent possessed of free will, all moral evil ruust be referred to God! who would afterwards (far be from us the thought) have to
be viewed in the light of an unjust and inexorable judge, who would condemn those to eternal pUDlshment who were not able to aVOid the
commission of siu, because their will was under the control of a necessity caused by himself. That poet, whom Lord Byron pronounces to
be the greatest in our language, in the beautiful line

" "Vho binding nature fast in fate left free the human will,"

destroys, by making a just distinction between man and inanimate nature, the entire of Calvin's clumsy and sophistical web.



400 NOT E S.
a saber, Mizrain, Fut, y Cus; porque los Hijos de Mizrain, segundo Hijo de Can, y Hermauo dc Cauaau, nacieron
negros, y feos, como los Egipcios, y Getulos, Gente barbara, que viven, en una Region, en 10 interior de Libia, que
confina con el Reino de Tombutum", que son Negros, como carbon, y tieuen la boca podrida; y dice Postelo, en
su Compendio Cosmografico, que porque no se les corrompa, y les de cancer en ella procuran traer siempre Sal, en
la boca. Fut, tercero Hijo de Can, fue Padre de los Alarabes Berberiscos de Mauritania, que por la maior parte son
Negros, rom os, y hocicudos, y notablemente disformes. Los que proceden de Cus, son mui negros, y no se puede
atribuir este color tan negro, a la propriedad, y Naturale~a de la tierra, como muchos han querido, y 10 dejamos
dicho, que se causa por el mucho, y excesivo calor, y gran sequedad de ella; porque si esto fuese asi, los Negros,
que vienen a vivir en partes templadas, a cabo de dos, 0 tres generaciones serian blancos (como dejamos probado) y
los blancos, que van a vivir, a estas mismas Tierras de Negros, por la misma ra~on se harian ellos, 0 sus Hijos, 0
Nietos Negros, y veese por experiencia 10 contrario: luego bien se sigue, que ni el sol, ni la calidad de la Tierra
causan el color negro, sino que procede del origen, y principio, Clue estos Negros traen de Can, a quien por justo
juicio de Dios, por el descomedimiento, que tuvo con su padre, se troco el color rojo, que tenia, en negro como
carbon, y por Divino castigo, compreheude a quantos de et proceden; y el rigor del castigo se executo en Canaan,
quarto Hijo de Can, porque fue Autor, 0 origen del escandalo, y descubrio las partes secretas del Abuelo, y las mostro
a su padre, el qual, no solamente no Ie reprehendio, sino que haciendo burla, como mal Hijo, llamo a sus Hermanos,
para reirse de su padre, mostrandoles aqucl feo espectaculo. Y debese notar, que no maldijo el Patriarca Noe a Can
su Hijo, porque Dios Ie havia hechado su Bendicion, y tambien, porque no comprehendiesc el castigo, a los otros
tres Hijos, conviene a saber, a Cus, Mizrain, y Fut, que no havian tenido culpa, y asi hecho su maldicion a Canaan,
como a Autor de toda aquella Tragedia; y puesto, que los sucesores de los otros tres Hijos, quedaron tiznados, por
la culpa de su mal Padre Can, fueron al fin mui mejor librados que los Cananeos, descendientes de Canaan, porque
casi todos fueron muertos, y destruidos por los Israelitas los quales estaban estendidos, y divididos en once provincias;
mas los descendientes de Cus, que son los Etiopes; y los de Mizrain, que son los Egipcios; Y los de Fut, que
son los de Mauritania, aunque quedaron senalados, por culpa de Can, no fueron privados de gracias, y favores para el
cuerpo, y para el Alma; pues los Etiopes de Tiempo mui antiguo poseen un poderosisimo, y floreciente Reino, y
conocen 11. Dios desde el Tiempo de la Reina Saba, y del Rei Salomon, y oi dia dura, y se ve su gran Potencia. Los
Egipcios en la promulgacion del Evangelio recibieron la Doctrina de Christo, y fueron algun tiempo Catholicos, y
tam bien los Africanos. Verdad es, que a todos les alcan~o el grave iugo de sujecion; porque las Gentes de Arabia, que
decienden de Cus, en parte fueron vencidos, y hechos eselavos, de Ismael, Madian, Esau, y otros Hijos de Abrahan
y de Cetura, y de Moab, y Amon, Hijos de Lot; y las Gentes Africanas casi siempre han sido eselavas de los de Asia
y Europa, y nunca han tenido Reies naturales, porque han sido Vasallas de Judios, Griegos, Romanos, y Moros, y
oi 10 son del Turco. EI Preste Jnan de Etiopiat toda su Noble~a atribuie a Abrahan, y sc gloria de descender de

-----
* In this name we recognise that of Timbuctoo, a state which it is probable the Portuguese were better acquainted with three hundred
years ago than we are now. Sufficient praise is not generally bestowed on that enterprising nation for its splendid achievewents in navigation,
and the pains which it took to explore Africa, and to discover the sources of the vast rivers which flow from the interior of that
continent to the ocean. The geography of the interior of Africa was much better known to the ancients than to us, for reasons which
must be obvious to anyone who meditates on the page of History.

+ The kingdom of Prester John, which so many later writers have been inclined to consider as fabulous, was an ecclesiastical state similar
to Thibet, of which a priest was at the head. Christianity could have been scarcely more scandalized if it had discovered the Christian
religion existing under a deformed mask in Peru. than it was by finding into what its rites had degenerated in Ethiopia, which, though one
of the most ancient churches, having been long separated from the rest and forgotten by them, had fallen into every kind of heresy, and
adopted the most absurd fables as ancient Christian tradition. It cannot, however, be doubted that it possessed many books which it cost
the missionaries much trouble to destroy. Pinelo in his" Bibliotheca" speaks of the many manuscripts contained in the monastic residence
of the kings of Ethiopia, which other writers, not so well qualified to judge, have treated as a mere visionary story. Doctor Lawrence,
the present Archbishop of Cashel, bas translated out of the Abyssinian or Coptic language the Book of Enoch, and other books, which
appear (if we may jurlge from their style and content,) to be nearly as deserving to be considered canonical as several books of the Old
Testament. ""hen we contrast the immensely voluminous writings of the Fathers who lived after the third century of the Christian rers,
whose works have been preserved to the present day, with the extreme paucity of those of the apostolic age, and remember the saying of
one of the Apostles, that if all the actions which Christ performed when on earth were written down, he supposed the world would not
contain the number of the books, -- how must we feel surprised at the apathy and negligence of the primitive Christians, who allowed
50 many books to perish, and did not even preserve the Gospel of Saint Matthew in the original Hebrew! and how little dependence
can we place on the early history of the Christian church.



NOTES. 401.

Salomon. Esto dieho nota el Licenciado Diego de Yepes, capellan del Cardenal Don Pedro Gon<;alez de Mendo<;a,
en sns Discursos de varia Historia. Pero aqui se me ofreee dudar, si es verdad, que no maldijo Noe a Can, porque
no comprehendiese la maldicion a los Hijos, que no tenian culpa, como les comprehendio, sacando el color negro, y
tiznado, como los Hijos de Canaan, que fue el verdadcro culpado 1l quien justamente comprehendia la maldiciou, y
por ella Ie era licitamente comprehendido el castigo, 0 hemos de decir (segun esta sentencia) que solos los Hijos de
Canaan nacieron negros; y segun esto ill no es verdad, que los otros Primos 10 son, 0 si decimos, que 10 son, ia no
es solamente por la maldieion de Canaan, sino por la culpa del Padre Can, y asi en ella fueron malditos, y comprehendidos?
A esto digo (salvo mejor juicio) que aunque es verdad, que estos Hijos no pecaron, peco (al fin) el padre, y
este pecado alcan~o 11. los Hijos en general, queriendo Dios mostrar, que aunque fue causa instrumental Canaan, para
aquel desacato, la fue su Padre Can total, para In execueion de el, porque llamo 11. sus Hermanos, y que ia que no era eI
maldito, por ser bendito de Dios, alcan<;ase aquella maldicion, en parte II sus Hijos, como a mala sangre, engendrada
de aquel empon~ofiado cuerpo, y que en todos ellos se hechase de ver la culpa grave, que el Padre havia cometido, en
no guardar el decoro debido It su padre; y fuese aquel color, como Sambenito perpetuo, demo11strativo en su culpa,
y pecado; porque muchas veces vern os, que castiga Dios (como en otra parte hemos dicho) las culpas del padre, en
los Hijos; y esto se debe en tender de penas corporales, y no espirituales, de las quales habla el profeta E<;echiel en
sus profecias, quando dice. EI Hijo no llevara II cuestas la maldad del padre, ni el padre la del Hijo; y esto se
entiende en 10 espiritual, y no corporal; porque vemos (como digo) que muehos Hijos han pagado culpas paternas,
con penas corporales, como en el lugar dicho dejamos largamente probaclo; y de esto tenemos abundantisimos
exemplos, en las Sagradas.Escrituras; y dice Noe II Canaan (maldiciendo a Can) Maldito sea Canaan, sea siervo de
sus Hermanos, y asi 10 fueron. De estas palabras se colige, que la cautividad, '!I sC'I'vidumb'l'c de estos descendientes
de Can, fue pena del pecado cometido por su Padre Can, porque esta maldicion, que el santo Patriarca hecho, 110 fue
por vengarse de la injuria que recibio, siuo Profecia, y declaracion de 10 que havia de suceder en ellinage de Can, y
deseendencia de sus Hijos; y por ser Noe justo, y no haver cn el Muudo quien castigase aquel peeado, el como
superior Ie castigo. De aqui se podia tomar ocasion de decir, que su color negro no procede de causas naturales,
sino de las dichas en el parrafo pasado, que estos Indios, y todos los que en otras Regiones son de color ba<;o,
seran Deseendientes de aquellos Hijos de Can, u de alguno de sus Descendientes; y siendo esto asi, como no siguen
estas Gentes a sus antepasados en las costumbres, en las fuercas, y facciones, y color ?"


NOTE II.

AMERICAN TRADITIONS WHICH APPEAR TO BE DERIVED FROM A HEBREW SOURCE.

THE present note (which is referred to in the preceding,) contains some American traditions, evidently derived from
the Old Testament, and tending to prove that the Indians were at least acquainted with that portion of it designated
the Pentateuch. It is impossible on reading what Mexican Mythology records of the war in heaven, and of the fall
of Zontemoque and the other rebellious spirits; of the creation of light by the word of Tonacatecutli, and of the
division of the waters; of the sin of Y ztlacoliuhqui, and his blindness and nakedncss; of the temptation of Suchiquecal,
and her disobedience in gathering roses from a tree, and the consequent misery and disgrace of herself and
all her posterity, -- not to recognise Scriptural analogies. But the Mexican tradition of the Deluge is that which bears
the most unequivocal marks of having been derived from a Hebrew source. This tradition records that a few
persons escaped in the Ahuehuete, or ark of fir, when the earth was swallowed up by a Deluge, the chief of whom
was named Patecatle or Cipaquetona; that he invented the art of making wine; that Xelua, one of his descendants,
or at least one of those who had escaped with him in the ark, was present at the building of a high tower, which the
succeeding generation constructed with a view of escaping from the deluge should it again occur; that Tonacatecutli,
incensed at their presumption, destroyed the tower with lightning, eonfouncled their language, and dispersed them;
and that Xelua led a colony to the New World. This age, which was the first of the Mexican ages, and named by




402 NOTES.

them Atonatiuh, or the age of water, closely bordered upon that of the Tzocuillicxeque, or age of giants; and it will
be recollected that the age of the Flood in Scripture was that of giants also. The fact of the Mexicans recording'
both in their paintings and songs, the deluge, the building of the Tower of Babel, the confusion of tongues,
and the dispersion of tribes, being generally admitted by the early Spanish writers on America, it is almost
unnecessary to refer to the authority of any particular writer to prove what no one will deny. Since Gomara,
however, in his History of the Indies, describing the conference of Nicaragua with Gil Gonzalez and the ecclesiastics,
introduces that chief as putting a variety of questions to the Spaniards; the first of which was, whether they
were acquainted with the deluge, and others no less curious, showing that the Indians were not unaccustomed to
abstruse speculations, and that besides their knowledge of many traditions contained in the Old Testament, they
possessed some information respecting the predictions of the New. It may be interesting to insert the entire
passage of Gomara giving an account of this conference.

"Nicaragua, who was acute and skilled in the knowledge of the rites and antiquities of his own country, had a
long conference and dispute with Gil Gon9alez and the ecclesiastics. He inquired if the Christians were acquainted
with the great deluge, which had swallowed up the earth, men, and animals; and whether another was to happen?
whether the earth was to be revolutionized (trastornar), or heaven to fall? when and how the sun, moon, and stars,
should be deprived of their motion and light? since they were of such vast magnitude, who moved and kept them
in their orbits? He inquired the cause of the darkness of night, and of cold, blaming Nature for not having made
light and heat perpetual, since they were best? What were the honour and reverence due to the triune God
of Christians, who had created the heaven, and the sun whom they adored as god in those countries, the sea,
the earth, and mall, who rules over the birds which fly and the fish which swim? where souls would go after
death; and what would be their occupations after having left the body, since being immortal they lived for so short
a time? He inqnired likewise if the Holy Father at Rome, the Vicar of Christ, who was the god of Christians,
died? and how Jesus being a God is a man, and his mother being a virgin brought forth? and whether the Emperor
and King of Spain, whose prowess, virtue, and power they had so vaunted, was mortal? and why such a handfull of
men were anxious to obtain so much gold?" -- La Istoria de las Indias, fo. cviii.

From this account it will be perceived, that as not only in New Spain and in Pern, but likewise in Nicaragua, the
tradition of the Deluge was generally received among the Indians; that of the temptation of Eve, of the fall of man,
and of the loss of Paradise, was no less general in the New World. Torquemada, in the thirty-first chapter of the sixth
book of his Indian Monarchy, gives this description of the goddess Cihuacohuatl, who is named by many writers
the Aztec or Mexican Eve. "One of the goddesses greatly esteemed by the natives of New Spain was Cihuacohuatl,
which name signifies' the woman serpent;' and they say that she always has twins or brings forth two children at a
birth. This woman or goddess, whom they named Cihuacohuatl, was according to the etymology of the name, as
Father Bernard de Sahagun says, the first woman who existed in the world, the mother of the whole of the human race,
who it is true was tempted by the serpent who appeared to her in the terrestrial Paradise, and discoursed with her to
persuade her to transgress the command of God. And it is likewise true, that after having committed sin, she conceived
and bore a son and a daughter, both at the same birth, and that the son was named Cain and the daughter Calmana:
and that afterwards she bronght forth, at a second birth, Abel and his sister Delborah; so that she bore them by
twin births, and continued from that time onwards to give birth to twins, as has been observed; the Indians therefore
designated her from these two properties, Cihuacohuatl, which signifies 'the woman of the serpent,' that is to say, whom
the serpent tempted; and which also signifies, 'the woman who brought forth two infants at a birth, a girl and a boy;'
for they call twins and infants born at the same birth Cocohua, which name signifies' serpents,' as if they called them
serpents born from the woman serpent. This appears to be a confused knowledge, which they had received by tradition,
of the ancient truth of the origin of the human race, and of the temptation of the serpent." The above account of
Torquemada (or rather of Sahagun, whose authority he cites,) is very curious, and is further confirmed by the representation
(in the forty-eighth page of the lesser Vatican MS.,) of the goddess Cihuacohuatl or Suchiquecal, with two
infants and a serpent near her. Another painting, (contained in the seventy-fourth page of the same MS.,) is more
remarkable, since it seems clearly to allude to the threat pronounced in the third chapter of Genesis against the
serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel:" as in fact the seed of the woman appears to be there in the act of bruising
the head of the serpent with a staff, whilst the latter has bitten off, and is holding in his jaws, the foot of his



NOTES. 40
adversary. Mexican traditions seem also to refer to the creation of the one sex from the bone of the other, as is
recorded in the second chapter of Genesis: "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he
slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God
had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman; because she was taken from man:" -- since the Mexicans
believed that both sexes had been created from a bone which Xolotle had obtained from Mictlantecutli, who is said
to have stumbled and fallen down in running away from the God of the dead, who was anxious to take back his
gift; and that the bone, which had been at first of a single piece, having been broken by the fall into many small
fragments of unequal sizes, the stature of mankind became in consequence unequal. The Peruvian tradition of men
having been created by Viracocha, after the likeness of images made by himself, seems also to allude to what is said
in the twenty-sixth verse of the first chapter of Genesis: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness:" and in the next verse, "So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him."
This tradition is mentioned by Garcia in the seventh chapter of the fifth book of the Origin of the Indians, where,
treating of the origin of the Peruvians, he says: "We have still to state what the Indians of Peru relate of their
origin, which I shall narrate as Juan de Betan~os wrote it, who was one of the first who entered that kingdom, (of
whom we have already made mention in other places,) who was well acquainted with the general language of the
Indians, called the Quichua or language of the Inga"'; and being thus qualified, served as interpreter or linguist in
that kingdom, and was on that account ordered by Don Antonio de Mendoza, who was at that time viceroy of Peru,
to compose a history of the origin and succession of the Ingas, kings of Peru, and of their conquests, deeds, and
exploits, to the period when the Spaniards entered their country, procuring the necessary information from the oldest
Indians. Juan de Betan~os obeyed the order of the viceroy, and compiled with great diligence and care a history,
which on account of the death of Don Antonio de Mendoza, to whom he had dedicated it, was not at that time brought
to light and published; neither was it afterwards printed, by reason of the death of Betan~os, who, proceeding to
give an account of the origin of the Ingas, relates what the Indians told him of the origin of all the first inhabitants
of that kingdom, which is as follows: 'Formerly, in ancient times, the kingdom and provinces of Peru were
enveloped in an obscurity in which neither light nor sun existed, and were consequently without day. A certain
race of people inhabited them at that period, who were ruled and governed by a lord, whose name as well as that of
his subjects they forget. The Indians further say, that at this time, in which all was night, and when neither light nor
day existed, a lord named Contice Viracocha came out of a lake which is in the province of Collasuyo, and brought
along with him a certain number of persons; and having come from thence, proceeded to a place adjoining to the
lake, where at present is the city called Tiaguanaco, where as soon as he had arrived with his people, he created in
an instant the sun and day, commanding the former to encircle and revolve with rapid motion round the whole
world. He next created the moon, the planets, and the stars, which are in the eighth heaven and firmament. But
since it may be inquired, when did this Viracocha create the earth, and the people who had lived in that obscurity,
and those who came with him out of the lake? the Indians say that Contice Viracocha had on a former occasion
come out of the lake, and that he then created the heaven and the earth, leaving it without sun or light to illuminate
it; and made those WilD came out of the lake with him, and the people who existed at that period, who were
guilty of some offence against Viracocha, on which account he became incensed at last against them, and as
a punishment and chastisement for their sins changed them and their lord into stones. He then created the sun,
the day, and the stars, as has already been said; and having so done, he formed out of stone, (on the same spot and
site of Tiaguanaco,) figures and images of men and women, some in a state of pregnancy, and others to represent
mothers with their children in cradles, according to their usages and customs, which were to serve as a model and
sample of the people whom he was about to create. Having completed the formation of these figures, he removed
them and put them into some particular province, and afterwards created another province of people of the same kind,
dividing it from the former; and lastly, he formed out of stone the entire population of Peru, in the same manner as
he had formed the others. Having finished his work, he said to the people who had come out of the lake with him,
Mark very attentively the images and busts of stone which I have made, and observe that some of them shall be named


-----
* The Ingas of Peru had likewise a language peculiar to themselves, which none but those of the royal race were permitted to leam.We
leave it to the Jews to decide whether it might not have been the" pure language" expressly alluded to by the prophet Zephaniah in
the ninth verse of the third chapter of his Book.



404 NOT E S.
N, and shall come out of such a cave or fountain, in such a province, where they shall settle and multiply; others
shall come out of such a cave, and shall be called N, and shall settle in such a place; -- all of whom shall come out
of fountains, rivers, caves, and hills, in the provinces which I have pointed out and named to you, when you call
to them. It is therefore proper that you should all go except two, who shall remain with me, and journeying on
towards the rising sun, that each of you should proceed in such a direction, and should take such a line or road.
The names of the fountains, caves, hills, rivers, nations, and provinces, are not mentioned here, for the Indians do
not specify them; but the names which Viracocha gave to them, or which they before had, are understood by the
letter N, or the expression' such.' Contiee Viraeoeha having finished his above-mentioned discourse and address to
his ministers and Viraeoehas, they set out immediately for the places and proviuces which had been marked out for
each of them; and placing themselves near the situation and place where the images of stone were, and where
Contice Viracocha had told and commanded them to go, they called out in a loud tone, -- N, come forth, and people
this land which is deserted and solitary, for Contice Viracocha so commands it. And immediately men and women,
agreeing in stature, physiognomy and form with the model and proportions in which the images of stone had been
sculptUl'ed, came forth from the caves, rivers, fountains, and high mountains; and having all come out, they
proceeded to people those provinces and the adjoining countries which were situated towards the rising sun."
This account of Viracocha forming man after the likeness of images fasbioned by himself, seems to refer to the
above-mentioned verse in Genesis: but the following tradition bears a less equivocal mark of having been derived
from a Scriptural origin. It is taken from an in edited History of Chile by Diego de Rosales: "De proposito y no
por olvido he dexado para la postre, por darse Ie bueno a este capitulo, las lagunas de Taguatagua, que no es digno
de olvido, sino de perpetua memoria, el caso tan raro y singular que sucedio en elias. Cacn estas lagunas veinte
leguas al sur de la Ciudad de Santiago cerca del pueblo de Malloa, tienen seis leguas de circunferencia, muchas
truchas, varios generos de pezes, y muchedumbre de paxareria de varios colores que sobre las aguas forman un
hermoso jardin de flores vivientes. Tiene en medio una pequena isla, que muchas vezes se ve nadar por encima de
la laguna y moverse con el impulso de los vientos. No es esto 10 singular y raro, que Dausqueyo, y Pomponio
Mela traducido 0 illustrado por Joseph Antonio Gonzales de Salas, dicen 10 mismo de otras islas que fluctuan en
las lagunas y se mueven en ellas, y entre otras es muy nombrada la isla de Chemnis, que esta en un lago de Egipto
poblada de muchas selvas y ennobleeida con el famoso templo dedicado al dios Apolo. Lo singular y de grande
ensenanza es, 'que se conserva una tradicion de tiempo immemorial entre los Indios, que en aquel sitio antiguamente,
antes de la venida de los Espanoles, avia un hermoso valle muy ameno y poblado de infinita gente, y que no avia
laguna ni senal de ella, sino mucha amenidad, y sementcras en abundancia para las dclicias de los natUl'ales. Pero
que con la abundancia y el regalo eran sus costumbres tan estragadas y tan enormes sus vicios, que no contentandose
con In muchedumbre de mugeres proprias, y agenas, se desenfrenaban como bestias en los torpisimos vicios
de la sodomia y bestialidad. Entraron un dia en aque! valle dos hermosos mancebos en el trage y rostros nunca
vistos, y en la hermosura y gravedad admirablcs, que en la realidad eran Angeles, y les dixeron a todos los
habitadores de aquella tierra que venian embiados del Senor del cieIo y la tierra, del mar y de los vientos, del sol,
luna, y estrellas, y que venian a requerirles de su parte como los requerian, que se enmendasen de tan enormes
vicios, y ob.enidades con que gravissimamente offendian al autor de la natUl'aleza, y a su Dios y Senor a quien
devian todo amor y ohediencia, y que si nO se enmendaban, serian del gravissimamente castigados en esta vida, y
mas rigurosamentc en la otra con eternas pen as y tormentos, y dicho esto desapareeieron, y no los vieron mas.
Causoles alguna novedad aI principio, pero no enmienda, porque perseveraron en sus torpezas. 0 gran paciencia
de Dios y grande su misericordia que no se contento con este aviso! sino que passados algunos anos, volvieron los
dos Angeles en figuJ'a humana y en el trage y hcrmosura, dando muestras de que no eran hombres terrenos, sino
espiritus cclestiales. Volvieronles a requerir a los Indios, afearonles sus vicios, y dixeron les que estaba ya cercano
el castigo de Dios, sino se cnmendaban de sus pccados. Dcsaparecieronse, y los Indios endurecidos en sus malas
costumbrcs, y ciegos a tanta luz, perseveraron en sus delitos, incredulos del castigo como los de Sodoma, mas
despues de pocos dias vino el castigo de Dios sobrc ellos, porquc temblo la tierra y se estremecio con tanta furia,
que abriendose en differentes grutas, y por diversas bocas, prolluncio la sentencia y executo el castigo, vomitando
tanta cantidad de agua, que inundo todo aquel valle, y anego a quantos en el avia, sus casas, haziendas, y sementeras,
sin dexar memoria de aquella tan nefanda gente, y quedando para eterna memoria y escarmiento de los demas
aquella laguna, que oy se ve, y a permanecido dcspues de tantos anos que ha que sucedio este tan maravilloso caso





NOTES. 405

digno de eterna memoria, pues en el resplandece la piedad divina en uno y otro aviso, el amor con que en todo!
tiempos requiere a los hombres para que huigan de su ira y justo castigo, y su justicia en castigar a los que rebel des
en sus vicios perseveran en ellos *." Historia General del Reyno de Chile y Nueva Estremadura, por el Pere Diego
de Rosales, J esuita, Viceprovincial de la Provincia en cl Chile. Lib. 2. cap. xi. n. 20. The following account, from
Gomaru's Conquest of Mexico, of a certain Chichimeca prevailing over Quecalcoatl, and binding him, and detaining
him amongst men, bears some analogy to what is said of Jacob's wrestling and prevailing with God, in the
thirty-second chapter of Genesis: "The kings of Mexico, who are the most powerful, and the greatest, and in
fact the kings of the kings of that country, pride themselves in being and in calling themselves of Culhua, declaring
that they descend from a certain Chichimeca, who was a very strong chief, who hound a leather thong round the
arm of Quecalcoatl, close to the shoulder, when he was going, and detained t him among men, which they considered 

-----
* We cannot refrain from observing, that the story in Genesis, from which this fable is derived, has led many canonists and civilians
of former days to maintain, that although stoning to death, as a judicial sentence prescribed by the law of Moses, was repealed with the
old law, still burning to death, in the case of heresy, was not repugnant to the Christian dispensation, for that God had manifested on one
occasion his approbation of that mode of punishment, and that human justice could not do better than imitate divine. Wretched as is
the reasoning displayed by these writers, still the consequences of that reasoning were practical, and numerous have been the victims vlhich
it has hurried to the flames. It is singular that both the,Mexicans and the Jews manifested a kind of predilection for the sign of calling
down fire from heaven; and the Piaques or priests of Chili threatened the people with a miracle of that kind, -- having heard something,
perhaps, of the prophet Elijah destroying with fire from heaven the two bands of men belonging to Ahaziah the king of Samaria, as
recorded in the first chapter of the Second Book of Kings: "Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah
fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers ~ and said unto them, Go,
inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite,
Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye
go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron I Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which
thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them,
Why are ye now turned back? And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the
king that sent you, and say unto him -- Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire
of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron I therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
And he said unto them, 'What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him,
He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins_ And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the king sent
unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him,
Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a lIIan of God, then
let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came dowu fire from heaven, and consumed him and his
fifty. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath
the king said, Come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire corne down from heaven,
and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty."

+ A mistake in reading the Spanish word CDllversava as conservava has induced us to notice an analogy which the change of expression
renders very faint. It appears extremely probable, however, that the Jews applied the prophetical language of Isaiah to their Messiah
Quecalcoatl, and that hence they invented the history of his having been hound. Since moreover the Mexicans believed that Quecalcoatl
was the son of their supreme deity Tonacatecutli, it is not unlikely that the other Dame Topiltzin, by which he was designated, was originally
Teopiltzin, signifying' the soil '!! God,' indicative of that belief; and that the early Spanish missionaries changed it into Topiltzin, which
means simply 'our son,' wishing to avoid the association of ideas that names and mallY other circumstances were likely to create.
That the Jews however had carried to the New World the tradition of their ancestor Jacob having wrestled and prevailed with God,
which, like all their other traditions, degenerated there into some monstrous fable or abominable rite, may be inferred from a comparison
of the following account, taken from the thirty-second chapter of Genesis, with what Sahagun in the twelfth chapter of his fifth book says
of the Mexicans pretending sometimes to wrestle and prevail with Tezcatlipoca: It And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a
man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh;
and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint,.. he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he
said I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy
nam'e shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And
Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he
blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as
he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which
shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank."
"When headless phantoms without feet, which skim along the surface of the ground, sighing like persons suffering from illness,
appear in the night to anyone, which they know are illusions of Tezcatlipoca, -- --: -- those who see them nevertheless ?~raw a bad omen from
them, and declare and consider it certain that they will soon die in war or of disease, or that some misfortune will speedily befall 
them:



406 NOTES.

a great feat, and said that the man who had bound a god could bind all other mortals, and accordingly
ever afterwards they called him Aculhuatli, since, as I have already explained, Aculli means the bone between the
elbow and the shoulder, and the shoulder itself. This Aculhuatli became afterwards very powerful and a persoll
of great consideration, and laid such a foundation of future greatness in his sons, that his descendants became in
course of time kings of Mexico, enjoying the same authority as Motecu~uma possessed when Ferdinand Cortes
made him prisoner." La Conquista de Mexico, fo. cxx. -- The genealogical descent of the nations of New Spain
from Iztacmixcoatlh and his two wives, serves also to bring to our recollection Jacob, his two wives, and his sons;
and it deserves to be remarked, that the proper name Iztacmixcoatlh'" seems peculiarly applicable to Jacob, since we
know from Genesis that Jacob was smooth in person, and fair as compared with Esau, who was red, and that he
was subtle in disposition; and this name is compounded of two words, Iztac, which signifies in the Mexican
language smooth or fair, and Mixcoatle, a serpent, which is called in more than one place in Scripture a subtle
animal, and is characterized by Christ as wise, in the injunction which he gave to the Apostles-to be wise as
serpents; and therefore might be no inapt symbol of the subtle and sagacious character of Jacob, to which his
name in Hebrew would appear to bear some allusion, since the answer of Esau to his father Isaac implies as much;
and the thirty-sixth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of Genesis would be otherwise unintelligible, where Esau,
replying to Isaac, who had told him that his brother came with subtlety, and had taken away his blessing, says, 
"Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold,
now he hath taken away my blessings."

and when such phantoms present themselves to the low and timorous rabble, they immediately begin to fly, and their spirits are so
overcome with dismay that they soon afterwards die, or are overtaken by some calamity: but when they appear to men of courage and
of resolution, such as veteran soldiers, they are ready and prepared for them; for when walking by night they are always on the alert,
thinking it likely that they may meet with an apparition, and they even go in search of them through the highways and along the private
paths, desirous of seeing them, in order to obtain from them some piece of good fortune, or a present of tJIOr1lS of the aloe, which were
the sign of it; and if by chance a phantom of this kind presented itself to him who went in search of it, he immediately began to grapple
with it, and seizing tightly hold of it said, Who are you ~ speak to me; there is DO use in your being silent, since I now hold you tight,
and will not let you go. These words he frequently repeated whilst the struggle continued hetween them; and when the conflict had
lasted for a length of time, on the approach of morning the phantom spoke, and said, Let me go, for you weary me; tell me what you
wish, and it shall be granted to you. On which the soldier replied, What will you give mel when the phantom said, Here is a thorn. To
which the soldier answered by saying, I will not have it; why does your present consist of only a single thorn I it is useless. And although
two or three, or even four thorns were afterwards offered, the phantom was not released from his grasp until it had given him as many as
he wished, which on bestowing, it thus addressed him, -- I grant you riches of all kinds, bidding you to be prosperous in the world.
Upon which the soldier let the phantom go, since he had now obtained what he sought and desired." It deserves to be remarked, that
God's touching the hollow of Jacob's thigh is said in the twenty-fifth verse of the thirty-second chapter of Genesis to have put it out of
joint; and in the thirty-second verse of the same chapter, to have caused the sinew of the thigh to shrink; and hence a question (of little importance
it must be confessed) arises, viz. Whether Jacob suffered one or two accidents in his conflict with God? It is evident on the latter
supposition that his thigh which had been put out of joint must immediately afterwards have been restored to its proper place, or he never
would have been able to have walked again. Considering the importance which the Jews attached to this mysterious incident in the
life of the most revered of their patriarchs, it is surprising that Moses did not record in a more circumstantial manner an event in Hebrew
history which redounded so much to the glory of Jacob, the founder of the house of Israel; although his reserve makes it only the more
prohahle that the Rahbis corrupted with their traditions the simple narrative of the Pentateuch. They undouhtedly considered the
shrinking of the sinew of Jacob's thigh a sign of the blessings, -- amongst which riches must be numbered, -- which were,in store for him
and his descendants; and it may be a question, whether, in their usual style of absurd reasoning upon every unexplained point in
Scripture, they might not have argued, that since a mere touch could not have caused the sinew of his thigh to shrink, it might have been
punctured; and that, as God had appeared to Moses in a bush, so he might on this other occasion have pierced the patriarch's
thigh with a thorn. It is vain, from the nature of the subject which affords grounds for these discussions, to attempt to refute any thing that
may be said by the Rabbis, by demanding of them whether a viler fable or one more derogatory to the majesty of the Deity, can be
found in the whole range of beathen mythology than that which their perverse genius may suggest as a solution of these doubts. At the
same tirue, since the Mexicans considered the thorns of the aloe, which the soldier received from the phantom of Tezcatlipoca, to be the
sign of his having prevailed and of his future good fortune, it is probable that Jewish traditions laid the foundation for this gross superstition
amongst them."


-----
* Mixcoatl was reputed by the Mexicans to he the god of those who hunted the mazatl or stag; and Jacob and Esau being twins,
the name of Mixcoatl, the signification of which is' the serpent or twin of the clouds,' might have been coruwon to both of them, or have
belonged only to Esau; and Iztacmixcoatlh, or 'the fair-complexioned twin,' might have been Jacob's peculiar appellation.

+ It is not impossible that Jacob was worshiped by the Mexicans under the name of Yacatecutli, (the fair.spoken and deceitful god
of merchants,) whose assistance they invoked, in order that when making a bargain they might be able to overreach the opposite party.




NOTES. 407

The following passage, containing the tradition of the Mexicans respecting their own genealogy and that of the
other nations of New Spain, is takeu from the 120th page of Gomara's Conquest of Mexico, where, treating of their
antiquities, he says, "According to their own books, and the common opinion of their learned men, and such as are
acquainted with their ancient history, the Mexicans came from a country called Chicomuztotlh, and descended all
from one father, whose name was Iztacmixcoatlh, who had two wives. By Ilancueitl, (which was the name of one
of them,) he had six sons, the eldest of whom was named Xelhua, the second Tenuch, the third Ulmecatlh, the fourth
Xicalancatlh, the fifth Mixtecatlh, the sixth Otomitlh. By Chimalmatlh, (which was the name of the other,) he had
Que~alcoatlh." Gomara next proceeds to state in what part of New Spain each of these sons settled, and the
names of the cities which they founded. Of Que~alcoatlh he says," he built, or, according to other accounts,
rebuilt Tlaxcallan, Huexocinco, Chololla, and many other cities. The same Quezalcoatlh was an upright, temperate,
religious, and holy man, and, as they believe, a god. He never was married or acquainted with women. He lived a
life of the greatest chastity, performing rigid acts of penance, accompanied with fasting and other austerities. He
preached, according to report, the law of nature, and inculcated it with diligence, setting an example of morals. He
instituted fasting, which had not been before practised; and was the first who in that country offered sacrifices of
blood, but not, in the manner which is now customary with these Indians, with the death of infinite numbers of men,
but by drawing blood from the ears and tongue, as an act of penance, and as a punishment and remedy against the
sin of lying and of listening to lies, which are no small vices amongst these people. They believe that he did not
die, but that he disappeared in the province of Coa<;acoalco, close to the sea. They paint Quecralcoatlh such as I
have described; and either because they do not know, or because they conceal his death, they believe him to be the
god of the air, and worship him in all that country, but principally in Tlaxcallan and Chololla, and in the other
cities which he founded, and accordingly they celebrate strange rites and sacrifices in them to him."

It would be an omission in this place, speaking of American traditions which seem to connect the Mosaic history
with the mythology of the New World, not to mention Votan, who was a celebrated saint amongst the Chiapanese
and the Gapotecas; and it is much to be regretted that Nunez de la Vega, Bishop of Chiapa and Soconusco, should
have destroyed or consigned to oblivion the historical work which he wrote, (or which at least was written by some
other person,) concerning him; as it would probably have thrown much light on the ancient history of America and
the communications which undoubtedly subsisted in early ages between the Old and New Continent. Boturini, in
the 115th page of his Idea of a New General History of North America, gives an account of the discovery, by
Nunez de la Vega, whilst engaged on a visitation of his diocese in the year 1691, of this historical work, together
with some ancient calendars, which he caused to be publicly burnt in the square of Huehuetan; an act of mistaken zeal
that Boturini thus laments: "These burnings have been frequent and very fatal in New Spain. The Indians deplore
them, and so do learned Spaniards; and I lament them, because I am convinced that these ancient paintings contained
not only particular notices of great literary treasures, but likewise of immense riches stored up in the times of
paganism, and hid on the occasion of the conquest; and I do not despair of being able to perform, some day or
other, a notable service to Your Majesty."

The following account of Votan is taken from a recent publication, but of no great authority. It contains, however,
a statement of some curious facts relative to him, which year the appearance of probability; and as that part of
it which relates to the discovery of the abovementioned history by Nunez de la Vega is extracted from the Diocesan
Constitutions, (a work written by that bishop, and published at Rome in 1702,) it is so far entitled to full credit. It
is necessary however to observe, that the English translation, "he wrote an historical tract in the Indian idiom," is
incorrect, as the Spanish passage should have been translated, "and in an historical tract which was written in the
Indian idiom, mention is made;" since it is not expressly stated who the author of the book was, whether Votan
himself or some other person. The account itself is from the pen of Doctor Cabrera, who says: "Among the
many small historical works that fell into the hands of this illustrious prelate (Nunez de la Vega), -- who was not
more zealous for the glory of God than he was mistaken in the interpretations he applies to many of them, and
particularly when he attributes the whole of them to superstition, -- he instances one that was written by Votan, of
whom he speaks as follows, in No. 34, section 30, of the Preface to his Constitutions: 'Votan is the third Gentile
placed in the calendar: he wrote an historical tract in the Indian idiom, wherein he mentions by name the people
with whom, and the places where, he had been. Up to the present time there has existed a family of the Votans in
Teopizca. He says also that he is lord of the Tapanahuasec (' the wooden drum'); that he saw the great house



408 NOT E S.
(meaning the Tower of Babel), which was built, by the order of his grandfather Noah, from the earth to the sky;
that he was the first man whom God sent hither to divide and portion out these Indian lands; and that at the place
where he saw the great house a dilferent language was given to each nation.'
" This illustrious prelate conld have communicated a much greater portion of information relative to Votan, and
to many other of the primitive inhahitants, whose historical works he assures us were in his own possession; but
feeling some scruples on account of the mischievous use the Indians made of their histories in the superstition of
the Nagualism, he thought proper to withhold it, for the reasons assigned in No. 36, section 32, of his preface.
'Although,' says he, 'in these tracts and papers there are many other things touching primitive paganism, they are
not mentioned in this epitome, lest, by being brought into notice, they should be the means of confirming more
strongly an idolatrous superstition. I have made this digression, that it may be observed in the notices of the
Indians, and the substance of the primitive errors in which they were instructed by their ancestors.' It is to be
regretted that the place is unknown where these precious documents of history were deposited; but still more is it
to be lamented that the great treasure should have been destroyed. This treasure, according to the Indian tradition,
was placed by Votan bimself, as a proof of his origin and a memorial for future ages, in the casa lobrega (house
of darkness) that he had built in a breath, that is in the space of a few breathings, -- a metaphorical expression,
intended to imply the very short space of time employed in its construction. He committed this deposit to a
distinguished female and a certain number of plebeian Indians appointed annually for the purpose of its safe
custody. His mandate was scrupulously observed for mauy ages by the people of Tacoaloya, in the province of
Soconusco, where it was guarded with extraordinary care; until being discovered by the prelate before mentioned,
he obtained and destroyed it. Let me give his own words, from No. 34, section 30, of his preface. 'This treasure
consisted of some large earthen vases of one piece, and closed with covers of the same material, on which were
represented in stone the figures of the ancient Indian pagans whose names are in the calendar, with some
Chalchihuites, which are solid hard stones of a green colour, and other snperstitious figures. These wcre taken
from a cave by the Indian lady herself and the Tapianes or guardians of them, and given up, when they were
publicly burnt in the square at Hueguetan, on our visit to that province in 1691.'

" It is possible that Votan's historical tract alluded to by Nunez de la Vega, Or another similar to it, may be the
one which is now in the possession of Don Ramon de Ordonez y Aguiar, a native of Ciudad Real. He is a man of
extraordinary genius, and engaged at this time in composing a work, the title of which I have seen, being as
follows, ' Historia del Cielo y de la Tierra,'-that will not only embrace the original population of America, but
trace its progress from Chaldea immediately after the confusion of tongues, its mystical and moral theology, its
mythology, and most important events. His literary acquirements, his application and study of the subject for
more than thirty years, his skill in the Tzendal language, (in which idiom the tract just spoken of is written,) and
the many excellent authors he has collected, lead us to anticipate," &c. &c. The writer proceeds to say, "To the
important information of Nunez de la Vega, I will add the no less valuable notices communicated to me by Don
Ramon Ordonez y Aguiar. The memoir in his possession consists of five or six folios of common quarto paper,
written in ordinary characters in the Tzendal language, -- an evident proof of its having been copied from the original
in hieroglyphics shortly after the conquest. At the top of the first leaf the two continents are painted in different
colours in two small squares placed parallel to each other in the angles: the one representing Europe, Asia, and
Africa, is marked with two large S S upon the npper arms of two bars drawn from the opposite angles of each square,
forming the point of union in the centre: that which indicates America has two S S placed horizontally on the bars;
but I am not certain whether upon the upper or lower bars; I believe, however, upon the latter. When speaking of the
places he had visited on the Old Continent, he marks them on the margin of each chapter with an npright S, and those
of America with a horizontal S. Between these squares stands the title of his history, 'Proof that I am Culebra,'
(a serpent), which title he proves in the body of his work by saying that he is Culebra because he is Chivim. He
states that he conducted seven families from Valum Votan to this continent, and assigned lands to them; that he is
the third of the Votans; that, having determined to travel until he arrived at the root of heaven, in order to
discover his relations the Culebras and make himself known to them, he made four voyages to Chivim, which is
expressed by repeating four times, from Valum Votan to Valnm Chivim, from Valum Chi vim to Valum Votan; that
he arrived in Spain, and that he went to Rome; that he saw the great house of God building; that he went by the
road which his brethren the Culebras had bored; that he marked it, and that he passed by the houses of the thirteen




NOTES. 409

Culebras. He relates that in returning from one of his voyages, he found seven other families of the Tzequil
nation, who had joiued the first inhabitants, and recognised in them the same origin as his own, that is, that of the
Culebras. He speaks of the place where they built their first town, which from its founders received the name
of Tzequil. He affirms the having taught them refinement of manners in the use of the table, table-cloth, dishes,
basins, cups, and napkins: that in return for these, they taught him the knowledge of God and of his worship, his
first ideas of a king, and of obedience to him; and that he was chosen captain of all these united families."
So far Doctor Cabrera; from whose treatise, entitled" Teatro Critico Americano," this long paragraph has been
extracted. It is unnecessary to attempt in this place to trace out any further Scriptural analogies in the traditions
and mythology of the New World, since the coincidences which have been already mentioned are sufficiently
strong to warrant the conclusion that the Indians, at a period long antecedent to the arrival of the Spaniards in
America, were acquainted with a portion at least of the Old Testament, although time, superstition, and, above all,
such an imperfect mode of transmitting to posterity the memory of past events as that of paintings, had greatly
corrupted their ancient traditions. We shall close these observations with the following curious extract from
Torquemada, from which it might appear that even the New Testament had been known to the Indians: "Another
ecclesiastic, named Brother Diego de Mercado, a grave father, who has been definitor of this province of the Holy
Gospel, and one of the most exemplary men and greatest doers of penance of his time, rclates, and authenticates
this relation with his signature, that some years ago conversing with an aged Indian of the Otomies, above seventy
years old, respecting matters concerning our faith, the Indian told him that they in ancient times had been in
possession of a book which was handed down successively from father to son, in the person of the eldest, who was
dedicated to the safe custody of it and to instruct others in its doctrines. These doctrines were written in two
columns, and betwecn column and column Christ was painted crucified, with a countenance as of anger. They
accordingly said that God was offended; and out of reverence did not turn over the leaves with their hands, but
with a small bar which they had made for that purpose, which they kept along with the book. On this ecclesiastic's
questioning the Indian as to the contents of that book and its doctrines, he was unable to give him further
information, bnt simply replied that if the book had not been lost, he would have seen that the doctrine which he
taught and preached to them, and those which the book contained, were the same; that the book had rotted in the
earth, where the persons who kept it had buried it on the arrival of the Spaniards. He likewise informed him that
they knew the world had been destroyed by the deluge, and that only seven persons had escaped in the ark, and
that all the rest had perished, together with the animals and birds, excepting those which had been saved therein.
They were also acquainted with the embassy of the angel to Our Lady, under a figure, relating that something very
white, like the feather of a bird, fell from heaven, and that a virgin stooped down and took it up, and put it in her
bosom and became pregnant; but what she brought forth they could not tell. What they say of the Deluge is
attested likewise in Guatemala by the Indians named Achies, who assert that they possessed paintings recording
that event, with other matters of antiquity, all of which the Brothers, with the spirit and zeal with which they were
animated for the destruction of idolatry, took from them and burnt, holding them to be suspicious."


NOTE III.

REASONS FOR SUPPOSING THAT CHRISTIANS IN EARLY AGES COLONIZED AMERICA.

It is so singular a fact that the Indians of Mexico and Peru should have believed with Christians in many
doctrines which are held to be peculiarly and exclusively Christian, and to constitute a line of demarcation
between Christianity and all other religions, that it appears a convincing proof that Christianity must in early
ages have been established in America, and that ancient communications subsisted between the old and new
continent at a period long antecedent to the age of Columbus. In pointing out some of the leading doctrines
of Christianity, the knowledge of which was likewise found amongst the Indians, it may be proper to observe, that



410 NOTES.

although it might be easily shown that the Indians believed in the existence of the Deity, in the immortality
of the soul, and in a future state of rewards and punishments; still, as these are intuitive truths which all
religions teach, which all ages have believed, no inferences will be attempted to be drawn from them; since the
Romans or the Greeks, the Mahometans or the Hindoos, might by the same arguments be proved to have
carried on intercourse in former ages with the Indians. The doctrines more peculiarly Christian, a belief in which
the Indians likewise professed, however mixed up with other superstitions, and from which inferences may be fairly
drawn, are the following: That of a Trinity, of original sin, of repentance and penance, of a vicarial atonement, of a
future redeemer, and of the resurrection of the body. But, besides exhibiting a certain degree of conformity on these
doctrinal points, they likewise seem to have been formerly acqnainted with the sacraments, although superstition had
lamentably perverted these ancient mysteries of the Christian Church, since traces of them may be found in various
rites and ceremonies common alike to the Mexicans and Peruvians. Having briefly mentioned what the particular
doctrines of Christianity were, which the gravest writers assert were known to the Indians before the arrival of the
Spaniards in the New World, we shall proceed separately to adduce proofs to show that the above-mentioned doctrines
did in reality constitute a portion of the Indian faith; and although many testimonies from different authors
might be cited in confirmation of each article, it will be sufficient in this place to quote the single authorities of men
like Acosta, Peter Martyr, Garcia, and Torquemada, whose writings are highly appreciated in Spain, and are also known
to the rest of Europe. -- And first with respect to the doctrine of a Trinity *. Acosta says that the belief of the Peruvians

-----
* The doctrine of a Trinity was known not only in Peru and Yucatan, but likewise amongst the more savage Illdian tribes of Paraguay,
as we learn from the following passage of the "Lettres Edi6antes et Curieusc::s, ecrites des Missions Etrangeres;" a work published 
by authority, and replete with information.

"Pour ce qui est de la religion de ces peuples et des cl:remonies qu'ils y observcnt, il n'y a point, dans tautes les lodes Occidentales, de
nation plus superstitieuse. Cependant, au travers des fables grossieres et ridicules, et des dogmes monstrueux qui les asservi~sent au demOD,
on ne laisse pas de decouvrir quelques traces de la vraie foi, qui, seion la commune opinion, leur fut pr~chee par Saint Thomas ou par
ses disciples: il parait meme qu'ils ont quelque idee confuse de l'a\'enement de Jesus-Christ incarne pour la redemption des hommes.
C'est une tradition parmi eux, que, dans les siecles passes, une Dame d'une grande beaute conr;ut un fort bel enfant, sans l'operation d'aucun
hom me; que cet enfant etant parvenu a un certain age, opera les plus grands prodiges qui remplirent toutc la terre d'admiration; qu'il guerit
les malades, ressuscita les morts, fit marcher les boiteux, rendit la vue aux aveugles, et fit une infinite d'autres merveilles qui etaient fort audessus
des forces humaines; qu'un jour ayant rassemble un grand peuple, il ie/eva dans les airs, et se trallsjorma dans ce soleil que nous
VqyOl1S. Son corps est tout lumineux, disent les Mapono ou pr~tres des idoles; et s'it n'y avait pas une si grande distance de lui a nous, DOUS
pourrions distinguer les traits de son visage. 11 parait tres-naturel qu'un si grand personnage rot I'objet de leur culte: cependant ils n'adorent
que des demons et iIs disent qu'ils leur apparaissent quelquefois sous des formes horribles. lis reconnaissent une Trinite de Dieux principaux,
qu'ils distingucnt des autres Uieux qui ont beaucoup moins d'autorite; savoir, Ie Pere, Ie Fils et l'Esprit. lIs nomment Ie Perc
Omequetllriqui,ou bien Urago-Zoriso; Ie nom du Fils est Urusana, et l'Esprit se nomme Urupo. Cette Viergc qu'ils appellent Quipoci,
est la Mere de Dieu Urusana, et la femme d'Urago-Zoriso. Le I)ere parle d'une voix haute et distincte; Ie Fils parle du nez, et la voix
de l'Esprit est se01blablc au tonnerrc. Le Pere est Ie Dieu de la justice et cMtie les mechans; Ie Fils et r Esprit, de m~me que la DGesse,jollt
lafouction de mediateurs, et intercedent pour les coupables. C'est une vaste salle de la maison du cacique, qui sert de temple aux Dieux.
Une partie de la salle se ferme d'un grand rideau, et c'est la Ie sanctuaire ou ces trois divinites, qu'ils appellent cl'uD nom commun a toutes
trois Tinimaacas, viennent recevoir les hommages des peuples et publier leurs oracles. Ce sanctuaire n'est accessible qu'au principal
Mapono; car it y en a deux ou trois autres subalternes en chaque village, rnais illeur est defendu d'en approcher, SOliS peine de mort.
C'est d'ordinaire dans Ie temps des assemblees pllbliqucs, que ces Dieux se rendent dans leur sanctuaire. Un grand bruit, dont toute la
maison retentit, annonce leur arrivee. Ces peuples, qui passent Ie temps a boire et a danser, interrompent leurs plaisirs, et pOllssent de
grands cris de joie pour honorer la presence de leurs Dieux. 'Tata equice: disent ils, c'est-a-dire, 'Pere, ~tes-vous deja venu?' lis entendent
une voix, qui leur r~pond: 'Panitoques,' qui veut dire: 'Enfans, courage, continuez a bien boire, a bien manger, et a vous bien divertir;
vous ne sauriez me faire plus de plaisir: j'ai grand soin de vous tous: c'est moi qui vous procure les avantages que -rous retirez de la chasse
et de la ¢che, c'est de moi, que vous tenez tous les biens que vous possedez.' Apres cette reponse, que ces peuples ecoutent en grand
silence et avec respect, ils retournent a leur clanse et a la Chicha, qui est leur boisson; et bient6t leurs tMes etant echauBees par l'exces
qu'ils font de cette liqueur, la mte se termine par des querelles, par des blessures, et par la mort de plusieurs d'entr'eux. Les Uieux
ant soif a leur tour, et demandent a boire: aussite,t on prepare des vases ornes de fleurs, et on choisit l'Indien et l'Indienne qui sont Ie
plus en veneration uans Ie village, pour presenter la hoisson. Le Mapono eDtr'ouvre un coin du rideau, et la refioit pour la porter aux
Dieux, car il n'y a que lui qui soit leur confident, et qui ait Ie droit de les entretenir. Les offrandes de ce qu'on a pris 8. la chasse et
ala peche ne sont pas oubliees. Quand ces peuples sont au fort de leur ivresse et de leurs querelles, Ie l\1apono sort du sanctuaire, et
leur imposant silence, illeur annonce qu'il a expose aux Dieux leurs besoins, qu'il en a re~u des reponses les plus favorables, qu'ils
leur promettent toute sorte de prosperites, de la pluie selon les besoins, une bonne recolte, une chasse, et une peche abondante, et tout
ce qu'ils peuvent desirer. Un jour qu'un de ces Indiens, moins dupe que.ses compatriotes, s'avisa de dire, en riant, que les Dieux avaient
bien bu, et que 1a Chicha les avait rend us de bonne humeur, Ie lVfapono, qui entendit ce trait de raillerie, changea aussitot ses magni




NOTES. 411

was as follows; -- his words, as far as the Latin translation by De Bry may be supposed to be correct, are these:
"That which is here most worthy of remark, is the fact that Satan, in order to incease the majesty of his own
worship, has wished by cunningly introducing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity among the Indians, to abuse it; for
they had given these names to the three above-mentioned images of the sun, Apointi, Churiunti, and Intiquaoqui;
the significations of which are, The Father and Lord of the sun, the Son the sun" itself, and the Brother of the
fiques pl'omesses en autant d'imprecations, et les menaga de tempetes, de tonnerres, de la famine et de la mort. II arrive sauvent que
ce Mapono rapporte, de la part des Dieux, des reponses bien cruelles: il ordonne a tout Ie village de prendre les armes, d'aller fondre
sur quelqu'un des villages voisins, de piller tout ce qui s'y trouvera, et d'y mettre tout a feu et a sang. 11 est toujours abei. C'est
ce qui entretient parmi ces peuples des inimities et des guerres continuelles, et ce qui les porte a s'entredetruire les uns les autres. C'est
aussi la r~compense des hommages qu'ils rendent a l'esprit infernal, qui ne se plait que dans Ie trouble et la division, et qui n'a d'autre
but que la perte eternelle de ses adorateurs. Outre ces Dicux principaux, ils en adorent d'autres d'un ordre inferieur, qu'ils Domment
Isituus; ce qui signifie, Seigneurs de l'eau. L'emploi de ces Dieux est de parcourir les rh'ieres et les lacs, et de les remplir de poissons
en faveur de leurs devots. Ceux-ci les invoquent dans Ie temps de leur p~che, et les encensent avec de la fumee de tabac. Si la chasse,
ou la I~che a etc abondante, ils vont au temple leur en ofrir une partie en signe de reconnai3sance. Ces idolfLtres croient que les ames
sont immortelles, iis les nomment Oquipau, et qu'au sortir de leurs corps, elIes sont portees par leurs pretres dans Ie ciel, au elles doivent
se rejouir eternellement. Quand queIqu'un vient a mourir, on celebre ses obseques avec plus ou moins de solennite, selon Ie rang qu'il
tenait dan3 Ie village. Le Mapono, auquel ils croient que cette arne est confiee, rec;oit les offrandes que la mere, et la femme du dHunt
lui apportent; il repand de l'eau pour purifier l'ame de ses souillures; it console cette mere et cette femme affiigees, et leur fait esperer
que bientot it aura d'agreables nouvelles a leur dire sur l'heureux sort de l'ame du defunt, et qu'il va la conduire au ciel. Apres quelque
temps, Ie Mapono, de retour de son voyage, fait venir la mere et la femme; et, prenant un air gai, il ardonne a celle-ci d'essuyer ses larmes,
et de quitter ses habits de deuiJ, parce que son marl est heureusement dans Ie ciel, au ill'attend, pour partager son bonheur avec elle.
Ce voyage du Mapono avec l'ame est penible; il lui faut traverser d'epaisses forets, des montagnes escarpees, descendre dans des
van~es rempties de rivieres, de lacs, et de marais bourbeux, jusqu'a ce qu'enfin apres bien des fatigues, il arrive a une grande riviere, sur
laquelle est un pont de bois, gard~ nuit et jour par un Dieu nomme Tatusiso, qui preside au passage des ames, et qui met Ie M apono
dans Ie chemin du ciel. Ce Dieu a Ie visage pMe, la t~te chauvc, une physionomie qui fait horreur, Ie corps plein d'ulceres et couvert de
miserables hailloos. II De \'a point au temple pour y recevoir les hommages de ses devots, son emploi ne lui en donne pas Ie loisir, parce
qu'il est continuellement oecupe a passer les amed. Il arrive queIquefois que ce Dieu arr~te Pame au passage, sur-tout si c'est celle d'un
jeuoe homme, afin de la purifier. 5i cette arne est peu docile, et resiste a ses volontes, il s'irrite, il prend l'ame, et la precipite dans
la riviere, afin qu'elle se noie. C'est la, disent-ils, la source de tant de funestes evenemens qui arrivent dans Ie monde. Des pluies
abondantes, et contilluelles avaient ruine les moissons dans la terre des Indiens J urucares. Le peuple, qui etait inconsolable, s'adressa au
Mapono, pour demander aux Dieux queUe etait la cause d'un si grand malheur. Le Mapono, apres a\"oir pris Ie temps de consulter
Ies Dieux, rapporta leur reponse, qui etait, qu'en pOl'tant au del l'ame d'un jeune homme, dont Ie perc "ivait encore dans Ie village,
cette ame manqua de respect au Tatusiso, et De voulut point se laisser purifier, ce qui avait oblige ce Dieu cruellement irrite, de la jeter
dans Ia riviere. A' ce recit Ie pere du jeune homme qui aimait tendrement son fils, et qui Ie croyait deja au ciel, ne pouvait se consoler;
mais Ie Mapono ne manqua pas de ressource dans ce malheur extreme. It dit au pere afHige que, s'il voulait lui preparer un canot bien
propre, il irait chercher l'ame de son fils au fond de la riviere. Le canot fut bienU)t pret, et Ie Mapono Ie chargea sur ses epaules. Peu
apres les pluies etant cessees, et Ie ciel devenu serein, i1 revint avec d'agreables nouvelles, mais Ie canot ne reparutjamais. Du reste, c'est
un pauvre Paradis que Ie leur, et les plaisirs qu'on y goCtte ne sont guere capables de contenter un esprit tant soit peu faisonnahle. lis
disent qu'il y a de fort gros arbres qui distillent une sorte de gomme, dont ces ames subsistent; que 1'0n y trouve des singes, que 1'on
prendrait pour des Ethiopiens; qu'il y a du miel et un peu de poisson; qu'on y voit voler de toutes parts un grand aigIe, sur lequel ils
debitent beaucoup de fables ridicules, et si dignes de compassion, qu'on ne pcut s'empecher de deplorer l'aveuglement de ces paul'res
peuples."


-----
* The following observations are taken from the English edition of "Volney's Ruins," and they refer to a strange heresy that sprung
up in the earliest ages of Christianity, which identified Christ in a sort of ofLOIJa'ICt with the sun. That celebrated writer commenting on
the word chris, which he says signifies to preserve, and was a name belonging to Vishnou, writes as follows: "The Greeks used to
express by x or the Spanish iota, the aspirated hIl of the Orientals, who said hd,·;s: in Hebrew, hi"es (o~n) signifies the sun; but in Arabic,
the radical word means to guard, to preserve, and haris, guardian,presel"ver. It is the proper epithet of Vichenou, which demonstrates
at once the identity of the Indian and Christian trinities, and their common origin. It is manifestly but one system, which divided into
two branches, one in the East, and the other in the West, assumed two different forms: its principal trunk is the Pythagorean system
of the soul of the world, or Ioupater. The epithet pater or father having been applied to the Demi-ourgos of the Platonicians, gave rise
to an ambiguity which caused an inquiry to be made after the Son. In the opinion of the philosophers it was the understanding, VOIJ) and
).o'Yos, from which the Latins made their verbum; and thus we clearly perceive the origin of the eternal father and of the ?l.lerb his son,
proceeding from him (meus fJ,' Deo nata, says Macrobius); the anima or spiritus mtlndi was the Holy Ghost; and it is for this reason
that Manes, Basilides, Valentini us, and other pretended heretics of the first ages, who traced thing:; to their source, said that God the
Father was the supreme innccessible light of heaven (the first circle, or the a7r).c(v!"~); the Son the secondary light resident in the sun, and
the Holy Ghost the atmosphere of the earth. -- See Beausob. vol. ii. p. 586. Hence, among the Syrians, his emblem of a dove, the bird
of Venus Urallia, that is of the air. 'The Syrians (says Nigidius in Germanico) assert that 3 dove sat several days in the Euphrates on




412 NOTES.

sun. They bestowed the same appellations also on Chuquulla, that is, the god whose habitation they supposed was
in that tract or region of the air whence proceed thunder, rain and snow, as they had done on the three images.
In Chuquisaca an idol was once shown to me to which the Indians were accustomed to pray; they called it Tangatanga,
and believed it to be a god who was one in three, and three in one." -- Acosta, lib. v. cap. xxviii. Several
historians of the New World mention Suchiquecal, and the sin which she committed in eating of the fruit of a tree;
although they do not expressly state that that fruit was an apple: whilst others assert, that with the Mexicans each
succeeding year was merely a new anniversary of the fall of man, and that every day in their calendar was dedicated
to the performance of some cruel austerity intended to blot out the remembrance of that sin; it will therefore be unnecessary
to appeal to the testimony of any particular author to prove that the doctrine of original sin was believed
by the Indians. With respect to penitence and penance, these were doctrines introduced by Quecalcoatl, and strictly
inculcated by the religion of the Mexicans. Gomara (speaking of Quecalcoatl) says, "He was the god of the air,
that he founded the city of Chollula, and was by tradition chaste, and a great doer of penance, the institutor of fasts,
and of drawing blood from the tongue and the ears; and that he permitted no sacrifices except those of quails, doves,
and such animals as were taken in the chace; that he wore a long narrow vest of white cotton, and over it a mantle
covered with red crosses." -- Gomara, La Conquista de Mexico, fo. xxxviii. The doctrine of a vicarial atonement, or
of a sacrifice for sin, whereby the guilt of the one party is expiated and atoned for by the innocent blood of the other,
was also well known to the Indians; and the question is curious, how traces of this doctrine should have been discovered
in America, and how, on the supposition of these traces affording indications of Christianity having in earlier
ages existed in that continent, the doctrines of a purer faith could have thns degenerated, and in time have become
mingled with such barbarons superstitions. The following extract is from the History of Chili by Rosales; since the
work of Rosales is inedited, the passage in the original Spanish is here inserted, to which the translation is subjoined.
" En Culacoya prosiguiendo con su conqnista en tierras del gran Senor Qninchatipai, cinco leguas de la cindad de
la Concepcion, tubieron otra fortaleza, y alii ay siete piedras a manera de piramides labradas, que fueron pnestas por
los Indios del Peru para hacer la ceremonia llamada Calpainga, que se hacia para la salud del rey Inga cada
nn ano. Era este rito a semejanza del que hacian los Cartaginenses, qne como refiere el Padre Juan de Mariana,
grave historiador, para obligar a sus dioses les saerificaball todos los anos algunos dioses escogidos, y assi escogian
los Ingas dos ninos de edad de seis alios cada uno, varon y mujer, y los vestian en traje de Inga, y assi ligados
y vivos los cnterraban, diciendo qne al pecado que su Rey y Senor ubiesse echo, 10 pagaban aquellos inocentes
en aquel sacrificio." -- Historia del Chile, lib. iii. cap. 2. "Prosecuting their conquest in Culacoya as far as the
country of the powerful lord Quinchatipai, five leagues distant from the city of Conception, they (the Spaniards)
found another fortress where were seven stones resembling sculptured pyramids, which had been placed there by the
Indians of Peru for the purpose of performing the ceremony called Calpainga, which was celebrated annually to
ensure the prosperity of the sovereign Inga. This rite resembled one in use amongst the Carthaginians, who, in
oreler to gain the favour of their gods, as Father Juan de Mariana, a grave historian, relates, sacrificed every year
some selected gods; and the Ingas accordingly selected annually two children, each of six years of age, a boy and a
girl, and clothed them in the dress of the Inga; and in this manuer, having bound them, they buried them alive, saying
that those innocent victims would by that sacrifice ransom the sins which their king and lord had committed." If
our surprise is excited by the discovery that the Peruvians were not altogether ignorant of the nature of a vicarial
sacrifice or atonement, it will be produced in no less degree when we discover that the inhabitants of New Spain
generally believed in the coming of a future Redeemer or Saviour, whose advent as well as the last destruction of
the world they seem to have expected at the close of certain stated periods corresponding with the artificial cycles of
time which they employed in their calendars: that future redeemer was Quecalcoatl. The letters of Cortes to Charles
the Fifth fully prove that about the time when the Spaniards first arrived in America, the expectation was very general
in New Spain of the appearance of Queealcoatl, and for many years afterwards that expectation continued: so difficult
is it to root out ancient prejudices; since we are informed that the mere report of their god having come to
the egg of a fish, whence Venus was born.' Sextus Empiricus also observes, (Inst. Pyrrh. lib. iii. c. 23,) that the Syrians abstain from
eating doves; this intimates to us a period commencing in the sign of Pisces (in the winter solstice). We may further observe, that if
Chris comes from liarisclt by a cltin, it will signify artificer, an epithet belonging to the sun. These V3liations, which must have 
embarrassed the ancients, prove it to be the real type of Jesus, as had been already remarked in the time of Tertullian. t Many,' says this
writer, 'suppose,0it1l greate" probability that the sun is our God, and the !l,'ife,. !IS to the religion of the Persians.''' Apologet. c. 16



NOTES. 413

redeem them indnced the Gapotecas to revolt in the year 1550. Gomara, speaking of this expectation, says, "The
Indians viewed with attention the dress, deportment, and beards of the Spaniards; they were astonished at seeing
the horses feed and gallop; they were terrified at the glittering of their swords, and fell to the ground at the report
and noise caused by the artillery, thinking that heaven was bursting with thunder and lightning; and they said of
the ships, that it was Quecalcoatl who was coming, bringing his temples with him, (con sus templos a cuestas,) since
he was the god of the air, who had left them, and whose return they expected." -- La Conquista de Mexico, fo. xvii.
A most striking proof of the firmness of the faith of the Mexicans in Quecalcoatl, is afforded by the relations which
Cortes in his third letter to Charles the Fifth, and Gomara in his Conquest of Mexico, give of the events which
occurred during the last days of the siege of that city. Gomara, describing the state of extremity to which the
Mexicans had been reduced, and their obstinacy in resisting the Spaniards to the last, says, "Cortes, being desirous
of seeing how much of the city remained yet to be gained, ascended a high tower, looked around him and perceived
that there was an eighth part. On the following day he returned to the attack of this remaining portion: he
commanded his troops to kill none but those who defended themselves. The Mexicans lamented their unhappy
fate, intreating the Spaniards to conclude the work of slaughter; and certain chiefs called to Cortes in a very pressing
manner, who hastened to the spot, imagining that it was to treat of terms of surrender. Having placed himself by
the side of a bridge, they addressed him, 'Since yon are the son of the sun, why do you not finish with his cOurse:
o sun! that canst encircle the earth in so short a space of time as a single day and one night, kill us at once, and
relieve us from such great and protracted sufferings; since we desire death, in order to go and rest with Quecalcoatl,
who is expecting us." -- La Conquista de Mexico, fo.lxxxiiii. The Mexicans and Gapotecas were not the only nations
in New Spain who expected the coming of a future redeemer. The Totonacas, a numerous people who inhabited
a mountainous tract of country to the east of Mexico, not far distant from Vera Cruz, believed likewise (if we may
credit Mendieta, one of the earliest Spanish missionaries who preached the Gospel to the Indians) in this future
Redeemer. Torquemada, citing the authority of Mendieta, says: "It was likewise found that in some provinces of
New Spain, as in Totonaca, they expected the coming of the son of the great god, who was the sun, into the world;
and they said that he was to come to renew all things; although they did not believe or interpret this in a spiritual,
but in a temporal and earthly sense. They thought, for example, that on his coming, the grain would be of a purer
and more substantial quality; that their fruit would be better flavoured, and more excellent in its kind; that the
lives of men would be considerably prolonged, and that every thing else would become better in a corresponding
degree. And in order to hasten the coming of the son of the great god, they sacrificed at a certain season of the year
eighteen persons, both male and female; encouraging them, and exhorting them to consider themselves fortunate in
being the messengers of the republic, which dispatched them to the great god to intreat and to supplicate him that he
would vouchsafe to send them his son to free them from their many miseries and hardships, and the obligation and
affliction laid upon them of performing human sacrifices, which, as has already been observed, they considered a
terrible and cruel burthen; and it was an intolerable torment and grief to them, since they performed them in
obedience to the commands of their false gods, on account of the great fear in which they held them." It was the
cupidity of the Spaniards that first instructed them in another essential doctrine of the Indians, -- that of the resurrection
of the body. And here we must observe that this doctrine is peculiarly Christian: it is on this point, and not
on the immortality if the soul, that Christianity differs from the religions of antiquity; and it is very singular that
it should have been discovered in the New World. Gomara, after stating that the Peruvians deposited gold and silver
vases in the tombs of the Ingas, says: "When the Spaniards opened these sepulchres and scattered the bones, the
Indians intreated them not to do so, assuring them that they would be united in the resurrection; for they fully believe
in the resurrection of the body, and in the immortality of the soul." -- La Istoria de las Indias, fo. lxix. Herrera
likewise, in several passages of his History of the Indies, asserts that the Indians maintained this belief. He says, in
his fourth decade, page 187, "In the provinces of Guazacualco and Yluta they believed that the dead wonld come
to life; and when the bones of such as died among them had dried np, they collected them in a basket and hnng
them to the branch of a tree, that they might be at no loss to find them when the period of the resurrection arrived."
He says also, "In the province of Quimbaya they well knew that there was an immortal principle in man, although
they thought that it was not his soul, but a (bodily) transfiguration, believing that the body would be restored to
life. They explained further, that its future habitation would be some delightful and pleasant place, and they therefore
used interment like the other Indians." -- Herrera, Historia de las Indias Occidentales, Dec. vi. lib. viii. pag. 177.



414 NOTES.

Having thus traced the resemblance which on many doctrinal points the religion of the New World presented to
Christianity, we shall now say somcthing of the sacraments: and it is truly surprising to discover that nearly all the
sacraments of the primitive church were recognized by the first Spanish missionaries, as clearly shadowed out in many
of the Indian superstitious rites and ceremonies. To begin with Baptism: Peter Martyr, in the eighth chapter of his
fourth decade, addressing Leo the Tenth, describing the manners of the inhabitants of New Spain, says: "They report
also another thing worth the noting, which will bee very pleasing to your Holinesse. The priestes seeme to baptise
children, both males and females, of a yeere old, with holy ceremonyes in their temples, pouring water crosse-wise
out of a cruet upon their heads; and although they understood not their words, yet they observed their murmurs
and actions: neyther do they, as the Mahumetanes or Jewes, thinke their temples profaned, if any other sect be
present at their sacrifices or ceremonyes." Torquemada likewise, in his description of the Mexican baptismal ceremony,
says that" the midwife on bathing the infant addressed it in these words: 'Receive this water; for the goddess
Chalchiuitlicue Chalchiuhtlatonac is thy mother. And may this bath wash away and remove the stain anel defilement
which thou derivest from thy parents, and purify thy heart, and make thee of a good and holy life!'" -- Monarquia
Indiana, lib. 13. cap. xvi. It may herc be observed that the words "manchas y suciedades que tienes de parte de tus
padreR" can only refer to original sin. This address to the infant about to be baptized, was translated from the
Mexican language into Spanish by Bernard de Sahagun, one of the first preachers of the Gospel in New Spain. Herrera
also asserts that in Yucatan baptismal ceremonies were performed: "Baptism has been discovered in Yucatan
alone of all the provinces of New Spain; and its name in their language signifies' regeneration' (nacer otra vez). They
hold it so much a matter of religion, and entertain such reverence for it, that nobody omits receiving it; they
imagine that they receive a pure disposition in it to become good, and to escape harm from devils, and to obtain
the glory which they hoped for; it is administered to them from the age of three years to twelve, and no one marries
without having received it. They fix upon a day for the celebration of it which they deem fortunate. The fathers
fast on the three preceding days, and separate themselves from their wives: in the mean time the priests are occupied
in the purification of the mother, exorcising the devil by means of certaiu ceremonies; which being completed,
the children proceeded one by one, and the priest threw some ground maize and incense with his hand upon them. And
they sent wine in a vase and censer out of the city, with orders to an Indian not to drink it or to look behind him;
and by the performance of this ceremony they imagined that they exorcised the devil. The priest then came forth
habited in long and grave vestments, with a branch in his hand, and placed some white cloth on the heads of the children,
questioning the elder as to whether they had committed any sin, which on their confessing, he took them aside and
in certain words blessed them, holding the branch in a threatening attitude towards them, and with some water which
was kept in a bone, moistened their foreheads, cheeks, fingers, and toes: when some presents having been given,
the baptismal ceremony was held to be complete, and the festival terminated in banquets. In addition to the three
days before mentioned, the father and the mother remained apart nine more." -- Historia de las Indias Occidentales,
Dec. iv. lib. x. cap. iv.

Proceeding from baptism to the most solemn sacrament of the Church, that of the Lord's Supper, we shall find a
mysterious resemblance to the communion of Christians in an idolatrous rite of the Mexicans called Teoqualo,
which literally signifies 'to eat god.' This ceremony consisted in eating the body and blood of Huitzilopuchtli or
Quecalcoatl under the similitude of bread, which they named Toyoliaytlaquatl, which signifies' the food of our life.'
Torquemada, in the thirty-eighth chapter of the sixth book of his Indian Monarchy, thus describes it: "Besides the
image and statue which they had placed in the greater temple of Mexico to their false and abominable god Huitzilopuchtli,
which we have already mcntioned, they made each year another, compounded and mixed up with different
kinds of grain and esculent seeds, which was formed in this manner: They collected in one of the principal and
handsomest halls of the temple, adjoining to the altar and Cu, a quantity of grain and seed of bledos and pulse, which
they pouuded with great care and devotion, and kneaded and formed into the said statue, of the size and height of
a man. The fluid with which they moistened and worked the flour into dough was the hlood of children whom they
had sacrificed for this purpose; the intention of which was to typify, in the simplicity and innocence of the child,
that of the god whom the statue represented. Mter it was made, the priests and satraps took it in their hands, and
placed it with great reverence and veneration upon the Cu or altar which they had prepared and adorned for its
reception; all the ministers of their religion assisting at this act, and blowing trumpets and other instruments, which
created a loud and tumultuous sound, whilst others went before, singing and dancing. This took place by night.



NOTES. 415

But as soon as it was morning the mInisters and high priest proceeded to consecrate and to bless it, (if such an
act can be called a consccration and benediction, although the Indians apply that very term to it in their own language,)
at which benediction and consecration all the citizens were prescnt, together with crowds of strangers who had
assembled to witness the said ccremony. The consecration being over, all who could, drew near it, to touch it with
their hands, eyes, and mouths, as if it were to touch a relic, or the body of a saint, although that was the lurking-place
of the Devil; and they at the same time strewed the whole of its body with jewels of gold and precious stones, of value
proportioned to the devotion and means of each individual, which could easily be pressed into the figure of the idol,
since the dough which composed it was fresh and soft. They made this liberal offering, thinking that they were
rendering their god a considerable service, and that on account of it he would pardon their sins; which is what we
are taught by the sound and Catholic doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, -- that charity diminisheth sin. And if when
done to our neighbour it possesses so much force, it will possess much greater when the offering is made unto God,
who accordingly has chosen to declare, that it avails those who give and bestow, for their purification and the cleansing
away of their sins; although in this place it possesses no meritorious quality, inasmuch as it was done to the Devil,
or, to speak plainer, was done at his instigation. The day of the consecration of that infernal bread and dough being
past, nobody was allowed to touch it, or to enter into the chapel where it was, but the high priest only. On the
morning in which they had placed the idol on the altar, they proceeded to make a solemn offering and sacrifice to it.
They afterwards brought forth the statue and idol of the god Paynalton, the god of war, the vicar or lieutenant of
the said Huitzilopuchtli, which was made of wood, and was carried in the arms of a priest, who represented the god
Quetzalcohuatl, and was dressed very richly in curious ornaments and apparel, being preceded by another, holding
in his hands a large and thick serpent twisted in many folds, which was carried before, and was lifted up on
high, in the manner of the cross in our processions. They made a very long procession, accompanied by all the
citizens; and at certain distances, and on different Cues Or altars, the priests who were attached to them performed
sacrifices as well of prisoners as of quails. The first halting-place was in the division of Teotlacho, where they killed
two captives and many other slaves; and approaching this part of the city where I am now writing, called Tlatelulco,
they went forth to meet it with much solemnity, and sacrificed a great number of quails. Hence the procession
passed on to Popotlan, where, after having offered incense to it with many ceremonies, they performed the same
sacrifice; whence they went to Chapultepec, which is about a league from the city, where they made a similar offering
and sacrifice. It afterwards returned to the quarter called Tepetoca, the inhabitants of which received it with the
same festive ceremonies and sacrifices; and next came to another quarter, named Acachinanco, accompanied with
the same honours and rejoicings; from whence it proceeded to the temple from which it had set out. They then
lifted up the statue of Paynalton, and placed it on the altar by that of Huitzilopuchtli, and there left it, together
with the banner named Ezpaniztli, which was carried in front; the serpent alone was taken away, and deposited in a
place allotted to it. This procession being ended, which lasted the greater part of the day, all necessary preparations
were now ready for the sacrifice; as a commencement of which, the king or supreme lord took a censer, and throwing
incense into it with certain ceremonies, offered incense to the image of his god, officiating himself as high priest.
This ceremony being concluded, they took down the image of Paynalton, before which all those who were destined
to be sacrificed were marched in files, with whatsoever else was required for the sacrifice. They then took three or
four turns round the temple, as if in procession; and immediately afterwards made the wretched victims ascend the
platform above, where they sacrificed them, beginning with the prisoners of war, and terminating that horrid act with
the sacrifice of the fatted slaves who had been purchased for the occasion, tearing out their hearts, and throwing them
at the feet of the idol. The entire of this day was dedicated to the greatest fcstivities and rejoicings, in which the
priests carefully guarded the said statue, watching it during the night with much vigilance, that neither negligence
nor omission might occur in any thing appertaining to its veneration or service. On the following day in the morning
they took down the said statue, which being placed on its feet in a hall, the priest Quetzalcohuatl, who on the preceding
day had marched in procession with the statue of Paynalton in his arms, entered at the same time with it; and
the king likewise, accompanied by a minister in inner attendance on the god Huitzilopuchtli, who was called Tehua,
with four other priests of rank, and four principal young men of the number of those whose duty it was to watch
over the other youths of the temple, who were named Telpochtlatoque, in whose presence, and in that of no others,
Quetzalcohuatl took a spear, headed with a flint, and threw it at the breast of the idol, with which he pierced it, and
the idol fell; which ceremony they performed, saying that it was to kill their god Huitzilopuchtli, in order to eat his



416 NOT E S.
body. The priests afterwards drew near; and one of them took out the heart and presented it to the king, and the
others divided the body into two parts, and gave the one half to the inhabitants of this quarter of the city named Tlateluleo,
who distributed it in crumbs to all the people resident in these suburbs, especially to the young soldiers, without
giving any part of the dough of the idol to the women. The remaining part, which belonged to the inhabitants of
that part of Mexico called Tenuchtitlan, was divided amongst the inhabitants of the four quarters named Teopan,
Atzaqualco, Quepopan, and Moyotlan. They gave it to the male portion of the community, both great and small,
and also to children in the eradle. -- This was their manner of communion, as we have said elsewhere; and this repast
was called Teoqualo, which signifies' god is eaten.' And so the composition of this image and likeness of the Devil,
which had been continued during so many years, ceased on one of the months dedicated to him."
Acosta thus describes the same ceremony: "Luridus Dei ac hominum hostis Sathanas, princeps omnis fastus,
apud Mexicanos etiam festum Corporis Christi hoc modo imitatus est. Festum Mexieani omnium maxime solcnne
mcnse Maio in honorem Vitzliputzli celebrabant. Biduo ante, virgines illre, quas monialium ritu in monasteriis ali
solitas superius diximus, conveniebant, et magnum numerum bledos, seminis genus est, cum tosto maiz permixto
molebant. Farinam hanc cum melle subigebant, ex qua deinde massa magnum idol urn, ligneo simile effingebant:
cujus oculos corallio cyaneo et candido, dentes vero granis maiz insertis exprimebant, et ipsum insuper idol urn
linteis et velis pulchris exornabant. Hoc facto et absoluto, primates confertim accedentes, vestem pretiosam et
pulcherrimam, forma conveniente concinnatam, idolo injiciebant. Hoc idem postea in sellam cyaneo colore induetam,
ac lecticre impositam, ut bajulari posset, collocabant. Porro ipso festi die, prius quam aurora promicaret, dictre
virgines candidis vestibus et aliis mundis amicitre, conveniebant. Quo die, sorores dei Vitzliputzli ilIre vocari incipiebant.
Eredem serta ex tosto aut macerato maiz capitibus, ac ex eadem materia crassas corollas collis gerebant,
ad lrevum usqne bracchium propendentes. MaIre et vultus earum pigmentis fucati, bracchia vero a cubito usque ad
manum pulcherrimis ex psittacis plumis ornata erant. Hoc habitu stantes, lecticam idoli suis humeris imponebant,
quam ad locum, quo juvenes ac adolescentes reticularibus vestibus induti, et similibus cum puellis sertis coronati
congregatique morabantur, proferebant. Adolescentes, viso idolo, venerabundi accurrebant cominus, et suis humeris
lecticam suscipientes, idolum ad gradus templi infimos usque deportabant, quo loco universus populus expectabat,
ad conspectum idoli fiexo poplite sese demittens, et pulvere ex pavimento lecto capita sua conspergens. Hoc facto,
plebs omnis in unam processionem se couferebat, qua maxima fieri posset festinatione in montem quendam Chapultepec,
a civitate Mexico unius leucre spatio distantem procurrens. Ibi conciuneula habita, sacrificia fiebant. Hine
iterum sese magna celeritate efferentes, in vieinum alium locum Atlacuiauaya voeatum festinabant, ubi secundam
concionem agebant. Sed nec hic diutius persistentes, contentim ad oppidum quoddam, milliaris unius intervallo
inde distans, Cuyoacan vocatum, accelerabant: unde in Mexico, null§, quiete media utentes, tandem revertebantur.
Hoc iter, quod ad minimum milliarium quatuor erat, tribus aut ad summum quatuor horis confectum dabant, quam
processionem Ypana Vitzliputzli, id est, aceeleratum iter Vitzliputzli vocare solebant. In templi ergo gradus infimos
reversi, sell am deponentes, fortibus funibus earn circumligabant, et nonnullis attrahentibus, creteris vero protrudentibus
et impellentibus, in templi editiora ipsam provehebant; quo propter graduum angustiam humeris imposita
bajulari non poterat. Interim dum hrec peragerentur, populus omnis, cum singulari submissione metuque spectator
astabat. Sella hrec in superiora promota, porro in sacellum quoddam huie rei extructum, et rosis exornatissimum,
condebatur. A quo deinde juvenes confertim irruentes, fragrantissimis fioribus loca templi universa quo quo versum
conspergebant. Hos deinde excipiebant virgines, prredicto habitu insignes, ex cubilibus suis spiras de tosto maiz et
herM bledos factas efferentes. Has ossium grandiorum forma pistas, adolescentibus tradebant, qui eas tanta strue
ante idolum congerebant, ut locus capienclis non suppeteret. Eas spiras, ossa ac carnes Vitzliputzli nuncupabant.
His ossibus ita stratis, seniores, sacerdotesque ac levitre, et creteri ministri continua serie, pro cujusque retate et conditione
accedebant, quorum quilibet fiammeum divers is iisque pulcherrimis coloribus intertextum, prout cujusque
officium poseebat, gestabat. Quin et horum capita sertis, et colla corollis ex fioribus concinnatis conspicua erant.
Hos pone dii dereque, quos varia forma ac habitu venerabantur, insequebantur. Hi, cum ante dictas spiras et idolum
ex ordine reverenter consedissent, multis ceremoniis peractis, eas cantu et sonis harmonicis quasi consecrabant, ut
non minus quam ipsum idol urn, veneratione digna colerentur. His peraetis, ii qui immolandis hominibus destinati
erant, progrediebantur, et suum munus, ut ante percensuimus, exequebantur. Semper vero hisee diebus festis,
plures, quam alio tempore, homines mactabantur. Sacrificio finito, omnes tum adolescentes tum virgines e templo
proeedebant, binis uno ordine semper junctis. Continua vero serie se ita locabant, ut virginibus adolescentes semper




NOTES. 417

ex adverso starent, qui saltando et tripudiando motus corporis ad tympanorum sonitum decoros in honorem idoli
moderabantur. Modulamini illi omnes primores senioresque populi certatim respondebant, choreas et ipsi in orbem
agitantes, ita, ut in medio interius cum virginibus adolescentes assiduo relinquerentur. Ad hunc ludum spectandi
animo omnis civitas gregatim confluebat. Festum vero hoc idoli Vitzliputzli magna devotione per omnem provinciam
concelebrandum erat; quo die nemo aliud quicquam pra:ter massam ilIam, ex qua idolum effictum fuerat,
gustare audebat. Quin et is cibus sub aurorf£ saltem eilJ01·tum ingerendus erat, nec ante meridiem potus quicquam
gustare licebat. Secus qui faceret, sacrilegus censebatur, et ominosa nescio qua:, ex eo facto pra:nunciabantur.
Ceremoniis exactis, jam cuique quod erat, esse liceb"t. Interea vero temporis, quo hrec agitabantur, filios omnes
domi ab aqure potu arcebant, ne ea gustata numinis iram incurrerent, et ejus manu fors occiderentur. Tandem vero
tum sacrificiis tum saltationibus universis finitis, ornatum suum non ~acerdotes solum deponebant, sed archipresbyteri
etiam idolum habitu sueto exutum confringebant, et cum spiris consecratis in frusta plurima redigebant, qure
postea distribuentes, primum primoribus, ab his deiude universo populo, majoribus, minoribus, viris simul ac freminis
offerebant, non secus ac apud nos in Crenre Dominicre administratione distributio fieri solet. Frustilla ha:c oblata
. communicantes cum tanta devotione ac trepidatione accipiebant, ut etiam quasi intime prenitentes nonnunquam
lachrymas profunderent. N ec quicquam persuasum habebant aliud, quam quod veram carnem et ipsissima sui idoli
ossa manducarent; quibus ut vescerentur, se nimis quam indignos profitebantur..iEgris per alios ordinarios partes
mittebantur, quas sacerdotes singulari religione impertiebant. Synaxi hac finitil, quidam e senioribus surgens, ad
populum concionabatur, et clara elataque voce de legibus et ceremoniis suetis verba faciebat."

Herrera gives a somewhat similar account: "The Mexicans celebrated the principal festival of their god Vitzilipuztli
in the month of May; and two days before the festival, the virgins who were shut up in the temple kneaded
flour of hledos and roasted maize with honey, and formed a large idol of the dough, with eyes of green, blue, or
white beads, and teeth of grains of maize. All the lords attended dressed in the same manner as the idol, who being
seated in a blue chair was placed upon a bier in order to be carried on men's shoulders. On the day of the festival,
rather before the dawn of morning, the virgins came forth in new and white apparel, crowned with ears of roasted
maize, and wearing chains of the same hanging down below their left arms, with their arms ornamented from the elbow
to the wrist with red parrots' feathers, and with their faces painted; and during this day they bore the name of Sisters
of the god Vitziliputzli, and took the bier with the idol upon it and carried it to the court, where the young men
who were educated in the temple, very splendidly dressed and crowned in the same manner, received it with great
reverence, and carried it to the foot of the steps of the temple, when all the people humbled themselves, and taking
dust from the ground strewed it on their heads, since this was a ceremony which was usual in their principal
festivals. Afterwards the people went in quick procession to the mountain named Chapultepec, a league distant
from Mexico; and there made a halt and sacrifice and then proceeded with the same haste to a place called
Atlacuiabaia, which was the second resting-place; and passed on a league further to Cuioacan, from whence without
stopping they returned to Mexico. This journey of four leagues was performed in four hours, and they named the
procession Ipaina Vitzilipuztli, which signifies' the quick procession of Vitzilipuztli.' They brought back the bier
to the foot of the stairs, and drew it up with great reverence with ropes to the upper area of the temple, amidst the
loud sound of drums, trumpets, horns, and pipes; for the steps were so high and narrow that they could not carry
it up on their shoulders. The people likewise assisted with great reverence in this act. Having been drawn up
and placed in a chamber adorned with flowers, the young men of the temple strewed many more around; and
the virgins brought a quantity of pieces of the dough of the idol kneaded into the shape of bones, and
placed them at its feet, calling them the flesh of Vitzilipuztli. The diguitaries of the temple then came forth
in exact order according to seniority one after the other, attired in dresses corresponding to their offices, with
garlands and chains of flowers. After them came the gods and goddesses, whom they worshiped under different
figures, habited in the same dresses. They placed themselves around the pieces or bones of dough, and
performed over them a certain ceremony, which consisted in singing or dancing, by which they became consecrated
into the flesh of that god. The benediction being concluded, those who officiated in the sacrifices went
forth, and the butchery of human victims commenced; more of whom died on that day than on any other, because
the festival was of such a principal kind. Afterwards the young men and young women who were educated in the
temple came forth, and placing themselves opposite to each other, danced and sing to the sound of a drum in
praise of the festival and of the idol; and all the lords and principal persons replied to the song, dancmg round



418 NOTES.

them in a circle, whilst the young men and women holding each others' hands, occupied the centre. The whole
city flocked to this spectacle; and the festival being concluded, the priests took the idol and the pieces of dough,
and distributed it like holy bread in the manner of a communion, and gave it to the people, great and small, men
as well as women, who received it with great reverence, fear, and shedding of tears, declaring that they ate the flesh
of God. They sent it likewise to the sick, and considered it a great crime to eat or drink water or any thing else
till after noon; and they hid water from the children, and advised all to beware of incurring the anger of God.
This communion being over, an old man of much authority ascended some elevated place, and preached on their
law and ceremonies." -- Herrera, Dec. iii. lib. ii. cap. xvii. Having already mentioned penance and penitence as
doctrines introduced amongst the Indians by Quec.alcoatl, it is sufficient in this place to remark, that confession
and penance, considered as external rites and ceremonies, (and therefore recalling to our minds another sacrament of
the Church,) were in general practice amongst the Indians. Acosta says, that throughout most of the vast provinces
under the sceptre of the Jngas, confessors were appointed for the express purpose of hearing confession, distinguished
from each other by various degrees of rank, who were under a sacred obligation not to reveal any thing
communicated to them in the discharge of their religious duties. Women also in some places (as the same writer
asserts) were accustomed to hear confession. Herrera likewise notices this custom as prevalent in Yucatan; and it
probably existed in other provinces of New Spain. -- Having traced at considerable length these analogies, we shall
now say something of the adoration of the cross, the sign of which occurs frequently in Mexican paintings, and which
it cannot be doubted was a religious symbol among the Indians. The adoration of the cross in America, if the fact
were well authenticated, would in itself be a strong argument of the Christian faith having been planted in the New
World: and the testimony of the most respectable historians may be adduced to show that crosses were discovered,
and the adoration of them witnessed by the first Spanish settlers in America. Gomara, in concluding his description
of a temple in the island of Acu<;amil, says: "At the foot of the tower there was a wall of stone and mortar, well
polished, and ornamented with turrets, and within this inclosure there was a cross formed of plaster about ten palms
high, which they esteemed and adored as the god of rain; so that when no rain fell and they were in want of water,
they went in procession to it with much devotion, and offered it sacrificed quails to appease the anger and indignation
which it felt or seemed t.o feel against them, with the blood of that simple bird. They likewise burned a
certain kind of gum as incense, and sprinkled it with water, after which they felt sure that it would soon rain." -- La
Conquista de Mexico, fo. x.

Boturini likewise mentions the discovery of some ancient crosses in America, one of which had been found by
himself. -- Since the whole of the passage containing the account of these crosses is curious, it is here given at full
length. Speaking of his collection of MSS. and paintings, he says, "I likewise possess some historical notices
concerning the preaching of the Gospel in America by the glorious apostle Saint Thomas. They are contained in
thirty-four sheets of Chinese paper, and I suppose assisted Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora in the composition
of his work on the same snbject, which he entitled 'The Phoenix of the West,' which I have not been able yet to
procnre, as it never was printed. Since there is some connection between the subjects, -- digressing for a short time
from my account of this class of books, -- I say in reference to the above-mentioned preaching of the holy apostle,
that I am in possession of a painting on linen of the most holy cross of the mountain Tianguiztepetl, which I have
before spoken of in Sec. 20. No. 20, of this Catalogne, which is painted in the form of a Tau, abont a cubit in size,
and of a beautiful azure blue, intermixed with figures resembling white stars, having on its right side a shield
likewise of a blue colour, with five white balls in the middle, undoubtedly emblematical of the five most precious
wounds of the Redeemer, which monuments have been preserved from the time of paganism to our days, without
the rain or the other inclemencies of the atmosphere to which they had been exposed, having been able during so
many ages to fade the colours. I also possess a painting on linen of another most holy cross of wood, which was
drawn by means of a machine (that was made on purpose), out of an inaccessible cave of Mizteca Baxa, and which
is at prcsent venerated in the conventual church of Tonala, belonging to the fathers of Saint Dominic, which had
also been deposited in the said cave since the Pagan times, and was discovered by the music of angels being heard
in the said cave on every vigil of the glorious apostle. The above-mentioned preaching is so clearly indicated in
the Histories of the Indians, that it is even recorded in the paintings of the Chontales, amongst whom a most
miraculous cross was discovered, besides the other crosses which the Spauiards fouud in the island of Potonchan
and in the city of Texcalan, to which the Indians offered mloration, presenting them flowers and incense, and




NOTES. 419

invoking them under the name of the god Tialoc, the god of rain. Many traces moreover of the holy feet of the
said apostle have remained in different places of New Spain; and besides this, the above-mentioned Histories all
declare that a white man preached among them a holy law, and the fast of forty days, which the Emperor Netzahualcoyotl,
in the greatest vicissitudes of his reign, frequently practised; and they add, that at his departure from
them he left a prophecy, that in the year of their calendar, "Acatl, One Cane, his sons would come from the
East to preach again to them; which was the reason why the Indians were so disturbed at the intelligence of the
arrival of the Spaniards exactly in the year and character Ce Acatl. And I, following the track of the Indian calendars,
have discovered that the prophecy of the saint was verified to the letter. The Indians, availing themselves of the
lofty metaphors of their language, have bestowed the name of Quetzalcohuatl upon the glorious apostle, which
signifies 'the serpent-bird,' intimating by the bird, the swiftness with which he had passed from a distant country to
theirs; and by the serpent, the wise circumspection of the law which he came to preach, the value of which was
further denoted by the feathers of the bird, which they called Quetzalli, and infinitely esteemed; since they wore
them not only as an ornament in war, but likewise at their public dances and solemn festivals." -- Catalogo del
Museo Indiano, pag. 51. With reference to the tradition which Boturini mentions as prevalent in New Spain, of
Saint Thomas having preached the Gospel in that part of America, and of the impression of his feet being visible
in many places, it may be remarked that that tradition secms to have been general over all America. Rosales, in
his inedited History of Chile, declares that the inhabitants of that extremely southern portion of America, situated
at the distance of so many thousand miles from New Spain, and who did not employ paintings to record events,
accounted for their knowledge of some of the doctrines of Christianity by saying, "that in former times, as they
had heard their fathers say, a wonderful man had come to that country, wearing a long beard, with shoes, and a
mantle such as the Indians carry on their shoulders, who performed many miracles, cured the sick with water, caused
it to rain, and their crops and grain to grow, kindled fire at a breath, and wrought other marvels, healing at once
the sick, and giving sight to the blind; and that he spoke with as much propriety and elegance in the language of
their country as if he had always resided in it, addressing them in words very sweet and ncw to them, telling them
that the Creator of the universe resided in the highest place of heaven, and that many men and women who were
resplendent as the sun dwelt with him. They say that he shortly afterwards went to Peru, and that many, in
imitation of the habit and shoes which that man used, introduced among themselves the fashion of wearing shoes,
and the loose mantle over the shoulders, either fastened with a clasp at the breast, or knotted at the corners; whence
it may be inferred that this man was some apostle whose name they do not know." This is the account given by
Rosales of that wonderful man; and it deserves to be remarked, as quite in accordance with the gloomy and misanthropical
character with which the Indians loved to invest religion, that they converted an object of reverence
into one of horror, by assigning to him the attribute of breathing fire from his nostrils. The Mexicans in the same
way, by representing their deities surrounded with the symbols of skulls, serpents, knives and lances, and under the
most terrific forms, endeavoured to excite fear in the minds of those who approached them, as the feeling which
would be most grateful to stern and cruel gods. Kircher * says that none of these symbols were without their
secret meaning. The mirror in the hands of Tezcatlipoca denoted his providence, which beheld every thing as in
a mirror: and the skull and heart, according to Torquemada, signified that be possessed equal power over life and
death. We shall conclude these observations by adducing the testimony of Clavigero in proof of many crosses


-----
* Kircher notices the subject of Mexican paintings only as it were intentionally to lend the sanction of his great authority and
learning to the popular notion, that those paintings were entirely devoid of interest, and merely a rude effort of men scarcely beyond the
savage state at the invention of hieroglyphical writing. That celebrate.d Jc!;uit had made hieroglyphics his peculiar study, and therefore
could not have been really ignorant of the true nature of the Mexican paintings j and that, far from being symbols meaning little or nothing,
they contained many and great mysteries. His reserve therefore and pretended ignorance must be attributed to the same causes as
those which so powerfully operated in effecting the almost total destruction of those paintings; and his silence is in fact eloquent. Paintings
amongst the Mexicans were a mode of religious as well as of historical instruction. It is singular that Christians should have used
them for the former purpose in the early and middle ages; since the Nicene Council declared (proving the custom by naming it), that
"paintings were books for simpletons who could not read." The Jews likewise made use of paintings; and heraldry was an art which
sprung up in the unlettered ages of feudal grandeur. From religious paintings cut on blocks of wood, which it became the fashion before
the art of printing was invented to form into collections and to bind up in volumes, and which in libraries assume the appellation of
books of images, block-books, or xylographic works, -- learned men have been inclined to suppose that that invaluable art took its origin.
The _Biblia Pauperum_ is a book of this description, the largest of its kind, which doubtless in its day was 'fons superstitionum.'




420 NOTES.

having been at different times discovered in America: "The crosses the most celebrated are those of Yucatan, of
Mizteca, Queretaro, Tepique, and Tianquiztepec. Those of Yucatan are mentioned by Father Cogolludo, a
Franciscan, in his History, hook ii. cap. 12. The cross of Mizteca is taken notice of by Boturini in his work, and
in the Chronicle of Father Burgoa, a Dominican. There is an account of the cross of Queretaro, written by a
Franciscan ofthe college of Propaganda in that city; and of that ofTepique, by the learned Jesuit Sigismund Tarabal,
whose manuscripts are preserved in the Jesuit college of Guadalajora. That of Tianquiztepec was discovered by
Boturini, and is mentioned in his work. The crosses of Yucatan were worshiped by the Yucatanese in obedience,
as they said, to the instructions of their great prophet Chilam-Cam bal; who desired that when a certain race of men
with beards should arrive in that country from the east, and should be seen to adore that sign, they should embrace
the doctrine of those strangers. We shall have an opportunity of speaking more particularly concerning these
monuments in the Ecclesiastical History of Mexico, if Heaven vouchsafe to favour our design." -- History of Mexico,
page 250. Besides the crosses enumerated by Clavigero, Gomara mentions brass crosses as having been discovered
in Yucatan by the first Spaniards who visited that province, which induced some learned men of his day to suppose,
that Christians, flying from Spain at the period of the Saracen invasion, during the reign of Roderic, and hastily
embarking in ships to escape to other countries, might by the force of tempests have been driven on the shores of
America, and have carried with them those peculiar symbols of their faith. It would also appear that silver vessels
resembling sacramental chalices have been discovered in that continent; since Cabrera thus writes: "Don Ramon
Ordonez and the presbyter Don Gabriel Chacon y Godoy related to me, that a few years back the presbyter Don
Patricio Chinchilla, a native Indian, gave an account to the vicar of Saint Bartholomew de los Llanos, in the
bishopric of Chiapa, that he had discovered in a cavern many sacred vessels and utensils of silver, and repeatedly
entreated him to go and take possession of them; but perceiving the vicar had not sufficient confidence in him to
credit his report, he brought as a proof of his veracity a silver chalice: it was very broad at the foot, and the cup
shaped like an inverted pyramid; and on being compared with others of a similar make, preserved in the church, it
is presumable it may be attributed to the times of the Apostles. The Indian died soon after this circumstance, and
the remainder of this treasure has not since been discovered. The chalice in question, as I am informed, was
destined by the curate for an oratory on an estate of his own, called Rosario. This discovery is of great importance,
since it confirms the Mexican tradition before alluded to, of the Gospels having been made known in these countries
by the apostle Saint Thomas, who was worshiped under the form of the idol Quetzalcoatl.




[421]




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN, BY M. DUPAIX.

THE FIRST EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF ANTIQUITIES, UNDERTAKEN IN THE YEAR 1805.

I, WILLIAM DUPAIX, late an officer in the Mexican dragoons, left this capital (Mexico) on the
fifth of January 1805, having been commanded by His Majesty to proceed to the investigation of
whatever monuments of antiquity might be still in existence in this kingdom, of a date anterior to
that of the conquest. I was accompanied by an artist, an amanuensis, and a corporal belonging
to the auxiliary dragoons; and directing my course to the east of this city, through the towns
of Ystapalucan, Rio-frio, Tesmelucan, and Puebla, I could not discover in my progress over
this line of country any thing connected with the royal commission with which I was charged.
From the latter city I continued my journey to Tepeyaca, the signification of which proper name in
the Mexican language is The Nose of the Mountain; which was given to it from its physical
situation, being built upon the summit of a projecting angle formed by the mountain in that
particular place. Notwithstanding the antiquity of its foundation I could not find on the entire
site more than four ancient monuments.

No. I. The first number represents a stone slab, of a reddish colour and extremely hard, upon
the surface of which is sculptured in basso-relievo a symbol one foot and a half in length, one foot
in breadth, and the third of an inch in thickness, which possibly may allude to the ancient arms of
this city. It is divided as it were into two quarterings: in the first or upper of which the head of
an eagle is engraved in profile, with a hieroglyphic in front, round which there is a circle with
mouldings; and in the second quartering, which seems to serve as a basis to the first, three pendant
ornaments or hieroglyphics are discerned upon a striated pedestal, on which the tail of the said
bird appears, with various rows of feathers. This stone was discovered in the foundations of an old
building of the said city, and at present serves as an ornament to the fountain in the principal
square. -- It is well sculptured and in good preservation.

No. II. There is in the said square a sentry-box called El Rollo (The Gallows), which was built
by the first Spanish settlers, on one side of the wall of which is imbedded another slab of the same
quality, having a border of plain ovals, within which is a second border; three hieroglyphics or
historical emblems occupy its centre, one of which is very singular, since it bears a partial resemblance
to the claw of a crab, and is accompanied with thirteen plain and solid ovals: another
resembles a butterfly, with four ovals similar to the preceding; and the third consists of branches
like the trunk of a palm-tree. -- This piece of sculpture is also in good preservation.

No. III. presents to our view a semi-human head of gigantic dimensions, being one foot and a half in
length and one foot in breadth. It is formed out of a hard and very heavy piece of stone, of a dusky
purple colour; it is perfect, and was found in the foundation of an edifice in the higher part of this





422 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

city: the forehead is ornamented with hair, the eyes and nose are in just proportion and symmetry,
the ears cannot be seen, the mouth is destitute of proportion and monstrous, and only a single row
of teeth is visible below the under lip. -- The discovery of the other parts of this colossus, that is to
say, of the truuk and the various limbs, would be highly interesting.

No. IV. In a quarter of the same city called St. Michael Tlaixtegui, (which name signifies in the
Mexican language The Cavity of the Mountain,) at the entrance of the house of Don Sebastian
de la Cruz Xicotencatl, we found a serpent artificially wrought out of a piece of red porphyry
of large dimensions, in an attitude of repose, and coiled upon itself in spiral circles, so as to leave
a hollow space or transverse axis in the middle. The head, which has a fierce expression, is
armed with two long and sharp fangs; the tongue is double, being divided longitudinally; which
it is shaped at the extremity like an anchor. It is to be regretted that a portion of the head is muhlated.
The entire surface of its body is ornamented or covered with broad and long feathers, and
the tail terminates in four rattles: its length from the head to the extremity of the tail is about
twenty feet, and it gradually diminishes in thickness. -- It was discovered a short time before our
arrival, in a deep ravine at the foot of a mountain behind the above-mentioned house. This reptile,
the monarch or giant of its species, was in pagan times a deity greatly esteemed under the name of
Quetzalcoatle, or The Feathered Serpent. It is extremely well sculptured, and there are still marks of
its having been once painted with vermilion.

No. V. I next directed my course eastwards to the town of Tlacotepec, situated at the distance of
a day's journey; and having discovered nothing remarkable there, I proceeded on the following day
to an Indian village four leagues to the south of it, named San Christobal Teopantepec, (which name
signifies in the Mexican language The House or Temple of God built upon the hill); where, upon an
eminence or isolated mountain close to others of greater elevation to the west of the said town, there
is a pyramid with a quadrangular base: it consists of four bodies or stories, which gradually
diminish in size. Of the highest, the area of which was destined for the altars of their false gods,
nothing now remains. This oratory or pyramid, the style of which is Egyptian, is built of lime and
stone, and is a solid structure. Its exterior surface was coated with square stones when I had the
opportunity of observing it some years ago, which at present is quite in ruins. Its four sides, which 
are rather out of the perpendicular, are turned towards the four cardinal points of the compass. The
staircase which faces the west deserves to be noticed on account of the peculiarity of its diagonal
ascent from one story to another. Several pavements or floors of shining cement interspersed with
ruins are still visible at the foot of the pyramid, which convinces me that in former times the habitations
of the priests who were attached to the service of the idols were situated there. The road from
the plain on which the village is built to the summit of the hill, is by a sort of causeway cut in the
rocky brow of the said hill. It is to be regretted, when we consider the present state of these ancient
monuments, that that which neither the lapse of time nor of revolving ages, nor the trunks and roots of
large trees growing amongst them and insinuating themselves between the interstices of the stones, and
in this manner separating them, could effect, -- indiscreet religious zeal on the one hand, and on the
other the greediness of the occupiers of the soil as well as of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages
eager to gain possession of the materials, should have been able to accomplish, which seem to have
conspired to dismantle and destroy works certainly worthy of lasting preservation, and calculated





THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN 423

to throw light on the state of the arts amongst the ancient Mexicans; -- and all for the object of plundering
them of the cut stones which entered into their structure. Other ancient fabrics are greatly
indebted to their physical situation for their preservation, since they are generally built on rugged
and inaccessible mountains, and sun-ounded with precipices; and likewise to their being far removed
from towns and adjoining habitations, -- their relentless foes, -- which occasion much trouble and
danger to those who undertake the task of investigating them.

From this last town we proceeded to the city of Tehuacan de las Granadas, the capital of the
district, where I was unable to discover any thing remarkable. Neither did Old Tehuacan, a place
so named, about six miles to the east of the latter city, present to our view any remains of antiquity,
except some spacious ruins of houses and temples built of stone and mortar, and situated upon the
side of a mountainous declivity.

No. VI. We found in the last-mentioned town two ancient pleces of sculpture of light green
jasper, similar in shape and quality: they are alto-relievos, and carved carefully and with symmetry,
each forming a separate piece. Their figure is somewhat oval; and, joining at their extremities,
they form a sort of prolonged oval. -- It is very difficult to ascertain the precise use of many works
of Mexican art, or even to explain their exact shape and parts, the style of their execution being so
very original; -- it will be necessary therefore to refer to the drawings, the view of which will be found
more satisfactory than the most minute description.

Quitting Orizava, we continued our journey along the rugged steeps of Zongolican or Tzongolliucan,
which are within the jurisdiction of that city, being itself the capital of all the hilly country.
The city of Zongolican is situated at the distance of twelve leagues to the south of the former city,
and the road to it lying through TeguilIan, a village of native Indians, crosses over various undulating
mountains, and winds with a difficult ascent until it reaches that city, which occupies nearly the
centre of the hilly country, being built in a deep plain of a somewhat circular shape, and crowned
with high rocks. Rivulets descend into the plain by cascades and waterfalls, and soon disappear in
several subterraneous channels. It is a large city: the inhabitants employ themselves in planting
tobacco, and it possesses an agreeable climate. I discovered a sort of sage in its vicinity, growing
in bushy shrubs very low and broad, the taste of which is very pleasant: it is here distinguished
by the appellation of the Sweet Herb. Here are also different sorts of earth or clay, of a very
unctuous quality, which properly prepared might be applied to several useful purposes: some
of them are red, others of a blue, yellow, or purple colour. This celebrated range of hilly
country comprehends every description of climate, -- cold, hot, and temperate, with all their various
modifications: the southern portion is very fertile, and abounds in useful vegetables; the cedar and
rosewood are very common; there are a great variety of curious plants, amongst which may be
reckoned those which naturally twine themselves round the trunks and arms of trees, and which bear
flowers of the most exquisite beauty and delightful scent.

We left this city after eleven days' stay in it, our delay having been caused by the badness of the
weather; and reposed for the night at the residence of the proprietor of a tobacco plantation
named Rocha, which is situated at the distance of a day's journey from it. But before our arrival at
the Indian village Saint Sebastian, where we intended to dine, an accident which might have proved
of a disastrous nature befel us. In a narrow and difficult passage cut horizontally in the side of a





424 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

steep mountalD on the brink of a precipice terminating in a deep abyss, the corporal and his horse,
who were at a little distance behind me, suddenly fell and disappeared: the former, by quickly snatching
at the branches of some trees, made a successful effort to extricate himself, and escaped without
sustaining any bodily injury; but the horse rolling downwards caused a sound like the falling of a
heavy torrent of water, tearing up by the roots and breaking whatsoever opposed itself to the rapidity
and violence of his descent, experiencing in a brief moment the powerful effects of the laws
of gravity, until his further progress was arrested by accidentally coming into collision with some
trees of larger growth, which served as a barrier and check to his fall. Finally, after excessive
exertions, I was enabled, with the assistance of the Indians who accompanied me, and the united
force of arms, bill-hooks and axes, to draw him up by means of ropes, without having received
any other injury than a few slight cuts, which did not prevent his proceeding forwards.
On the evening of the same day, towards nightfall, the horse of the artist, in the attempt to avoid
some bad places in the road, approached too near its dangerous edge, which bordered on a deep
precipice completely concealed from view by the surrounding foliage, when making a false step he
fen: the rider had the presence of mind to throw himself from the saddle into a piece of boggy
ground on one side; but the horse did not stop until it reached the bottom. The former was obliged
to proceed on foot three miles to the before-mentioned plantation of Rocha, charging the magistrate
of a village in the vicinity where we had partaken of some refreshments, with the task of
recovering his horse if it was still alive: the Indians accordingly brought it to him in the course
of the night, very little hurt, our companion being happy to find himself safe and sound notwithstanding
his fright. From this plantation we proceeded to Cordova, passing through the
shady town of Naranjal, which is situated on the right bank of a considerable river named the
Blanco, where we made every exertion to obtain information respecting the antiquities which might
exist there and in the neighbouring district. We accordingly commenced our researches at the
town of A matlan de los Reyes, anxious to view a certain ancient edifice, which on inspecting we
found to contain merely the ruins of an oratory; but learning that a cave formerly dedicated to
idolatrous worship was situated at a short distance from it, we proceeded thither, accompanied by
the curate, the vicar, and a number of Indians, notwithstanding the inconvenience to which we were
exposed by a heavy fall of rain. The cave itself is curious, and is exceedingly picturesque: it
may easily be perceived that Art has aided Nature; it is situated on the declivity of a hill overgrown
with wood, and we discovered in it various fragments of idols in stone and of baked clay.

No. VII. From Cordova we directed our course towards Orizaba, through the Indian village of Chapuleo;
when passing through some beautiful forests of evergreen oak, adorned with many parasitical
plants seemingly engrafted upon them, we arrived at another Indian village, named Alcucingo, and from
thence came to Orizaba. We discovered there a colossal figure (No.7.) sculptured in basso-relievo,
on the plain and horizontal surface of an isolated piece of rock which forms part of the floor of an
Indian cabin, which is situated on the skirts of a plain named Escamela: it lies exactly east and
west, with its arms and legs open and apart, in the attitude as it would appear of pointing with
them to the north and south. At its sides are two hieroglyphical figures: that on the right is a large
fish in a vertical position, with a round unit on one side of it; the other, on the left, is a rabbit
in a sitting posture with a hieroglyphic between its legs, with ten round units which serve as a




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 425

border to it: the principal figure, which wears a plume of feathers and a girdle, is twenty-seven feet
in length; the others on its sides are less. The rock itself is of a somewhat triangular shape, being
a solid block of stone of a dark colour: its edge or base is six feet above the surface of the ground.
and some mysterious characters are sculptured upon it.

No. VIII. shows the profile of a head ofthe natural size. It has neither hair nor beard, and was
found in the cave above mentioned, as well as the trunk described in the following number.

No. IX. is a stone representing the trunk of a human body, of the natural size, and well proportioned
except the feet. These two antique pieces are executed in the same kind of stone as that of which
the cave is composed, -- a sort of brown limestone. This last figure is placed upon its legs, such
being the position in which the idols of the country were usually represented. From hence we went
to the bridge of the river Blanco, about forty-eight miles south-east of Orizaba, in search of a large
stone called Teololinga.

No. X. This stone is spherical in its form, very hard (though it will not emit fire when struck by
the steel), and of a dark blue colour. It has evidently been wrought into its present shape, and
placed in the middle of a spacious plain, by the ancient inhabitants of the country. It is so artfully
balanced upon its axis as to revolve at the slightest touch of the finger, but if a greater force be used
it will stand without the least apparent motion. Its surface contains some holes capable of holding a
small quantity of water. It appears to have anciently served as a land-mark. There is another of
these stones to the east, about six miles distant.

No. XI. From the bridge of Rio Blanco we went to the native Indian village now called Santiago
Guatusco, and formerly Huatoscle, within the jurisdiction of Cordova. This village is about thirty-six
miles east of Cordova, and is situated on the bank of a rapid river called Xamapa, the temperature
of which is remarkably warm. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in catching the boby, a large
and savoury fish which abounds in this river. The ancient town of Guatusco was situated about two
miles off, upon the same bank of the river, and many of its remains are yet visible on the slope of a
high mountain called the Old Town. On its summit stands an ancient building, called by the
neighbouring inhabitants" The Castle," which we determined to inspect on the following day. For
this purpose we arose very early, having engaged a number of Indians, furnished with hatchets and
other tools, to clear our path. After a laborious and circuitous ascent of more than six miles,
alternately walking, creeping, and leaping from stone to stone, always in danger of being bitten by
the many venomous reptiles which abound there, we arrived at the base of that ancient monument.
This work, intended either for a palace or a great oratory, consists of two stories. The basement
story is very massy, and of a pyramidical form, divided into three narrow platforms intended merely
for ornament. A broad and lofty flight of stairs leads to the porch of the second story, which forms the
place of residence. This is divided into three apartments: the first is a spacious oblong saloon, the
roof of which is upheld by three pilasters; the other apartments are of unequal dimensions, and into
these there do not appear to have been any other means of admitting light than through the large door
which opened into the saloon. Several of the timbers which supported the roof are yet remaining.
The building terminates in a kind of terrace, the walls of which are a yard in thickness. The whole
is covered with polished cement, in which are imbedded rows of square stones placed in parallel
lines. The frieze of each side of the building is enriched with compartments formed by round stones,





426 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

similarly imbedded, in the form of a parallelogram. The sides of the saloon are rather inclining,
those of the other rooms perpendicular. The walls are, throughout, about three yards in thickness,
and the height of the building from the foot of the battlemented staircase to its summit is twenty-four
yards. The basement story is about eighty yards square. The dimensions may be more
accurately traced by the graduated scale on the annexed drawing.

Among the causes which have assisted in the destruction of this very ancient edifice, perhaps the
chief is the number of trees and plants which have taken root within its neglected walls, and
compelled their massy joints to separate where they impeded the progress of vegetation. The front
of the building is to the west; the other sides face the different points of the compass. With two or
three exceptions, all the Mexican temples are thus placed: it is presumed, in conformity to an
established law of their religion. We were unable to discover here more than three sculptured
fragments.

No. XII. This represents a goddess. Her head is richly adorned, and her neck also graced with
a necklace of two rows. The figure is supported by two columns. It is well executed and in
good preservation, bearing some resemblance to the ancient statues of the Egyptians. The same
symmetry is observable in Mexican sculpture as in Mexican architecture; and to this figure its
due and proper proportions must have been given by instruments corresponding to our rule, level,
and compass.

No. XIII. The second figure is a snake curiously entwined. It is carved from a ponderous and
fine-grained stone of a blackish colour (similar to that of the former figure): the head and body are
fanciful. The snake was a prominent object in the ancient Mexican mythology; and we find it
frequently carved in different shapes and sizes, coiled, extended, spiral, or entwined with great art
and beauty; sometimes clothed with feathers or with scales, at other times divested of any covering.
These different representations probably denoted its different attributes.

No. XIV. The third figure is a somewhat fanciful resemblance of a skull. It exhibits only the
holes for the eyes, and is furnished, instead of teeth, with what appear rather like claws. It is
executed in the same kind of stone as Figures 8 and 9 found in the cave of AmatUm.

No. XV. In the annexed drawing under this Number is shown a sort of block, or die of baked
clay, which we found in the same place. We may see from this that they were acquainted with the
use of this tool; and I have in my possession two fragments of ancient blocks very finely designed,
which were employed to stamp their calicoes and the paper which they made of the aloe-tree. I
have also some small figures ofterracotta which prove that the ancient Mexicans were not ignorant
of the art of modelling.

No. XVI. Unfortunately our draftsman fell sick in this town; and being deprived of his assistance,
I was unable to continue the route proposed to the Government, through the provinces of Oaxaca and
Chiapa. Obliged to return, I determined to pass through the district of Cuernavaca. At the countryhouse
called San Antonio, formerly San Andres Chachicomnla, I saw an ancient edifice; and two miles
further to the north of the country-house an oratory four stories high, in a pyramidal form, resting
upon an oblong base. The highest story, which I conjecture was a small covered oratory, is now
destroyed. Twelve years ago when I visited this spot it was in existence. The stairs, which were
facing the west, are also demolished, as well as the other sides, which corresponded to the cardinal points.





THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 427

The basement story was coated with volcanic stones regularly squared, and the upper stories were
plastered and bright. The exact dimensions of these ancient edifices cannot always be ascertained,
some local circumstances occasionally rendering the operation impracticable; but every care has been
taken in giving the ad measurements in such cases with the nearest possible approximation to accuracy.
The human form lives its appointed time and disappears for ever, leaving behind it its likeness:
but the monuments of Mexican grandeur sink into decay without the chance of restoration or
reproduction, and the time is fast approaching when their entire destruction will be effected. From
the country-house of San Antonio we passed through the village of San Andres Chachicomula and
Acatzingo, to Cholula. In this famous city we stopped a few days for the purpose of prosecuting our
researches.

No. XVII. The first thing we found was a human head of stone singularly formed into the capital
of a column, after the manner of a caryatid. A crown adorned with plumes encircles its brow, and
its ears are fanciful. The material is a blackish volcanic stone.

No. XVIII. On the threshold of a dwelling-house on the high road we discovered another stone
or slab, of an ash colour, on the surface of which are various hieroglyphics. They are inclosed
within a circle of about a foot in diameter, and deeply engraven in the stone. On the lower part of
the circle are inscribed thirteen radii, which diverge from the same point, and terminate in ovals; on
the upper division are two indeterminate rays, also meeting in the same centre. It is impossible to
state with certainty the use of this symbol; but the probable conjecture is, that it was connected with
some of the astronomical observations practised in Chol6llan, or Cholula as it is now called.

No. XIX. In this city I saw also a mask made of dark green jasper. It rather exceeds the natural
size, is extremely well carved and polished, and when struck is sonorous. The features, which are
regular and well proportioned, are truly characteristic of the Mexican nation. The mouth and
nose are pierced, and two holes are also made in the temples. This ancient relic was found, as I
was informed, in the progress of an excavation which was made on the side of the great pyramid.

No. XX. ?"his stupendous work, the result of so much labour, in form resembles the celebrated
structures of Egypt. It consists of successive stories which gradually diminish as they rise, but its
present appearance has been somewhat changed by the all-consuming hand of Time, the four corners
having been worn away until its outline has almost assumed a conical form. It is built of sun-dried
bricks, and its angles, like those of similar monuments, front the cardinal points. The ascent was on
the side facing the west, and the stairs evidently traversed diagonally from story to story. It is not
easy to ascertain its original height above the city (on the level of which it stands), so extensive are
the ravages which time has made; and it is by means of excavations in its sides that the materials
employed in its structure have been ascertained. The Mexican oratories were usually ef a pyramidical
form, not exceeding seven stories in height, and resting on a circular or oblong base; -- as
I have more fully delineated and described in reference to the celebrated and truly stupendous
pyramid of Papantla.

No. XXI. We left Chol6llan, taking the road to the town of Atlixco, where we stopped but a
short time, and proceeded to the ancient city of Quauhquechula. Here we found various pieces of
sculpture. The first was inscribed on an isolated rock which stands on a plot of ground within the city:
it is the figure of a creeping snake, executed in alto-relieve on the surface of the rock. The skin





428 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

appears to be smooth, and at the end of the tail are four or five rattles: the tongue is long, and
terminates in an anchor, accompanied with a circle. The rock is formed of a hard and dark-coloured stone.

No. XXII. There is another rock in the same field, somewhat similar though not so large. On
one ofits sides is carved, in basso-relievo, a shield vertically placed, and divided into four compartments
perpendicular to the horizon, on which are carved several small circles regularly placed.
They are surrounded by a circular moulding which partly conceals three arrows or darts, which
with their quiver form a cross. The stone is similar in quality to that of which the last-mentioned
rock is composed. These devices or trophies clearly evince the warlike character of the Mexicans;
and by means of such emblems of war, engraven on hard and durable stone, they probably intended
to perpetuate some glorious and memorable event.

No. XXIII. In another field I discovered, sculptured in relievo upon the four sides of a detached
rock of a conical form, another ancient military trophy. On the front is represented a fanciful and
monstrous head, which serves as a base to the whole. On the back there are four arrows undulated
in imitation of lightning, crossed by a quiver; over which is a circular shield studded with figures
somewhat resembling turbans, regularly disposed. The two lateral sides are adorned with an eagle,
breast-plates, and other warlike symbols. This block is movable, and is composed of very hard stone
of various colours, purple, blue, and grey. When removed, we discovered a snake and a centipede
of great size lurking below. The height is one yard and a half, and the circumference three yards
and three quarters.

No. XXIV. represents a rock which is situated about a gun-shot eastward from the city. On the
side which faces the city is carved a man's head in relievo, rather larger than the size of nature. Its
brow is adorned with a diadem; its ears are monstrous, but in its other features there is design and
proportion.

No. XXV.. From this city we travelled to the country-house called Santa Catalina, where I saw
two pieces of sculpture. One represents a snake so entwined, that the space within the folds of its
body forms a font sufficiently large to contain a considerable quantity of water. The stone is volcanic,
blackish, and somewhat porous. The body of the reptile is spirally entwined, and the head probably
served as a handle to move it. It is decorated with circles, and the tail is that of a rattlesnake.

No. XXVI. is the statue of a man, executed in the same kind of stone. Its attitude is expressive,
and the mask which veils its countenance has a ludicrous expression. All the ancient statues ought not
to be regarded as idols; some of them were the appendages of luxury, and some were designed for
ornament or decoration. Our residence at this country-house of Santa Catalina, which is situated
on the eastern brow of the volcano of Puebla, called by the Indians Popotepec, (or The Smoking
Mountain,) would have afforded me an opportunity of ascending to the summit, in order to inspect
its crater, which I had for a long while desired; but the continuance of bad weather compelled me
to postpone this undertaking till another visit.

No. XXVII. We therefore directed our course to the town of Ayacapistla, and thence to the sugarmill
of Casasano, where we saw two ancient fragments. One is a box with a lid very well fitted, and
made of a firm grey stone: it was found near the mill by the labourers on opening a ditch, and contained
some trinkets made of flint.





THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 429

No. XXVIII. The other is a circular design carved upon the upper surface of a stone. The division
made in the plane of the circle is very curious, being accurately traced according to the rules of
geometry. This sufficiently proves the existence of mathematical knowledge among the ancient
inhabitants of the country, by some erroneously called barbarians. I conjecture this cylinder to
have been the base of an idol, or a sacrificial altar: and in treating of works of such remote
antiquity, the history or uses of which no written documents explain, conjecture must be admitted.

No. XXIX. Having nothing more to examine here, we proceeded to Cuernavaca through the town
of Yauhtepec. The magistrate of this place complied with the requisition of the Royal order by
affording me all the assistance and information in his power. I began at that part of the town called
San Antonio, where I found a rock of considerable size, on which the figure of a lizard was sculptured
in alto relievo, accompanied by four convex circles placed at its left in a horizontal line.

No. XXX. In the place called Chimale (or" The spot of the shield," as it signifies in the Mexican
language), behind some houses associated by tradition with the name of Cortez, there is an isolated
rock, on the northern side of which is represented, in relievo, a small turreted castle, with stairs,
a gate, and an ornamental frieze; on the right of which are three circles or units ranged vertically.
It is neatly worked, and its parallels are perfectly true. On the other side of the castle is a shield,
the form of which resembles a cross, with some mouldings, and five mysterious circles placed in a
perpendicular line to the right.

No. XXXI. There is another rock about three miles south-east frolli this town, which apparently
served as a landmark between this district and that of Quauhnahuac or Quahutetl, which name in
the Mexican language signifies "The eagle of stone." On the side of the rock facing the west is
sculptured an eagle with a beak, wings, tail and open claws. The head is ornamented with several
radiated circles concentric to the eye. This bird is represented too gross in the drawing; the relievo
projects about an inch and a half, and is worked on a variegated stone of fine grain.

No. XXXII. On the opposite side of the rock there is a circular shield, which is divided vertically.
In the left partition are four concentric semicircles; the right is divided into two quarters. In the
upper appears the plan of a city situated on the bank of a lake (possibly that of Chalco). The lower
quarter contains various ovals in close rows, while underneath the shield are five ornamented arrows
horizontally placed. To the right appears an unfurled standard, which, it is extraordinary, should
display on its surface a cross of the order of Malta; and at the top a helmet, on which is figured the
head of an eagle, with a hieroglyphic appended. The whole of the shield is carved with great
regularity and symmetry. The inhabitants of Cuernavaca, or Quauhnahuac, which signifies in the
Mexican language "The resting place of the eagle," intended to perpetuate their trophies by fixing
them on the durable surface of their rocks.

No. XXXIII. From Cuernavaca we proceeded to the westward, in order to visit a village of Indians
called Tetlama, in the Mexican language "The place of stones." It is situated on a very sultry
plain, about eighteen miles from that town. At three miles to the south of the village are the ruins
of a celebrated work called Xochicalco: it was an oratory or palace built by the ancient Mexicans,
and is a splendid monument of the genius of that people, developing their skill both in architecture
and sculpture. It is placed on the summit of a natural and isolated mountain of a conical form. Its
exterior is adorned with platforms of various heights and breadths, supported by massy stone walls





430 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

gradually slanting inwards as they attain greater elevation. This peculiarity in its structure renders
the conjecture probable, that it was designed as a fortified building capable of resisting any
hostile attack. The ascent to the top where the monument is placed is by an old causeway,
with a considerable inclination. The area is inclosed by a wall of loose stones, which serves as a
parapet. The base or first story of the building is the only part now remaining; it is the
beginning of an oblong pyramid with its plinth. This solid story is divided into three unequal
parts; the first, which has some declivity, serves as a base; the second is the frieze, plain and
vertical; and the third is a projecting cornice: the whole forming a pedestal. The outside is
constructed with large square stones firmly united, and differing in their dimensions from three
feet long, and appropriately wide and thick, to six: feet. They are compact, and of a blackish
colour. The four sides, like those of the other pyramids, face the four winds; the stairs occupying
the western side. It is evident that the sculptural ornaments in relievo on the other three
sides were ex:ecuted after the masonry of the building was finished, since some of the figures extend
into several courses of the work. The same designs are repeated on each side; they consist of a
variety of hieroglyphical subjects, men, animals, plants, and other unknown figures. The whole
building was painted over with vermilion, which now appears in various parts of its surface.

The second body or story (which was the base or pedestal) was likewise oblong, and served as a
habitation or covered temple; its four faces corresponding to the same cardinal points and perpendicular
to the base. It is built of the same kind of stone; but the fragments which are strewed at its
foot denote figures of a different character to those of the first story. Its height cannot now be ascertained,
but we may suppose it to have been in proportion to that of the base. The stairs were from
five to six yards wide, and their height, rising by a gentle ascent, about thirteen yards. I could discover
only the trunks of two great idols carved in stone, lying on the floor of the large area. Here
again I had to regret that the neighbouring trees had pushed their spreading roots into the joints of
the masonry, and assisted in the demolition of this ancient edifice.

In the adjacent parts, scattered without any apparent order, are many small artificial hills of circular
shape and of various heights, formed partly of masonry and partly of earth. These (if they were
not the sepulchres of their dead) might have been the minor oratories or military posts of the
Mexicans, like the works which encircle the greater part of the mountain.

This sort of fortification was adapted to the mode of warfare which they practised, and, in the present
instance, a deep fosse also encircled the base of this celebrated mountain. The circumference of the
mountain is about three miles, and its perpendicular elevation about one hundred yards. The Mexican
name of this curious edifice (Xochicalco), which signifies "The house of flowers," was probably
derived from the ornaments which enrich its exterior, of which one of the most conspicuous is a kind
of garland encircling the walls on three sides.

The ancient Mexicans appear to have preferred the pyramidical form for the temples of their false
deities; and herein they discovered a degree of taste by no means despicable, but rather worthy the
imitation of those who profess a purer faith. Among all the forms which architecture has devised,
the pyramid deserves to hold the preeminence, on account of its antiquity, its massiveness, the strictly
geometrical regularity of its structure, and its majestic height. In this stupendous monument all these
are combined.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 431

No. XXXIV. In an adit, called the Cave, which the ancient Mexicans opened in the northern
side of the hard rock which forms the mountain Xochicalco, there is a narrow aperture, serving
as the entrance to several galleries more than six feet in height. By the advice of the Governor of the
Indians, who accompanied us, we unsheathed our swords before we entered, in order to defend ourselves
from the attacks of the lions and wolves, which; he said, often harboured there: and, each
taking a torch in his hand, we entered the mountain about six o'clock in the evening.

This subterraneous recess contains various passages, opened in different directions; the ceilings and
walls of which are smooth, and the pavements which yet partially exist are made with cement and
covered with red ochre. The difficulty of proceeding from one passage to another was occasionally
great and not unattended with danger, as we were sometimes obliged to creep along the broken ruins
of decayed walls and roofs.

At the extremity of the gallery, which is about sixty yards from the entrance, are two saloons,
divided by two pilasters formed of the hard stone of the mountain. In a corner of the innermost apartment,
a conical cupola, two yards in width, and rather more in height, is constructed in the solid
roof overhead, from the upper surface of which proceeds a tube about nine inches in diameter, which
served the purpose of ventilation. The whole interior is faced with square stones placed in circular
rows with great precision and neatness. The floor of these saloons, as well as that of the whole excavation,
is nearly level. It was late when I left the cavern, thankful to Providence for our preservation
from danger, and filled with pleasing reflections on the wonders I had seen.

Now, who would suppose, after visiting this spacious subterranean monument of antiquity, excavated
with great skill, and requiring, from the hardness of the rock, tools of considerable strength and
temper, that the ancient Mexicans were unacquainted with the use of iron? This, nevertheless, is a
problem which yet remains to be solve?; for no person, as far as my information extends, has ever
seen any sharp or cutting instruments of this kind of Mexican formation, such as hammers, wedges,
&c. &c. But, whatever the fact may be, the skill and industry of the ancient Mexicans cannot fail to
command the admiration of the present and of future generations.

These subterranean saloons appear rather destined for the repose of the dead than the residence of
the living, and hence I conjecture this excavation to have been an oratory or private temple consecrated
to the souls of the departed. These mournful vaults, shrouded in sepulchral darkness, and every thing
that I observed within them, tended to the same conclusion, that I had entered the mansion of death.
Thus terminated our first expedition, which employed us rather more than four months. having
quitted Mexico on the 5th of January 1805, and returned on the 10th of May. During our progress
we remained in every city and town a sufficient time to enable us to collect from their respective
governors or magistrates all possible information connected with the object of our commission. I
would willingly have prolonged our journey, but the weather was now become very sultry and unhealthy,
particularly in the districts which we had to traverse. We therefore returned to the capital,
in order to arrange our papers and drawings, and to await the termination of the rainy season; holding
ourselves in readiness to begin a second expedition, if the superior Government shall think fit: in
which event, we should direct our course to the cities of Oaxaca and Chiapa, unless prevented by any
adverse circumstances: as we are informed that those dioceses contain several important remains of
a date anterior to the conquest of this empire.




432 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

SECOND EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES, BY M. DUPAIX.

WILLIAM DUPAIX, retired Captain of the Mexican Dragoons and Director of this expedition,
left the ancient and imperial city of Mexico on the 24th of February 1806, in obedience to the
command of our Lord the King; accompanied, as before, by Don Joseph Casteneda, engineer and
draughtsman; Don Juan Castello, secretary; and a dragoon.

In compliance with the instructions of my commission, we took the southern road from the
capital to the ancient city of Chochimilco (which in the Mexican language signifies "A fertile
plain "); and, guit;!ed by the information which we had received from the magistrate of the place,
took up our abode in the old hotel facing the main road.

No. 1. The first object (connected with the purpose of the journey) which engaged my attention,
was the figure of an animal somewhat resembling a lizard, but probably existing only in the imagination
of the sculptor, executed in alto relievo on a porous volcanic stone of a red colour. It is of
large dimensions, and appears in the attitude of moving. The surface of the body and limbs is
covered with scales regularly placed.

This soft kind of stone, so well adapted for the purposes of sculpture and masonry, is found in
various parts of New Spain; although the only use to which the ancient Mexicans seem to have
applied it, was that of ornamenting and enriching both the exterior and interior of their temples,
sepulchres, and palaces. It is possible, that by means of these symbolical representations they intended
to designate the situation and use of the building. *

It will readily be conceived that, in attempting to describe and explain these interesting monuments
of antiquity, I must labour under great difficulty, on account of that originality and peculiarity
in the style of the Mexican school, which superficial inquirers have spoken of with ill-placed
contempt. But I shall not, on this account, be deterred from endeavouring to rescue them from
the oblivion in which they have been shrouded by the lapse of ages, and to exhibit them to the intelligent
examination of the lovers of antiquity.

In connection with this subject, I will here state my opinion as to the real cause of the ignorance
and remarkable diversity of sentiment existing among the Indians, as to the etymology and the
signification of the ancient names of their towns and various remains of antiquity, which, for the
most part, were significatoryand illustrative of their history. The cause of this confusion is most
probably to be traced to the mixture, by marriage and otherwise, of their various tribes, as well as
to the establishment of schools of instruction for the Castilian language. These causes are sufficient
to account for the corruption of the original tongue, and the change of words and family names peculiar 


-----
* As I am desirous, as far as it is possible, of avoiding repetition when speaking of the admeasurement of such sculptures and
buildings as I shall have occasion to describe in the course of this narrative, considering such repetitions both tedious and unnecessary,
the reader will understand that all the drawings which are contained in the following sheets, are made to the scale of the Castilian yard,
with the exception of such figures as are sufficiently small to be given in their original size. He will do well to have a pair of compasses
at hand, and to bear in mind that all the architectural and sculptured remains which are described in this narrative, are of a
date anterior to the conquest of the kingdom.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 433

to it: and as I have found myself unable to discriminate between the primitive meaning of the
Mexican words and those which in later periods were substituted in their stead, I cannot pretend to
offer an opinion on the subject. I write the names as they are now spoken and written by all classes
of the people; and for this reason: -- the Mexican language, expressive in its character, and abounding
with reverential forms of speech, is hastening to decay, and will by degrees be absorbed in the gulf of
oblivion. The monuments of this nation (which, from its antiquity, language, and its cultivation of
the arts, might rank among the most renowned of former times) will meet the same, perhaps a more
speedy fate. The consuming hand of Time, removing even the bases of its pyramids, its temples, its
sepulchres, and palaces, threatens their approaching and total extinction. The broken statues and
sculptured stones will crumble away, and thus all the monuments of Mexican grandeur and greatness
will be a chaotic heap of ruins, -- the destined end ofthe works of man's ephemeral creation.
Another painful reflection suggests itself while contemplating this subject, occasioned by the irreparable
loss of the historical annals of this country, which were traced in hieroglyphical characters on
a paper made of the aloe-tree and of cotton. At an early period after the conquest these documents
were collected and publicly burnt in the square of Tescuco; and thus the key which would have facilitated
the interpretation of every inscription and every record has been for ever lost, and all the
remaining monuments of Mexico buried in impenetrable darkness.

Many inscriptions on stone yet remain, in defiance of the attacks to which they have been subjected.
Some of them are deeply engraved; others are executed in relievo, accompanied with symbolical
figures: but I can only describe their appearance, without pretending to discover their meaning, or
withdraw the mysterious veil which surrounds them.

No. II. Pursuing my researches, I found at the house of Guevaras a stone in the form of a trapezium,
which is preserved there. On its surface are two concentric circles, and at the four corners of
the square other circles, each having a similar convexity in its centre. The stone is hard, and of a
brown colour. It is placed in its proper position, vertically. Its execution is conformable to the rules
of art, and it is in a good state of preservation. The design of the artist, in all probability, was to
appropriate this slab to the decoration of some public building, judging from the purely geometrical
style of its embellishment. *

No. III. In the quarter of San Marcos in this city, are two similar figures of some monstrous and
fanciful animal executed in hard red stone, each seated on a square base. They were intended as the
termination of an aqueduct; receiving the water at the back of their heads, and discharging it through
the mouth, eyes, and nose. They are enriched with some ornamental carving on the lower part of
the head; and the construction of the figures evinces such a theoretical and practical knowledge of
the principles of hydraulics as was necessary to convey the water from the level of the aqueduct.

No. IV. In the same place there are two pedestals, both alike, formed of striated limestone, and
ornamented with alternate ovals and tassels, which are suspended from the upper surface. The projecting
base is slightly enriched, but the carving is nearly effaced. These pedestals have been vertically
divided, and the two separate sections when placed together form a semi-globe or altar.


-----
* The reader is requested to notice that the figures from No. 1 to No. 20 inclusive, describe the sculptured remains which were
found at Chochimilco.




434 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

No. V. About two miles to the north of the city is a rock formed of red-coloured stone, and of a
conical shape. It is accidentally intersected by the wall of the estate called La Noria. Upon it is
engraven in relievo a shield surrounded by a circle, the field of which exhibits a device in the form
of a cross resting upon four ornamented arrows; the lower part is adorned with a row of feathers like
an opened fan, and several tassels are disposed around at regular intervals. On the opposite side of
the rock is represented a sort of military kilt or apron, divided into five pendants with semicircular
ends, crossed by smaller ones as exhibited in the drawing. Some remains of foliage ornament
the base of the shield, which is now almost buried in the ground. It has been an immemorial
custom among ancient and warlike nations to perpetuate by sculptured trophies the victories which
they obtained, and to erect them on the spot where such successes were achieved.

No. VI. In the house called Acocalco we found the representation of a curious fish carved on a
close-grained grey stone. lts open mouth discovers a row of teeth, and its fins are regularly placed.
Its belly, which has no scales, is flat; and its fins, being of the thickness of the stone, would show the
figure in relievo when built into a wall. Whether this inhabitant of the waters was formerly worshiped
by the heathens I have not been able to ascertain.

No. VII. This number refers to five fragments, of different size and colour; three of which are
cylindrical, one is in the form of a cross, the other square. They are all carved in relievo on the surface
of the stone, the rough part being intended to be imbedded in a wall. The drawing of the devices
is geometrically correct, and discovers good taste in the artists who designed and executed them.

No. VIII. On the doorway of the saltpetre manufactory are carved two monstrous and fanciful
heads, in red stone. As they are both exactly similar, a drawing of one, shown in profile, will suffice.
It is worked with skill and delicacy, although the artist appears to have given only the leading outlines
of the figure. Its open mouth shows two rows of corresponding teeth and two lateral fangs. The
proboscis or trunk describes a semicircle bending towards the wall. These threatening and monstrous
heads were, probably, placed like sentries at the entrance of their temples and sacred caves,
in order to inspire the people with fear of their gods.

No. IX. In the interior of these saltpetre works, two pieces of red stone similarly carved are built
into the buttress which supports a part of the building. On their square surface are represented two
nosegays or bunches of herbs, with which the ancient Mexicans were accustomed to adorn the outer
walls of their public buildings and their private houses.

No. X. In the house of Don Francisco Solares we discovered, on a slab of dark red porphyry
variegated with white spots, the figure of a large frog or toad built into the angle of the inner wall of
the court, and level with the balcony. The reptile appears at rest, and has the singular addition of
two ears extended along its body. In this respect the figure is imaginary, but its proportions are
good, and it is well executed. It is well known that the ancient Mexicans worshiped various animals,
particularly the feathered snake; and it would be interesting, if it were possible, to distinguish such
human or animal figures as were the subjects of adoration among them, from those which were merely
used for the purposes of ornament and decoration. But at present there are no sufficient data to
guide the inquirer, and I shall hence consider them all merely as works of art.

No. XI. On the site of a house now in ruins I discovered a broken slab of volcanic stone of an iron
colour, upon the surface of which was carved the figure of a rabbit in the attitude of motion. It




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 435

doubtless formed a portion of some wall, where it was placed in a vertical position. This animal was
one of the signs of the Mexican calendar.

No. XII. In the doorway of the house of Signor de Santa Cruz, there is inclosed a round stone in
the form of a shield, the outer rim of which is studded with small circles. On its surface are displayed
several hieroglyphical figures, with five numerical circles on each side, carved in alto relievo, as
shown in the annexed drawing. Although the surface of this circle is small, being only about 18 inches
in diameter, it may be presumed that the hieroglyphical writing, where every dot has a meanmg,
comprehends more ideas than words would be able to convey.

No. XIII. These figures, the symbols and sad mementos of death, one of which is represented
in profile, and the other in front, both of the size of a human skull, are built into a wall in the
court of Donna Ana Paton's house. The skull was an emblem in frequent use by the ancient
Mexicans. They carved it in different kinds of stone, and in various ways displayed it on the interior
and the exterior of the tombs of their deceased relatives. The hinder part of the block whence
these figures are carved being shaped into a form adapted for the purpose of insertion into masonry,
shows that it was intended to be so employed.

No. XIV. In the house of Don Joseph Ortiz there is another hieroglyphical figure of death, consisting
of a gigantic skull carved from a hard red stone, which was most probably employed in the gloomy
decoration of one of their mausoleums.

No. XV. In the house of Don Joseph Ystapan, at this time governor of the Indians, we found the
figure of a snake in porphyry, artificially coiled. Its long body was gracefully entwined, leaving the
head and the tail free. There is something showy in the execution of this figure. Its head is elevated
and curiously ornamented: its open mouth is defended by two long and pointed fangs; its
tongue, which is unusually long, is cloven at the extremity like an anchor; its body is fancifully scaled,
and its tail, covered with circles, ends with three rattles.

The snake was a frequent emblem with the ancient Mexican artists. The flexibility of its figure
being susceptible of an endless diversity of position regular and irregular, they availed themselves of
this advantage, and varied their representations of it without limit, and without ever giving it an unnatural
attitude. Its appellation was derived from its position and the mode of its decoration. Like
the Egyptian Sphynx, the mystical snake of the Mexicans had its enigmas, and both are equally beyond
our power to unravel.

No. XVI. In the threshold of a doorway in the house of Signor Martinez is a block of red stone
with a plain moulding, on the surface of which is sculptured in basso-relievo the figure of a strange
amphibious animal. The scaly head and taill'esemble those of a fish; four bands are placed across
the body, the ends of which appear like paws. In our conjectures on the origin and design of these
fanciful figures, we must be careful not to assign a mysterious character to that which may have been
only the extravagant invention of the artist.

No. XVII. In the Town-hall I saw another stone, of a dark brown colour, carved into the likeness
of an Indian female, seated in a tranquil position with her legs doubled under her. She is clothed in
a short garment, which is confined with a sash tasseled at each end; and her hair is formed into
various tresses. The sex of the figure is indicated by the breasts. The simplicity of the dress leads
us to refer its date to those early periods when luxury was unknown; and, on this account, no




436 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

accurate conjecture can be formed whether it was intended to typify a deity, or merely some
individual personage. It has neither ornament nor appendage by which its character may be guessed
at; and as there is no other way of classifying a bird but by its plumage, it is to be regretted that
this uncertainty must, in some measure, pervade the entire series of these descriptions.

No. XVIII. This statue, of red stone, which we discovered in the house of a shoemaker, is also
seated in the same posture (the usual attitude of Mexican sculpture), its legs being folded under its
body. It is entirely naked, and its forehead is encircled with a diadem adorned with bands studded
with pearls. Its ears are also ornamented. The lower part of the figure is somewhat mutilated.
Although its head, as well as the ornaments attached to it, are characteristic of manhood, the great
prominence of the breasts evidently denotes its sex; unless the artist by this ambiguous or equivocal
design intended to represent an hermaphrodite.

No. XIX. In a room at the entrance of the saltpetre works I found this monstrous head or skull.
It is executed in red stone, of the natural size. The upper part of the forehead, though resembling
a skull, is ornamented: the eyes are circular, and the nostrils highly relieved; the open mouth discovers
two formidable rows of teeth, and on each side of the head the hair is separated into two long
tassels. The workmanship is excellent, and does credit to the artist. What shall we think of this
singular production, in which life is so mixed up with death? It has no resemblance to those heads
which adorned the walls of the ancient Mexican buildings, but had, doubtless, a different destination,
although I am unable to assign it.

No. XX. In the house of Joseph Pichardo, the Alcade of the Indians, a circular red stone is
imbedded in the wall, the surface of which is divided into regular compartments surrounding a
circle, in the centre of which is a human head, also perfectly circular, and resembling the usual
representations of the full moon. It is surmounted by the figure of a cross. I was at a loss to conjecture
its design. At first sight it seemed to resemble a shield; but I was afterwards inclined to
regard it as some astronomical emblem, on account of the apparent figure of the full moon, placed
in the centre of its orbit. Or it may be a work of mere fancy, designed, from its masterly execution,
to enrich, with others of equal excellence, some considerable building.

No. XXI. From this city we proceeded to the ancient town of Cuitlahuac, a word which in the
Mexican language means "The deposit of the waters." It is situated on a fine island in the middle
of the lake of Chalco, almost on a level with its surface, and surrounded by many inhabited
Chinampas. * The communication with the shore is by means of two causeways stretching to
opposite points of the compass, the one to the north-east, the other to the south-west, and extending,
in their whole length, about three miles. This noble work, which was constructed by the ancient
natives with volcanic stone, sand, turf, and stakes, is from five to six yards wide, varying in its
height according to the depth of the lake; and, after the lapse of so many centuries, it remains
unimpaired, and continues to be used for the purpose of its first destination, evincing at once the
solidity of its foundations and its skilful execution.

In this town we discovered the following remains. At the entrance of the parish church-yard are
two volcanic stones, of a porous substance and black colour, lying on the ground, and somewhat

-----
* Small floating islands.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 437

resembling millstones in their shape. The one which is in the best preservation has a pedestal or base,
intended to support it perpendicularly on some solid foundation of earth or masonry. The surface of
each side is deeply engraven. The figure carved on the stone has the" singular appearance of being
retained by its own gravity in its present position. The sculpture on each side is similar. Its form is
partly human and partly animal; or, probably, merely ideal, accompanied by some lines of which I
was unable to develope the meaning. I cannot conjecture to what purpose these stones were applied
by the ancient Mexicans; whether to that of amusement, of worship, or of sacrifice: yet being found
in several different towns, they must have been of general use.

No. XXII. In the hut of an Indian, situated in a Chinampa, is a pedestal or sacrificial altar, of a
cylindrical shape, formed of a hard and dark-coloured stone. The upper surface is a plain circular
tablet, the edge of which is ornamented with carving in relievo, and intersected by several parallel
and regularly arranged fillets. It is probable that to each imaginary deity worshipped by these
heathens was assigned his peculiar altar, being in shape either circular or polygon.

No. XXIII. In the rector's house we were shown a circular stone vase, the whole exterior of which
discovers great skill in the artist. Its carved ornaments and mouldings are fancifully entwined around,
displaying a graceful symmetry: the interior (of which the diameter is about eighteen inches) is
covered with symbolical figures, disposed in the same order. The execution is neat, and the stone
of which the vessel is formed is hard, fine-grained, and of an iron colour. It is sonorous and sufficiently
hard to emit sparks when struck by the steel. The engraving on this curious isolated vessel
has neither beginning nor end (a fit emblem of eternity); but as I have no clue by which to
determine its use, or to decipher the hieroglyphics with which it is covered, I forbear to offer any
superfluous conjectures.

No. XXIV. We proceeded by water to the village of Misquique, lying only a short distance from
Cuitlahuac, and which probably derived its name from the misquite tree, so abundant in this country.
It is situated on an island of the same lake, somewhat larger than the last-mentioned one, and is
surrounded by Chinampas. The communication with the main land is on the western side, by means
of a long causeway of ancient date. I found there a well-executed head, of frightful aspect,
intended by the ancient Mexicans to project from the wall of some public edifice. There is no
attempt at any imitation of nature; imagination alone has given existence to it. This head, carved
out of a blackish volcanic stone. was once painted with vermilion, some of which yet adheres to it.
The Mexicans were accustomed to give a gaudy appearance to their works, both of sculpture and
architecture, by the use of various colours. They first applied a coat of lime or some whitish substance,
and then another of yellow; but red, as the most brilliant of the prismatic colours, appears
to have been most frequently used.

No. XXV. In a wall facing the churchyard chance has introduced a stone, on the surface of which
are designed several circles in alto-relievo, with some symmetrical ornaments, all having a common
centre.

No. XXVI. Another stone of the same kind is imbedded in the walls of the church steeple, exhibiting
on its face a spiral ornament in relievo. If, divesting ourselves of prejudice, we were to enumerate
the various purely geometrical figures on those stones which have already been described and delineated,
they would bear sufficient and ample testimony that the ancient Mexicans were acquainted





438 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

with the elements of geometry, whether it existed among them in theory or only in practice. It is
time, therefore, that we dismiss those erroneous impressions which are merely the result of imperfect
information, and learn to respect those intellectual powers, which enabled the natives of this vast
continent to enrich it with works of art.

No. XXVII. In the parish church is preserved a large ancient vessel, formed out of a block of
hard marble, and now med as a baptismal font. The lower part is fiat, and the border is enriched
with ornamental foliage. What an immense number of strokes must the chisel have given, to hollow out
a space of which the circumference is thirteen feet and a half, leaving only the thickness of five inches
in the rim, and exhibiting correctness of proportion with a highly polished surface. The exterior and
interior of the vessel were formerly covered with a fine and burnished cement. It was, no doubt,
designed to hold some particular liquor, but of what kind or for what use, it is difficult to conjecture.
We know that the ancient Romans employed lustral waters to sprinkle the animal victims in their
holocausts; and perhaps in the New World a similar practice existed, where not only beasts but
human beings were offered in sacrifice: or the vessel may have been applied to the purpose of
holding water, with which to wash the bodies of the dead before they were committed to their last home.

No. XXVIII. In the wall of an inclosure near the church, I discovered a brown and porous
volcanic stone, somewhat resembling that delineated in No. 21. It differs in size as well as in
design, but its use was probably similar to tha1 which I have described above.

No. XXIX. In the vestry of the old village church is a heathen altar, of an iron-grey colour and
a cylindrical form. On the centre of the shaft is carved a snake in alto-relievo, partly coiled
up, and adorned with a crown and plume of feathers. The mouth is open, and the tongue cloven
at its end: the body is covered with scales, and the tail terminates with rattles. There are some
other devices or enigmatical figures, all inclosed within two mouldings, and the whole appears to
have been painted red.

We cannot help pitying those dark and wretched times, when the altars of heathenism were stained
with the smoking blood of victims, offered up in the vain hope of propitiating idol deities, alike
insensible to hatred as to love.

No. XXX. In the wall of a house called La Tecpan, is inclosed a slab of black and fine-grained
volcanic stone, on which is sculptured in mezzo-relievo the figure of a wild dog, which, however,
displays but little of that animal's natural character. It appears to have been formerly covered with
a varnish or wash of fine lime. The Mexican draughtsmen, in their delineations of flowers and
animals, were generally very correct imitators of simple nature; in works of imagination they were
not equally expert.

The proportions of the human form they sometimes grossly violated, evidently not from ignorance
of their art, since many of their works display correctness of design; but rather in consequence of
some political or religious laws existing in the Mexican empire, which compelled its artists to
give to the statues of their deities a similarity of attitude and a uniformity of style and character;as
in Egypt, where the priests prescribed fixed rules for statuary and the formation of images; thus
fettering the inventive genius of the artist, and checking the progress of sculpture.

No. XXXI. In the house of an Indian, situated on the banks of the lake to the north of the church,




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 439

we found a human head of the natural size, formed of a dark purple-coloured volcanic stone, and
decorated on each side with similar ornaments and pendants. This is one of the figures so much used
by the ancient Indians, for the purpose of fixing into their walls by means of the shaft before mentioned.
The Mexicans not only attempted to adorn, but in some measure to give animation to the
fronts of their temples and palaces, by geometrical designs or the figures of animals. And they likewise
made use of the human form for the same purpose; thus uniting every species of embellishment
in the decoration of these buildings. I regard this kind of ornament as peculiar to the Mexican
nation, and employed according to rules prescribed by their taste in architecture.

Nos. XXXII & XXXIII. These numbers refer to two small stone idols of fantastic shape, the
originals being of the same size as the drawings. The first is in a sitting posture; its head raised as
if in the act of contemplation, and covered with a kind of skull-cap. Its body is without arms. A
perpendicular hole passes through the figure, which was thus suspended by a rope. The stone is
unctuous, glossy, and of a blackish ash colour. It appears to have been polished by being rubbed
with another stone.

The other figure is formed of a volcanic stone, of the colour of half heated iron. It is in a mutilated
state, having neither arms nor legs. On the head is placed an ornamented cap: the features
are prominent and expressive; the eyes are closed, and the mouth open as if singing, or expressing
suffering; the body appears to have been flayed to the lower extremity of the ribs.

These figures may be considered either as household gods, or as mere toys formed for no definite
purpose. Their forms are infinitely varied; some being painted, others appearing in the colour of
the substance of which they are composed. These pigmy and portable divinities, the tutelar gods of
the Mexican houses, were common to most of the nations of antiquity. The Scriptures mention the
"images" or idols of Laban, which were probably formed of baked clay: the histories of the Egyptians
and of the ancient Romans record the existence of their household deities; and we know from
the records of this kingdom that the Mexicans had likewise their Penates, who were always treated
with veneration, and placed in the most honourable part of their houses. It is evident that these little
idols were bored through for the purpose of being affixed to the walls.

No. XXXIV. Having finished our researches in this village, we went to that of Tlalmanalco, where
we found in the house of the priest a female bust. It is well executed in a sort of green stone which the
natives name Chalchihuitl; its size is rather beyond that of nature, and its proportions are well formed.
The features of its face and the prominence of its breasts discover its sex. The ornaments of the head
are carved in relievo and disposed in regular order; the bosom contains a square concavity, well
adapted for receiving a plate of gold or silver. This bust was probably so formed with a view to its
being placed on the top of some temple or pyramid fronting the East, in order that the rays of the
rising sun or moon falling on the burnished surface of the plate might reflect and diffuse a beautiful
and brilliant light.

No. XXXV. In the house of a neighbouring Indian we found a human figure perfect from the
waist upwards, carved from a pale ash-coloured stone. There was nothing remarkable in its appearance,
except that its arms were raised, and the hands shut and reclining on its breast.

No. XXXVI. This block of stone, of a somewhat cubical shape, served as a small pedestal. It is
enriched with ornaments, and formed part of an old wall.




440 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

No. XXXVII. This is a woman's head slightly decorated. The artist has taken nature for his model,
and the bust is fashioned according to her unchanging rules. Its substance is a firm and finely-grained
stone, of a lead colour. It is evident that itwas originally covered with some white and glossy composition.
We found it in the curate's house, and there the annexed drawing was made. As the contour
of the human head is the greatest difficulty the sculptor has to surmount in the execution of a statue,
it is to be regretted that in the present work of art, the limbs and the rest of the body should be wanting;
since he who succeeded so well in the most elaborate part of the sculpture would not be likely to
have failed in that which was of easier execution.

Nos. XXXVIII. XXXIX; & XL. These numbers represent three stone statues, which were found
in a wall of the mill called La Madonna del Socorro. The first is seated in an easy posture; her
arm is raised, as if she were lifting something with her hand (which has been broken off) to her
mouth.

No. XXXIX. represents the bust of a female, designed according to the ancient and primitive
style of Egyptian sculpture. It was originally a work of skilful execution, but destructive Time has
now very much impaired it.

No. XL. is remarkable for its strange and monstrous formation. It consists of a head without a
body, covered with a sort of conical cap. It stands on two legs, its hands resting on its knees. This
very rare figure, which is probably symbolical, has in its style some resemblance to the preceding one.

No. XLI. In the wall of a ruined house I found another stone of a cubical figure;. on one
side of which are represented in alto-relievo two bones crossed, and inclosed in a square moulding.
I imagine that these last relics of a part of the human body were placed in some mausoleum, and
were designed to infuse into the mind of the spectator that horror which such emblems of death are
so well adapted to inspire.

No. XLII. The block of stone represented in this drawing is of an oblong form, encircled with a
moulding. In the centre of its surface is a figure of regular design, resembling a flower with six
petals. This ornamented slab, like some before mentioned, served to enrich the front or doorway
of some public or private building.

No. XLIII. In the hut of an Indian we found the figure of an unknown animal, represented (as in
the annexed drawing) in profile. The stone which forms its substance is close-grained, of an irongrey
colour, and capable of receiving a fine polish. The lifeless attitude of this animal would seem
to mark the appearance of an embryo extracted from the womb, while its execution displays the
elaborate attention of the artist. I am entirely ignorant to what class of animals it should be referred,
and equally at a loss to assign the reason for perpetuating its likeness in sculpture.

No. XLIV. In the road from the village of Tlalmaualco to that of Mecamecan, about three miles
eastward of the latter, and within the boundaries of the estate of Senor Don Joseph Tepatolco, there
is an isolated rock of granite, artificially formed into a conical shape, out of which are hollowed six
steps facing the East. The summit of the rock forms a platform or horizontal plane, well adapted to
the observation of the stars on every side of the hemisphere. It is almost demonstrable that this very
ancient monument was exclusively devoted to astronomical observations; for, on the south side of the
rock are engraved several hieroglyphical figures having a relation to that science. But the most
striking feature in the group is the figure of a man in profile, standing erect, and directing. his view




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 441

to the rising of the planets in the heavens. He holds to his eyes a tube or optical instrument.
Underneath his feet is a frieze divided into six compartments, with as many celestial signs carved on
its surface: the results, most probably, of such observations as had been made and calculated. Some
of these symbols have an affinity to those, which are to be found in that ancient Mexican sphere which
is an object of such attention and admiration to all who visit the city of Mexico. In front of the figure
is engraved the likeness of a rabbit sitting, as well as two parallel rows of numerical signs. In' addition
to these, there are two symbols connected with astronomical science. This interesting discovery will
of itself be sufficient to convince the most incredulous, that astronomy was known and cultivated by
the ancient Mexicans.

No. XLV. At a short distance from Mecamecan, or Amatemecan, is situated the town of Ozumpa.
On our arrival there we discovered in the pavement of the churchyard a circular piece of stone, of a
hard and ferruginous substance. Its surface is divided by radii proceeding from the centre of the
circle to its circumference. The regularity displayed in the perforation of this stone, had probably
no other design than that of varying and adorning its appearance.

No. XLVI. In the town of Chimalhuacan Tlachialco, not far distant from Ozumpa, I found the
stone represented in the annexed drawing. It was discovered in the house of an Indian, behind the
Town Hall. Its form is circular, and in its centre is carved a flower with six petals; beyond which
extend four petals of another flower. This slab is probably one of those which the ancient Mexicans
used for the purpose of giving some variety to the gloomy monotony of their walls.

No. XLVII. This carving represents a human figure, apparently that of a female, seated in the
accustomed manner. Her head resembles that of Cybele, as represented in the mythology of Greece,
being surmounted with a mural crown. The features are very prominent: and her right hand
grasps some unknown symbol. The material is a coarse stone very much consumed by time.

No. XLVIII. This piece of stone was also found in the same town. Its form is circular, its surface
convex, surrounded with a fanciful border. In the centre is displayed a flower with many petals,
opening around a cross. This stone, like those already mentioned, was merely designed as an ornament
for some building.

No. XLIX. In speaking of the town of Ozumpa, I should have said that in the house of the,Lieutenant
Don Francisco Muiiiain we made the drawing of a statue placed on a square base. It is
full length. Its head is merely encircled with a band, while its ears are adorned with pendants, and
the cartilage of its nose pierced with a ring. A sash or short apron is tied round its waist. This
figure, which is that of a male, has no visible symbols from which its character may be determined. It
is one of the few statues of which the posture is erect; they are usually sitting.

No. L. From the town of Ozumpa we went to Cuauhtla Amilpa, and thence to the village of
San Juan Ahuehuepan, lying about three miles to the west of Ozumpa. We here found the mutilated
trunk of a statue sculptured in red stone. If we may judge ofthe execution of the whole from what
remains, there is great reason to regret its mutilation. It is destitute of all ornaments and apparel with
the exception of a sort of frill, and a sash tied in a bow, which serves the purpose of an apron.
The trunk of this beautiful statue discovers great skill and accuracy of proportion, and was probably
designed by the artist to represent some hero or superior deity.

No. LI. The drawings attached to this number represent the head of a female carved in solid red




442 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

stone: the one exhibits the front, and the other the back of the bust: it is of the natural size, and
its ornaments are disposed with regularity. It is to be regretted that only a fragment of so well
executed a figure should have been preserved.

No. LII. From the last-mentioned villages we pursued our route to the town of Chonacatepec,
where the magistrate showed us at his house a sort of mask, made of a white transparent and gritty
stone, (known there by the name of Tecalle,) well proportioned and neatly finished. It seems as if the
artist designed to portray in it the distinctive features of the Mexican face: the ears are pierced
laterally, either for the purpose of being decorated with ear-rings, or of suspending it as an ornament
from the neck of an idol. It was discovered on opening an ancient and deserted cave on the side of
a mountain. The back is flat, unlike the generality of masks, which are usually formed concave so as
to fit the face.

No. LIII. On our way to the town of Chila, at the distance of about three miles, we saw on the
summit of a mountain called Tortuga, a pyramid of a solid mass resting upon an equilateral base,
formed by four isosceles triangles. It was constructed with massy materials, but its primitive covering
has mouldered away. The four sides front the four cardinal points of the compass. It does not terminate
in an acute angle; the summit, at a third part of its perpendicular height, stretching into a
spacious area, which was ascended for the purpose of prayer or sacrifice by a flight of stairs on the
western side.

No. LIV. At the foot of the northern angle of this pyramid, at the depth of three yards and three
quarters from the surface of the ground, exist the ruins of a sepulchre in the form of a cross. We
descended by six steps into an oblong vault, the four compartments of which, like the sides of the
pyramid, front the four points of the compass. The walls of this subterraneous building are constructed
of squared blocks of stone, cemented with mortar and polished. The ceiling is coated with lime,
sand, and probably some other ingredients. We found the remains of only a few human bodies.

No. LV. From Chilan I proceeded to the town of Huahuapan. About three miles eastward of which,
at the top of a little hill called Tallesto, I found lying on the ground a block of hard and fine-grained
stone of a bluish colour. Its shdpe is prismatic, and on one of its sides is carved in relievo a circular
shield. Its field displays some unknown symbol, and from the lower part of the circle extends an arm,
the hand of which grasps some kind of offensive weapon resembling a dart or spear, to which certain
ornaments are appended. This shield, belonging to a class of defensive arms in general use amongst
the ancient Mexicans, is engraved with great skill, and is probably the memorial of some deed of
valour; or it might have been the honourable military device of a warlike province.

No. LVI. In the town of Yanquitlan I saw a solid red stone carved into the resemblance of a head.
It is of the natural size, but of strange and uncouth physiognomy. It bears some resemblance to a
skull masked and adorned. This fanciful piece of sculpture indicates a style differing from that which
is strictly Mexican.

No. LVII. This small vessel, in shape resembling a censer, and formed of well baked clay or some
other hard red substance, is smooth and polished on its surface, and very neatly and tastefully executed.
It is an ancient toy, formed of two pieces; the upper one, which serves as the cover, is cast in a
mould and fluted: the lower, which is solid, is encircled by a moulding. There is a hole at the top
and bottom, by means of which the two pieces may be fastened together with a string.





THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 443

No. LVIII. This number describes the barb of a dart or arrow, consisting of three sharp edges
forming a triangular figure. The shape of this very ancient offensive missile weapon is no less
adapted to inflict a wound than to prevent its extraction. It is made of a light grey flint stone, and
is furnished with a shaft by which to attach it to a handle.

No. LIX. These figures represent a small idol, which exhibits a departure from the characteristic
style of Mexican sculpture. They are made of a light green jasper, and are found in abundance in
the ancient sepulchres of the Mistecas. Like Isis and Osiris, thpse constant appendages to the
Egyptian mummies, they invariably present the same attitude and prismatic form, with the exception
of one or two which have four sides. The shoulders, either straight or angular, are pierced with two
right lines to a certain depth, which meet at a given point, and for man angle of greater or lesser
degree, without the employment of any other than a straight instrument for this purpose. This is
a simple invention, but it proves the ingenuity of the artist. These figures, with the addition of beads
or precious stones of a green colour, either round or fluted, formed the necklaces with which the
bodies of the dead were wont to be adorned.

No. LX. This small idol, of a similar class to those just mentioned, and sitting in a contracted
attitude, differs somewhat from them in form, being cut down the back vertically.


No. LXI. The sight of those instruments with which the Mexicans executed their admirable sculptures
cannot fail to be highly interesting. -- This number represents an heptagonal chisel, or perhaps a
burnisher, the form of which may be seen in the annexed drawing. It is made of a very hard kind
of touch-stone, fine-grained, and of a jet black colour. Its surface still retains a high degree of polish.

No. LXII. This number represents a sharp-pointed instrument, which probably was the chisel
of the Mexican sculptors. Its material is a hard stone of a dark green colour; its figure is hexagonal.
One end was originally sharp, although now somewhat blunted; the other exhibits the blows
which were given to it by a hammer or some tool of the kind which they were accustomed to use.

No. LXIII. This last number of the antiquities of Misteca represents a kind of cylinder, made
of a dark green stone, having an extremely smooth surface.

The original figures indicated by the Nos. 61 to 63 are somewhat smaller than the drawings,
as I thought they would be better understood if their proportions were rather enlarged by the
draughtsman. The intrinsic value of works of art depends not upon size; they are not to be
measured by the yard, nor estimated by their weight in the balance. Invention and finished
execution are the true tests of excellence; and to speak according to the rules of art, it is neither
the bulk nor the material which can determine their merit, since a figure of clay may be of more
value than one of gold; and a work of diminutive proportions more worthy of admiration than a
Colossus.

After having finished my search after antiquities in TanhuitIan, I proceesled to the city Oaxaca,
where I prosecuted my inquiries concerning the ancient remains which yet existed in that province,
beginning with those of Mount Alvan, which is about six miles distant from that city. The result
will be found in the following pages.




444 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF MOUNT ALVAN.

To the west of the town of Antequera, at the distance of about six miles, there is a mountain named
Mount Alvan, the summit of which forms a table. Although apparently the work of nature, there can
be little doubt that the art and patient industry of the Zapotecas (an Indian nation so called) has
contributed in no small degree to its formation. It is a well known fact, that this race of Indians
always availed themselves of the favourable disposition of the ground to erect monuments to their
deities, their deceased kings, and their kindred; as well as fortifications which they constructed in
their own defence, in accordance with the usages of those remote times. In the beginning of the month
of July I resolved to ford the dangerous river called the Atolliaque, which flows between the abovementioned
fixed points, -- a thing not always practicable. It is true that in the dry season the waters
of this river are so shallow, that its appearance is rather that of a gentle brook; but in the rainy
season it not only receives a great accession of water which flows from the valleys, but carries with
it in its whole passage a quantity of fine sand, which sinking to the bottom by its specific gravity forms
horizontal banks, destitute of firmness, and renders the fording of it treacherous in the extreme, as
was experienced by our secretary, who together with his horse fell midway in the channel, and
would have perished had it not been for the great exertions of the Indians who attended us. Finally
we reached the summit of this memorable place, which we found to be formed out of a group or
assemblage of high hills, which separate the greater valley of Oaxaca from the less, where the
following ancient ruins attracted my observation.

No. LXIV. Upon the plane or the table formed by the above-mentioned mountain there is a
little hill somewhat resembling a tomb, artificially raised, of a conical shape and covered with a great
quantity of trees and shrubs. It is traversed through its centre from north to south by a very well
planned gallery, having a semi-elliptical vault, and lined (on the left hand side as one enters) with
many large and oblong slabs of granite, on the surface of which, sculptured in alto-relievo, appear
several figures or human busts, rather exceeding in dimensions the common stature of man, with
open mouths, and in various attitudes; some sitting, some standing, and all in profile, looking
towards the north along the interior of the gallery, five only of which I have taken copies of, hecause
they were found in a perfect state of preservation.

No. LXV. The first figure is represented in a sitting position, rather in front, and without any covering
or ornaments except those which it wears on the head.

No. LXVI. This figure resembles the first, except that its position is more in profile, and the
attitude of the arms and legs different.

No. LXVII. The figure represented under this number displays a greater degree of diversity,
being in an upright position and in the act of walking: some difference is also observable in the
ornament (or crown) which it wears on its head; at the lower part of the legs a flourish of the chisel
and two circles are discernible.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 445

No. LXVIII. This figure is also in the act of walking in the same direction as the foregoing, but
the attitude of the right arm is somewhat different. Its crown is similar to those worn by the two
first, but it is distinguished by the peculiarity (perhaps a hieroglyphic necessary for the explanation
of this curious and enigmatical piece of history) of manifesting a superfluous sign of the sex to which
it belongs.

No. LXIX. This figure is represented in profile, seated with its arms crossed over its breast; its
head armed with a sort of helmet or close cap. and a fanciful circle under the ear, with a lock of hair
behind in the form of a cue. In the right angle of this square block of stone there appears a
hieroglyphic of the king of birds, with a crowned head and an ornamented eye: it is in the act of
devouring the body of a bird, upon which are six numerical signs, disposed with some degree of
order, with three symbolical figures underneath. I directed that an excavation should be made in
the interior of this hill, but found nothing remarkable except the fragment of a skull, a thigh bone,
and some other small bones very much decayed. There was sufficient, however, to convince me that
this was the tomb of some king or illustrious family of the Zapotecas. But I must confess that what
perplexed me, was the grotesque attitudes and apparent flexibility of limb displayed by these
male figures, sculptured in relievo on the above-mentioned stones, as well as their being beardless,
naked, without the distinctive marks of sex, and all directing their attention towards the centre of the
tomb, with their mouths open as if in the act of exclaiming, while performing the part of mourners
over the body there deposited.

No. LXX. Near this monument there is another similar to it, which was probably raised for
the same purpose: it has a spacious gallery which traverses diametrically, in a straight line from
south to north, the centre of the artificial hill, the interior of which is faced with square stones
disposed in horizontal rows, whilst some large slabs which form a projecting angle over the solid
masonry of the lateral walls resembling the ridge of a house, serve as a roof; the pavement is composed
of a hard mortar of sand and lime. These sepulchral monuments evince the recollection
and tender affection which this nation bore to the dead.

No. LXXI. Another monument presented itself to our view, externally of the same shape and materials
as the preceding ones, as may be seen by referring to its plan and elevation: it has likewise a
gallery lined with wrought stones, having a somewhat concave roof. It deserves to be noticed
that the gallery of this tomb does not follow a straight transverse line, but terminates on arriving at
the centre of the cone, where, having formed an oblong saloon, it is divided into two equal portions,
each following its meridian line.

No. LXXII. At a short distance from the last monument, there yet exists an ancient building
(either a temple or,mansion for the dead, for it might have served both purposes). I found this
great structure rested upon an immense base or terrace of hewn stone, the projection of which forms
a quadrilateral figure, each side facing one of the four cardinal points of the compass. A tomb of a
conical figure rises from its area: I was struck at beholding, in the interior of this solid body,
a sort of well-constructed rotunda, from the centre of which proceeded four spacious passages
dividing the whole plane into equal portions; and the interior walls of this famous work of art
were formerly (judging by what is still visible) lined with uniform and perfectly even stones. It
is to be lamented that time and vegetation, -- the enemies of buildings, but more especially of




446 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

monuments of antiquity, -- should confound art with nature, assigning to the former a brief and
transitory existence.

No. LXXIII. At the foot of the above-mentioned artificial hill there is a large block of granite,
the visible surface of which contains several hieroglyphics engraved in relievo: on one of the
sides are sculptured in profile six human figures in a row, ornamented and dressed in a uniform
manner; six other figures, with which I am unacquainted, are alternately placed between them. The
ingenious art of transferring the thoughts to cloth or stone by means of symbolical figures, was in
general use in the Mexican empire; and if the surface of this historical basso-relievo displays a
difference in the order and formation of these figures, this may have originated in the diversity of
national customs; since as the language of the Zapotecas was totally different from the Mexican, so
likewise the symbols by which they expressed their thoughts might have been equally different.

No. LXXIV. I found near the same place a light and cylindrical stone, belonging to that class
which mineralogists call breccia. This ancient piece is wrought in a simple style, and I judge it to
have been an altar for sacrifices: it deserves its place amongst the antiquities of this country, on
account of its having been an instrument, if I may so term it, famous in Mexican mythology, upon
which was shed with profusion the blood of so many human victims.

No. LXXV. In Zocho, a town in the vicinity of Oaxaca, I was shown a copper instrument, in the
house of an Indian labourer named Pasqual Bartolano, who a short time before my arrival discovered,
when ploughing his field, twenty-three dozen of these tools, contained in two large earthen pots, in
very good preservation: they are all of the same cast metal, and of similar form; they only differ
from each other a little in length, but appear to be of equal thickness; and the silversmiths are very
anxious to obtain them on account of their fine alloy. It remains for me to attempt to explain (which
I fear I shall find an impossible task) the use to which these instruments were applied; since those
ages, the customs of which were so wholly different from ours, would likewise have had-their peculiar
usages, with which we cannot be acquainted. It is possible, therefore, that they might have employed
them either in agriculture, war, or sacrifices; or, perhaps, as cutting instruments in their arts, -- none
of which suppositions are improbable.

No. LXXVI. This small and well wrought piece of sculpture, of a semi-spherical shape, formed
of a kind of copper-coloured pyrites, possesses excellent proportion and a fine polish, particularly
on the side intended for a mirror, or to serve as an ornament for some idol: on the convex side a hole
has been bored for the purpose of fixing it in any situation at pleasure. This pretty little specimen of
art confirms the opinion I have ever entertained of the ingenuity of the natives of this large portion of
the new continent: they employed almost every kn'own metal, especially those of a more shining nature;
and it is probable that iron, not possessing this superficial property, was not worked by them,
and they consequently remained ignorant of its intrinsic qualities, of which we have so advantageously
availed ourselves.

No. LXXVII. Several chisels of red copper have also been found in the immediate environs of
this city. Weare ignorant of their mode of giving a temper to these sharp-edged tools, whatever
may have been the purposes to which they were originally applied, whether to fashion and cut wood
into a regular shape, or perhaps even stone itself.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 447

ANTIQUITIES OF SAINT PAUL OF MITLAN.

DESIROUS of quitting as soon as possible the city of Oaxaca, in order to inspect the far-famed
ruins of Mitlan, we set out on our journey on the first of August, 1806, leaving behind us on the road
the town of Tlacolima. -- The town of Saint Paul of Mitlan, or rather of Miguitlan, is situated in a deep
valley surrounded with mountains in seventeen degrees and a half north latitude, and about twelve
leagues to the south-east of the city of Oaxaca, in a warm climate; the soil being dry, venomous
insects mnliiply there in excess, including many sorts of snakes and spiders, particularly tarantulas,
of immense size. The produce of the country is maize and the maguey, although of a species
different from that which grows in the cold provinces; the chief fruit is the pitaya. The population of
this town has experienced the same decay as its ancient monuments, both having participated in a
common fate. The language which they speak is the Zapotecan: its original and proper name was
Liuba, which means, a burial place; but the Mexicans, after having subdued this nation, named it
Miguitlan, which in the Mexican language signifies Hell, or a place of sorrow. It is evident that both
names appear to be well adapted to each signification, if we only consider the sepulchral nature
of its ancient monuments, the sterility of the surrounding mountains, the gloom of the valley, and
the scarcity of water which prevails there. On my arrival in the town, I presented to the governor
of the Indians, and to the officiating rector of the parish, Don Joseph Castillano, the civil and ecclesiastical
orders which I bore, charging them to aid me in my antiquarian researches: they accordingly
provided me. with every thing necessary to carry into execution His Majesty's commands. As I was
very anxious to commence operations as soon as possible, I made diligent inquiries on the following day
concerning the monuments of ancient architecture and sculpture which might exist in this neighbourhood,
desirous of comparing them with each other, that I might judge which of the sister arts here
enjoyed the preeminence: but to my great disappointment I could only obtain the three following
small specimens of sculpture.

No. LXXVIII. This is a bust of terra cotta; the face of the figure is masked, and it is modelled
after a fashion in the highest degree capricious, and novel. I must therefore dispense with the necessity
of further description by referring to the drawing. Behind it we perceive a cylindrical tube
capable of containing chips of pine, or any other combustible substance; or to express my meaning
more clearly, to serve as a candelabra at their pagan festivals.

No. LXXIX. This image, formed out of greyish purple jasper, well polished, presents to our
view a dwarf-like figure seated in a natural and easy position, with the arms crossed over the breast,
and its forehead, neck and waist, girt with a sash; the ears consisting of curved lines, the eyes shut,
the mouth half open, and showing the tip of the tongue, whilst the back of the figure forms a vertical
plane. What shall we think of such a being, who appears to be filled with compunction and absorbed
in some mental abstraction!

No. LXXX. This piece was brought by an Indian to me at the rector's house, the place of ollr




448 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

temporary abode. It is a small head of baked clay, of solid consistency; its aspect is martial, and it
exhibits great correctness both in outline and proportions; it is armed with a sort of graceful helmet,
ingeniously displaying the crest of a crowned or royal eagle. In the cavity formed by the aperture
of the beak (where are described two circles in the points of the lateral angles) the head of a warrior
appears, beardless and without mustachios.

It is very strange that on so renowned a site, which led us to form sanguine expections, (proceeding
on the supposition that the ancient artists would have managed with equal dexterity the chisel
and the square,) we should have been unable to discover a single fragment of sculpture; since it was
reasonable to suppose that a soil so rich in monuments of architecture would likewise have possessed
many valuable sculptured remains. Our surprise should cease, however, when we consider the
causes to which their disappearance may be ascribed. It is alleged, that at the eventful period
immediately preceding and after the Spanish conquest, the Indians either buried their idols, or carried
them elsewhere. But I think the true and more probable cause was, the violent and open proscription
which these false gods suffered from the iconoclasts, who destroyed every thing appertaining
to them, without sparing aught for the sake of history or from love of the arts: and thus their false zeal
effected their entire annihilation. But if our researches after monuments of sculpture were attended
with little success, the contemplation of architectural remains considerably lessened our disappointment;
and although these latter monuments have yielded to the ravages of time, nevertheless some
portions possessing beautiful perfection still remain, by judging from the parts of which, we may
form an opinion of the whole. -- Let us proceed then to the examination of them, since they will
assuredly repay our curiosity to the utmost.

There are four edifices which have received the common appellation of the Palaces of Mitlan, of
these two are contiguous to each other; the third forms a part of the parish church, and the fourth
stands upon a spacious foundation; they are all situated at short distances from each other. With
respect to their plans, elevations, and general geometrical dimensions, the drawing of each edifice
contains its scale of admeasurement, to which it will be easy to refer.

These great and splendid fabrics, partly in ruins, have been erected with a lavish magnificence
worthy of ancient Rome. Situated in the most elevated part of the town, notwithstanding the
destructive revolution of ages, they convey a high idea of the power of the prince who caused their
construction, as well as of the inventive genius of the artist who planned and executed them.

No. LXXXI. This drawing presents to our view the geometrical plan of the largest edifice, and of
the three square buildings attached to it, of which one alone retains some traces of its ancient and
beautiful front.

No. LXXXII. This monument, which from its present state of preservation we are enabled more
accurately to delineate, immediately creates the admiration of the beholder by its majestic appearance
and mosaic decorations; the whole producing in the soul of the visitor a soft melancholy, and
an emotion of pleasure that cannot be defined.

Whenever in the course of this description I shall avail myself of technical terms employed in Greek
and Roman architecture, to explain the architectural parts of these buildings, -- such as pilaster,
architrave, frieze, cornice, and others of a similar kind, -- it is by no means my intention to display
scientific knowledge, but merely to express myself in language which may be intelligible to artists:



THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 449

thus I say that the ichnography of this monument has for its foundation and base a socle of cut
stones (the circumference of which embraces and measures, in a polygonal figure, a superficies
extending over a vast area) of suitable dimensions and elevation above the level of the ground,
the principal sides facing the cardinal points of the compass. On the southern front there are three
staircases, of which the central one conducts to three doors, and the other two, placed at the projecting
angles of the lateral extremities, serve equally to facilitate the ascent to the gallery formed along
the upper plane: the steps consist of large and well cut stones, of a regular shape, and lead
to the three great doors or vacant doorways, divided by as many pilasters, with their capitals
or cornices having each a circular niche adapted to receive the head of some animal, or perhaps
a skull; the discovery of which would have been very serviceable for the illustration of this
description, by removing every doubt as to the destination of these edifices, and establishing certainty
on almost infallible grounds. Although I was informed that an Indian woman possessed one
of these, and kept it concealed in the wall of her house, all my inquiries to ascertain the fact were
fruitless.

The architrave, resting upon three pilasters, is a solid block of square evenly cut granite of enormous
size; the base of the latter is composed of a row of stones perfectly square, with their edges well
adjusted. The surface ofthe walls is covered and adorned with various en tablatures or oblong compartments
terminating in mouldings, which project from the vertical line of the walls, and in the planes
of which are mosaic ornaments executed in alto-relievo and of most beautiful invention; the designs
presenting to the eye a series of very intricate flourishes, following in geometrical order with the most
perfect union between the stones composing them, all of which are cut and of different shapes and
dimensions. The exact evenness of this admirable mosaic work is further remarkable; and it is
protected and crowned by a very deep moulding, whilst all the projecting angles are strengthened by
beautiful buttresses of stone decorated with mouldings.

The interior of the building corresponds to the magnificence of its exterior. The three doors lead
straight into a vast saloon, longitudinally divided from east to west by six granite columns, each of a
single piece, one yard in diameter, and five yards and a half long, without base or capital. These
columns were employed to support the transverse rows of beams which formed the roof of the saloon.
The inside walls of this spacious room are merely covered with plaster, over which is a coat of
fine stucco nicely spread with the trowel, and another of vermilion mixed with ochre, having a hard
and excellent polish; the greater portion of this has crumbled to pieces, with the exception, however,
of here and there some entire fragments, by which some estimate of its merits may be formed. We
should not omit to remark, that the exterior as well as the interior of the whole palace, even the
columns, was dyed or painted with the same colour. The pavement forming the floor of the entire
edifice is a composition of lime and sand, covered with a coat ot a finer and more solid cement, of
a blueish grey colour, highly polished and shining. In that part of the inner wall which faces the
principal door between the two centre columns, there is a square niche, in which probably was placed
some mysterious statue.

This saloon communicates with a quadrangular court, formed by four oblong edifices or apartments,
with which there is a communication by a passage covered with large and very thick slabs
placed horizontally. These inner apartments or long chambers, narrow in dimension, and with their




450 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

doors facing each other, are covered externally with the same fanciful flourishes as decorate the outer
wall of the entire building.

The horizontal roof or terrace which formerly covered the apartments of this edifice was composed
of several rows of stout beams or trunks of the sabine tree, each one foot and a half in
diameter, of which only three remain as a sample to posterity, the whole being now unroofed.
Upon these strong beams was a floor of square flags, and over that a layer of mortar, composed of
lime, sand, and earth, one foot and a half thick: and the whole was covered with a solid and smooth
coat, forming the terrace, which is not perfectly horizontal, but has an almost imperceptible declivity,
sufficient however to allow the rain to run off, which following its natural course flows into a pipe or
gutter, and is conducted by this channel into a reservoir dug in an angle of the court.
This great pile is connected with or attached to three other mferior edifices, which are built upon
socles exactly on a level with it; and the equilateral figure described by the four principal fronts
of these edifices, forms a square, that incloses within its compass a spacious area, the pavement
of which is formed of cement of a good quality. It is to be regretted that only one of these
three minor structures or saloons should exist, and that only in a very dilapidated state; their magnificent
ruins nevertheless proclaim their past splendour. We here behold an oblong saloon, of such
narrow dimensions that it only occupies a third of its plane, divided from north to south by a row
of five columns of the same length and diameter as those before mentioned, two of which are still
standing. The entablatures of the wall are completely stripped of their original ornaments, but its
three doorways still remain, with the four circular niches cut in the capitals of the pilasters, and an
architrave of an immense block of stone, on the surface of which are engraven in basso-relievo the
designs which are there visible. It is evident, from the traces which still remain, that when entire it
was only ornamented with a single external frieze contained within two mouldings, having in its
plane the same patterns in mosaic as those which are represented on the principal edifice. The view
which this ancient ruin presents when contemplated from afar has a grand effect. We recognize in
it the features of venerable antiquity, and behold at the same time the havoc which time's unsparing
hand commits on the fragile works of man.

No. LXXXIII. Under this number is represented a small fragment of the beautiful mosaic work
which once ornamented thes"e edifices, and which will soon disappear from the face of the earth,
time and vegetation being its relentless foes.

No. LXXXIV. The plan of this second palace, which is more simple, presents a perfect square,
the sides of which are formed by four narrow long saloons; which arrangement comprises a
spacious inner inclosure of a rectangular shape. Three only of these saloons at present exist:
all that remains of the fourth, which is in ruins, is its socle or platform; for these saloons, like
those of the first palace, were all constructed on platforms. The three which still exist, although
in a very dilapidated state, retain their principal parts, such as the walls, doors, and pilasters, with
their niches. The excessive thickness of the walls is remarkable, as likewise the extreme-narrowness
of the interior apartments, which are unroofed. The solid union of the rows of stone composing the
former has been entirely destroyed, together with their mouldings, frieze, and mosaic ornaments, with
the exception of some fragments which have escaped the hand of rapacious man, who, when desirous
of converting the materials to his own use, is a more formidable enemy even than Time to ancient




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 451

inonuments. -- The drawing contains all the information which we have been able to acquire respecting
this palace.

Nos. LXXXV. & LXXXVI. These drawings represent the four fronts of the saloons; and I
should observe, for the more clear comprehension of this description, that as regards their symmetry,
those saloons which are opposite to each other correspond in their ornaments; since the two, the
situation of which is diametrically the reverse of the other two,:;lnd which occupy the same line north
and south of each other, differ in their external style of decoration from those lying east and west,
as will easily be perceived from their plans.

No. LXXXVII. Under the socle of the saloon facing the south there is a sepulchre or pagan mausoleum,
the plane of which is in the form of a cross. It is spacious, and the walls on the inside are
embellished with various compartments in mosaic. A cylindrical column rises vertically from the
central point of the plane of a square block of stone, formed by the intersection of the perpendicular
and horizontal lines, which supports a large square stone that constitutes the ceiling; the four angles
of which embrace as many right angles, that divide and portion off four square rooms, the sad receptacles
of the mortal remains of man, which are covered with large square slabs forming the roof.
Every visible part of this dismal abode was painted with vermilion: a door, subterraneous passage,
and staircase, give admission to the tomb. I was unable to discover in this magnificent sepulchre any
thing either artificially or naturally emblematical of death.

No. LXXXVIII. The parish church and the rector's house occupy the walls of this third palace;
and its plan may be seen in the ichnographical delineation. The materials employed in its construction,
its doorways, and ornaments, were similar to those of the other palaces, with the admission
nevertheless of some variety, which evinces the fertile genius of the architect.

No. LXXXIX. This, which we may designate the fourth palace, comprises in its plan two
edifices, the walls of which are distinct. They do not constitute a single body except by their
similarity and close proximity, being only three feet apart: the walls and doors are at present
much decayed, and have even been propped up, which rendered the task of drawing their plan
more easy.

No. XC. At the distance of a league and a half to the east of Mitlan there is an ancient house
built upon the summit of a high hill, the commencement or beginning of the M~jian range of mountains.
The walls are constructed of square stones laid "in rows and cemented together with lime, plain,
and without the addition of any ornaments; its plan is quadrilateral, and it has a court, platforms,
and corresponding doors. At the back there is another contiguous edifice of smaller dimensions,
which has likewise its four little platforms; and over one of the doors (that which faces the principal
entrance) there is a stone of considerable length, on which are sculptured in basso-relievo some ornaments
resembling those of Mitlan. This monument is fast going to decay; and the trees and shrubs
which surround it will contribute by the slow and penetrating progress of their roots to the total downfall
of these valuable remains of antiquity.

No. XCI. Under the principal entrance of this building, at a very little depth, there is a subterraneous
sepulchre; it is constructed in a simple sty Ie, and its plane is in the form of a cross, constituting
four square chambers, the walls of which are coated with square stones polished and painted with
ochre; a flight of stairs conducts to it, and their descent faces. the west. We found nothing in this



452 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

dismal vault but the remains of a deer and a kid, which some leopard or wolf, the present occupants of
these ancient ruins, had dragged to this solitary spot.

No. XCII. On our return from the building which we have just described, and before our arrival
at Mitlan, I directed an excavation to be made, all the inhabitants of the town aiding me in the task, 
when we found beneath an artificial hill, at the depth of six feet, a sepulchre, the form of which was
oblong, and its walls lined with square hewn stones with mouldings and mosaic work of well finished
execution: the roof was composed of large square flags; and on the outer side, which faces the west,
there was a small door. All that we found in this vault was a skull and some smaller bones, together
with fragments of pitchers, jugs, and dishes of fine earthenware of a blue colour, destined for the use
of him who could eat and drink no more.


SEPULCHRAL ARCHITECTURE.

The idea of absolute annihilation is repugnant to the physical constitution of man, even amongst
savages themselves, who for the most part indulge in the fallacions hope of being able to prolong the
body's material existence beyond the verge of the tomb: but the love which this nation entertained
for the bodies of their deceased friends equalled in some measure that which they bore to their gods;
the altar scarcely differed from the tomb.

Experience has convinced me of the skill which this nation possessed in subterranean architecture,
which in art and in manual labour has a decided superiority over the more common kind,
of which the sphere of operation is the open air. Let their adits, conduits, idolatrous caves, temples,
and sepulchres, bear testimony to the truth of this assertion. It may even be doubted with respect to
the last, whether any people of the Old Continent, the Egyptians not excepted, evinced a more tender
affection for their deceased friends and kindred, in the solicitude which they displayed to erect suitable
monuments to their memory, than the Zapotecas; who, besides the subterraneous sepulchres already
mentioned, constructed artificial hills and pyramids above-ground, strengthened on the outside with
strong masonry; whilst the interior was the sanctuary, where, as in the centre of a citadel defended
by external works, they deposited the body of the deceased, making choice of the best materials
for these sepulchral edifices, and employing them with method and order to ensure their longer
duration.

The art of subterranean architecture requires that attention should be paid to certain rules: in
common architecture there is only one gravitating power, the column of air above; but in the former,
of less frequent necessity, there are two, namely, earth and air; both which elements conspire to
accelerate the sinking in and the downfall of subterraneous buildings.

No. XCIII. There are two pyramidal oratories in this town, erected by this nation in honour of
their false deities; the first of which has a quadrangular base and four stories diminishing in size, and
is of great height, being built of stones and unbaked bricks. It forms a massive and solid edifice:
each story has a terrace, with a pavement of cement of the colour of ochre, and well polished. It
is evident that the entire fabric was coated with square blocks of cut stone: the side on which
the staircase is situated faces the west, and the other three sides the corresponding points of the
compass. It has likewise a court of an oblong shape inclosed within three elevated platforms, which




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 453

in pagan times served as socles for the quadrangular saloons destined for the habitations of the priests
and the other ministers of this open temple. Exactly in the centre of the court there is a square
altar built of stone and mortar, with a flight of steps opposite the stairs of the pyramid.

No. XCIV. The other oratory has an oblong base; it consists of three stories built of unbaked
bricks dried in the sun, placed in simple rows, with alternate layers of bricks made of a kind of composition.
Its revestment no longer exists, and time and the rains have diminished the bulk of its solid
body. It serves at present as a representation of Mount Calvary, for the pious exercises of Christians,
who ascend to the summit by a broad and beautiful staircase, furnished with landing places recently
formed out of the spoils of the ancient palaces. This oratory in other respects resembles the
preceding.

From the vast number of idols, and consequently of temples or oratories erected for their worship,
which even still remain scattered over the extensive surface of this kingdom of New Spain, without
counting those already ruined and destroyed, we may justly characterize the Mexicans as one of the
most religious nations which has ever existed on the face of the earth, not excluding from the comparison
those of antiquity; but at the same time they were plunged in the deepest abyss of idolatry,
until the happy arrival of their conquerors, who by rescuing them from it became their redeemers.
Nature was their prototype in the construction of their temples, the mountains themselves serving
them as models; and they sought in this manner to exalt their gods above mankind, by placing them
in more elevated and retired regions. From heaps of mud and shapeless mounds the majestic pyramid,
consisting of a single body, took its origin; but as the genius of man advanced, the architect
added to it progressively nine successive stories, gradually decreasing in size. At first it was formed
simply of earth or of unbaked bricks; but it was afterwards coated with well-cut stones disposed in
regular rows. This grand fabric served as a basis to the altars and thrones of their gods; and
in the same way as the art of statuary has its colossal productions, so architecture can boast of the
pyramid. I shall only further remark, that this excessive abundance of temples and idols clearly
indicates that this great and ancient continent possessed a most numerous population.

ARCHITECTURE.

The destruction of so many monuments of sculpture and architecture, which might at this time have
aided our inquiries, and guided us through the dense darkness of remote antiquity, excites our deepest
regret. As a matter of probability, we may be permitted to hazard the conjecture, that when the Spaniards
first landed on these shores, Liuba and its primitive population had ceased to exist; and that
the present are a more recent race of Indians, who replaced the ancient population by whom the structures
which we so much admire were erected. But whence did that primitive population come? and
at what period did they people this soil? and, finally, whither have they emigrated, carrying away with
them their arts and the instruments which they employed in them? since their first arrival and their
subsequent disappearance are equally problematical. In order to arrive at any conclusion upon this
great and famous question, it would be necessary to have a number of original monuments of architecture 




454 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

and sculpture, by means of which we might form some plausible conjecture respecting the
uncertain race of this most ancient people, from comparing statue with statue, building with building,
and hieroglyphic with hieroglyphic.

The ancient C;:apotecas cultivated the fine arts, were extremely religious, and entertained great
reverence for the dead, as their own monuments, works owing their existence to a wise form of
government, unequivocally show. But what may have been the epoch of the construction of these
sumptuous edifices? Were they all built at the same time, or were they founded progressively? We
certainly find, on consulting their plans and style of ornament, that they uniformly preserved the same
order of architecture, differing: from each other only in being more or less cqmplex in execution,
but modelled according to the elements of the same school, which happily combined the solidity of
the works of Egypt with the elegance of those of Greece.

The architectural parts which immediately invite the attention of the connoisseur are, first, the
transverse architrave, or, as we may otherwise define it, the stone which closes the upper empty spaces
of the doors resting upon the jambs and pilasters. This solid block, of the nature of granite, of enormous
magnitude, forms a prism with a square base, on none of the sides of which is there any visible
sign of its having been worked with a sharp tool or chisel; neither is this observable on any of the
other stones which enter into the composition of these wonderful structures, all of which have a soft
and finished evenness of surface, such as might have been produced by the grinding, or rather the
friction, of one stone against the other. Secondly, the nice and perfect squaring of many of the stones,
both great and small, which face and adorn the walls of the above-mentioned palaces, giving by their
beautiful union and exact correspondence an admirable finish to the work. But what is most remarkable,
interesting, and striking in these monuments, and which would alone be sufficient to give them
the first rank amongst all known orders of architecture, is the execution of their mosaic relievos, very
different from the plain mosaic, and consequently requiring more ingenious combination, and greater
art and labour; they are inlaid on the surface of the wall, and their duration is owing to the manner
of fixing the loose stones into it, and to their firm union.

When the line of. ornament could not be pursued along the wall, they continued it over the doorways,
engraving there a series of picturesque ideas. No cement or glutinous substance whatsoever can
be discovered in the perfect union of these little stones with each other: an exactly cnt square or
level surface composes the mechanism of these mosaic works. The intaglio of the stones resembles
the figure of a wedge or of a pyramid with a quadrangular base, the vertex of which is encrusted in
the wall, which is composed of a blackish earth well tempered. Some of these stones are laid on
the plane, others on the edge, others vertically, and lastly some are placed diagonally, as the
design may require.

The interior body of the wall is a solid composition of earth and sand with a mixture of lime, into
which the loose stones have been pressed to a certain depth. It appears to me vain to inquire when
or from whom was borrowed the beautiful conception which still remains in the thirteen compartments
which embellish the principal fronts of these monuments, or to seek to determine which of
them was prior in foundation to the others. It is natural in works of human art that less perfect 
efforts should precede the more perfect; but these admirable structures, combining grace with majesty,
display a style of architecture which it is impossible could be more original, since in truth we here




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 455

behold.a gigantic piece of mosaic work such as antiquity never produced. Four things are principally
deserving of notice in these palaces, of which the first is, that only two of them have socles;
the others are built immediately upon the surface of the ground. Secondly, the first palace occupies
a more elevated site than the second. Thirdly, they appear to owe their situation to mere accident,
since neither symmetry nor order is observable in their disposition with respect to each other.
Fourthly, they are built of the same materials and in the worst situation, although the highest in the
neighbourhood; for which, two reasons may be assigned; one is, that a rocky soil is more fit to support
the weight of such massive buildings; the other, that they might not be exposed to the inundations to
which the plains are liable in the rainy season. Lastly, considering the solid structure of these works,
the narrowness of their chambers, and their physical situation, I am of opinion that they never were
intended for the habitations of their kings. History informs us, and I have verified the fact, that the
palaces of those monarchs occupied the most agreeable and delightful sites; the proof of which may
he found in the remains of those of Chapultepec, Y stapalapan, Tescuco, Huastepec, and others, which
are the very reverse of Mitlan, which seems more adapted by its situation to be a receptacle and
abode for the dead, who desire such places for their eternal rest.

No. XCV. About three quarters of a league to the west of 1\Etlan, an ancient fortress towers
over the rugged summit of a steep and isolated rock, which is only accessible on its eastern side, and
which is crowned and circumvallated with a solid wall of stone, one and twenty feet thick and eighteen
feet high; forming in its wide range, which is about a league in extent, several salient and retiring
angles, with curtains interposed: and on its assailable side, at which is the principal entrance, it is
defended by double walls which mutually flank each other. The first, or that more advanced,
forms an enceinte or elliptic rampart, upon which, at short distances from each other, there are heaps
of small round stones for slinging, and in the centre of its crescent there is an oblique gate to avoid
the enfilade or right line of arrows, darts, and stones. The second wall, which is joined at its
extremities to that of the fortress, is of greater elevation, and forms a sort of tenaille. This wall
differs from the other in having its sides or flanks more open; and the second gate of the fortress is
formed on its right side; it has likewise its rampart and heaps of stones. There is besides a parapet in
the obtuse inner angle of this work, which leaves in the recess formed by the wall a small vacant space,
sufficiently large to admit a certain number of troops to be drawn up on a sudden attack or in defence
of the entrance to the fortress: and for greater security in case of an attack, batteries were disposed
according to their system of tactics, in front of the fortification, which consisted of loose round
stones about three feet in diameter, placed on high and balanced on the upper edge of the talud, for
the purpose of being directed to their aim by the power of the lever or united manual strength,
and forming by their rapid rotation on their axis bounds and rebounds, so as accidentally to imitate
the batteries named rebound. In the interior of the fortress, or the space contained within and defended
by the above-mentioned circular wall, there exist, on the convex and plain surface of the rock, various
ruins of square buildings and edifices of capacious size, which were the barracks of this ancient
garrison. In the part diametrically opposite to the entrance there is a postern or sally-port, for furnishing
the fortress with supplies of men and provisions, or to facilitate a forced retreat. It is evident
from the reasons above stated, as well as from the epoch in which this work of military architecture
was constructed, that it was not susceptible of any other system of defence, due regard being paid to




456 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

the nature of the offensive weapons and the tactics or art of attacking then in use, as the topographical
plan and its scale will show.

Proceeding about a league in an eastern direction from Mitlan, I discovered the ancient and
famous quarry of stone of the nature of granite, which was the bed from whence were procured the
voluminous masses employed in the erection of these various monuments. It extends longitudinally
from east to west on the top of a mountain. Its naked surface forms furrows or parallel ridges, or rather
perpendicular strata, contrary to the general order and disposition of nature. In the spaces between
the furrows holes are visible, which were made by the ancients to serve as a point of support for the
lever, when, dividing with the stone wedge (of so much use in their arts) the parallel strata, they afterwards
had occasion to raise from the quarry those enormous blocks of which they formed architraves
and columns; some of which, in an unfinished state, are even still scattered on the surface
of the ground; which proves that it was the intention of that people to execute the plans which they
had in idea formed of other works, but that the course of circumstances prevented them. Nearly
the same is reported by travellers in Egypt, who have found at the present day in the ancient
quarries of granite, which supplied the materials of the colossal figures and obelisks, some in an
unfinished state anq still in the rock, and others half trimmed and detached from it. But what, we
may inquire, was the power employed in raising these stones from their primitive bed? Experience
has taught us that the power of the lever is unlimited; and it is probable that they employed it for
that purpose, otherwise we must suppose that they were acquainted with some other mechanical contrivance
wholly unknown to us, which perhaps may be reserved for the investigations of others to
discover: amidst so many conflicting doubts, we can only have recourse to conjectures and suppositions,
which in the end leave us in the same state of uncertainty as we were in at first. If, again,
we seriously consider the difficulty of transporting these stones, either in blocks, half worked, or
finished, to the place of their destination, we must in each case suppose that powerful machinery
was required to effect the object. It would be difficult to persuade me that the ancient Romans
placed in their great and proud edifices stones comparable in magnitude to these, (and I appeal
to their original monuments still in existence.) They would have been obliged to have called to
their aid all the powers proposed by Archimedes; whilst the Indians, barbarians as many ignorant
writers complacently style them, who do not hesitate to apply to them that degrading epithet, with
less parade of art attained in their works the same practical results, and who knows if not greater?
After the conveyance of these stones, the task of lifting and fixing them in their proper places
was further requisite; for which we must suppose the pulley was used or some other machine
equally available. Finally, as regards the elevation of their columns, all was concerted with precision
and skill; although, in order to give a firm foundation to them, a knowledge of their horizontal planes
was necessary, since on the proper fixture of a column depends its being able to resist the weight
which it is intended to support.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 457

INSTRUMENTS EMPLOYED IN THE ARTS.

It may not unreasonably be expected that I should close my description of the monuments of
Mitlan with some account of the instruments which the ancient Mexicans employed in squaring,
cutting, and polishing the stones which entered into the composition of their monuments. Desirous
of attaining information so highly interesting to the arts, I did not neglect making the most diligent
inquiries respecting them, and charged the local authorities and the inhabitants' of the town, to
collect whatever stones could be found, either there or in the neighbourhood, which bore any resemblance
to a wedge, chisel, punch, axe, hammer, &c. My expectations were not disappointed,
since I was so fortunate as to obtain, in the course of a few days, several stone chisels shaped like
wedges, which I considered a propitious omen of further discoveries. The Indians displayed during
the entire of my stay amongst them the greatest solicitude to oblige me. Availing myself of this
favourable opportunity, I made a large collection of stone implements, with the intention of 
selecting out of the number the most perfect specimens: I was most desirous of obtaining metal
instruments; and it was not long before I procured several of copper, of various sizes and shapes.
But what I chiefly wished to discover, were iron tools; my inquiries after this metal were, however,
fruitless.

Long experience proves that gold, silver, and copper, when wrought, whether exposed to the open
air or buried underneath the surface of the earth, will remain for many ages in an un corroded state;
but this is not the case with iron, which from its nature is exposed to the attacks of rust and moisture
that in time effect its entire decomposition.

What theory shall we advocate, or what new hypothesis propose, on this difficult question? Modern
art certainly has never had recourse to so simple a process as that of reducing stones to proper shape
and dimension by means of mutual friction; neither is it probable that any ancient nations of the
Old Continent resorted to this expedient, which on the supposition that it might be found available,
where all that was requisite was to fashion stone in a plain manner, would be totally inapplicable
to the formation of relievos. If the Indians had ever used copper instruments, copper being extremely
ductile and not susceptible of a sharp and hard edge, they could scarcely have employed
them for other purposes than carving wood: I should also observe, that stones which had been
fashioned by the simple friction of one against another, would acquire a plane surface from having
been ground, and would likewise have a certain polish, which is in fact perceptible on the surface
of the slabs, as well as of the lesser stones, which enter into the composition of the mosaic ornaments,
the most interesting feature in thfse monuments. Impressed with a full conviction of the difficult
nature of this inquiry, I shall conclude by candidly confessing my ignorance on a subject which
does not admit of superficial reasoning, and shall leave to others, who may be perhaps more fortunate
in this respect than myself, the task of solving this interesting problem. In fine, having thoroughly
investigated and taken the plans of the most ancient ruins of the venerable town of Saint Paul
of Mitlan or Miguitlan, we resolved on our departure, and directed our course towards Zachila,
the court and residence of the ancient sovereigns of the Zapotecan empire.




458 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

ANTIQUITIES IN THE TOWNS OF ZACHILA AND QUILAPA.

IN the beginning of September, 1806, we quitted Mitlan, directing our course to the towns of Saint
Pablo Guilaa, Ocotlan, Zachila, and Quilapa. The first of these places, situated on the brow of a
steep mountain, is remarkable for a singular willow of large dimensions and lofty height, which
grows in that neighbourhood. This venerable production of the earth forms, by the spreading of
its roots, an oblong reservoir, the sides of which resemble basket-work, or interwoven snakes. So
close and firm is this fibrous union, that with the exception of some apertures which are filled up
with stones and mortar, it is capable of holding a sufficient supply of water for the town, either for
washing linen, for bathing, or other purposes, and is ever replenished with the clear water of a perennial
spring. The bottom of this curious bath or reservoir is formed by roots of the same tree, from
which protrude several excrescences, some of which are round, some conical, and others of most
grotesque shapes. It was impossible not to contemplate with pleasure this probably unique production
of nature, at once so rare and so serviceable to the inhabitants of this town. From hence
we went to the village of Ocotlan, where we remained some days, without observing any thing
remarkable. Having arrived at the town of Zachila, we entered upon a wider field of research; for
here, as we had anticipated, we discovered several interesting monuments of antiquity; this place
having been in former times the court or residence of the ancient Zapotecan kings. Its original
name in the Zapotecan language was Zaachillattoo, as I ascertained from the inspection of some
old documents: but when in process of time victory followed in the train of Mexican invasion, it
seems to have changed its appellation into that of Teozapotlan, which latter name fell likewise into
disuse, and it was finally called Zachila, a diminutive or corruption of the primitive term, as is the
case with almost all the proper names of places in this ancient empire. This town, being extremely
populous, extends through a vast and smiling plain situated in the middle of the great valley of
Oaxaca; the principal produce of which is cochineal. Here we beheld several pyramids of earth
and stones: we commenced our researches by causing excavations to be made in some of the groups
which tower majestically in the centre of the plain: these were probably oratories, sepulchres, or
watch-towers. The Indians, whose exertions were heightened by the presence and exhortations of
their rector and magistrates, applied themselves with alacrity to the task. In the progress of our
excavations we often met with human bones, as well as statues or idols made of terra cotta, and
small earthenware vessels, such as plates, jugs, and censers. Now and then we came to the mouldering
remains of massy sepulchral walls, formed of very large burnt bricks. This confirms what I
have elsewhere remarked, that the ancient Mexicans not only used sun-dried bricks, but such also
as had been hardened in the furnace.

On the southern brow of one of these hills we saw the print or impression of a human foot, cut deep
in the rock, and pointing to the meridian. I have occasionally found similar impressions in different
parts of this kingdom. They most probably were intended to guide travellers on the road: I have




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 459

observed on some ancient maps, traced by the Mexicans on paper made of the maguey, a series of
impressions of the same kind directed to some of the principal points of the compass.
I am fully persuaded that excavations conducted on a grand scale, would bring to light another
subterraneous world buried beneath the soil of this ancient continent, the latent record of remote
ages. I gave orders to dig holes to a considerable depth in several artificial hills, but without success.
This, however, ought not to discourage any further attempt, for it is probable that sooner or
later some important discoveries will be made.

No. XCVI. I found at the rector's house a statue formed of a stone of a yellowish grey colour,
representing an idol or human figure seated: its arms are crossed over the breast as if in the act of
praying; an attitude expressive of the reverence which this people felt for their gods and princes.
The forehead is encircled with a diadem garnished with precious stones (an ornament designedly introduced
by the sculptor); the hair hangs loose and dishevelled; a sash is girded round the lower part
of the body; the nose and chin are a little mutilated. This statue, together with a human skeleton,
was found in a sepulchre beneath an artificial hill. The style of the carving induces me to suppose
that it was executed by the Zapotecas, which nation is of greater antiquity than the Mexicans.
No. XCVII. In one of the lesser pyramids, which forms part of the group already mentioned,
and perhaps not far from the site of the greater oratory of this town, there is a large oblong slab
of granite, encircled with a plain moulding, and containing profile representations of four human
figures in a sitting posture. In the centre of the group (which consists of a series of basso-relievos)
appears a kind of altar, to which the attention of each figure is directed. The first on the right
wears a sort of cap or crown, surmounted by an eagle. It is beardless; nor could I discover any
traces of apparel upon it: on the right arm, which is raised, are engraved two numerals, one near
the shoulder, the other at the elbow. The head of the second figure is curiously adorned with a
plumed turban; ear-rings are added to the other ornaments; the right arm, although mutilated, appears
to be pointing to the same object of veneration. This figure, like the preceding, is destitute
of apparel; but it is distinguished by the peculiarity of having a long and thick beard. Time has
deprived the first figure on the left of its omamental head-dress: the ear-rings are similar to those
of the opposite figure. In its right hand is a branch of palm; its left is raised, and points to the
centre. The last figure has suffered most from time. The upper portion of the head is mutilated,
but the ear-rings and part of the beard are yet remaining. Both its arms are extended as if in the
act of adoration, and the sash which encircles its waist is distinctly visible. It would be a hopeless
task to attempt to decypher the meaning of this mysterious and hieroglyphical stone. We must
content ourselves therefore with admiring the excellence of its sculpture and the expressive character
of the figures.

No. XCVIII. This granite statue represents a human figure seated in an attitude of repose. Its
head is ornamented with a sort of mitre, covered with relievos and fanciful decorations. The face is
masked, and its neck is encircled with a necklace of pearls or precious stones. A peculiar dress,
terminating in an apron, appears in front; and its hands rest or are supported upon its knees. This
statue must evidently be referred to a new school, since the style of its execution differs materially
from that of the Mexicans, who, when they subjugated the Zapotecas, gave a new character tp the
arts as well as to the language of their empire.




460 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

Although the Mexicans, never attained great celebrity as artists, being a nation more addicted to
arms than to arts, they nevertheless availed themselves of the inventive genius of the Tultecas,
whose ancient state deserves the appellation of the Athens of the New World. At the back of this
statue two locks of hair, a portion of the necklace, and the girdle, are visible.

No. XCIX. This statue of white marble, well carved and in excellent preservation, was found
in making an excavation in the parish churchyard. It appears to be a male figure, and the attitude
in which it is represented is very strange. The head is adorned with a profusion of feathers, with
other ornaments intermixed. The ears are carved in a fanciful manner, and might almost be considered
a part of these ornaments. The face is masked; a string of pearls is suspended round its
neck, and a plaited mantle is thrown over the shoulders. The band which encircles its waist is
not visible in front, and the arms are entirely concealed, displaying only the extremity of the right
hand, in which is a vase of a globular shape, accompanied with some symbols which I cannot explain.
This statue was originally painted with vermilion or red ochre, a brilliant colour that accorded
with the national taste, as their palaces and sepulchres sufficiently declare.

No. C. This is a block of polished grey marble, forming part of a buttress in the hermitage called
" La Soledad." The figure carved upon it is spherical, and that part which is visible exhibits a
face resembling the image of the full moon, which is frequently symbolized by a hnman countenance.
It is probable that the ancient Mexicans worshipped this planet, and that it occupied a distinguished
place among their numerous deities.

No. CI. At the foot of the steps leading to the parish churchyard stands a block of marble, on
which is carved the prominent bust of an eagle. It is represented in profile, in an erect position,
with expanded wings; its talons grasp the tail of a snake, while it attacks with its beak the reptile's
head. This part of the figure is much mutilated. It is probable that this ancient and well-executed
piece of sculpture was destined to adorn some regal edifice; since the eagle, the king of birds, has
always been considered the type of strength and dominion, on account of which it was embroidered
on the Roman standards, and enjoys among birds the place which is allotted to the lion amongst
beasts. The breast exhibits a small cavity, which was doubtless filled by a plate of gold or silver:
whence I imagine that its intended situation was the summit of some stately palace facing the east,
in order that the rays of the rising sun might be reflected from it.

No. CII. Of these massy blocks of stone (similarly numbered) the first was discovered in the steps
leading to the churchyard; the second in the south entrance of the church; the third formed part of
the wall of the rector's house. They vary in size and in quality, as well as in the figure and arrangement 
of their relievos, which exhibit a regular and symmetrical design. It is impossible not to
behold with regret these fragments hastening to decay; since there is every reason to suppose that
they were originally destined for the decoration of some magnificent structure. Their surface is now
defaced, and part of the carving has mouldered beneath the hand of time, which destroys alike the
porphyry column and the brazen bust.

The remains which I am now about to describe are specimens of an art which probably preceded
that of sculpture; -- the art of forming figures in clay, either with the hand or the mould, solid or hollow,
which were afterwards baked in the sun or hardened by fire. My reason for supposing that this art




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 461

preceded that of sculpture, is, that it is so much easier to mould plastic clay, than to give shape and
symmetry to stone, metal, or wood.

No. CIII. The first specimen of terra cotta is a very extraordinary figure or fanciful bust. It
serves as the cover to a square hollow pedestal resembling a box, resting upon four cylindrical and
hollow feet. This idol, which ' is formed of fine and well-baked clay, is perforated by a perpendicular
tube which is a sort of support to it. I should in vain attempt to explain the various designs
in relievo with which this figure is embellished, since they are too complicated and too fanciful
for my comprehension; but they exhibit (as reference to the drawing will show) the most exact
symmetry throughout. It was found some time ago, together with four others of a similar size,
shape, and substance, in ploughing a piece of ground near the rector's house. For what purpose
could it have been designed? This is a difficulty no less perplexing than the development of the
meaning of its various hieroglyphics. The figure comprises three distinct pieces or parts; the
pedestal or box, the lid or masked bust, and the tube. Perhaps the box was used to hold jewels
or incense; the bust was the cover; and the tube served to diffuse odours, or to hold some torch
or lighted piece of wood in honour of their deities, or of the sovereigns of Zaachillattoo.

No. CIV. The description we have just given of the preceding figure is applicable to that which is
represented in this drawing.

No. CV. This number represents a female figure of diminutive proportions; it is fashioned in
lead-coloured clay. The disposition of its limbs (which are visible only at their extremities) is remarkable.
Its garments are thrice folded round it, and enriched with a fringed border; its head is
richly adorned with ribbons, tresses, and rings, and its neck encircled with a necklace of precious
stones. The erect and fixed attitude of this figure, resembling a mummy, its folded arms, its singular
vestment, and the circular tube which perforates its body, seem to indicate, that like the figures last
mentioned it was intended to hold some sort of torch.

No. CVI. This small, hollow, and rather fanciful head bears some resemblance to that of a tiger or
leopard, or perhaps it is the likeness of an unknown wild beast. It is formed of red clay; its surface
is smooth, its expression ferocious, and its execution finished. The dilated jaws show it to be in the
act of seizing upon its prey, and they likewise display formidable fangs and a cloven tongue. A
collar confines its neck, which is tied with a knot.

No. CVII. This strange figure, which represents a kind of mastiff, is of very finished workmanship.
It is destitute of limbs. The ears and the belly are large; the eyes distended, and it holds in its
mouth a human head, which it appears in the act of devouring. This figure, like those which precede
it, is attached to a tube, and was apparently destined for the same Ilse. It is rather mutilated:
works formed of clay being very liable to suffer injuries from time.

No. CVIII. This is a small hollow head very similar to that of the domestic quadruped which the
Mexicans name the" Cacomistle". The mouth is just opened sufficiently wide to display the teeth
regularly arranged. The Mexican artists were better delineators of the forms and proportions of
animals and vegetables than of the human figure; the probable reason of which I have before attempted
to explain. This figure is formed of baked clay of a reddish brown colour.

No. CIX. Is the head of an armadilla,. forming a hollow figure of baked clay. I regret that the




462 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

body of this animal is wanting, since its execution may be presumed to have been of equal excellence
with the head.

No. CX. This is the head of some animal unknown to naturalists. It is moulded in solid clay of
an ash colour, hardened in the fire. This antique fragment is very valuable on account of its originality,
finished execution, and its animated expression.

Pottery, as another branch of the plastic art, next merits consideration.

The ancient Zapotecan potters manufactured their jugs and other vessels, either by the help of
moulds, or simply with their hands; preparing the clay, of different qualities and colours, with appropriate
tools. Their workmanship was good; that of their thin plates and dishes especially, which
might rival the celebrated wares of Sagunto in the brilliancy of their colours and the clearness of
their varnish. Fragments of this description I have occasionally found under the ruins of their magnificent
buildings.

No. CXI. This common-sizedjug deserves attention from its perfect symmetry, its fine material, its
transparent varnish, and the skilful display of dark yellow and lead colour which adorns both its
interior and exterior. It stands upon three hollow feet, shaped like the rattles of a snake, and its
neck is encircled at top and bottom with a ring or moulding: it has no handle. The materials of
this vessel are so well tempered, and the baking so perfect, that when struck it emits a clear and
brilliant sound. The ancient Zapotecas evinced the fertility of their genius, by giving a thousand
different shapes and colours to their manufactures, and enriching them with ornamental designs of
flowers and animals, either painted or moulded.

No. CXII. In the cluster of artificial hills near the town of Zaachillattoo before mentioned we discovered
a sepulchral vault of hewn stone; on entering which we observed a row of human skulls,
each placed in a dish standing upon a separate pedestal: every dish also contained a small artificial
skull with the hair longitudinally extended. I imagine these skulls to be the relics of the victims
which were sacrificed to inhuman deities, whose nature it was to be ever thirsting after human blood.

No. CXIII. & CXIV. These numbers describe two vessels which were employed either in the
service of the temple or the sepulchre. The first is a portable censer, to w.hich a long hollow handle
is affixed. Its circular patera or bowl is perforated with several holes to admit the action of the air.
The other, which may more properly be named a chafing-dish, rests upon three feet. These ancient
vessels were in all probability intended to fumigate the temples and the images of their deities. If
the religious rites of this ancient people had merely consisted of these simple offerings, they would
have been less deserving of censure; but to propitiate their ferocious divinities with the reeking
limbs of their fellow-creatures was an act no less barbarous than superstitious.

No. CXV. Proceeding with our excavations, we met with a great variety of small pots of different
shapes. Of these I shall mention only the two of which representations are given in the annexed
drawings. The form of the first is simple and well proportioned. The bottom is flat, and the middle
as well as the neck are neatly finished.

No. CXVI. The form of the other vessel is more singular. The mouth resembles that of a funnel or
trumpet. From the foot project three prongs or roots, and two similar ones extend from the body. It




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 463

was customary with this nation to deposit in the tombs of their deceased friends various jugs, basins,
and dishes, which vessels I have described in order to show their taste and skill in the manufacture of
them. Nothing is insignificant which points out the origin or the merit of the arts in which they
chiefly excelled: viewed in connection with so interesting an enquiry, every relic however minute
forms a link in the chain of knowledge, and thus acquires value and importance.

From this ancient imperial court of Zaachillattoo, I proceeded to that of QUilapa, the residence
in past times of the sovereigns of the two Mistecas, whose territory, in respect to its geographical
position, lay in an opposite direction to the Zapotecan empire: the former extending from south to
north, the latter from north to south, as far as the city of Tehuantepec.

Having made the necessary arrangements for commencing the task of excavation, I procured,
through the obliging exertions of the rector of the parish, the help of some Indians, when we penetrated
to the centre of several artificial mounds, which the ancient inhabitants had erected in honour
of their deities, and which were the only monuments of antiquity that continued to exist in that
neighbourhood. Here we found the following relics.

No. CXVII. This figure represents a musical wind-instrument, or rather a whistle, such as was in
use among this people, both sides of which are copied in the drawing. The first resembles the radiated
and bearded face of a man, and rests upon a triangular base which composes the other extremity.
The mouth-piece is at the lower end of the opposite side. Besides this, I have discovered several
other different kinds of wind-instruments, upon all of which tunes might be played. Among these
there is one which is now in my possession, resembling a German flute, of which the material is a
very fine clay of a dark purple colour, well polished, and finished. Another is a sort of trumpet,
formed of the same kind of earth. I might add to the list of these musical instruments, but those
already named will be sufficient to satisfy even the careless enquirer, that the people of this country
were not entire strangers to the charms of music.

No. CXVIII. This is a female bust formed of terra cotta, and, as the drawing shows, gracefully
ornamented.

No. CXIX. In the progress of our excavations we found this small head of clay, which exhibits
a pleasing and manly combination of features. The ears, as well as the forehead, are furnished.with
ornamental rings: a beard is visible on its chin, which contradicts the opinion of those naturalists
who deny to the aborigines of this vast continent that characteristic sign of manhood.

Thus empires cease, nations disappear, and last of all those monuments of art decay, which, while
they silently proclaim their founders' skill and genius, testify how transitory is the existence of man's
proudest works.

From the province of Oaxaca we went to the town of Tehuacan de las Granadas, and thence to the
city of Tepeyacac. This journey was retarded in consequence of our party being attacked by a
malignant fever, brought on by the dampness of a very rainy season, and by frequently inhaling the
noxious vapours contained in the excavations and sepulchral vaults which we had explored at
Zachila and Quilapa. This severe attack of illness, by which our draughtsman was brought to the
point of death, delayed our progress for more than two months.




464 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

ANTIQUITIES OF THE CITY OF TLASCALA.

No. CXX. HAVING arrived at the town of San Pablo del Monte, near the city of La Puebla,
I made diligent enquiries after two statues, which I had been informed existed in that neighbourhood,
and which I found to be the figures of two Mexican vestals. They were placed upon a wall, in the
court of a chapel named Sant.iago. Both are represented kneeling upon square pedestals. The
first is almost entirely without apparel; her hands conceal her breasts: her hair is confined nnder a
cap, which is formed into a bag at the back of her head.

No. CXXI. The second statue represents a female figure of the same class. A plain collar is
fastened round her neck, and her head and shoulders are covered with a long cloak which reaches
to the extremities of her feet. She likewise modestly veils her person with her hands and arms.
These statues are sufficient to show that the ancient inhabitants of this country were not so rude
and barbarous as some writers have falsely represented them. The same feelings of delicacy which
suggested to the Grecian artist the attitude in which he has represented the Venus de Medici, guided
the chisel of the Mexican sculptor. These feelings are common to human nature; and the artist
who carved the coarse Mexican block was as much under their restraint, as he who gave form and
beauty to the Parian marble.

No. CXXII. In the ancient capital of this province, called Ti:.satlan, the Spaniards have built
a hermitage, dedicated to the proto-martyr St. Stephen, upon the ruins of the palace which
once belonged to ChicotencatJ. An Indian showed me here a small female bust, sculptured in
iron-grey stone, in a sitting posture, and dressed according to the ancient costume of the country.
Destitute as this statue is of merit as a work of art, the description of it cannot be deemed useless,
since it will be serviceable to those who may desire to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the
history of the kingdom of New Spain, and of the manners of its inhabitants.

No. CXXIII. Another statue, formed of a similar hard and dark-grey stone, was brought to me
from that quarter of the city called St. Sebastian. It is of very small size, and stands on a square
pedestal, having its body covered with a garment fastened with a girdle. Notwithstanding the
hideous expression of its features, which in part resemble those of a man and in part those of a
beast, its brow is encircled with an ornamented croWD, which likewise covers the back of the head.
Its hands are folded over its breasts, and discover an excrescence upon the back of each. The
Mexican or Tlascaltecan nation, however enlightened in other respects, were not singular in associating
these monstrous images with their religion: we recognize also the same practice among the
ancient and wise Egyptians, -- I need scarcely mention their worship of Osiris, Anubis. Canopis, &c.

No. CXXIV. In an Indian hut in the same quarter of the city I found a piece of ancient
sculpture, the most perfect in material, execution, and proportions. that my researches in this continent
have yet discovered. It is a mask carved in green agate and finely polished; probably the
resemblance of one of the four chiefs who once swayed the destinies of this celebrated repUblic. The




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 465

ears as well as the forehead are pierced, for the purpose of suspending some kind of rings or jewels
from them. The chin is destitute of beard. It seems to have been the intention of the artist to fill
up the cavity left in each eye with pupils of a different substance from that of which the mask is
composed, a custom not uncommon amongst the Greeks and Romans. The drawing represents both
sides of this image.

No. CXXV. In that part of the city called St. Stephen I found the flint barb of a lance,
such as the Tlascaltecas used in their wars. This is the only weapon of its kind that I was able
to discover in the country of that warlike and celebrated people; and this fact inclines me to believe
that they were accustomed to bury their arms in the earth. The annexed drawing will convey
an accurate idea of its form.

No. CXXVI. I directed an excavation to be made in the quarter of St. Sebastian above mentioned,
but with little success; some human bones and fragments of idols, together with a vase
named a Popocaxtli, which signifies a fumigating vessel, were all that we discovered. This relic is
however interesting, from its having been employed in the funeral rites of this nation. It is a
small and well-formed vessel of fine clay, standing upon three feet. One of the borders which
encircles its exterior is painted with a fanciful pattern; the other is perforated with regularity, in
order to give admission to the air, and by so doing to facilitate the burning of the incense or odoriferous
gums which it was intended to contain.

No. CXXVII. During our stay in this city, the Indians of the village of Tepoyango brought me
a military musical instrument, or Teponastle, made of a dense, heavy, and dark-coloured wood.
It is cylindrical and hollow. No ornaments are painted upon its surface; but festoons and other
devices are carved at each extremity. In the centre, which is the part where the instrument was
struck, are two bars longitudinally placed, which project from the surface, each of which possesses
its distinct tone: these, when struck, return a deep and loud sound. The instrument is formed out
of a single block of wood, and, like a drum, was intended to be beaten with two sticks.

No. CXXVIII. This figure represents another kind of Teponastle, probably that which was most
anciently in use among the Tlascaltecas. The material and the execution serve equally to give
beauty and value to this instrument; the former being a hard and heavy wood of a rich purple
colour, and susceptible of the finest polish; the latter exhibiting a specimen of that peculiar style
of carving in wood, which the ancient Indians alone were capable of executing. It is supported
by a human figure lying on its breast; and by striking the back of the instrument, two tones are
produced similar to those already mentioned. The head is remarkable for the singular beauty of its
proportions; both the eyes and the lips are formed of mother-of-pearl, while two pendants are attached
to the nostrils. The shape of this instrument is not unlike that of a canoe: it weighs about
twenty-five pounds, and after the lapse of so many ages it is still in the most perfect state of preservation.
The sounds of this martial instrument were employed to animate the Indians to battle.
These ancient drums were the first specimens of the art of carving in wood which I had met with.
They are valuable on account of the abundant testimony which they bear to the skill and ingenuity
of this nation. I should in vain endeavour to explain the mysterious imagery which decorates the
latter Teponastle; but the three drawings which are annexed will give the reader a correct estimate




466 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

of its proportions. The first represents the head viewed in front, and the other two the different
sides of the instrument.

No. CXXIX. In the province of Tlascala there yet remain two bridges constructed by the
ancient Indians, though now in a state of great dilapidation. One of these, situated at the distance
of a league from the town of Los Reyes, crosses a deep ravine at the foot of a steep and lofty hill on
the road to San Francisco Temetzontla, and is built of large stones of various sizes, of even shapes,
and well cemented with mortar. This bridge has a sort of arch, which forms an obtuse angle springing
from its two side walls or buttresses; the height of which is about seven feet, its breadth the same, and
its width forty-two feet. It had originally a parapet on both sides, of which some traces yet remain.
The work was ornamented with four stately obelisks, built of stones and mortar within, and faced
on the outside with large bricks disposed in circular rows, with the addition of mouldings, which
divided the obelisks into four parts, in the highest of which there was a niche destined perhaps to
receive the statue of some rural deity. At each angle of the bridge stood an obelisk forty-two feet
high, and collectively they must have presented to the eye of the passenger an object of striking
grandeur.

No. CXXX. The other bridge is constructed over a difficult pass on the same road, about It
mile distant. In the brick parapets of this bridge the architect has made gutters for the discharge
of water. Its length is about one hundred and two feet, its breadth thirty-six feet, and its perpendicular
elevation sixty feet. The aqueduct is four feet and a half in breadth, and five feet high,
and is covered with large slabs of stone horizontally disposed. This bridge is likewise adorned
with four obelisks placed at its four angles. Their dimensions are larger than those before mentioned,
and they have no niches in the upper compartment. Their execution is equally skilful.
What opinion shall we form of these stupendous works, which, all circumstances considered, are
unique in their kind? Constructed amidst rugged precipices in the deep glens of mountains, they
afford a striking proof of the population and the power of this once mighty republic.



[467]


THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 467

ANTIQUITIES OF TEHUANTEPEC.

PROCEEDING from the city of Mexico through Puebla and Mosaque, we pursued our Journey
first to Molcaxaque, and thence to New Tepexe. Here I obtained from the magistrate of the town
the requisite assistance to enable me to explore some ruins which still exist about three leagues
westward of the site of Old Tepexe.
No. I. My curiosity was gratified by the sight of several ruins which I discovered in that neighbourhood.
The first that attracted my attention was a massy pile of building, apparently designed
for the defence of some interior structure. This work exhibits a system of fortification which I
cannot persuade myself was ever known to the inhabitants of the Old Continent. The walls are
constructed of square stones, cemented with a durable mortar composed of lime and sand, and
present an elevation which gradually recedes from the base to the summit, forming a series of overhanging
platforms; thus giving each platform (of which there are eight) the command of that beneath
it, as may be seen in the drawing annexed.

The space which this building covers is immense, but its situation precluded the possibility of any
accurate admeasurement. It stands on the projecting angle of a rock, surrounded by vast precipices;
while innumerable serpents, fostered by a climate so intensely hot as that of Lower Misteca, lurk
in its recesses and guard its mouldering walls from intrusion. The buildings which form the interior
of this vast structure are disposed with such order and regularity, as to lead me to imagine
that they were once the residence of some potent Indian prince; for notwithstanding its present
state of dilapidation and decay, the traces of arrangement and design in the disposition of its several
parts are clearly visible, while the whole building must have been executed with rule, compass, and
level, or some instruments of a corresponding description.

No. II. In the middle of a spacious area we found a fragment of red granite, the carved surface
of which resembles the calendar affixed to the steeple of the cathedral at Mexico. It exhibits several
concentric circles, two of which inclose a row of square compartments. The few hieroglyphics or
astronomical symbols which this fragment contains (sufficient to enable us to form an opinion of
the appearance which the perfect whole presented), show that astronomy was a favourite science
among the ancient Mexicans. In addition to these, our attention was drawn to the transverse orifice
in the centre, the probable receptacle of a hand or gnomon; which, supposing this dial to have
been horizontally placed, was intended by its shadow to mark the hours through every month of the
revolving year. I computed the diameter of this instrument to have been six feet, and its thickness
nine inches; and I contemplated it with a feeling of regret, that any part of so,oaluable a testimonial
of Mexican science should have been irreparably destroyed.

No. III. This spherical stone, about a yard and a half in diameter, which we found at the entrance
of the ruins above mentioned, was probably employed by the ancient inhabitants to sharpen
the points or edges of their domestic tools and weapons of war; since we observed on its surface
several marks which confirmed us in the opinion that it had formerly been converted to such a use.




468 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.
From this ancient site we proceeded to Oaxaca, being obliged to pursue a circuitous course in
order to arrive there.
No. IV. Some Indians of the village of Quilapan brought me a small axe of red copper, which
had evidently been cast in a mould, of the size and shape represented in the drawing. At first sight
it resembled a labourer's tool, but it might also have been applied to the purposes of war or sacrifice;
or perhaps, when mounted on a shaft, have enjoyed the more honourable distinction of being
borne in the hands of the civil magistrate.
Leaving behind us the city of Antequera, and journeying by the main road to Tehuantepec, we
arrived there without meeting with any ancient building during the whole of our journey.
No. V. Soon after our arrival at Tehuantepec we were informed by Don Vicente Lelo, the Deputy
Governor of the district, an enlightened man and a loyal subject of our sovereign, that within a
few leagues of that town we should find various architectural remains. Whilst I was preparing to
proceed thither, a military weapon was brought to me which had been found in those ruins. It is
the barb of a sort of dart such as I had never seen, made of very hard flint, and of the size repre_
sented in the drawing. Like our bayonets it has three edges, and the end is formed into a shaft with
the design of its being fixed in the socket of some pole or handle.

In furtherance of the object of the commission which had been intrusted to me, I made the
necessary arrangements for exploring a plain three leagues to the westward of the town. Accompanied
by the Deputy Governor, we arrived at the base of a lofty mountain called Guingola (which
name signifies in the Zapotecan language The High Rock), on the summit of which we observed
some rums. We ascended the mountain by steep, winding, and rugged paths, and our progress was
rendered more toilsome by the intense heat of a vertical sun. Having reached the summit, notwithstanding
the difficulty of the ascent, we discovered amidst heaps of earth and fragments of
ruined edifices, some buildings yet remaining of a pyramidical shape, and in a state of good preservation.

No. VI. The first of these is a pyramid consisting of four stories, built of stone. The walls are
coated with flags which are overspread with a cement of lime, sand, and ochre. The principal ascent
is on the western side, while two smaller flights of stairs face the north and south, all conducting to
the horizontal surface, on which worship was paid, and barbarous sacrifices performed to false and
imaginary gods. The second story is ornamented with stones inserted longitudinally, and at equal
distances in the wall, the extremities of each projecting from its surface: on these the natives
were probably accustomed to fix lighted torches, or to range the heads of their sacrificed victims.
The dimensions of this structure may be seen by the scale. The basement story is perpendicular,
and its form oblong: the three other stories are oblique, each receding about a yard from its base.
The principal ascent consists of about forty steps; the height and breadth of each step is about nine
inches. The breadth of the staircases on the north and south sides is two yards.

No. VII. The dimensions and the form of the second pyramid, though apparently built at the
same period, differ from those of the first: the former, as I have stated, being of four stories, the
latter of only two. The principal staircase has likewise a contrary direction, facing the east; the
smaller ones, like the others, front the north and south; and it is remarkable that the angles of the
basement story are curvilinear. The materials of which this monument is composed are similar to
those of the one last mentioned; but grandeur is united with simplicity in the architectural deco



THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 469
rations of the upper story, which consist of two parallel friezes with square mouldings, inlaid with
large blocks of white marble, covered with hieroglyphics, now in a state of decay. There is something
painful in the reflection, that the proudest works of man must sooner or later yield to time.
No. VIII. This monument is of a conical form, divided by stories, resembling a flight of steps.
The base or platform upon which it stands is sixty-six feet in length, and its height twelve feet.
Its construction is perfectly regular; the material is stone covered with a coat of lime and sand,
painted with ochre. It is probable that the flat surface by which it is terminated, served as the
pedestal of some heathen statue placed in this open and conspicuous situation, or it possibly might
have been a sepulchre destined to contain the remains of some distinguished warrior. I must here
remark, that of the many pyramidIcal edifices which I have had the opportunity of observing in
. my different excursions through the provinces of New Spain, none terminate in a point, but invariably
in a horizontal plane of greater or lesser extent. It is evident that the founders of these
structures spared neither labour, time, nor cost, in the erection of fabrics which they consecrated to
religion, or hallowed to the memory of their deceased kings and ancestors.

No. IX. Before I quit this memorable spot, I shall notice another curious monument, which
from its circular form I imagine was dedicated to the celebration of gladiatorial sacrifices. It is
composed of stones and mortar formed into a solid mass, and its whole surface is coated with a
hard, smooth, and white cement. It occupies the centre of a square area in front of the principal
ascent to the second pyramid, at the distance of about one hundred paces. This position confirms
my conjecture that it was associated with some religious rite. It might, however, have been constructed
for the very different purpose of serving as a stage for the exhibition of burlesque representations.

No. X. I quitted the town of Tehuantepec, having been much gratified with what I had seen in
it, and proceeded to an Indian village named Chilhuitlan, situated at the distance of a day's journey,
where I found an ancient stone bridge in a state of good preservation, still serving as a passage
over the river which flows in the neighbourhood. It is about twelve feet long, six feet wide, and its
elevation is nine feet above the level of the stream. Its sides are provided with low parapets, which
are intersected with gutters for the discharge of water. That which first attracts the spectator's attention,
and forms indeed the most interesting feature in this ancient piece of masonry, is its pointed
arch, which is composed of two blocks of stone of curvilinear shape and large dimensions, comprising
within their span a space of nine feet.

From this village we continued our journey to the town of St. Dominic Petapa, lying in the
direct road to Ciudad Real, where, thank God, we arrived in safety.

No. XI. A few days after my arrival at this city, I inquired, as was my general practice, for some
intelligent persons from whom I might procure information on the subject of the commission with
which I was entrusted, and I had the pleasure of finding in Don Ramon de Ordofies, the Vicargeneral
of the diocese, a gentleman whose love of antiquarian research well qualified him for the
task. He showed me two curious relics in his possession. The first is a head formed of green
porphyry, measuring seven inches in breadth and two in thickness. It is a whimsical attempt to
represent a man's face in double profile, as will be better understood by reference to the annexed
drawing. The countenance is beardless, the ears fanciful, and the cap which covers the head quite




470 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.
original. There is a protuberance on the forehead, and to imitate nature seems never to have be.en
contemplated by the artist. A semicircular fracture is visible at the top of the head, which was
perhaps originally a circular hole, by which it was suspended like a medallion round the neck of
some gigantic statue. The surface of this curious piece of sculpture displays an exquisite polish.
No. XII. This number presents to our view in miniature one of the most valuable specimens in
existence of Mexican or Guatemaltecan antiquity. We here behold an engraved copper medallion,
about two inches in diameter and a quarter of an inch in thickness, the weight of which rather exceeds
that of a Mexican dollar, as the Vicar-general ascertained at Guatemala. He conjectures,
and I think with reason, that its date is as ancient as the first colonization of this continent. It was
found on that celebrated spot which in later ages received the appellation of Palenque. It is
evidently not struck from any die, but shaped and engraved by the hand, the point made by the
compass or some similar instrument when forming the concentric lines on its surface being still visible
in the centre. The upper side of the medal contains an historical device, composed of a mysterious
hieroglyphical group, of which the principal figure is that of a man kneeling in the attitude of a
suppliant, and entirely destitute of apparel, with the exception of a turban and buskins. The beard
denotes the sex of the figure, although the lip is without mustachios. Placed between the ferocious
and menacing heads of two monsters, nearly resembling the alligator or the Egyptian crocodile, he
seems, not without imminent peril, to have gained admission to this romantic, luxuriant, and fruitful
portion of the globe, so favourable to the multiplication of the human species.

The reverse, as I term it, of this medallion, which nevertheless may be its principal face, is
equally enigmatical and difficult of explanation. How in attempting to escape Scylla shall we avoid
falling into Charybdis? Its field displays the same mountainous yet luxuriant scenery; but the effigy
of a lofty tree in the centre, covered with fruit and spreading foliage, is that which chiefly attracts
attention; the size of its trunk undoubtedly indicates the fertility of the soil in which it grows.
We perceive at the root of the tree a scaly serpent entwining itself round the trunk, which may
possibly allude to the primitive occupation by some ancient colony of this chosen and retired spot.
The bird of Jove, perched upon the summit of an adjoining mountain, was perhaps intended as the
symbol of rising power. These and similar conjectures must, however, be received with caution,
since the subject to which they relate is as dark and mysterious as was the riddle proposed by the
Theban Sphynx. If I may venture to offer an opinion, it would be, that the principal side of this
medal records the migration of a colony, which, after encountering many difficulties, at last arrives
at the land of its destination; whilst the reverse signifies the flourishing and prosperous state which
the same colony afterwards attained. *

Having terminated our researches in this place, notwithstanding the obstacles interposed by the
inhabitants, who designated us as traitors, we continued our journey to Ocotzingo.

No. XIII. We observed in the town-hall of the latter place two large blocks of stone, the first of
which is of a hard substance and of a dark grey colour. It exhibits a male figure executed in altorelievo.
The style of the sculpture is good, but the attitude is constrained and painful, the head
being very much inclined to the right, while the arms and hands appear to be bound. It was im-

-----
* A similarity is perceptible in the ornamental border which surrounds this medallion, to the necklaces of several statues which we
discovered in the ancient city of Palenque.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 471
possible to ascertain the position of the legs, the lower part of the stone having suffered considerable
mutilation. The figure is naked, with the exception of a sash girt round the waist. How
shall we attempt to describe the curious crown which adorns without protecting the head? It is
impossible to guess what may have been the design of the artist, but probably he intended to represent
a victim destined for sacrifice on the bloody altar of superstition and fanaticism.
No. XIV. The other basso-relievo, sculptured in a yellow stone, is probably historical. Besides
the two principal figures that constitute the group, hieroglyphics are distributed in different parts
of it, of which the drawing will convey a more perfect idea than any description that I could offer.
I shall therefore confine my remarks to the former. One of these beardless figures is standing,
and the other sitting; while the artist evidently designed to represent both personages as engaged
in animated conversation. Each is presenting to the other some gift. The figure which is sitting
holds in its left hand a globe surmounted by a crown: the other holds something likewise in its
hand, but the sculpture is too much defaced to enable me to judge what it resembles. The dress,
fashioned after nature's simplest pattern, is disposed, as is usual in their representations of the human
form, with a strict regard to decency. Their helmets are of very complicated workmanship. That
of the upright figure is composed of the head and tail of some bird, probably the eagle, on the top of
which is a circle decorated with plumes, whilst the expanded feathers of the tail hang down gracefully
behind: to these are added other ornaments. The helmet of the seated figure is not so elaborately
adorned, but I am unable to give a minute description of its parts. I have already observed that
these figures appear to be engaged in amicable conference, in confirmation of which it may be remarked
that neither of them is furnished with any offensive weapon. This piece of sculpture, as
well as that before mentioned, formed a part of the decorations of some ancient buildings situated
two leagues eastward of the town, in a place called in the Zendal language Tonila, which signifies
The Stone houses.

No. XV. In our way thither, and in its immediate vicinity, we found several human figures carved
in stone, all of them headless trunks, and scattered like rubbish over the surface of the plain. I shall
describe the two which were in the best state of preservation. The mutilated form of the first is one
yard and half an inch in height, and of proportionate breadth. This statue is affixed to a pedestal
of a prismatic shape, measuring two yards in length. The material is a hard ash-coloured stone;
and from the excellence of the workmanship, I cannot help regretting its present imperfect state,
which also renders any conjecture as to its original design almost fruitless. The arms are folded over
the breast, the feet are in contact with each other, and the long robe which covers the whole figure,
with the exception of the hands, resembles a scapulary. The fixed attitude of devotion, and the
dress, render it more probable that this was the statue of a heathen priest, than an image to which
vows were accustomed to be addressed. It bears some resemblance, either by chance or imitation,
to the ancient statues of the Egyptians.

No. XVI. This statue, the material of which is similar to that last mentioned, is equally well
executed. It is the mutilated figure of a female (the mere trunk being all that remains) dressed in a
robe, covered by a sort of vest, which divides in front like a curtain drawn aside. An apron, tastefully
ornamented, is fastened to the waist, and descends to the feet of the figure. The remains of this statue
are sufficient to indicate the regular symmetry of its original form, although it is impossible to say




472 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.
what might have been its destination when new from the hands of the sculptor. It is probable that
the Indians had their female as well as their male divinities, and that both were equally invoked by
them in seasons of calamity.

No. XVII. Having spent some time in contemplating these mutilated statues, I proceeded to
examine the remains of their temples, which were situated in a sultry and woody spot, at the distance
of a cannon-shot, on the slope of a gently rising eminence terminating in a flight of steps, which
(though now in a state of dilapidation) formed the entrance to the building. Five of these temples
are still in existence; three of which are roofed, and two open to the air. The perspective view of
these ruins presents three points of elevation: on the first stand two small oratories, then the large
temple, occupying the centre of the second elevation, while the two artificial hills are ranged upon
the third.

The three covered oratories have many points of resemblance in their structure. They are built
in the same style, with the same materials, and the same ornaments: their porches are paved with
large square slabs of free-stone; the walls and roofs are coated with a cement of lime and sand; and
the doors and vaulted ceilings terminate in an acute angle. The four sides are decorated with a
frieze, and the interior is divided into several different apartments. The principal building stands in
the centre, and was formerly occupied by the idol and its altar.

The artificial hills, which are about twenty yards in height, and which bound the perspective just
mentioned, are built of stone and mortar, the whole occupying a space of about two hundred yards.
These two pyramidical structures differ in one respect from all the buildings of a similar kind that
I have met with. Their roofs, which are entire, terminate in an acute angle, and are destitute of
the round or square area, usually appropriated to the celebration of their religious rites. The principal
entrance to the largest temple fronts the west; the sides of the smaller ones face the cardinal
points.

No. XVIII. This plate contains a vertical section and ground plan of the buildings mentioned above.

Having fully investigated these ancient edifices I returned to the town of Ocotzingo, intending
to proceed thence to Palenque.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 473

ANTIQUITIES OF PALENQUE.

After a journey of eight days we reached the city of Palenque. The space which we had to
traverse is scarcely passable for any other animal than a bird; the road winding through mountains
and over precipices, which we crossed sometimes on the backs of mules and sometimes on foot.
Our only vehicle was a litter or a hammock, and we were compelled to pass the streams which
intersected our route by bridges rudely formed of trees. The country through which we travelled,
though fertile, is uncultivated and unpeopled, except by the inhabitants of a few scattered huts:
hence we had no other bed than the earth, nor covering than the heavens. Our baggage was transported
by the help of some Indians of extraordinary strength and agility. Loaded with a weight of
two hundred and fifty pounds, enough for the back of a mule, they proceeded on with un slackened
pace, and climbed like deer the passes of the mountains.

After having encountered every kind of difficulty during this toilsome journey, we arrived, thanks
to God! in safety at New Palenque, the principal object of this our third expedition. This city
belongs to the diocese of Chiapa, and the principal magistrate is also Deputy Governor of Ciudad
Real, a city distant about eighty leagues to the westward. The population is large; composed of
natives, Europeans, and their joint offspring. It stands on an uneven site of ground, in a climate
which, though hot, appears to be healthy and favourable to vegetation, situated in the latitude of
sixteen degrees north. Plantations of achote, rice, cacao, and other productions peculiar to this
climate are found here, and the pine-apple grows wild.

The surrounding country is mountainous, interspersed with fruitful plains, which are watered by
rivers and brooks, and produce in great abundance a lofty tree with a trunk of proportionate
magnitude, the hark of which, naturally dry, is powdered and used as a perfume in the churches.
It is odoriferous in the extreme, and its name in the Zendal language is Ticconti.
As soon as the weather permitted I hastened to explore the neighbouring ruins. The name of
the celebrated city, of which they are the remains, ha§ not,survived the oblivion in which that of
its founders is equally involved, and the Spaniards have improperly called it Old Palenque.
Nothing remains of this powerful nation but the mighty skeleton of those works of art which time
has not been able to destroy.

It was built on the brow of a chain of rugged mountains, and situated to the south-west of the
new city occupied a space of ground seven miles and a half in extent. A situation so elevated
rendered it easily defensible against any hostile attack, while the woods which diversified the face of
the wide and beautiful landscape lying around it, contributed to make it an equally desirable residence
in time of peace.

The copious streams which still pour their rich treasures through the neighbouring valleys, fall
upon the ear with soft and gentle murmurs; and while they give beauty and variety to the lovely
face of the surrounding scenery, adorn it yet further by nourishing a thousand gay flowers, which




474 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

fill the air with the most delightful fragrance. A spot so favoured by nature abounds with birds and
beasts of various tribes, which here propagate their species unmolested and secure.
Having contemplated and admired the beauties which nature has so lavishly bestowed upon this
solitary place, I proceeded to examine those monuments of man's skill and industry which attach
still greater interest to it. The dimensions of these various buildings may be ascertained by the
scales annexed to their several drawings, and the reader will be assisted by consulting the ichnographical
surveys, in which it is to be observed that the arrow always indicates the north.
I shall confine myself to the description of the ground-plans, elevations, and materials of each
structure, reserving for the future any remarks connected with their architectural merit, and the
figures and hieroglyphics sculptured on their walls, in order that the thread of my narrative may be
unbroken.

In front of the ancient palace was a spacious open square, commanding a noble view of the greater
temple. Here we encamped, building our huts with stakes, and covering them with the leaves of
a tuee (somewhat resembling those of the tobacco plant) of more than three feet in length, and proportionably
wide, but destitute of smell.

No. XIX. The stupendous pile which supports the intricate fabric I am going to describe is of a
pyramidical shape: its oblong base is about three hundred and sixty yards in circumference, gradually
decreasing towards the summit. On the front, which faces the East, is an ample staircase
of hewn stone, forming the principal entrance to the building. The basement story is built of square
blocks of stone, and enriched with a very bold cornice.

No. XX. This number represents the ground plan of this vast edifice, whence its dimensions may
be accurately ascertained, as well as the distribution of its various apartments. The summit of the
artificial pyramid forms a spacious platform, which served for its foundation; and the excellence of
the materials which were employed in its structure, is apparent in the durability and strength of its
walls. The oblong area, on which the building is situated, projects six feet on every side beyond it,
its circumference being about three hundred and twenty-four yards. The elevation is about ninety
feet from the surface of the ground; the principal walls are four feet in thickness, the inner walls
less. The galleries are constructed so as to admit light into the several apartments, by the vacant
spaces which are left alternately in the walls. The door-ways vary from twelve feet to one foot and
a half in breadth, and from fifteen feet to four feet and a half in height. They are for the most part
withont lintels. The windows also differ considerably both in size and form, as may be seen in the
drawing; and the apartments are of very limited dimensions.

The floors are composed of loose stones, firmly united with sand and cement, and covered with a
thick coat of hard and polished stucco. The ceilings are curiously constructed, all of them terminating
in angular vaults, closed above with slabs of stone, each a yard in length.
The roofs are of a corresponding shape with the ceilings, on which were placed, instead of tiles,
large slabs of stone regularly disposed, and forming a covering of great durability. The whole of
this vast structure was plastered both within and without with shining stucco, and enriched with a
plain deep cornice inclosed within two double mouldings.

No. XXI. This plate represents the interior or vertical section of the corridors, saloons, and
chambers, as well as the buildings which stand in the large quadrangle. Two flights of steps, facing




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 475
each other, descend into the grand area. They are formed of blocks of hewn stone half a yard in
height, the same in breadth, and one yard in length.
No. XXII. On the first flight of steps appear two rows of gigantic figures (as shown in the annexed
drawing), placed somewhat obliquely side by side. They are carved in alto-relievo out of blocks of
granite; some are standing, some kneeling in different attitudes. The heads are all sculptured in
profile; the mouths, half-open, show part of the upper teeth, and all appear absorbed in admiration,
their eyes fixed on the same elevated point. Their chins are beardless, and their hair falls in tresses
from the head, which is covered by a kind of turban, of a different fashion in each figure. The ears
are ornamented, the wrists encircled with ruffies, and they wear girdles, two of which are of considerable
breadth and covered with hieroglyphics. The size of each figure is portly, and the aspect
grave: they are all mitred, and to the neck of each is suspended a collar studded with precious
stones, to which is fastened a locket containing some device. Nakedness among these people was
not the effect of poverty, but of habit caused by residence in a sultry climate; neither was it connected
with any feeling of indecorum. They were content with merely studying decency in their
apparel, a due regard to which is sufficiently discernible in all the representations of the human
figure which have fallen under my notice.

These statues, notwithstanding the solidity of the material in which they are executed, have suffered
considerably from the unrelenting hand of time. It is vain to inquire who they were originally
intended to represent, or why they were placed in their present situation. My ignorance on these
points obliges me to view them merely in the light of ornaments, not unworthy of a sumptuous temple.

No. XXIII. This drawing represents a building of singular beauty and proportion. It is a square
pyramidical tower, remarkable for its symmetry and the elegance of its construction, of which there
remain four stories, gradually decreasing in size, and separated by deep stone mouldings covered
with a coat of bright cement. The jambs and lintels of the door-way are of chaste and finished execution.
To every story there are windows on each of the four sides. The circumference of the
tower measures one hundred and twenty feet at its base, each side being thirty feet in breadth, and its
whole exterior has an air of simple grandeur.

No. XXIV. This plate shows the vertical section of the tower, with the staircases leading diagonally
to each story. The upper story being in ruins, its original height cannot be ascertained.

No. XXV. This drawing represents an isolated interior building, which, except the roof, is in very
good preservation. It differs in its construction from those I have already mentioned, the architrave
being of an uncommon form, and composed of solid blocks of stone obliquely placed, forming an
obtuse angle, and thus serving as a penthouse fit to afford shelter from the heat or rain, as well as a
support to a broad frieze with two mouldings, the lower of which is wider than the upper one. The
upper story of this building (if another existed) is destroyed.

No. XXVI. The walls of the saloon which you enter on the northern side of this isolated edifice
are not wholly divested of their ancient ornaments. A stucco moulding tastefully executed encircles
a tablet of stone, on the surface of which are two figures carved in alto-relievo; its lower extremity
rests upon a square block of stone, probably an altar, which is also ornamented with figures and
symbols. The subject of this piece of sculpture is most rare and curious. Two female figures are
represented as seated; the one seems to be a goddess or personage of distinction, to whom the other




476 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.
is offering a gift, which the former is in the act of gracefully declining. This personage is seated on
a throne carved in the form of a monstrous animal, with a head at each end of its body looking in
opposite directions, having its two necks decorated with collars of pearls, to which other ornaments
are appended. This group was perhaps designed by the artist as an allegorical illustration of some
part of the law or fabulous history of his countrymen. The principal figure, which is naked, is probably
emblematical of Nature. Her head is adorned with a very light and curious cap: a string of
pearls and precious stones hangs round her neck, to which is attached an ornament surrounding a
device resembling somewhat in form the letter T; and her arms are also decorated with bracelets.
The other figure, represented in a sitting posture, is dressed in the usual attire of the country, a
mantle and petticoat, which are of a pattern resembling net-work, adorned with pearls and a festooned
border. She also wears a curious cap and ear-rings. The mouth of each figure is open, as
if they were engaged in actual conversation. The hieroglyphics which are engraved on the surface
of the stone were doubtless intended to explain the subject of this composition. The stone itself is
of a durable quality and dark-coloured. On the south side of this saloon is the staircase which leads
to the subterraneous apartments.

No. XXVII. In our descent to these apartments we remarked, over tlie first door-way, some plain
yet elegant ornaments executed in stucco; the first two mouldings being in remarkably good taste.
It is probable that they had some relation to the rites which were practised in these gloomy abodes.
On one side we observed the body of a man joined to the head of a quadruped, resembling that
of a wild dog, or Osiris, celebrated in ancient mythology, whose neck was surrounded by a collar
formed of leaves arranged like feathers. On the opposite side is a corresponding figure of a naked
man, whose head is covered with a cap of leaves; he holds in his mouth a kind of pipe. These
hieroglyphical figures face each other, and support with their hands a table or altar resting upon two
feet, over which is placed an ornament also formed of leaves. Under these figures are two dismembered
arms, two skulls, and several smaller hieroglyphical figures.

The design of this enigmatical device was probably to awaken a feeling of awe and fear in the
minds of all who entered these sacred precincts. It is not surprising that on approaching these
gloomy vaults, the scenes of human sacrifice, we should encounter such emblems. The skulls and
mangled limbs are fit devices for the portals of such a temple.

No. XXVIII. The ornaments of the second door-way are less complicated, but of a more graceful
character than those of the first. They consist of some curious Arabesque foliage diverging from a
central point, whence also a human figure appears to descend. Half only of the body is revealed
to view; the neck is encircled with a necklace, and the wrists with bracelets. We may suppose this
figure to represent one of the aerial messengers so frequently described in the Arabian Nights as
descending from a superior region on some important mission to the world below. The head is
covered with a sort of cap, analogous to that with which the heathen mythology has attired the god
Mercury. Curiosity in vain attempts to discover the meaning of these mysterious symbols.

No. XXIX. This plate contains a ground plan of three subterraneous vaults. They are built
with solidity, and their structure is perfectly regular. Their roofs are angular, and they are furnished
with staircases, doors of communication, and tables or altars resting upon the floor, or built into the
wall. The first impression, which further examination tended to confirm, led me to suppose that




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 477
these were chambers dedicated to the service of the dead, and that the altars were intended for the
reception of offerings or the immolation of victims. They differ in size, being from two yards
to two yards and a half in length, and one yard and a half in breadth. Some are of smaller dimensions,
but all are formed of a single stone, sculptured in a simple style without any ornamental
relievos. They are of proportionate thickness, and rest upon four square stone legs.
It was impossible to explore the remainder of these gloomy vaults, the north end having fallen in
and being choked up with rubbish; and we feared that an attempt to make any excavation might
bury us in the ruins. 'IN e therefore ascended by a different staircase, affording an egress near an
angle of the building, on the landing-place of which I discovered a stone, which I have preserved
as a curious relic.

No. XXX. This stone being strongly imbedded in the wall was removed with great difficulty. It
is of calcareous substance, and is in very good preservation. The surface is covered with various
hieroglyphics, which, like the relievos placed over the door-ways before mentioned, might have been
intended to convey a tacit admonition to persons who descended into these vaults. My only motive
for removing this stone from its place, was the desire of possessing some memorial of my journey,
as well as a testimonial of the correctness of my draughtsman, whose uniform accuracy and fidelity
I am bound to commend.

No. XXXI. This plate exhibits some ornamental mouldings in stucco, which are executed in altorelievo,
with such a regard to symmetrical arrangement, that a line drawn vertically through the
centre divides the whole into two equal and similar parts. They consist of various Arabesque
ornaments and designs, to which are added the fanciful and symbolical figures of two birds exactly
similar to each other, standing upon a base formed of regular geometrical figures that appear to
have been drawn with a compass. This ornament in stucco was found in a room of inconsiderable
size, on the wall facing the entrance; in the centre of which is a window or opening in the form of
a cross, or rather of the letter T, communicating with an adjoining room, which forms part of the
same great edifice.

No. XXXII. This number comprises a drawing of one of the tables which were found in the
subterranean apartments above mentioned, formed of a single slab of the same kind of stone as
that employed in the erection of the building; and likewise specimens of the different shapes of the
various windows and small recesses which this vast labyrinth contained.

No. XXXIII. On the left side of the staircase which leads from the great court to the saloon
above the vaults, there is a statue resembling the colossal ones which I have described above, and
probably placed there with the same intention. The kneeling posture is similar, and the countenance
gazes upwards with an air of admiration. The head is covered with a cap of strange and
curious fashion, and the chin is beardless. Its neck is adorned with a necklace, which is partly
concealed by the arms folded over the breast. The ear-rings consist of long tassels, and the dress
is merely a curiously wrought sash which reaches to the knees. This statue is carved only in
front, its back being a tablet inserted in the wall. In material and colour it resembles the colossal
statues before referred to. As it is a small and solitary figure, a place has been allotted to it in the 
plate which contains representations of the windows.




478 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.
Thus far I have described what presented itself to my observation; but vain would be the attempt
to explain the meaning of these mysterious relievos: the national deities or kings may perhaps be
represented by the statues which crowd the avenues of this vast temple, or the laws of some ancient
legislator may be recorded on the tables of granite ranged along its mouldering walls.
The air of authority distinguishable in most of the figures, the crown or diadem encircling their
brows, the sceptre, the collar and the badge suspended to their necks, render it not improbable
that they were intended to represent kings, with vassals prostrate at their feet in suppliant attitudes,
either paying homage or imploring protection.
Their costume though simple is varied. Their caps, helmets, and girdles differ: and this variety
in the dress of the kneeling and recumbent figures may be characteristic of different vanquished
cities and states.
I am aware how short and unsatisfactory this explanation must appear, and that it can afford
but little real information to the inquirer; it nevertheless must supply the place of more certain
information.


OF THE ART OF MOULDING IN STUCCO.

The subject at which we now arrive is so mysterious, that its elucidation would require the art of
the diviner. Surrounded as I am with what amazes and perplexes me, I shall begin by describing
the large historical alto-relievos which still exist in perfect preservation, although the greater part
of those that once ornamented or illustrated these temples have mouldered beneath the hand of time.
With the exception of a few which were carved in stone, they were all uniform in size, colour, and
material, and were disposed at regular intervals in compartments, which occupy the inside and outside
walls of their respective temples.

No. XXXIV. Like the structures which contain them, these relievos are fast hastening to decay.
Already their remains, mixed with dilapidated fragments of the walls to which they were attached,
strew the surface of the ground; and if they were of an historical nature, the chain of events which
they record is now for ever broken. All that I could do was to cause those which were still perfect
to be copied with the utmost fidelity, the greater part having left merely an impression on the wall.
There are many circumstances connected with these relievos worthy of attention. The situations
which they occupied, more especially in the greater temple, were happily selected; ranged in regular
order, and filling the vacant panels between the portals on the outside of the corridor of that vast
edifice, they invested it with an air of imposing and regal splendour. Each compartment contained
some mysterious group of figures and hieroglyphics surrounded by a border.

They executed their figures in stucco in two different ways: one of which, it appears, was by
first drawing the outline on the wall, and afterwards spreading the cement over it. Traces of these
black outlines yet remain. By the other mode a rude imitation of the human figure in stone was
substituted for the outline, to which shape and proportion were added by moulding the limbs into
proper form with moist stucco. This operation is called in our academies, making the skeleton of
the statue, a practice which likewise obtained among the Indians. They afterwards painted these




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 479

statues with vermilion, minute particles of which, as well as occasional patches, are still visible in the
narrow folds of the drapery. The stucco employed in the composition of them was admirable in
quality. I term it natural stucco, for it does not appear to contain either sand, powdered marble, or
any sort of adulteration: it is hard in the extreme, besides being beautifully white. With this substance
all the relievos which enriched the walls of these buildings and splendid monuments were executed.
Most of the figures are erect and well proportioned: all of them are in profile, portly, and
almost colossal, their height exceeding six feet; while their attitudes display great freedom of limb,
with a certain expression of dignity. Their dress, though sumptuous, never wholly covers the body:
their heads are decorated with helmets, crests, and spreading plumes; and they wear necklaces, from
which are suspended medallions. Many of the figures hold a kind of rod or staff in one hand; at
the feet of others smaller figures are placed in reverential postures, and some are surrounded with
rows of hieroglyphics.

I feel persuaded that these alto-relievos were historical representations. Each compartment contains
from one to three figures, tastefully grouped, and standing upon pedestals ornamented with
hieroglyphics and other curious devices.

The plates included under the present number are copies of the figures which are ranged along
the principal front of the greater temple. Notwithstanding the general correctness of design which
they discover, it is impossible to regard without surprize a striking peculiarity exhibited in the
physiognomy of these statues, the nose and the forehead forming by their junction a perfect curve;
and as if to render this peculiarity more apparent, the nose is made unusually large. It is generally
allowed that the profile of the human countenance is of more easy representation than the full face;
but refraining at present from indulging in conjecture, I shall content myself with remarking that
the intelligent will view with deep interest the features of a race of men which appear to have been
unknown either to ancient or modern historians.

No. XXXV. At a short distance to the south of the greater temple is another, which has received
the vulgar appellation of" Las Lajas," (The Slabs) a name probably given to it from the massy slabs
of stone of which it is built. It stands on the summit of an artificial hill, and its front faces the
north: its elevation is well proportioned, and (like all other buildings of a similar kind) the entablatures
of its walls are adorned with allegorical figures, enclosed within parallel mouldings, and
surmounted by a broad frieze. The roof is in ruins, but the stone floor still remains.

No. XXXVI. The four colossal figures referred to by this number are placed in the panels
between each door-way on the principal side of the last-mentioned temple; they are apparently
absorbed in devotion, and the faces of all are turned towards the centre of the sanctuary. Two are
placed on each side, holding in one hand a gift, and with the other supporting a child, offering it as
it were to the Law; for it does not appear that these children were offered to any deity, since no
statue or image of any kind is placed in this temple, its only contents being massive blocks of stone,
full of hieroglyphics, which doubtless were tables on which were engraved their laws and ritual observances.
I regretted extremely to find that it was utterly impossible to copy these hieroglyphics:
the rain having so injured and decayed the surface of the stones, that a fragment which we endeavoured
to clean for the purpose crumbled in the attempt. Each of the figures is in the act of
presenting a branch, as well as a child, at the temple, which might either have been to entreat





480 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

fruitfulness, or some symbol explanatory of the nature of the offering. Considerable variety is
displayed in their dress. The chin of one of them is not wholly destitute of beard: another is a
female figure attired in a short petticoat, elegantly adorned with net-work, pearls, and fringes, and
wearing a rich girdle. The other two represent men, plainly and uniformly habited, in a dress which
I am inclined to think must have been their national costume. They are all standing upon pedestals,
decorated as usual with fanciful embellishments These emblematical relievos, formed like the
others of stucco, are in a state of similar decay; being exposed to the open air, they have suffered
much from the changes of the atmosphere. The head of the woman, as well as those of the children,
has completely mouldered away.

No. XXXVII. I shall now proceed to describe a human figure executed in stucco in bold relief,
which owing to its situation is in excellent preservation. It was discovered in an interior covered
temple, the architecture of which scarcely differs from that of the temples in its immediate vicinity.
It faces the east, and its subterraneous vaults are also on that side. It stands at a short distance
to the south of the Presentation Temple, or the Temple of the Children, upon the verdant summit
of a natural hill, to which the hand of man would seem to have given a certain regularity of form.
This image is placed on a throne or altar; its attitude is graceful, expressive, and commanding,
and it appears to be in the act of delivering oracles either true or false to the people. It is seated
on a richly adorned cushion, with one leg crossed under its body: the cushion is elevated upon a
pedestal or table of curious shape, the feet of which resemble the claws of an eagle, and serve as
pilasters to a massy square slab, well wrought and finished. At the extremities of the table are carved
the heads of two monstrous animals, surmounted by fanciful ornaments: their open mouths display
the eagerness with which they are prepared to defend or to enforce due respect to the image and its
temple. A knotted collar encircles their necks. The head of the image is not decorated in exactly
the same style as those of the preceding figures, as will be immediately perceived on referring to
the drawing. Its arms are ornamented with bracelets, and it wears a short vest, apron, and drawers;
sandals are fastened with ribbon tied in bows to its feet. On its right hand appears a row of hieroglyphics
ranged vertically. Complete oblivion veils its history, but it may still be presumed that
this image represents some distinguished and extraordinary personage.

No. XXXVIII. This temple differs from the one last mentioned, the edifice built upon its upper
area consisting of two stories ornamented with their respective cornices; its principal side faces the
north. Unlike other structures of this kind, there is no appearance of its ever having contained any
figures or hieroglyphical inscriptions, either in its interior, or ranged along the outer compartments
of its walls. It stands on the summit of a pyramid, one hundred and eighty feet high, and resting
upon a square base. This pyramid was ascended by a staircase, of which scarcely any vestiges
remain; it was constructed of excellent materials, and displays skilful masonry. The ground-plan of
the temple is annexed to the plate.

No. XXXIX. This temple, which has received the appellation of La Cruz, from the Cross which
occupies the centre of its shrine, is likewise famed for the beauty of its architecture. It nearly resembles
the former structure, though consisting only of a single story. Situated on the upper area
of a steep and lofty pyramid, the ascent to it is difficult, and its principal side faces the north. It is
built on the plan of the last-mentioned temple. I have remarked that no trace was there discoverable




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 481

of any figures, either carved in stone or executed in stucco; here on the contrary we found many.
This temple is aptly named The Sanctuary of the Cross, since it contains a representation of that
symbol, carved in stone, and resting upon a pedestal. Beside it stand four grave personages, who
contemplate it with an air of deep veneration. The two figures nearest to the Cross are habited in
dresses which differ from any that I had hitherto beheld, and seem more deserving of minute attention.
The tallest of them (probably a priest) is offering to it with upraised hands a child of singular
shape, apparently a new-born infant: admiration is depicted in the countenance of the other. Of
the two figures placed in the back ground, one appears to be that of a man bending under the weight
of years, apparently in the act of blowing a musical instrument, which he holds with both hands to his
mouth. It is a sort of trumpet, composed of different pieces longitudinally united by rings placed
at regular intervals: from the tube of the instrument proceed three leaves or feathers; probably
feathers, as they were a favourite ornament of the Indians. The last personage in this group is a
grave and majestic figure, apparently an admiring spectator of the scene.

It is impossible adequately to describe the interior decorations of this sumptuous temple; the
sculptor and the painter seem here to have embodied the most exalted conceptions of their art. The
hieroglyphics which adorn this mysterious shrine are innumerable; not only do they surround the
Cross in its centre, but present themselves on all sides. They are carved on the surface of marble
slabs, of a fine grain and of a deep buff colour, ranged in horizontal rows; they occupy the centre
of the building, as in the sanctuary of the Presentation Temple above described.

Our surprise was great on suddenly beholding this cross; but closer examination of it convinced
me that it was not the holy Latin Cross which we adore, but a Greek Cross disfigured with various
fantastical ornaments; since the former consists of a perpendicular line intersecting a horizontal one
rather shorter, thus forming four right angles. Neither do these whimsical embellishments correspond
with the venerable simplicity and the sublime mysteries of the true Cross; we must therefore
refer this allegorical symbol to the religion of the country, and being totally ignorant of its ritual,
it is vain to reason about its destination. I wish that it were in my power to explain the signification
of the historical figures which so conspicuously adorn the walls of these temples, a task less difficult
than to de cypher the meaning of the hieroglyphics. It would appear that this nation had two
methods of expressing its ideas, the one by letters or alphabetical signs, the other by obscure and
mysterious symbols. These symbols, infinitely diversified in form, were disposed in parallel rows,
both vertically and horizontally on the same stone, so as frequently to form right but never acute
angles: this peculiarity in their arrangement is not unworthy of attention. In each kind of line
the same symbols often occur; and the human heads, which are always in profile, are uniformly
turned to the left; a circumstance which leads me to suppose, that like Hebrew writings, these
inscriptions were read from right to left. It is much to be regretted that their complicated form
would in itself render the attempt to analyze them almost wholly useless; since characters of various
colours and substances are here glued over each other, which firmly coalescing have become as it
were incorporated with the stone. *

-----
* The nature of these character. will be better understood by comparing them with the hieroglyphic. contained in the Dresden MS.
The human head with the profile turned to the left is frequently represented in that MS.; but the hand amputated at the wrist, which
enters into the composition of fonr of the symbols surrounding the Cross described by M. Dupaix, is of rarer occurrence: in those 
characters, of which it forms a part, it points to the right; as is also the case in the symbols referred to.





482 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

The path on which I have entered is so difficult and obscure, that I would wiIIingly quit it for the
wider field of conjecture, were I not convinced that the result would be fruitless, the scientific key
to these hieroglyphics having been for ever lost. It would be wrong indiscriminately to attach importance
to all the relievos discovered in these temples: on the contrary, many of them may have
been mere ornaments, in no wise connected with religious mysteries. Private edifices of any considerable
size or beauty I imagine could never have been numerous in Palenque; but it requires
much practical knowledge on the part of the observer to enable him to classify ancient monuments,
and to assign to each its proper place.

Having treated of the sister arts, Sculpture and Architecture, I must not omit to make mention
of Painting. The skiIl which this nation displayed in sculpture affords the most satisfactory proof
that they must have been proficients in the art of painting. It is therefore only necessary for me
to remark, that the colours which they employed were mineral. Notwithstanding the lapse of ages
and the corrosive moisture of the atmosphere, I discovered some paintings in the greater temple,
representing animals, birds, fruits, and flowers, which displayed both taste and correctness in their
design.

No. XL. Under this number are included two stucco tablets. They are copies taken indiscriminately
from that numerous class of relievos, which in a sort of language of their own appear to
address the stranger. The antiquarian will view with deep interest the unknown characters which
cover their surface: their disposition into horizontal and vertical lines is remarkable, and their form
is quite original, since they bear not the least resemblance either to Egyptian hieroglyphics, or to
the symbols in use amongst the ancient Mexicans.

No. XLI. This circular stone was taken from the foundation story of the greater temple. It is
perfectly plain, and without any kind of ornament or device. We found several stones similar to it
in the vicinity of that temple, but were unable to ascertain their original destination. They might
have been used either as tables or altars for sacrifice.

No. XLII. We discovered amongst these ruins chafing-dishes and censers, of a cylindrical shape
and fluted, with oval covers, containing an aperture apparently for the purpose of aIlowing a passage
to the smoke, when incense was burning before the idols or on their altars.
No. XLIII. At a short distance to the north of the greater temple there is a bridge, built of stones
so evenly united, that no cement is visible in their interstices: no traces of any parapet can be
discerned. The arch, if it may be so caIled, is of a very peculiar construction; being curvilinear
below and fiat above, as represented in the drawing. Although the river over which it affords a
passage is at some seasons of the year shaIlow, it is at others deep and dangerous to ford. It flows
in an eastward course, and its cold and limpid stream nourishes a sheIl-fish somewhat resembling a
snail, and exceedingly palatable.

No. XLIV. Westward of the greater temple, at the distance of a league, we found the remains of
a structure, which possibly served for the public execution of criminals. It consists of a lofty square
column, resting upon an oblong granite base. We could neither ascertain its original height, nor
make any excavations about its foundations, the upper part having been mutilated, and the site
which it occupies being extremely rocky. Its sides face the cardinal points of the compass. Two
cylindrical blocks of stone are placed beside it, which might have been pedestals upon which Cflminals
were obliged to stand, to render their punishment more conspicuous.




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 483

No. XLV. A league to the westward of this spot runs a rapid stream, in which we found some
petrified shells, and others in their natural state. It flows in a southerly direction through an aqueduct,
built of stones, united together by a cement so fine as to be scarcely visible: the roof is formed
of massy stone slabs.

We were at a loss to conjecture the use of this aqueduct, which might either have answered the
purpose of a cistern to convey water to some bath or public reservoir, or have been intended to
preserve that element in a pure and salubrious state; or finally, have connected together the
straggling suburbs of this city at the period of its greatest population. These immense ruins, scattered
over a vast tract of country, and the greater portion of them buried beneath the soil, awaken
in the mind of the spectator the Ii veliest feelings of curiosity and interest.




484 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TRIUMPHAL STONE PRESERVED IN THE

UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO.

THIS monument, which is still preserved in the University of Mexico, is remarkable for the richness
of its hieroglyphical sculpture. It is a cylindrical block, vulgarly but erroneously called "The
Sacrificial Stone," or "The Stone of the Dance," since doubtless it records victories obtained by
the Mexicans over fifteen different provinces or states, and therefore should be regarded in the light
of a valuable historical monument. In order to transmit the fame of these victories to distant ages,
the Mexicans caused the representation of them to be engraved on a cylindrical stone of the hardest
gram. The upper surface of this stone is likewise carved with devices, either merely fanciful, or
which may have some connexion with astronomical science, since they are not unlike those sculptured
upon the Mexican calendar"'; but it would be impossible for me to determine this point. It
is evident that this stone was intended to be placed in a horizontal position, with its fiat surface
resting on the ground; and it probably occupied the centre of some open court, as the most advantageous
situation for a monument consecrated to national glory.

The ancient Romans were accustomed to erect columns and triumphal arches in honour of their
Emperors, and the Mexicans sought in a similar manner to eternalize the fame of their martial
monarchs. It would be a difficult task to assign any dates to the victories emblazoned on this
triumphal stone: nor is it possible to ascertain where the series commences, since a cylindrical
surface has no defined beginning or end. Although thirty figures are sculptured upon it, they may
be reduced to fifteen pairs, as there are only sixteen different warriors; one of whom, who in all
probability is the King of Mexico, is represented fifteen several times, while the remaining figures,
symbolical of the various conquered nations, differ from each other in their dresses, arms, and
devices. Some of the latter are represented with beards, but the attitude of each is expressive of
the deepest reverence and submission. There is a general resemblance in their apparel, but their
head-dresses and sandals exhibit some variety. There is some difference also m their warlike
weapons, though in most cases they are similar; but each subjugated state is distinguished by its
peculiar symbol or device. It is probable that the artist, having reduced the block of stone to
proper shape and dlmensions, and given it the requisite polish, sketched upon its surface the outlines
of his work, which he afterwards executed in basso-relievo with a metallic or stone chisel.
The figures are all represented in profile, and exhibit a uniformly fiat, and not a convex bassorelievo,
their outlines principally consisting of straight lines. It is impossible not to admire the
symmetrical distribution of the thirty figures into fifteen distinct groups, and the relative equality of
.. The Mexican Calendar to which M. Dupaix alludes was dug up not many years ago in the plaza mayor of Mexico, the site formerly
occupied by the principal temple of the Mexicans. Baron de Humboldt has given a minute description of this enormous block
of sculptured granite, to which the name of The Mexican Calendar has been given from the astrological symbols carved upon its surface,
and an engraving of it will be found in his Monumens De L' Amerique




THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN. 485

their proportions. Two parallel borders with different designs inclose and adorn this valuable
ancient monument.
The position of the principal figure, which I have already observed is fifteen times repeated, is
such that the Mexican monarch, as I shall designate him, is only represented in profile; neither
have we a full view of his person: the style of the sculpture is nevertheless bold and energetic. He
is attired as a warrior, and wears a crown adorned with beautiful and spreading plumes: his vest is
confined with a rich and broad girdle. On his feet are sandals, and that on his left foot is
remarkable for the singularity of its shape, and unlike the other rises in the air with a high and
graceful curve. His air and demeanour are those of a conqueror: with his left hand he grasps the
crest of his vanquished foe, and compels him to an act of submission, while his right holds a circular
shield, from beneath which projects a quiver of arrows in a vertical position.
The second figure, which is also in profile, is shorter in stature than the first, and is habited in a
plainer military costume, consisting of a helmet or crown of feathers, sandals, a girdle, &c. He
seems to be in the act of presenting with his right hand some flowers as a mark of homage to the
conqueror. It would certainly be difficult to explain the reason why mankind prefer the right
hand to the left; but this appears to be the case amongst nations the furthest removed from each
other. The left hand of this figure grasps some warlike weapons which differ from those of the
other figures.

Two things are particularly deserving of notice in the figures which represent the conquered
nations; the one, that their eyes are either covered with a bandage or concealed by a shade"',
probably to mark the respect due to their conqueror; the other, that two of them have long beards
and mustachios, a fact which would seem to indicate a diversity of national character.

The hieroglyphical devices, or, as they may be more properly styled, the arms of the several
states, provinces, or cities vanquished by the Mexicans, remain to be noticed. To each of the
latter was assigned its distinguishing symbol; the emblem of its jurisdiction, situation, and natural
productions. I know not whether it was intended to register on the surface of this cylindrical stone
(as represented in the preceding plate) the dates of these memorable triumphs, but its first appearance
certainly resembles that of the Mexican calendar. The area of the circle is divided into thirty-two
equal parts, exhibiting a number of concentric circles exactly parallel, and eight very acute angles,
the points of which intersect the outer circle and divide it into eight equal parts; while in like
manner eight parallelograms and some oval figures occupy the intervening spaces between the
angles. Immediately below these ornaments is a border divided into squares, in each of which are
five small circles, one at each angle and one in the centre. This stone in shape also resembles the
calendar; but its position must always have been horizontal, with its flat surface resting on the
ground: in other respects the difference between these two Mexican monuments is sufficiently
apparent.

A human countenance symbolically representing the Sun is carved on the former. What a striking
contrast does this representation of the effulgent Author of light present, when compared with the


-----
* The Mexicans seem to have been the only nation who invented and used defensive armour for the nose; their helmets being
without vizors, that expedient might have suggested itself to them to remedy the defect. It would appear from some plaster casts of
the figures surrounding the sacrificial stone, that the nose, of many of them are provided with that species of defence.




486 THE MONUMENTS OF NEW SPAIN.

sculptured divinities of Grecian mythology. Let us turn from their young and graceful Apollo, with
his long and golden tresses, and compare him with the Mexican god of light. His face, of which a
front view is given, is represented with mustachios, but destitute of beard, and his tongue protruding
from his mouth: various ornaments are fastened to his ears, some of which are circular,
others pendant like purses: the collar which adorns his neck is composed of six pearls or gems of
different sizes: his head is covered with a sort of mitre, divided by three horizontal lines, with the
addition of two circles on the sides: his hair is gracefully arranged. Such is the exact portraiture
which the Mexicans drew of the Father of light.

The horizontal surface of the monument above described is sculptured in basso-relievo, with much
elegance and correctness of proportion, being ornamented with a series of concentric circles, displaying
great regularity, and studded with rows of round and even rings. The outer circle is
intersected by eight acute angles and eight parallelograms. -- This explanation, though brief, may
convey some idea of the merit of this ancient piece of sculpture. The accuracy of its proportions
renders it difficult to conceive how it could have been executed without a compass. It is probable
that the carving was not merely ornamental, but intended to mark, according to the calculations of
the Mexican calendar, the precise period of the erection of this monument. *

-----
* The plate representing the sacrificial stone has been intentionally executed in a coarse style, that the similarity to the original
drawing might be more faithfully preserved. It may be proper to remark, that M. Dupaix's Dissertation on the Architecture of Palenque,
and the four supplementary chapters which immediately follow it, have been omitted in the translation, because their contents
were judged unnecessary for the illustration of the plates, and they are printed in Spanish in the fifth volume.





[487]


NOTES.

NOTE I.

M. DE HUMBOLDT has described in his American Monuments the Temalacatl, or stone for the gladiatorial
sacrifices which the Mexicans celebrated in the month Panquetzaliztli. This stone was dug up in the Plaza Mayor
of Mexico, not many years before the baron's visit to that city; and since a representation of it will be fouud in the
fourth volume of the present work, it is only necessary to remark here, that the Mexican paintings serve to
illustrate the ornamental figures sculptured in relievo around it. It has generally heen supposed that these figures
commemorate the triumphs of some Mexican king, who is there represented as a warrior leading to execution or
into captivity his vanquished foe, and that the symbols placed behind the head of each prisoner denote a different
conquered city or state. The latter part of the supposition alone appears to be correct; since in the person of the
presumed king may be recognized, by the symbol of the smoking mirror worn as an ornament at the back of his head,
the priest of Tezcatlipoca or Huitzilopuchtli, the supreme deity of the Mexicans, to whom prisoners taken in war
were sacrificed as devoted victims. It was customary with the Mexican priests to dress themselves in the same
costume as that worn by the deity whose festival they celebrated; and hence it may be inferred that this stone for
gladiatorial sacrifices was dedicated to Tezcatlipoca: which supposition will also serve to explain the nature of the
ornament or symbol worn on the advanced foot of the principal figure; since the Mexicans, in allusion to their belief
that that god had appeared to them in fire and smoke on Mount Tezca (the Mountain of the ?jl1in·or), -- whence the
proper name which they bestowed upon him of Tezcatlipoca, compounded of Tezca, the name of the mountain,
tlil dark, and poca smoke, in reference to the manner of his manifestation, -- always represented him with the symhol
of a smoking mirror, which was placed either on his head or his foot, and sometimes on both, as in the eighteenth
and twenty-second pages of the Borgian MS. This god was also named by the Mexicans Yao; and the smoking
minor on his foot reminds us of Habakkuk's description of the presence of Jehovah in the fifth verse of the third
chapter of his Prophecies: "Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet:" whilst the
proper name Tezcatlipoca recalls to our recollection the eighteenth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Exodus,
descriptive of the descent of God upon Mount Sinai: "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the
Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount
quaked greatly." So important an event in Hebrew history as the promulgation of the Mosaic code of laws might, it
may readily be conceived, have disposed the Jews, who were fond of bestowing many names upon God, either to
use at first, or to invent in later ages, an epithet in his honour commemorative of the time when he conversed with
Moses in the mount. They likewise emphatically styled the laws that were then given to them, the mirror of God,
declaring that they bebeld in them, as in a mirror, his will clearly revealed: and hence they argue that the old law
has never been repealed, because the will of God must needs be immutable. This being the opinion of the Jews,
it would be interesting to learn from them whether they believe that a remnant of the Canaanites, who were
sentenced to utter destruction by Moses, exists in any corner of the earth; and whether, if they had the power,
they would feel it to be a duty imposed upon them by Moses, to force idolaters under pain of death to become
proselytes, and to wage war against idolatrous nations to bring them over to their faith? These questions may
appear to be invidious; but they are intimately connected with the present subject of inquiry, the object of which is
to discover the real origin of human sacrifices in the New World, and who were the authors of them. It is the
spirit of Judaism, however, rather than the Jews, that we would interrogate upon these two points; since it was the
former persuading the latter that they were the chosen people of God, whilst the rest of mankind !if a different creed
were his enemies, that constituted them the haters of nearly all their species, and too frequently made them the





488 NOTES.

cruel avengers of the pretended honour of Jehovah. Cun it for a moment be doubted, whether, if any tribe or race
of men could be impressed with the belief that some other tribe were the enemies of their god, they would not deem
it to be a meritorious thing to make war on and to exterminate them, and consider the field of battle on which they
fought them as a sort of table or altar of sacrifice destined to receive the blood of victims most acceptable to the
deity? which would naturally lead to the custom of reserving prisoners taken in an engagement for a still more
holy sacrifice at the hallowed shrine of his temple, -- a custom which was common amongst the Mexicans, and which
cannot fail to bring to mind what is recorded in the Old Testament, of Samuel hewing Agag in pieces bifore the
Lord in Gilgal; which words unequivocally declare that the high priest of the Lord acted on that occasion the
part of the Mexican Topiltzin, and stained, if he did not profane, the shrine of Jehovah with the blood of a human
victim. This is the only example, it is true, which is recorded in the Old Testament of the solemn immolation of
a prisoner of war by the hand of a Jewish high priest: but who can venture to affirm that later high priests might
not have imitated the zeal of Samuel, although Hebrew history is silent respecting them? The ordinance in the
last chapter of Leviticus, which expressly commands that all of man devoted by men to the Lord should surely he
put to death, not only proves that the custom of devoting men to the Lord did exist amongst the Jews, hut that it
was approved by Moses, who no where forbids the Jews in the Pentateuch to devote men to the Lord, but only after
having devoted them to save them alive; whilst the condition annexed to the act, implied in the first instance
permission granted to it, since what is absolutely forbidden by the law is never made conditional. The history,
indeed, of Jephthah offering up his own daughter as a burnt sacrifice to God, as related in the eleventh chapter of
Judges, and the reason which he assigns for carrying his fatal vow into execution, "I have opened my mouth unto
the Lord, and I cannot go back," fully prove what the Jews believed to be the spirit of this ordinance, which was
no less killing than was its letter, which is as follows: "Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote
unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed;
every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. None devoted which shall be devoted of men shall be redeemed,
but shall surely be put to death." To understand more clearly the force of this ordinance, it may be proper to observe,
that there were two kinds of devoted victims of men amongst the Jews which they were bound to put to death; the
former class comprehended those whom God himself, speaking through the mouth of Moses, had devoted to destruction,
who were all the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan: the latter were those who were devoted by
men to him. The question may well be asked, Who were these? If we may venture to offer an opinion, it would
be, that they were either Hebrew slaves descended from Canaanitish parents, or prisoners of war captured by the
Jews from those distant nations which were not doomed to utter destruction by Moses, whom the Hebrew soldiers
were permitted before a battle to devote, in case they should take them prisoners in the engagement, as a sacrifice (for
by what other name can the deed be 'called 7) to Jehovah. The probability of this conjecture having been admitted,
it will not be unreasonable to suppose, that the Mexican custom of sacrificing prisoners taken in war to Tezcatlipoca
originated amongst the Jews who colonized America. If the interpretation which is here put upon the abovementioned
ordinance of Leviticus be disagreeable to the Rabbis, they will oblige the world by explaining its true
signification, coufining themselves strictly to the Zettel' of the sacred text, and bearing in mind that the words" of
all that he hath, both of man and beast," render it clearly impossihle that the Canaanites can be alluded to. This
doubtless is one of those many passages of Scripture that the early Fathers put _without the pale of discussion,_ desiring
their simple flocks to hold those who would indulge in an inquisitive train of reasoning upon them in the light of
excommunicated persons, and to make no reply to their objections; and hence it happens that a great portion of the
Old Testament is even at the present day but ill understood, because its contents have never yet been freely discllssed
by all classes of the community.

In reference to a remark made above, that human sacrifices to the Deity probably originated in the notion that
certain tribes or nations of mankind were his enemies, whose blood would be a most acceptable offering to him
(which likewise supposes the existence of some chosen or favourite people, the executors of his will; and in fact
every early nation were in their own estimation the chosen people of God, differing only from the Jews in not
imagining that the rest of mankind were objects of his aversion), we shall cite some passages from the Old
Testament, in which the field of battle is very unequivocally named a place of sacrifice. Ezekiel in the following
passage of the thirty-ninth chapter of his Prophecies thus descrihes the defeat of Gog, under which name is




NOT E S. 489
signified some powerful enemy of the Jews. "And, thou son of man thus saith the Lord God ' Speak unto every
f;e athered fowl, and to every beast of the field, assemble yourselves, an" d come; gather yourselves on every side to
my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh,
and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of
lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood
till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses
and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God. And I will set my glory among the
heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward." Isaiah in the sixth
verse of the thirty-fourth chapter of his Prophecies, applies the term' sacrifice' to the slaughter of God's enemies,
which being there said to be accomplished by the sword, it is to be supposed refers to the field of battle. "The
sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the
fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a g,'eat slaughter in the land of Idumea."
The precise meaning of the word sacrifice in the eighth verse of the first chapter of Zephaniah, is less obvious.
" And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children,
and all such as are clothed with strange apparel." The sacrifice of prisoners taken in war, it may be presumed,
soon led to the sacrifice of slaves; since when once it had become an established usage to celebrate solemn festivals
with the blood of human victims, a fanatic multitude would have been likely to deem it more criminal to let the
festival want its accustomed rites, than to put to death some unoffending slaves. The direst of all human sacrifices
was, however, that of children by their parents, at which extreme goal the Jews in very early ages had arrived;
since Scripture informs us that the valley of Tophet, which was close to the gates !if Jerusalem, had acquired an
infamous celebrity by reason of such rites. The apologists of the ancient Jews are here placed in a dilemma from which
they will find it difficult to extricate themselves; since if they will not allow that these sacrifices were performed
in imitation of the example of Abraham, who offered up his son Isaac to God, they must admit that the Jews, beginning
with animals, waded through the blood of all kinds of sacrifices, until they finally imbrued their hands in
the innocent blood of their own children; -- and then with what sentiments will the future perusal of many books of
the Old Testament inspire them! The representation of human sacrifices so frequently occurs in the Mexican
paintings, that it is unnecessary in this place to enter into any particular description of them: three things, however,
deserve to be noticed respecting them; of which the first is, that the victim was not sacrificed at but upon the altar
of smooth stone which stood on the upper area of the temple: secondly, that the sacrifice was performed by dividing
him in the middle; and thirdly, that the Mexicans declared that Huitzilopuchtli taught them that mode of sacrifice
when he led their ancestors forth on their pilgrimage from Aztlan, the occasion of which is more fully explained in
the 241st page of the present volume. There was a peculiarity in the Mexican mode of laying the living victim
upon the altar and sacrificing him there; since the general practice of ancient nations was to immolate animals
near the altar, and afterwards to place certain parts of them as an offering upon the altar. Weare informed,
however, in the ninth and tenth verses of the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, that Abraham, when about to
sacrifice his son Isaac, laid him upon the altar. "And they came to the place which God had told him of; and
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon
the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." The precise manner in
which Abraham would have killed his son cannot be known, because be did not complete his intended sacrifice;
but that patriarch had on a former occasion divided the victims in the middle, when by the express command of
God he sacrificed to him on entering into the covenant with him. The obvious interpretation, however, of the following
passage of the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, certainly is, that Abraham divided the victims in the middle after
he had sacrificed them; but still fanaticism might have understood it in another sense. "And he said unto him, I
am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord
God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, take me an heifer of three years old, and
a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took
unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided
he not." In conclusion to this note we shall only observe, that the instrument with which the Mexicans performed




490 NOTES.

their human sacrifices was a stone knife, which perhaps resembled the sharp-edged Ethiopian stone with which the
Egyptian embalmers opened bodies, in the manner described by Herodotus in his second book; "M.Ta 8., ~,8't'
AiOlO1T'K't' o~€t 1Tapaax,aa... €C 1Tapa T~. ~a1Tap~v, €~ w i~ov T~. KO'~'~. 1Taaa "The Jews would probably have considered
such knives as well adapted for the purposes of sacrifices, from the holy use which their ancestors had in
the earliest ages made of them in circumcision.

NOTE II.

It has been already remarked, page 377, that the words of Ezekiel, "And fire is gone out of a rod of her
branches which hath devoured her fruit," afford grounds for supposing that the Jews were acquainted with the
Mexican method of kindling fire from two pieces of wood. This supposition would likewise serve to explain another
passage in the twenty-first chapter of Ezekiel, which is thus translated in the Septuagint; "~T~a...., f3.a,~.u~ Baf3u-
,I \WVOt; E' 7r' Tl1V a, pxa1av O'"OO V, E1T, a, px."c; 'TWV o'v"o OO WV, 'TOU paV'f'€VrJaa 8a t p.aVTEtaV, TOU av a1 3 pauat p' a1 3O' OY, Kat €' 7repWTT/aat e,v TOtt;
")'~U1TTOLC'" which Selden says that he does not clearly comprehend; observing that he cannot see how the words TOU
.iv.f3p.a p.f380v can refer to;'.13801' "'''' or that kind of divination which Hosea, in the twelfth verse of the
fourth chapter of his Prophecies, says that the Jews practised by means of their staves; "My people ask counsel at
their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have
gone a whoring from under their God." If that learned man had known the Mexican method of kindling fire by
means of two pieces of wood, and that one of those pieces was a staff, the rapid rotation of which between the hands
produced ignition in the other piece, he would not have hesitated to refer the divination practised by the king of
Babylon to 1TUP0I'.V....., or divination by fire, when the propriety of the choice of the verb.i f3p.a, to express the
mode in which the flame proceeded from the wood, becomes apparent; and the entire passage may be translated,
" The king of Babylon will take his station at the cross road, where an old road branches off in two directions, to
have recourse to divination, and to kindle fire with the staff, and to interrogate images." The object of the king of
Babylon in using divination was, that he might thereby be guided in the choice of his captains and the.operations
of the war which he was about to undertake. It is singular that the Mexican priests, -- who, as it were in obedience
to the precept contained in the second verse of the twentieth chapter of Deuteronomy, "And it shall be when ye are
come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people," accompanied the Mexican
armies, and encouraged the soldiers to battle by exhortations and by the blowing of trumpets, as the Levites are said to
have done in the sixth chapter of Joshua, when the walls of Jericho fell down at the sound, -- should likewise, either
as a mode of divination, which is very probable from the superstitious reverence which the Mexicans felt for fire
kindled by the hands of their priests, or as a propitious omen, have drawn new fire from a piece of wood on the eve
of an engagement, that ceremony serving as a signal for the battle to begin, as Sahagun informs us in the first section
of the seventeenth chapter of the eighth book of his History of New Spain. We may observe, in reference to a very
barbarous and superstitious rite practised by the Mexicans on their year of jubilee, at the commencement of every
new cycle of fifty-two years, -- that of drawing fire from the body of a sacrificed prisoner by kindling it in a piece of
wood placed in the wound in his breast, a representation of which occurs in the fifth and sixty-ninth pages of the
Borgian MS., although in the latter painting some miraculous circumstances appear to accompany the ceremony,
and the painter perhaps intended to represent a living sacrifice, -- that if the Jews were the institutors of this rite
in the New World, it was probably from a fanatical desire that the denunciation contained in the twentieth verse of
the ninth chapter of Judges should appear to be fulfilled against their enemies; "Let fire come out from Abimelech
and devour the men of Shechem and the bouse of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from
the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech." This denunciation was pronounced by Jotham the son of Gideon,
who delivered the Israelites from the Midianitisb yoke, against his brother Abimelech, who had usurped the title of
king over Israel; and against the men of Shechem, who bad conspired with him to deprive the Israelites of their
liberty, and who were consequently regarded by them in the light of their bitterest enemies. Sahagun and Torquemada
both describe the ceremonies which accompanied the above-mentioned cruel Mexican rite; the former in the tenth



NOTES. 491

and thirteenth chapters of the seventh book of his History, and the latter in the thirty-third chapter of the tenth book
of his Indian Monarchy. The remarkable passage in the Book of Judges referred to, which corrupted by tradition
possibly laid the foundation of that rite amongst the Mexicans, is thus translated in the Septuagint: "'E~€AOO' 7rVp
a7ro ·A{3LIl€X€X. Kat Ka-racj>uyot· TOV«: av8pac; l:tKt,uWV, Kat 'TOV OlKOll B119,u.aaAw. Kat €~€A60t 7rtJp a7rO ~v8pwv ~lKtP.WV, Kat €K TOU
O;KOV B~Ol'aaAW, Ka, KaTacj>ayo, TO" 'A(3'I'€A€X'" It is not a little surprising to find, from the fifth and eighteenth verses
of the same chapter of Judges, that Abimelech slew seventy sons of Gideon, his own brothers, upon one stone; since
we here have an example of the Mexican mode of immolating victims upon a stone (the piedm or tqjon so often
mentioned by Sahagun) having been practised in very early ages by the Jews. But it is even more surprising that
after such conduct the Israelites should have allowed Abimelech to reign over them for three years, as we are
informed was the case in the twenty-second verse of the above-mentioned chapter; and that at the expiration of that
period it should have been the men of Shechem, and not his Hebrew subjects, who dealt treacherously with him.
The precise manner in which Abimelech put his brothers to death upon one stone, it is impossible to know; he must
have had a reason for causing so many as seventy persons to be led to the same place of execution, which was
probably founded either upon the intended mode itself of their death, or upon the propriety of slaying them upon
that particular stone. But if his conduct was on that occasion influenced by mere caprice, and if in the face of day,
the children ofIsrael looking patiently on, he ventured so to act in the full confidence that the nation would not avenge
so great a wrong, it can only be said that a people who could be guilty of such base ingratitude to their deliverer,
well deserved so worthless a king. Whether the Jews ever immolated victims in the Mexican manner, by making
an incision in their breasts and tearing out the heart through the wound, is no where recorded in Scripture.
On the authority however of Maimonides, their most famous Rabbi, we affirm that they were aequai?lted with
such a mode 'if sacrifice, since the following passage occurs in the seventh chapter of his Treatise concerning
Idolatry.;"lImu i10~ ~:J:1:1i1Y1 i1'!l~~1 i1'lii'1:1'rw~>:Y1:1lVi!l 1~'!l~:1~l:1J i1i10~:1~1:J C"D fl'1JY~:1Uii':11V;oro:1J
::l~:1 1'~'>:1m J~:1 'll:J ~1lY Yii' l'Yi1j?1V 1'1V1Y 1':11V 11l:J ~1:1 0"1:J flJ1ii'fl i1Y:1:1rlV U Y'1'1V )1.)'0 i1Y::l:1':1 O~ 1:J'!l~
i1r::l ~>:1':J ~:J 1;)1:1~l:1::l 1'i10~ 1:J V11V Ii1iW:1 lfl1~ ~:J 'i:1 which has been thus translated by Dionysius Vossius:
"De juramenta quod obtulerunt ad qurestum quicquam lucrifacere prohibitum est: etiam de stercore, ossibus, cornibus,
un gulis, pelleque ejus; de omnibus, inquam, istis qurestum facere vetamur. Quod si in pelle nota joret, et
indicatum pellem eam idolis esse oblatam; ut Jiebat, cum rotundo joramine C.t' adverso cordis jacto, cor per illud
e.t'trahebant  ex pelle hujusmodi inconcessum erat lucrum, nt et creteris talibus." The learned translator, commenting
upon the concluding portion of this paragraph" But if there should be a mark in the skin, and it be plain
that it is a skin which has been offered to idols, as is the case when, a round hole having been made opposite to the
heart, the heart has been torn out through it; it is unlawful to turn such a skin to profit," makes the following curious
remarks: "Tradit Maimonides in notis ad Misnajot, hunc fuisse cultum gentilium, est 'species idololatrire.' Videntur
gentiles (si Hebra;os audimus, qui tamen, unde illud hauserint nescio,) ad extrahendum cor animantis joramen,
circuli aut potius cordis forma fecisse; et si foramen illud per errorem in Ion gum disruptum fuisset, illam pecudem
pro inutili ad sacrificia habuisse. Habes idem in Aboda Zara, cap. 11. sec. 4: 'Raban Simeon Ben Gamliel ait,
quando incisura est orbicularis, prohibitas esse (pelles); ubi oblonga, licitas.' Pelles ere, quibus incisura rotunda est,
vocantur ibidem' pelles cardium'," "Maimonides observes in his notes upon Misnajot, that this was a heathen
practice, 'a kind of idolatry'. It would appear that the Gentiles (if the Jews are to be credited, whose sources of
information are wholly unknown to me,) made an aperture of a round shape, or rather in the form of a heart, through
which they tore out the heart of the victim; but if the aperture from want of dexterity (on the part of the sacrificer)
assumed the appearance of a lengthened rent, the animal was deemed useless for the purposes of sacrifice, The
same thing is said in Aboda Zara, chap. 11. sec. 4: 'Rabi Simeon Ben Gamliel affirms, that when the incision is
orbicular, the skins are forbidden; when it is oblong, that they are lawfu!.' Skins, the incision in which was oval,
are there named' heart skins'." These, however, are not the only skins which have supplied Jewish and even
Christian writers with matter for controversy; since the' tunicre pellicere' which God gave Adam in Paradise after
he had discovered that he was naked, have given rise to the most absurd theories; und the question that was asked
nearly two thousand years ago, namely, Where did these skins come from? has not yet been satisfactorily answered.
The Rabbis, who have not scrupled to declare (in order, no doubt, to add still greater sanctity to sacrifice,) that God,
on the occasion of having created the moon less than the sun, offered a sacrifice of atonement for himself, as it were



492 NOTES.

in confession of error, will perhaps contend that these were the skins of the victims then killed. It certainly must
cause some surprise to find that not Maimonides alone, but a whole string of Rabbis were acquainted with a mode
of sacrifice almost the same as that practised by the Mexicans, which had escaped the notice of the most dili ent
antiquarians. The distinction likewise which they attempt to draw between wounds made of an oval shape ingthe
breasts of sacrificed animals, and longitudinal incisions, is very nice, and might induce some persons to suppose that
the Jews themselves occasionally sacrificed in the latter manner, and therefore that such skins were lawful. It may
be proper to observe, that by longitudinal incisions are signified transverse wounds across the hreast; since if the
incision had been made in a straight line down the abdomen, it wonld have been impossible to recognize any holes
in the hide after the animal was skinned. In the nineteenth section of the eighth chapter of Maimonides's Treatise
concerning Idolatry, we are informed that the Jews were not forbidden to use altars consisting of a single stone, even
though they had previously been consecrated to idols, provided their tops were mutilated: from which permission,
as well as from the Hebrew language assigning to such altars the peculiar name of bimos, 01n'J, it may be inferred
that altars of single stones were very common amongst the Jews, as they were also amongst the Mexicans; since it
requires little study of the philosophy of language to know that words which are not proper names are the record
of things which have had specific existence in nature, or which man has fashioned in numbers after a common
prototype.

NOTE III.

Whether America was known to the ancients, is a question which probably will never be satisfactorily solved: 
it may, however, confidently be said, that the assumption of the negative implies the petitio principii, that modern 
ages, knowing exactly what was comprised within the sphere of ancient knowledge, are qualified to judge of what 
they were ignorant. It is evident that in proportion as naval enterprise was encouraged by the most ancient states, 
the chances of the inhabitants of the Old Continent becoming acquainted with the existence of those of the New 
were increased; and it would be wrong, from the silence of Classical authors, to draw conclusive arguments justly 
liable to the charge of latitude of inference, that because the Greeks and Romans were ignorant of the existence of
the continent of America, it must necessarily have been unknown in the elder ages of the world to the Egyptians, 
the Phoenicians, or other powerful maritime states. Referring to the page of history, we find that not only did the 
Jews and the Tyrians in the reigns of Solomon and Hiram trade to Ophir and the isles, but that the Carthaginians 
and the Tyrrhenians prosecuted their discoveries at a very remote epoch beyond the Pillars of Hercules; and that 
the Egyptians, so early as in the reign of Sesostris, possessed a powerful and numerous navy, which fact is recorded 
by Diodorus Siculus; and is the more deserving of attention, since it was the Egyptian priests of Sais who communicated 
to Solon the tradition of the existence of the island of Atlantis, as we learn from the Timreus and Critias 
of Plato, which, although pronounced by many persons to be merely a fiction invented by Plato, it still should be 
recollected has never been judged to be so by the greatest scholars who have been most familiar with the writings of 
that philosopher, who with a few exceptions have all been disposed to believe that at least it is fonnded on Egyptian 
tradition. To the objection which may be urged against the authenticity of the account of that island, as given by 
Plato in his two above-mentioned dialogues, -- viz. that its extreme improbability divests it of all appearance of truth,
whilst the compliments paid to the Athenians in the part ascribed to them in the war with the inhabitants of the
island of Atlantis, too clearly betray a Greek and not an Egyptian origin, -- it may be replied that Solon was a poet
of transcendent genius as well as a famous legislator; and that having visited Egypt and become acquainted with
the tradition of the Egyptians respecting the island of Atlantis, he determined to raise a poetical superstructure on 
so extraordinary a rumour, and, being eminently distinguished for the love which he bore his native country, to make 
the existence of that island redound to the glory of the Athenian name. And on this supposition the entire of the
unfinished dialogue of Plato, entitled Critias, would appear to be merely the Argument of the epic poem which Solon 
intended to compose, and of which Plato makes express mention in the following passage of his Timreus: "nOAAWV pev 
au,.. 8" Ka, 7rOAAa i)... ex(Jy/ 'iTOUJTWV 7rOUJ,uaTa' aTE 8€ Jlea KaT' EKElalOV TOil XpOVOV OIl1"a Ta ~AwvOI; 1l'OAAoL 
TWV 7raL8wv Vaap.ev. ei.1rEV




NOTES. 493

o~v TtC 'T'WV cppaTopwv, et'rE 8", 8~KOVV aVTtp TOTE, eiTE Kat. Xap'" Tlva T~ Kpt.'T"~ <jJepwv, 80K£'" oi Ta TE' dAAa cro</>WTaTOV yeYOVEVat
~o~wva, Kal KaTa 'TIlV 7rOU1(JlV au TWV 1TOU1TWV 1I"aVTWV e}.£UBeplWTaTOV· a 8e 'YEPWV (acJ>o8pa yap oiw p,£IlII'I]f'aL) }ta)..a T€ ~a6t'1, Kat
~,af'€L8la(1ac, ei7r€v, E~}'e, ~ 'AplJvav8pe, Ill} 7rapep'YCf Tllll'OU10'€t KaT€xplJaaTO, aAX' ea1rOV8aKEl, Ka(Ja7rep dAAOt, TOll T€ AOYOV Oll an.'
Aiyv7rTOlJ 8evpo ~vE'YKaTo a1rET€Ae(Je, Kat In, 8,o 'lac O'TaO'EU;, {nro KaleWlI TE ciXXwv aua evpev EvBa8e T,KWV, ~va'YKaa(jJ} KaTa,u€Al}O'at,
KaTa Tl1V EIUW 8o~av OUTE "HCH08oc, oil'1'e 'O!-'-l1POC, oUTe aAXol; ov8eu; TWV 7rOlf/TWV, ev8o"fpwTepoc €'Y€V€TO av 7l'OT€ aVT~u." "Numerous
were the poetical compositions which were recited on that occasion; but many of us, who were boys, sang the
verses of Solon, which were then new, when a fellow citizen remarked, either being really at the time of the opinion, or
because he knew that what he said would gratify Critias, that Solon appeared to him not only to bear away the palm
of every other kind of excellence, but also to be the most spirited of the poets; on which the old man, well I recollect
the time, seemed greatly pleased, and smiling replied, If at least, O Amynander, poetry had been to him more than
the recreation of a leisure hour, and he had ever applied seriously to the cultivation of it, as is the case with others,
and had matured the argument which he brought hither from Egypt, and had not been compelled on his return home
by civil commotions and other evils, to consign to oblivion what he had already written; according to my judgment
neither Hesiod, nor Homer, nor any other poet whatever, would have been more esteemed than him." The reasonableness
of the above conjecture having been admitted, as well might it be contended that the improbable scenes and
episodes of the Iliad furnish conclusive evidence against the existence of Troy, as that the argument of Solon's
intended poem, embellished by the poetical imagination of Plato, affords proof that the Egyptian tradition respecting
the island of Atlantis was a mere fable: at the same time it must be confessed that the account of that island in the
dialogues of Plato, and the testimony of the priests of Sais, would be infinitely less deserving of attention, if the
former did not indicate a much greater knowledge of the geography of the earth than can be discovered in the
Pentateuch, and the latter had not been men of acknowledged wisdom and erndition, the subjects of the most ancient
and civilized state on the globe, which preserved with a sort of religious care historical traditions, and which ages
before had made discoveries in navigation. The following is Plato's account of the. situation of the island of
Atlantis in the ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules, by which name the Straits of Gibraltar were formerly designated;
which would almost imply (if the agreement between his description and the physical distribution of the
earth's surface be not wholly accidental) an acquaintance on the part of the Egyptians with the West Indian islands,
the continent of America, and the junction of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. "To,.. -yap "!rop.veTl!,o",jv,.0 €K€<
7r€:x.aY0l;. Vl1(JOV -yap 1tPO TOU aTop.aTo,:: eiXE", 0 KaA€tT€ (we cj>aT€ VJ.l€U;) 'HpaKAEOvc O"T1jAac..;, 8£ Vl1O'OC uf4a At{3u11c ~v Kat 'Autac
'1::' '(3,  '-,, <:'I' 1 P.et4WV, Ec;. 11C Em aTOll €7ft Tac «"Aac Vl'JO'OUt; TOtC 'TOT e'YtyvEro 7r0peU0f1EVOU;, fK CE' TWV V'1(JWV E7rt 'if/V KaTaV'TlKpU 7raO'QV 1)7rE'POV,
'Tl'1V 7rep' TOV aAl)(hvQV €K€(VOV 1TOVTOV. 'Ta8e p.€" -yap oem eVTO':: 'TOU C1TopaTOC; QU Aeyop.ev, cj>aLVETat A(,ul}V O'T€VOV TtVa eiu1TAouv €XWV.
, "" Th. th t t €K€lVO DE 1TEAQ')'OC OVTWC, 7J TE 7rep'EXOUaQ aUTO "ttl VaVT€AWC a/U) we, op OTaT av l\€'yOlTO 't17re,poc;. The sea in a quarter
was then navigable, for it contained an island which fronted those straits, which you call, as you affirm, the Pillars
of Hercules. This island was larger than Africa and Asia united, and from it there was a passage to other islands
which was practicable to voyagers of that age; and from the latter to an entire continent, which was situated
opposite to them, being skirted by that which is the true sea; for the portion inclosed within the straits, of which
we have been speaking, resembles a lake, to which admission is afforded by a narrow inlet; but the other is
in reality a sea, and the land which encompasses it may with the greatest truth and justice be designated a continent."

It is unnecessary to refer to the authority of any particular historian, to prove that the Egyptian priests in the age
of Solon were an enlightened class of men, since the visits which they received from Pythagoras, Lycurgus, Solon,
and Plato, are sufficiently confirmatory of the fact: but since the naval skill of the ancient Egyptians (which would
suggest a reason for the origin of the tradition of the existence of the island of Atlantis amongst the priests of Sais,
making it at the same time probable, that under an allegory of the sea ceasing to be navigable for ships was signified
the extinction of Egyptian naval enterprise) is passed over unnoticed by many modern writers, who still profess to
draw important political maxims from reasoning on the power and greatness of ancient states, we shall quote two
passages from Diodorus Siculus, which are decisive upon that subject; remarking, at the same time, that the navigation
of the Nile in boats and larger vessels would have been likely to have tempted the Egyptians in the earliest
ages to have ventured to sea in ships.  KaTaUKEvaO'QC 8e 'Tl1V 8uvap.lv, eO''Tpa-revaev €7r' 7rPWT01Jt; AiOL07I"ac, TOvt; wpOC TJ'1V f'eCTlJfL{
3ptav KaTOt,,"OVVT'at;. Kat KaTa7rOA€f'lIaac, ~va'YKaO'€ TO EOlloe; cpopovc; TeAew, €{3evov Kal. xplJaov, KaL TWV €AecpallTwv TOVr, 080VTO,.




494 NOTES.

E7rEl.. E~C /Jev Tl1V epuOpav Oa~aa(1av ~'iTEaTe'Ae O'TOAOV VEWV TETpaKocnwv, 7rpWTOC TWV E1xwP1Wil p.aKpa O'KacJ>l1 vau7rlJ'Yl)uap.Evoc·
, 
Kat Tac T€ V71O'01)1; Tac Ell TOlC TO'1l"OIC KaTEKT1)aaTO, Kal Tl1C lJTJ'E'POlJ TO Trupa uaAaTTav PEP" KaTEC1TpClfaTO, PEXP' Tl1C Iv8u..""llC, C:UTOC
8e p..;, -- a Tl1C 8uvafLewc 7rE~'P T7JV 7r0pelaV 7rOll'laaf'EVOC, KaTEaTpe1faTO ?raaav Tl1V AUlav. au,",ovav -yap TlJV V(sTEPOV 117" AA€~av8pou
TOU MaKe8ovoc KaTaKT1,Oetaav xwpav €7rl1AOeV, aA-An Kat Ttva TWV e8vwv, wV €KE1VOC OU 7rape{3aAEv fie TlJV xwpav. Kat yap TOll raY'YllV
1f'OTaf'01l Sle{31J, Kat "fill 'Iv8'''1111 E7rfJAOe ?raaav ewe Ol<:eavou, Kal Ta TWV 'IKtJOWV eOIJ1J IlEXP' Tavai80c 1f'OTapOU, TOl) 8topt40VTOC Tl1l1
EvpW7I"11V a1TO T7JC Aalac. oTe 8" <paCT' TWV Ai-yv7rTlWV Ttvae KaTaAEt<pOevTac 1TEpt T7)V MalWTLV A'I-'Vf1Va\/cTTf1aacrBaL TO 'TWV KOAXWlI
fOvoe;. ~Tt ~e TOUTO TO "Ievoe; AiytnTTLaKov fan, crf1f'ELOV €iVQl TO 7rEplTep.veaOaL TOUe; avOpW7rOUC; 7rapa7rAf1<TlWe; 'TOlC; KaT- 'AL')'V'lrTOV.
~lOP.EVOVTOC TOU vop.tp.ov 7rapa TOtC; a7rOlKOLC, KaOa'lrEp KaL 7rapa TOle; 'Iov~alote;. ~p.olwe; ~e Kat 'Tf1v AOt7rf1V 'AaLav a7raaav V7rf1KOOV
€7rOtllCTaTO, Kat TWV KVKAa8wv Vll<TWV Tac; 7rAEtaTae;. ~La{3ac; ~' eie; TllV EVPW7rllV, Kat 8L€~LWV a7ra<Tav T'1V 9pCfK1W, EKLvSlIvevaev
a7roJ3aA€LV TllV 8vvaflLV, 8ta a7ravuJ Tpocf>'YIe; Kat T07l'WV ~V<TXWplae;. SlO7rep ~pla T7JC; aTpaTElac; 7rOlllaa,uetlOe; Ell TV 9p'fKV, aT7JAac;
KaTE<TKeVa<TeV e,v 7rO"I \I\Ote; T07rOLe; TWV Vr aU, TOV KaTaKTl1 0E VTWV' aV Of TllV €' 7rtypa..',".,l )v E'l XOV A't' )'V7l'TtOle; 'Ypap.p.a<Tl, TOLe; iepote;
Ae-yop.EVOle;, T'YIVSe Tl1V xwpav ~7l'AOLC; KaTE<TTpe1faTO TOle; eaVTOU {3a<TLA€lJC {3a<T(XEWV Kat Sea7rOTfJC ~Ea7l'OTWV ~E<TOW(ne;." Diodorus
Siculus, lib. 1. "Sesoosis, having collected his forces, made his first expedition against the southern Ethiopians, and
having conquered them, compelled the nation to pay him tribute of ebony, gold, and ivory: he next sent a fleet of
four hundred ships to the Red Sea, being the first of his conntrymen who caused long vessels to be built, and acquired
possession of various islands, and subjugated that portion of the continent which bordered on the sea coast as far as
India; and marching himself with his land forces, reduced to obedience all Asia; for he not only invaded the
territory comprised within the later conquests of the Macedonian Alexander, but even other nations whose country
the latter had not approached; for he passed the river Ganges, and traversed all India till he arrived at the ocean,
and the region of the Scythians as far as the river Tanais, which divides Europe from Asia; on which occasion it is
said a certain number of the Egyptians having been left behind near the lake Mceotis, became the founders of the
Colchian state. That the Colchians are descended from the Egyptians may be inferred from the men of that nation
being circumcised like the Egyptians, that custom having been preserved by this colony, as it has likewise amongst
the Jews. He subjugated in the same manner all the rest of Asia, and most of the islands named the Cyclades, and
passing over to Europe scoured the whole of Thrace, where he ran the risk of losing his army from famine and the
natural difficulties of the soil; wherefore having made Thrace the boundaries of his expedition, he prepared to erect
pillars in many places which he had conquered. These pillars bore an inscription in the sacred character of the
Egyptians: Sesoosis, the king of kings and lord of lords, conquered this country with his own arms.'" This famous
Egyptian hero flourished long before the time of Abraham, being the second of the twelfth dynasty of the Diospolitan
kings, according to Manetho; whilst Eusebius in his Chronological Canons makes that patriarch contemporary with
the sixteenth dynasty of Egyptian sovereigns, likewise named Diospolitan. If Egypt therefore so early as in the
reign of Sesostris became a naval power, it is but reasonable to suppose that in later ages its maritime strength
would have received great accessions from the attention which a wise government would have thought it necessary
to pay to means so obviously calculated to increase national greatness. History accordingly informs us that the
Egyptians became distinguished for their naval enterprize, and at last acquired the sovereignty of the seas, as
Eusebius informs us in his catalogue of ancient states, to which the possession of that distinction was by general
consent allowed, making mention of them there the eighth in order immediately after the Phoenicians. The Egyptian
naval power was probably at its height in the reign of Apries, a short period before the invasion of Egypt by
Cambyses, to which it even might have given rise, by causing jealousies between the Persians and the Egyptians;
since Diodorus Siculus asserts in the following passage of his first book, that that monarch defeated the Phoenicians
both by sea and land, and captured Sidon. "Me.,.a ae Yal'l'~"'IXov v".,.epov.,.e.,..,.ap"! -ye.ealr, 'A"'pl~e '{3o",).ev"e.,.~ aV"I
7rXEtW TWV e;Koal. aTpaT€V<Tat; Se 8vvap.€O'lv a~pale; 71'€tlKQle; T€ Kat VaUTlKQlt; E7l'l KV7fpov Kat <!>OlVLKl1V, ~l~wva flEV KaTa KpaToc fiA€,
Tac S' dAAat: Tl1t: <I>olvlKlle; 7rOA€LC KaTa7rXll~ap.evot: 'TrP0<T'YIYQy€-ro. EVLKflaE ~€ Kat vauf'aXHI 1-'€"Ia;\11 <I>oLtlLKae; T€ Kat KV7rpwut;. Kat
).acj>vpw. nOpoI"ae... )'~8oe '... a.~)'Oe. eie Aii"'1rTov." II The reign of Apries, which lasted two and thirty years, was four
generations later than that of Psammetichus. Having undertaken an expedition with a numerous land and sea force
against Cyprus and Phoenicia, he took Sidon by storm, and striking terror into the other cities of Phoenicia, compelled
them to court his friendship. He obtained likewise a great naval victory over both the Phoenicians and the
Cyprians, and returned to Egypt loaded with rich spoils." Enough has been said to show the possibility of the
tradition of the island of Atlantis having originated in the discovery in very remote ages of a portion of the continent 




NOTES. 495
of America by the Egyptians, an event which is here only presumed not to be beyond the range of probability,
from the naval enterprise of the early Egyptians, of which another indication is found in the votive offering of a
ship, which Diodorus Siculus relates that Sesostris presented in the principal temple of Thebes. "'EvaU1r~"y~aaTo 8.
Kat 1r~O'OV Ke8plVOV, 'TO p.ev fUJICOl; 1I"'1XWV 8'"KOalWV Kal oy8011KOV'Ta, 1"''111 8' E7rlcpavElav EXOV 'T'111 /lev E~WO€V E7rtXPUC10V, 'Tl'J1' 8' Ev800€v
IcaT~P"yVPWl"fV~V, Ka, TOVTO I"EV aVfB~K' T,!! BE,!! T'I' l'aXUfTa €V e~{3a,~ T'I"WI"EV'p." "He also made a ship of cedar two
hundred and eighty cubits long, which he caused to be gilded on the outside, and overlaid with silver within; this
he presented to the god who is held in the greatest reverence at Thebes." The ship here mentioned, the value of
which must have been very great, was probably preserved for many ages in the temple, where it was dedicated; and
the safe return of an Egyptian expedition from a long and successful voyage of discovery, might have induced
Sesostris to present such an offering. It need scarcely be remarked, that the Red or Erythrrean Sea, whither that
monarch dispatched his fleet, was the name by which the Indian Ocean was properly distinguished, and that
the Red Sea which the Ioraelites crossed, usually so designated, is more generally named in profane history the
Arabian Gulf. Some confusion indeed has originated from the great difference of names which sacred and profane
history apply to the same persons and places; and the geographical description given by Moses in the second
chapter of Genesis of the site of the terrestrial paradise, and of the four great rivers, the sources of which were the
stream that watered the garden of Eden, whilst it has given rise to many curious problems in geography, does not
serve to solve any. All that can with certainty be inferred from it is, that the Euphrates continued to flow after the
Deluge in the same channel as it had done before it, and that the garden of Eden was situated a little beyond where
it parted from the other three rivers. Doctor Robertson, remarking, in his notes to his History of America, that the
ancients entertained very confused notions about geograpby, instances the curious fact, that when Alexander the
Great, prosecuting his conquests in Asia, arrived at the Indus, some of those who composed his expedition imagined
that they must be near the sources of the Nile from perceiving crocodiles in that river, an animal which they believed
was peculiar to the Nile. Moses, however, cannot be supposed under the name of the river Gibon to mean the Nile.
The following is the passage in the second chapter of Genesis alluded to. "And a river went out of Eden to water
the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it
which compasseth the whole land of Havilab, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: there is
bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the
whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of
Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates."

NOTE IV.

The chapter of Gomara, entitled, The Possibility of a Shorter Passage to the Maluccas, of which the subjoined is
the translation, is interesting, from showing that scarcely twenty years after the discovery of the continent of
America, the best informed men in Spain, of whom Gomara certainly was one, judged that the junction of the Atlantic
with the Pacific Ocean by an artificial passage across the Isthmus of Panama, would be by no means an impracticable task.

"The voyage from Spain to the Maluccas by the Straits of Magellan is so long and hazardous, that having had
frequent occasions to discuss the subject with men well acquainted with the Indies, as well as with other persons
conversant with history and of an inquiring turn of mind, I have heard of another good although an expensive
passage, which, if it were made, would be no less honourable than profitable to the maker. This passage would have
to be opened across the main land from the one sea to the other, by whichever might appear preferable of these
four lines; either by the river of Lagartos, which rising in Chagre at the distance of four leagues from Panama, over
which space of territory they proceed in cars, flows to the sea coast of Nombre de Dios; or by the channel through
which the lake of Nicaragua empties itself into the sea, up and down which large vessels sail, and the lake is only
distant three or four leagues from the sea; by either of these two rivers the passage is already traced and half
made. There is likewise another river which flows from Vera Cruz to Tecoantepec, along which the inhabitants of





496 NOTES.

New Spain tow and drag barks from the one sea to the other. The distance from Nombre de Dios to Panama is
seventeen leagues, and from the Gulf of Urava to the Gulf of San Miguel twenty-five, which are the other two more
difficult lines. There are mountains, it is true, but there are likewise hands; let but the wish be formed to make
the passage, and it can be made. If inclination be not wanting, there will be no want of means: the Indies
where the passage is to be made will supply them. To a king of Spain, with the wealth of the Indies at his
command, when the object to be obtained is the spice trade, that which is possible is in fact easy. It appeared an
impossibility, and really was one, to unite Brindez to Belona by a causeway over twenty leagues of the sea; yet
Pyrrhus and Marcus Varro wished and attempted it, in order to go by land from Italy to Greece. Nicanor began to
open a canal of more than a hundred leagues extent by land, without reckoning rivers, for the sake of transporting
spices and other merchandize from the Caspian to the Pontic or Black Sea; but having been put to death by
Ptolemy Ceraunus, his generous and princely design was abandoned. Nitocris, Sesostris, Psammetichus, Darius,
Ptolemy, and other kings, projected the junction of the Red Sea with the Nile by means of a canal, in order that
spices, perfumes, and medicines might be conveyed straight from the ocean to the Mediterranean; but being
apprehensive lest the sea should inundate Egypt either by bursting the aqueducts, or by an over supply of water,
they were deterred from the undertaking; and likewise because the sea might have been detrimental to the river,
without which Egypt would be nothing. If the passage of which I have been speaking was accomplished, the
navigation to the Maluccas would be shortened by a third of the distance, since ships proceeding thither would
always sail by the Canaries under the equator, in a warm latitude, within the dominions of Spain, and without fear of
meeting with a foe: nor would our Indies derive less advantage from it, since merchandize would be conveyed to
Peru and other provinces in the same ships that brought it from Spain, and much expense and trouble would thus be
saved." -- La Istoria de las Indias, fol. Iviii.

NOTE V, page 250.

M. Chiarini, speaking of the Talmud, says, "Son genie malfaisant porte des coups funestes et invisibles au genre
humain du milieu des tenebres epaisses qui l'environnent: qui pourrait calculer combien il a contribue et contribue
encore a multiplier les malheurs qui affiigent la terre 7" "Its malignant genius aims invisible blows at the human
race from the midst of the dense darkness in which it is enveloped: who can calculate how much it has contributed
and still contributes to multiply the evils which affiict the earth?" The Talmud is, however, as the Rabbis contend,
Judaism embodied into a perfect system: it contains the decisions of the greatest Jewish doctors upon difficult and
disputed points of their law; and although it has been proscribed by many Popes and sentenced to the flames, it
should not be forgotten that the voice of the same nation, whose veracity is fully relied upon and whose testimony is
admitted to prove the Old Testament to be the word of God, declares that the traditions and the oral laws consigned
to the Talmud were likewise delivered by God to Moses from Mount Sinai, and that their claim to inspiration cannot
be affected by the circumstance of their not having been then written down; since it might as reasonably be contended
that the written law was a forgery, as the oral law an invention of the Jews; for that the national credit must be
compromised, if at all, in both instances. This is the style in which the Jews reply to the objections of Christians.
It must certainly be admitted that their Talmud is the development of the principles of law laid down by Moses, and
by the sages of the nation for which his code was expressly framed; in lopping off the branches of the tree, it will
therefore be very necessary to be careful not to injure the trunk; and to the Hebrew proverb, that "the tree is to he
judged of by its fruit," none but the Jews will in this case feel inclined to yield assent. But what, it may be inquired,
are the doctrines of a book which Popes have so often anathematized, kings caused to be seized and burnt in
their respective dominions, universities condemned, and learned men denounced as dangerous to civil society? Are
the obnoxious principles which it contains one or many, and to what source may they be traced? Those who have
turned over the pages of the Talmud must confess that absurdity, fanaticism, and universal intolerance are its leading
doctrines. Fortunate has it been for the world that the Jews have always been an insignificant and weak state; the
globe would have otherwise been desolated by religious wars. And fortunate also has it been for them that other




498 NOTES.

and children; the latter, because till they attained the age of thirteen they were reckoned amongst their parents'
goods: and to sum up all, animals are mentioned in the next section as also adjudged to death, the plea of not
guilty of proselytism availing them as much as the answer of the lamb to the wolf in the fable. The fanatical
interpretation which some of the Rabbis have put on the words of the Mosaic text, "percutient omnem animam
hominis," is thus noticed by Dionysius Vossius: "In Siphre de civitate seducta dicitur: Non morientur patres
propter lilios, neque filii propter patres: juxta quam sententiam verba Scripturre, percutiendo percuties omnes lwbitatores
illius civitatis acie gladii, de reis intelligenda sint, non item, quorum nulla hic culpa est, infantibus. Super
eadem re disputarunt R. Elihezer et R. Aquiba: quorum ille occidi omnes, hie parvutis parcendum contendebat.
Autor noster (Maimonides) Elihezerum sequitur; quia peccatum desertre religionis usque adeo grave cst, ut omnem
ejus memoriam aboleri Deus velit, quo ad reliquos terror et exemplum perveniret. Unde addunt qui hanc sententiam
tuentur, quod Dominus omnes facultates talium absumi jusserit: liberi autem, usque ad annum XIII juxta
Thalmudistas, inter parentumfacultates numerentur. Et simile est, quod Deus etiam animalia, quibuscum peccatum
commissum est, jusserit supplicio affici." When we consider the bitterness which the Rabbis have always displayed
against proselytes from Judaism, by their writings, by their example, and by their appeal to passages of holy writ,
endeavouring to excite a spirit of exterminating vengeance in the breasts of their countrymen against them, we need
not feel at all surprised that it is a dangerous thing even still to attempt to convert the Jews resident in the East,
who live on a more equal footing with the rest of the population, and are more powerful as a body and more
respected as individuals, than in this country: this perhaps Mr. Wolfe will confess, if he returns safe from his
charitable expedition to the Holy Land. It is a very well known fact in Constantinople, that a Jew who becomes a
proselyte not only exposes his family to certain ruin and disgrace, but himself runs imminent danger of assassination:
nor, supposing that he were dragged before the secret tribunal of Judaism, would he have a word to reply
against the seeming justice of a sentence, which condemned him to die for an alleged offence for which the population
of whole cities, men, women, and children, had died before him. When we read in ancient history of
persecutions which the Jews occasionally suffered from the Romans, and reflect at the same time that the religion of
the latter was tolerant and indulgent in the extreme to those of other nations, how can we feel surprised that the
emperors should have become indignant on hearing that the blood of their legions had streamed in Palestine merely
to gratify Jewish fanaticism, or that they should have taken speedy and summary vengeance? Not to have resented
so great an indignity might have been termed by some of the early Christian historians patience; but the Romans
would not so have judged it, and it certainly would not have been human nature: the complaints, generally speaking,
brought by the Jews against the Romans were vexatious and not unfrequently seditious; 'To render unto Cresar
the things that were Cresar's' was an injunction which they obeyed with a very ill grace, as the admonition itself
would seem to imply, which would not have been given had it not been necessary. Maimonides having been
eulogized by M. Beugnot as a Rabbi who was an ornament to his age and country, and whose enlightened views it
would be well if the rest of his nation could be brought to adopt, we shall take the liberty of observing, with all due
respect for his opinion, that the Jews have long adopted them to the very spirit and letter, and that the work to
which they are consigned may justly be entitled the most odious birth of time, since the principles it advocates do
really aim, from the midst of the dense darkness which envelops them, invisible blows at the human race: but we
cannot concur in the eulogium which he pronounces on Maimonides, since the following passage occurs in the
second chapter of his Treatise concerning Idolatry, from which a due estimate may be formed of the enlightened
views which actuated that Rabbi, who applies the contemptuous epithet of books composed by idolators to works
written by Christians on their religion, and attempts to distort the command given by Moses to the Jews in the
fourth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, "Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourself molten gods," into
a positive and distinct prohibition to them against reading a particular class of books, which Moses never foresaw
would be written. It is almost surprising that he did not go a little further, and declare to his simple flock that to
learn to read was itself. idolatrous and forbidden to all but Rabbis, who by the Lord's special grace knew how to
distinguish good from evil. "Multos libros composuerunt idololatrre de cultu suo, quod sit fundamentum ill ius,
qure opera, et qui ritus. Creterum prrecepit nobis Deus benedict us ne quidquam legeremus in libris istis, neque
meditaremur in ea (idololatria), aut ulla re qure huc pertineat. Quin etiam considerare formam imaginis vetitum
est. q. d. 'Ne defigas oculos tuos in idola'. Atque ideo dictum est, 'Ne forte inquiras in deos eo rum', diceudo, quo




NOT E S. 499
modo coluerunt? Ne roges de ratione colendi eos, etiamsi iis non servias; quia hoc te impellit ut convertaris ad eos,
ac facias quemadmodum illi faciunt: quo respiciunt verba, 'Et faciam sic quoque ego'. Omnia autem prrecepta
negativa sub hoc uno comprehenduntur; nimirum, ne quis se convertat ad stellas ac planetas. Quos qui attentius
respicit, ita ut opus aliquod faciat, omnino vapulat." The passage which follows in the original Hebrew is extracted
from the tenth chapter of Maimonides's Treatise concerning Idolatry; and well may Voss ius, the translator and commentator
of the Hebrew text, on rendering such a passage into Latin, exclaim, "Maimonidem hic qui purgem, non
satis video. Non eum de solis Cananrere gentibus, sed universe de gentilibus idola colentibus, loeutum esse, vel illud
fidem few'it, quod initio sequentis paragmphi generatim dicat, Hac dicta sunt de idololatris." How the' eagle of the
doctors', as he is styled by his countrymen, ever dared to give utterance to such sentiments, may be matter of wonder;
but they prove that fanaticism swayed his heart no less strongly than his head; and the reflection will occur to
many, that if such a man had possessed power commensurate with his will to persecute, Moloch, and not Jehovah,
would have been the name that would have resounded through the terrified nations of the earth. n'i:t l'nil:l 1'~
Cni~ il0~1 lJiii' 1~ cnil:tyn lilii' ~~~ Oii~ n1i:ln ~~ in~l1V C':tlY~ cnl~ n'll1 C1~1V vmy ii1VYl1V ',:l C"1:l ":tlY~
1':t~~ ~:t~ 1l~'1I' ~~ nm~ '1~l lii~i: 1l~Y' ~~ im:t Y:tl~ 1~ ':tl~ O"1:l,:tlY '1J ii~i C~ l:l'EI~ Clnn ~~1 iO~l1V Cii'~Y
11:tN~ iil110 ~Ni1V'O l'ClilP'ElNii1 0'iOl0ii ~:t~ 01:l"Y:t N"':l: iiOii70 1l0Y ii1V1Y ll'N1V 'l!lO i10N iit:l NlIl':l1 1ns'~ IN 1,':t
C"1:l,,:t1;> n1E1i~ i1C~1V 1t:I~ iinN l~:lO ·'ii 'in~o OYii nN l'i'om ~N'1V'~ l'i'1I0 1ii1V 'JElO nn1V iN:t 'Y 11'i1ii~1 ":t
ii11m iin~1 ~'Nlii:t1V1n iJ1. i1CN CJn:l ~:lN i:l1V:l NEliO ii:l'~ C11VO 1V1V1n ii'ii1V 1N vm ~i"no ii'ii CN1 i:l1V:t 1~'ElN
: OJn:t ln1N C'NEliO 1n1'm~ "Ne pasciscantur cum idololatris, ita ut iis concedant idola colendi licentiam: quia
dicitur, 'Non percuties cum eis,' &c. Sed vel a cultu avertant, vel occidant: nec eorum misereri licet, quia dicitur,
, Nec misereberis eorum'. Idcirco, si quis viderit gentilem pereuntem, vel aquis demersum, ne opem ferat. Si eum
morti proximum viderit, ne eripiat mOl'ti. Attamen manu sua eum perdere, prrecipitem in puteum dare, vel si quid
huic simile, nefas est, quia nobiscum bellum non gerit. Hrec dicta sunt de idololatris. Sed Israelitarum illos qui
a religione desciverint, vel Epicurei evaserint, trucidare, atque ad inferos usque persequi jubemur. Quippe afHigunt
Israelem, populumque a Deo avertunt. Hinc discere est, prohibitum quoque esse ne medicinam idololatris faciamus,
utcunque mercedem reciperemus. Creterum si quis sibi ab iis metuat, ac se propterea fore credat exosum, mercede
sanabit, gratis vero non licet. Proselytum autem inter Israelitas degentem, quia incolumem eum servare jubentur,
gratis etiam curabunt." The preceding chapter of Maimonides breathes the same Jewish charity, as will more
evidently appear from the following precept taken from the thirteenth section. n'i:ll'1V m:t nN P'ln N' ~Ni1V' n:t
n~ iiP'101 ~~i1V' n:t n~ n,,'t:I n'i:llii1 ii:t'~ C11Vt:1 i:l1V:t ~'ii n'~'t:I,:t~ n'i:lJii n~,,'n ~'1 0"1Y' 1:t nnJt:l1V 'lEiO
: 1lYiiin ~~1V '1:l iin11Vi:t m:t "Mulier Israelitica non lactabit filium idol is servientis; quia is filium ad idololatriam
educat. Itidem nec obstetricabitur paganre idola colenti. Sed licet pro mercede odii causa obstetricari. Paganre vero
obstetricis opera uti mulieri Israeliticre licet: etiam ad lactandum filium suum uti ea licet; sed domi matris ne occidat
eum." What hateful suspicions against Christians are inculcated by Maimonides in the concluding sentence of the
above paragraph! For the honour of human nature, however, we must hasten to explain away the apparent signification
of "sed licet odii causa obstetricari," by citing a note subjoined to the Hebrew text by Dionysius Vossius. "Cur ex
odio permittit obstetricari? Num quia occasion em sic habitura interimendi fcetus, vel etiam puerperre aut parturientis?
Vix persuadere mihi possum, rem ad eo detestabilem a Maimonide prrecipi. Vera proinde interpretatio est,
odii causa posse obstetricari, hoc est, ad odium effugiendum, sive ne odium gliscat, sed potius occurratur iis, qui, si
negetur hoc officium, pejus odissent, magisque malefacerent. Neque hic gratificari me Maimonidre, sed rever"hanc
ejus fuisse sententiam liquet ex capitis sequentis sectione secunda; ubi clare ait, si quis metuat ab iis qui
religionis sunt disparis, posse ad odium evitandum medicam ad movere manum; non gratis tamen, sed pro mercede."
It cannot be denied that the modern race of Jews are a charitable people, and possess, as a nation, many excellent
qualities; but this is owing to the inherent goodness of human nature, and not to Judaism, which strives from the
cradle to make the Jews haters of those who are of a different creed from their own, but which never yet, we will
venture to say, except partially and locally, has attained its end, since it is impossible ror.a religion, be it ever so
intolerant, totally to pervert human nature; and even if it were possible for an entire generation of men to become
the instruments of fanaticism, they would soon be succeeded by a new and innocent race, whom it would be most
unjust even to reproach on account of the alleged crimes of their ancestors. That the charity of the modern Jews to
strangers and persons professing a different faith does not, however, flow from the precepts of their religion as taught




500 NOTES.

and expounded by their greatest doctors, the Rabbis of days of yore, must be evident to those who peruse with
attention the following and many other passages of the works of Maimonides. 'l!lO 'NiIV' "lV OV O'll "lV 1'0li!l0
: 01'IV '::Iii 'l!lO Oi'N 01'J l''!lNl Clt:ll'71VJ l"N1IVl 01'IV '::Iii 'l!lO ilN'!l1 ililJIV ~i"J O'll "lV 'i'J 1'1100 1'1011 01,IV ':Iii
iJl::1Jl i!!li il!lIVJ 01'IV '7 V\1l i'lIVJ lNm 017IV 17 nn7 li'N 01'J 'i:ll 7IV 1r1'J? Ol:l' 101')1 O'lV' 01'IV 1i!' l"!ll:1 1'1011
?NiIV' i'IV lOlJ 'IN 'NiIV' 'V il!l'i'n 0'1li! i'IV 1101 nlO1Nil 1';)7 ?NiIV' l?lIV lOlJ 101'101 0'il0N l'mil O'iJm,:I 1'101: IVNi
101' ililnOJ 01i'0' 011'00 iJ1V IN 'NiV nJ'IV' JlVl' l?'!lN ll'l'J 0"1:1 iJ1V 'll n'lil, ll' il0N O'lVil nl01N 'V il!l'i'n
ill 'iil nl~O'1 l"V,Ji' 01011 ilVIV'!l' l"!lN 1~iNJ lJlV' N, iONllV 11) 'lJ 11~~lIV nlm VJlV l"V 'Ji"IV iV ll~iNJ ilJV'
: iJ'J i'i~ il 101'101 l"Ji'0 1'101 'Jl'il lOlJ N'lV 'IN l;'11l 'Jl'illV lOlJ 101'101 JlVln il l"Ji'0 1'1011 JlV1n il  Sustentabuntur
egeni gentilium una cum egenis Israelis, pacis causa: nec obstandum quo minus gentium egeni in angulis
relicta colligant, atque id quietis ergo. Crgus grati~ etiam salutabunt eos festo iIIorum die. Nec tamen his eos
salutabunt, aut die festo salutandi ergo eorum ingredientur domos. Si quis in plateis offenderit, suhmiss~ voce et
capite submisso salutem dicet. Hrec locum non habent, nisi Israelita It gentilibus detineatur captivus, vel ii
Israelitis fuerint potentiol'es. At ubi Israelitre viribns prrevalent, nefas ullum inter nos relinquere idololatram; etsi
tantummodo forte fortuna inter nos commoretur, aut uno ex loco in alterum commeet mercaturre gratia. Imo nec
pertransire terras sinemus, nisi ante receperit septem prrecepta Noachidis data. Quia dicitur, 'Ne commorentur in
terr~ tna'; ne horre quidem spatio. Si septem ilia prrecepta receperint, pro peregrinis ejusmodi hahentur, quibus
habitare in Israelitarum terr~ liceat. Nec habitare permittitur ejusmodi peregrino, nisi tempore jubilrei: extra id
tempus nullus recipitur, nisi peregrinus justitire." We shall quote, in conclusion, two passages from the sixth
chapter of the same Treatise concerning Idolatry, which, if the saying be true that the perfection of law is the
perfection of reason, which proposition, although affirmative, appears to be likewise true in its converse, if law and
justice be, as they ought to be, synonymous terms, will prove that an admiration for the principles of Judaism, and a
blind adherence to the literal interpretation of the Old Testament, had degraded the intellect of Maimonides in no
less a degree than it had depraved his moral feeling; since what opinion can we pronounce on an author who, after
recommending the butchery of the population of an entire town for proselytism from Judaism, without regard for
either sex or age, becomes conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness of putting to death a Jew who had sacrificed
not one but all his children to Moloch, because the letter of the Mosaic ordinance declares" that be who offers of
his seed to Moloch shall die," and of signifying some but not all, such a person could not be condemned by the
letter of the law to death. O'iVJ illVV ONl ilV1Ji' nN~n N'JO lllIVJ niJ J"n nilJ lll~iJ 1'10' ll1ilO lnllil
l'il?l 1'10' i'JVil' 1M 101' 1VilOl iONllV NO l,lV iliillNl i01l1 n01' nl0 1'10'1 1VilO 1f1' iIVNl 'NllV 'vOl ilNif\"
: lVNJ 1nJl,lJ i'JlIO 1J 101m' N' '01101 Nlil "Qui de semine suo offert sci ens volensque, exscinditur: sin errore,
sacrificium prrefinitum ad e:cpiationem sui adducit. Quod si testibus fecerit prresentibus, et post admonitionem sui,
lapidatur juxta illud, 'Et qui de semine suo offert Molocho, moriendo morietur.' Interdictum autem hac de re invenitur
his in verbis: 'Et de semine tuo ne des ad transducendum Molocho.' Alio etiam loco dicitur: ' N e reperiatur
inter vos, qui filium, aut filiam suam, per ignem traducat'''. 1i'JlI'1 1"0' llJ il00'lV ill il7'vO 1101 ni::l J"n ll'N
'lIi'O il00'1V ill J"n ))'1011 'il~!l iliJlIil 1ii::l N'IV i'Jvm iDOlV 1101 iOO 101')1 i'JlIil i'JlIil 101'1 iOO: iliJlIil 1ii IVNJ l'7liJ
.1'1::1 101'1 ln~i'o 1'107 1m ll1iltl '::I iONllV nlIi'O n'l'l 'Vil "Neque vel exscindebatur, vellapidabatur quisquam, nisi
prius tradidisset filium suum M olocho, et adegisset ad eo modo transeundum pedibus per ignem. Si tradidit, nec
fecit ut transiret; vel ut transiret fecit, non autem obtulit; denique si causa est transitus, sed non recepto transierit
modo; liber pronunciabatur. Neque reus peragitur, nisi partem seminis tradiderit, partem retinuerit: quippe
dicitur, 'Qui de semine suo dederit Molocho': quasi dicas, Qui partem dederit, nOll totum." Dionysius Vossius thus
comments on this pretty quibbling of the learned Maimonides: "Mira conclusio! reus est, qui filiorum aliquem
obtulerit Molocho; qui vero omnes, liber est. Aiunt Hebrrei, ideo hoc institutum, quia si quis unum tantum filium
obtulerit, morte su~ expiaret peccatum iIIud: at si omnes obtulerit, gravius esse delictum quam ut morte expiari
possit. Ideoque hominem ilium hie quidem effugere pcenam; sed It Deo vit~ retern~ orbari. Alii obtinuisse morem
volunt, ut unus tantummodo filius offerretur; cujus oblatione pro omnibus offerentis liberis satiifi,eret: eoque, si non
unus, sed universi offerrentur, recedi It cultu qui Molocho prrestari solet: e~que de caus~ talem esse immunem a
pcen~ qu~ afficitur, qui Molocho filium suum obtulisset. Sed magis mihi probatur sententia Isaaci Abravanelis, qui
existimat eo dicere Scripturam,' Qui dederit de semine suo'; quia parum verisimile foret, repertum iri quemquam qui
universam sobol em suam offerret Molocho. Tantum igitur abest, ut trium liberorum pater, si tres obtulerit, liber sit




NOTES. 501

a prena, ut tanto magis prena! sit obnoxius. Sed si, ut Maimonides ait, de semine significat partem, non totum; quid
statuendum si filius offeratur unigenitus, ubi idem unica et universa soboles? Hic unigenitum dixeris seminis partem
ratione totius, ut vocant, potentialis. Nam ut actu filium habuerit unum, potestate tamen habuit plures." We fear
that Solomon himself would be unable to extricate the Rabbis from this latter dilemma: here is a Gordian knot
which even he would vainly essay to cut in two.

NOTE VI. p. 384.

The following passage from the first chapter of the twenty-eighth book of Montesquieu's "Esprit des Lois", may
be quoted to show that the clergy introduced into the barbarous codes of the dark ages many legislative enactments
tending materially to affect the condition of the Jews. "Les eveques eurent une autorite immense ala cour des rois
Visigoths; les affaires les plus importantes etoient decidees dans les Conciles. Nous devons aux codes des Visigoths
toutes les maximes, tous les principes, et toutes les vues de l'Inquisition d'azyourd'lzui; et les moines n'ont fait que
copier contre les Juijs des lois faites autrefois par les eveques." "The bishops possessed immense influence in the
court of the Visigoth kings; the most important matters were decided in Councils. To the codes of the Visigoths
we are indebted for all the maxims, all the principles, and all the views of the model'll Inquisition; and the monks
have only copied the laws made formerly by the bishops agaillst the Jews." The remark made by Montesquieu
respecting the power of Councils even in civil matters amongst the Visigoths, is generally true of all the early
Councils; and that power may be accounted for by the extreme bigotry of the age in which they were convened.
As regards the present dispersed state of the Jews, it may be contended, in opposition to those who would fain discern
the fulfilment of prophecy in an event which must have bad other causes than prophecy, that habits engrafted
by time are of long duration, that a dispersed people must at last become naturalized in those countries which they
have chosen as an asylum, even although the law does not recognize them, by language, by prejudices, or by property,
especially in land; which latter kind the framers of the old law of Europe, as if conscious that land attaches the
owners of it to the soil, did not allow the Jews to acquire, by kindred, by local attachments and friendships; which
was the reason, perhaps, why the regulations of most European states excluded the Jews from becoming members of
corporations, and assigned to them, in the several towns and cities where they resided, separate quarters from the
other citizens, encouraging them at the same time, by forbidd iug them to enter into honourable professions and
respectable trades, to seek sordid gains from following the lowest and vilest occupations, which of itself would have
been sufficient to draw a line of demarcation between them and the other members of the commnnity; and, finally,
by the sepulchres of their ancestors, which the Jews have ever been accustomed so highly to revere, it is not
unlikely that when they colonized America they carried the bones of some of their supposed patriarchs thither,
confiding in the protection which they expected to receive from these talismans, for such they might be called, since
a relic to which superstition ascribes occult virtues differs scarcely or at all from a talisman, although the term itself
is not Hebrew, but Arabic. It has been already remarked that the dispersion of the Jews is no where alluded to in
the Old Testament as a judgment with which God threatened to visit that people on account of the crucifixion of his
Son: those who may choose to maintain that it is, will do well to point out the passage in Scripture in which the
allusion is contained. But if a nation has a right to be heard in its own defence, which the Jews certainly have, the
argument by which they attempt to prove that their present dispersion is not owing to the calise above referred to,
will be found to possess considerable weight with every unprejudiced mind; since, arguing from the justice of God,
they contend that he would not have punished a whole nation for a crime committed only by a few; the principal
actors in which, Herod and Pontius Pilate, were not Jews of the seed of Abraham, although the former was sprung
from a family of Jewish proselytes; and that, even on the supposition that the whole nation were equally guilty of it
then, their posterity eighteen hundred years afterwards must be as innocent of it as were their forefathers eighteen
hundred years before, possessing even an advantage over them, in not being doomed to be the progenitors of so evil
a generation.



502 NOTES.

NOTE VII. page 385.

Those who seriously consider the multitudinous sects into which religion is divided in the isle which the poet,
dipping his pen in truth, has described in the lines beginning

"Behold yon isle, by palmers, pilgrims trod,"

must feel surprised at the question which is not unfrequently asked, namely, what right an old East Indian (for by
that appellation a man who has spent some twenty years of his life in the East is not unfrequently designated,)
has to turn liberal in religious matters, and if he gains admission to the councils of his country, to advocate in
a sort of plain matter-of-fact style of eloquence the claims of Christians, Jews, Pagans, Turks, and Infidels, to
equal protection from the laws of this country, which, like Rome of old, is too great, and casts the shade of
her sceptre over too many lands, to choose for herself another motto than "Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine
agetur." Nothing would benefit Great Britain, or the indi viduals themselves more, than to send, if it were possible,
the narrow-minded few who ask this question, and who, clinging to intolerance, would prefer to drive the
vessel of the state itself on a rock or dangerous quicksand, to steering out of the old course on a voyage to the shores
of Hindostan, that like Ulysses they might gain wisdom by seeing the manners of many men and many cities; nor
can it be doubted that they would return with enlarged political views, and would feel less disposed, after beholding
the state of British India, mighty in numbers, but comparatively weak in effective force, from the division of its
native population into castes, which, "for ever separate, yet for ever near," exhibit a moral phrenomenon that far
eclipses that of Judaism in Europe, to question the right of others to disbelieve and deny the fact, that the dispersion
of the Jews is the accomplishment of prophecy; which the Jews themsel ves, in reference to the particulat prophecies
which they adduce, have always denied by an appeal to arguments which have never yet been satisfactorily refuted.
In addition to the many causes which have already been noticed in the course of these pages as conspiring to keep
the Jews wherever they may reside a separate people, we shall mention another, which those will duly appreciate
who have been in India, and have observed how powerfully the Hindoo laws, which prohibit some castes of Hindoos
from eating or even tasting the provisions of others, contribute to preserve amongst them the distinction of castes;
-and that is the prejudice and inflexible aversion which the Jews, of former ages at least, entertained to partaking
of the same fare with Christians, or those of any other sect: and this aversion, which was instilled into them
by the Rabbis, who well knew that their own interests were inseparable from their nation being a distinct people,
was grounded on the charitable sense in which they chose to understand beasts in the following ordinance of the
twenty-second chapter of Exodus, applying the term to all those that were without the pale of Judaism: "And
ye shall be holy men unto me; neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to
the dogs." But since to rest this prohibition on a single verse of the Old Testament, interpreted moreover so contemptuously
of Christians, might in some places have been attended with consequeuces inconvenient to the Jews,
their Rabbis have judged it more prudent to seek a pretext from their oral laws and from the Talmud, for forbidding
their countrymen to eat with Christians, which might be more intelligible to the former and less offensive to the
latter: and hence the stress which they laid on the Jews not eating the flesh of any animal which had not been killed
by a butcher of their own nation, and the origin of the constitutions contained in the Schechitos Ubedikos, or Book
of the Art of Killing, as well as the necessity, in former days at least, of a butcher receiving a licence or diploma
from the Rabbi before he could practise a trade which amongst the Jews was a learned profession.

NOTE VIII. page 356.

The following extract is taken from Selden's Treatise respecting the Gods worshipped by the Syrians. It relates to
the famous brazen serpent adored by the Jews, to which a place was assigned in their temple, where it was treated
with little less reverence than was shown by the Mexicans to the figure of the serpent which they carried in procession 




NOTES. 503

on the festival of Huitzilopuchtli, and afterwards deposited in a particular place in his temple; an account of
which will be found in page 415 of the present volume. In the ninety-first and four succeeding pages of the
lesser Vatican MS., a serpent is represented in the hand of a deity, who was perhaps Maozim or the robust God
mentioned by Daniel, whom the brazen serpent seems to have suggested mention of to Selden in the same passage.
"Sunt autem qure consulto M.ctenus omisimus. Neque enim locum dedimus reneo serpenti a Judreis adorato, quippe
qui jussu Dei Optimi Maximi conflatus est. Neque restat quod ad rem de eo dici posset, prreter ea qure in Ezechire
historia scripta relinquuntur. Somnia qure de eo et columnis nescio quas incisis junxit Philastrius, uti pluria ejusdem
figmenta fastidit stomachus noster. Neque si Hesychii presbyteri Constantinopolitani libri quatuor, fictis ad
Deum Optimum Maximum Mosis de eo orationibus, Dei vicissim ad Mosem, turgescentes, ad manus nostras pervenissent,
inde quid operre nostrre sperandum fuisse existimamus. Memoratur ille Hesychius in Photii Myriobiblo
Cod. LI. deum Maozim seu robustum et potentem, quod C'I),In Danielis capite undecimo, com. 38. et Maw~E<v Sen ioribus
dicitur, prretermisimus ut plane ignotum, aliter ac locus iIle Sacrre Historire indicat." -- Seldenus de Diis Syris.

Syntagma 11. cap! xvii.

Selden makes a curious remark in the second chapter of the Introd uction to his Treatise, that the names of the idols
designated by the Jews' the Gods of the Assyrians and the Babylonians' are really Hebrew, from which he would infer
the primitive nature of the Hebrew tongue, and its wide diffusion over the provinces of Asia. Other persons
may be tempted to draw a different conclusion from the following confession of that learned man. "Prrecipui
etiam Deorum quos collegimus, Ebrreis, non Aramreis, aut Babyloniis vocabulis, aut adscititia aliqua dialecto memorantur:
ut Gad, Baal, Baal Peor, Baal Berith, Baalim, Baalzebub, Ashtaroth, quce mere sunt Ebrcea. Imo idem
dicendum de Teraphim, et Succoth Benoth, quorum tamen Babylonicum est hoc numen, ilIud Aramreum; quod nee
leve sane est argumentum omnia ilia haud recentioris fuisse revi, quam illud est quo Ebrrea apud Aramreos viguit et
Babylonios pura dialectus. Religione, ni failor, ducti, deorum ante alia inviolata nomina retinere volebant." The
rule of 'audi alteram partem' is so strictly accordant with justice. that it is to be regretted that the Syrians and the
Babylonians cannot be heard in their own defence in reply to the charges brought against them by the Jews. What
recrimination of idolatry and human sacrifices would undoubtedly follow, with the denial that they were the tutors,
and the Jews merely their pupils in these atrocities! In the absence of further evidence it must however be confessed,
that the Jews are most entitled to receive judgment from posterity, since theil' prophets bear witness against
them, whilst the history of the Babylonians presents a blank page.

NOTE IX. page 389.

Sahagun, in the Appendix to the second book of his History of New Spain, at page 101 of the seventh volume of
the present work, says that the form of a Mexican oath was as follows. '" POI' vida del Sol y de nuestra Senora la
Tierra, que no falte en 10 que tengo dicho; y para mayor seguridad como esta tierra:' y luego tocaba con los dedos en
la tierra y llegabalos 11 la boca y lamialos; y asi cornia tierra haciendo juramento." "I swear by the life of the Sun
and by our sovereign mistress the Earth, that nothing which I affirm is false; and in confirmation of my oath I eat
this earth:' when immediately touching the earth with his hand, he raised it to his mouth and licked it, and in this
manner ate earth on occasion of taking an oath." The adjuration of Moses in the nineteenth verse of the thirtieth
chapter of Deuteronomy, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live;" considered in connection
with what is said in the first verse of the twenty-third chapter of Exodus, of a false witness malting use of his hand
when giving evidence, renders it not improbable that the form of the Mexican oath was borrowed from the Jews.
The passage referred to in Exodus is the following: "Thou shalt not raise a false report; put not thine hand with the
wicked to be an unrighteous witness."



504 NOTES.

NOTE X. page 334.

We are informed by Sahagun in the thirty-seventh chapter of the second book of his History, that the Mexicans
on the festival of Y zcalli bored the ears of their children for the purpose of putting ear-rings into them, when certain
persons stood godfathers and godmothers to them; whence it would appear that ear-rings amongst the Mexicans
were connected with idolatrous rites, which may serve to illustrate the fourth verse of the thirty-fifth chapter of
Genesis, which has perplexed commentators, who have not been able to understand why Jacob should have deprived
his household of their ear-rings as well as of their strange gods: "And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods
which were in their hands, and all their ear-rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which
was by Shechem." Another custom which the Mexicans may have borrowed from the Jews, was their solemn
repasts on bread at the celebration of some of their greater festivals; since we learn from the fifty-fourth verse of the
thirty-first chapter of Genesis, that Jacob, whose descendants naturally would have been inclined to imitate the
example of the father of the house of Israel, called his brethren to eat bread when he offered a sacrifice to God upon
the mount. "Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread, and they did eat
bread, and tarried all night in the mount." It is not improbable that the Mexicans circumcised their sons on the
above-mentioned festival of Yzcalli, and the incisions which they superstitiously cut in the American aloe, when their
object was not to obtain from it the liquor of which they made wine, might have been originally derived from the
following passage of the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus: "And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have
planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised. Three years shall it be as
uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise
the Lord withal. And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase
thereof. I am the Lord your God." The expression' uncircumcised', here used metaphorically in reference to
trees, may with great probability be judged to have given rise in the long course of ages to some unmeaning rite
amongst the Jews, who, besides their proneness to multiply rites, were equally addicted with the Mexicans to seek luck
or good fortune from omens; and they might have imagined that if fruit, which was counted as uncircumcised, was
unlucky and not proper to be eaten, that which could be counted as circumcised would be wholesome and good to
eat, and accordingly have made incisions in the bark offruit trees. It further deserves to be remarked, that the Jews,
dividing time like the Mexicans into larger chronological cycles of fifty years, might likewise have divided it as the
latter did into lesser periods of four years, of which some indication seems to be afforded in the provision contained
in the twenty-fifth verse of the chapter of Leviticus referred to, permitting the Jews to eat in the fifth year the fruit
which they were not allowed to taste during the four preceding years, since a reason for the permission then granted
might be found in the commencement of a new cycle. It is proper however to add, that the Old Testament declares
that both five and seven were numbers dedicated by the Jews to the holding solemn assemblies; and perhaps at the
period of the Babylonian captivity, the number five had grown into greater public estimation. Sahagun has observed
that the Mexicans, like the Jews, divided their months into four equal portions or weeks; but the month of the former
not being lunar and consisting of no more than twenty days, their week contained only five days: the people of
Chiapa, however, whose month was lunar, counted seven days to their week.

On the supposition that the Jews colonized America, various reasons might be assigned for their changing the
lunar reckoning of their year soon after their arrival in that continent into a vicesimal computation of days; but the
principal motive was probably a wish to equalize the number of days contained in each month, and to simplify their
calendar by not regarding the changes of the moon. All the Mexican months being religious festivals, and dedicated
to the performance of sacrifices and rites, the priest or astrologer who distribnted them into twenty days each might
moreover have wished to typify in them the greatest and most solemn Jewish festival, that of the Passover, which
terminated on the twenty-first day of the first Hebrew month Nisan (which probably began at evening), as was ordained
in the eighteenth verse of the twelfth chapter of Exodus: "In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month
at even ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening." The Mexicans seem
even to have borrowed some superstitious practices from the Hebrew ordinances relating to the celebration of the
feast of the Passover. They generally performed their sacrifices in the evening or at night, and the Jews were com




NOT E S. 505
manded in the sixth verse of the twelfth chapter of Exodus, to kill the paschal lamb in the evening: "And ye shall
keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall
kill it in the evening." The Mexican merchants were fearful of stirring out of their houses on certain days of the
year; and the Jews were specially enjoined by Moses not to go out of their doors on the night of the feast of the
Passover until morning, lest the destroyer should smite them. The Mexicans likewise computed the period of a day
from the noon or middle of one day to that of another, as we are informed by the interpreter of the Codex TellerianoRemensis,
in page 152 of the present volume; and this computation assigning to the night a sort of priority over the
day, probably induced them to keep the vigils of festivals as a part of the festival itself. Another remarkable proof
of the predilection which the Jews and Mexicans manifested for the employment of similar numbers in their calculations
and divisions of time, is found in the former celebrating a year of jubilee at the expiration of every period of
fifty years, and the latter at the expiration of every fifty-two years, and in both nations reckoning time and keeping a
chronological account of historical events by cycles, so nearly agreeing in duration with each other as the Mexican
and Hehrew jubilees. That the Mexicans preserved the recollection of the exact time when past events happened, by
referring them to a particular year contained within a particular cycle of fifty-two years, is evident from their historical
paintings; and that the Jews made use of an analogous method bifore the captivity, must clearly be understood from
the following passage of Eusebius's Chronological Canons: "Apud Hebrreos, usque ad nativitatem Abraham, computantur
anni mille nongenti quinquaginta. Usque ad diluvium enim ab Adam habent annos MDCLvr, et inde
usque ad Abraham CCXCIlI. Et ideo XL jobelrei a nativitate Abraham computantur. Unus enim jobelreus quinquaginta
anni sunt." -- Eusebii Chronicorum Canonum, pag. 1. It is likewise the general opinion of the learned.
In reference to an observation in a preceding paragraph respecting the number five, and the estimation in which
that number seems to have been held by the Jews at the period of the Babylonian captivity, it may be proper to
quote the words of Zechariah, in the fourth and fifth verses of the seventh chapter of his prophecies: "Then came the
word of the Lord of Hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When
ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years did ye at all fast unto me, even to
me 1" Serious attention to the grave charge which God himself brings in this passage against the Jews, might
dispose some people to wonder less, that the lost tribes cannot be discovered at the present day, than that all the
tribes had not been lost long ago. If however it were of any real importance, as corroborative of the truth of Scripture
history, that these lost tribes should be discovered, the fact of their not having been yet discovered must also
appear important; except in the eyes of that class of persons, who, freely admitting that if the old law had forbidden
sacrifices they would have drawn from that circumstance an argument in proof of the divine legation of Moses,
find on the other hand an equally strong argument in favour of it in the old law having ordained them.
NOTE XI. page 125.

'Viler than sea-weed' appears to have been a Latin proverb; nor is it likely that the Romans held this useless marine
production in less esteem than other nations: it is therefore the more surprising that the Peruvians, who surpassed
every ancient and modern people in the richness of the offerings which they made to the Deity, should have offered
sea-weed with all their offerings, as Acosta expressly declares, "algre universis fere sacrificiis inferuntur." This anomaly
in their sacrifices might perhaps have originated in the necessity imposed upon the Jews to offer salt with all
their sacrifices, in compliance with the injunction contained in the thirteenth verse of the second chapter of Leviticus,
"And every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant
of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering; with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt:" since on their
arrival in the New World, where the revival of the sacrifices prescribed by Moses probably engrossed all their attention,
they must have been at a great loss for salt; and some Rabbi might have been advised in a dream, that seaweed,
the taste of which is very salt, as the derivation of the Latin name implies, would be a proper substitute for
that indispensable article.




506 NOTES.

NOTE XII. page 83.

The following passage of the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Saint Matthew affords strong grounds for supposing,
that the Jews in the days of Christ believed in the doctrine of a metempsychosis: "When Jesus came into the
coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the son of man am? And they
said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Had this notion
prevailed amongst them at an earlier epoch of their history, it might have caused the rabble (for Rabbis and doctors
we here put out of the question,) to expect the coming of a future Messiah or deliverer in the person of Moses himself,
who would re-appear to rescue the Jews from another and more oppressive bondage than the Egyptian: and then the
proper name mvo might with great propriety be considered as the derivation of;'1W. Many nations have cherished
the idea, that the souls of those who had earned the lasting gratitude of their country, by services performed at the
time of her greatest need, might, if the salvation of future generations was at stake, re-animate mortal bodies for the
sake of those who were once dear to them. Thus the Chinese expect that their famous deified warrior, who has been
dead for many centuries, will re-appear on earth: and the return of godlike mortals, rather than of immortal gods,
may be alluded to in the line,

"Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna:"

which supposes happiness once more to flourish on earth under the reign of Astrea, and when Saturn should again
sway the sceptre over the golden plains of Italy; which country, at the time that the poet imagined to himself the commencement
of a brighter rera, was torn by civil wars and dissensions. The assumption of several divines, whose names
for their own credit we shall pass over in silence, that "Virgo" means in the verse alluded to the Virgin Mary, is
so unreasonable that it does not deserve refutation. It may be not unworthy of notice, that a philosopher so justly
esteemed and venerated as was Pythagoras, believed in the metempsychosis; and laying claim to the possession of
an extraordinary memory, asserted that he recollected having been Euphorbus, and that he was killed at the time of the
Trojan war. The doctrine of the metempsychosis is a refinement on the creed of the ancient Egyptians respecting the
transmigration of the soul, but it is founded on the assumption, that the soul of man can only migrate into another
rational body. Pythagoras however strictly forbade his followers to kill or to eat animals; and he only did not forbid
cruelty to them, because he thought it was unnecessary for Philosophy to teach what all ought to know, and that
it would be vain for him to attempt to instil a principle, where Nature herself had been faulty in her work, and the
soil was evil and corrupt. As the doctrine of the metempsychosis seems to have originated in the Egyptian notion
of the soul's transmigration aftel' death into some other body, so in its turn it appears to have given rise to the more
mystical idea of an incarnation, or of God becoming man, or rather being born in a human form. The many incarnations
of Vishnou, who dignified even other species of animals by becoming one of them, is still the theme of
exultation among Hindoo poets and philosophers. But Thibet presents a moral and political phrenomenon of a nature
truly extraordinary. That ecclesiastical state has been governed for perhaps nearly eighteen centuries by the deity
supposed to animate, some say to become incarnate in, the body of an infant, and to inspire the person invested
with the dignity of Grand Lama. It was either during Lord Minto's or the Marquis of Wellesley's government
in India, that an embassy was sent to the Teshoo Lama, an interesting account of which will be found in the
Annual Register. The Lama happened at that time to be an infant in arms; and the envoy, under these peculiar
circumstances, felt at a loss respecting the forms to be observed on the ceremony of his introduction, and was at last
ushered into the presence of a pleasing and intelligent-looking infant, quite too young to be able to speak, before
whom, nevertheless, many Tartar Khans were prostrating themselves and doing homage; when the father of the Lama
observed to the representative of the Governor-General of India, that although he was too young to speak, it would
be wrong to suppose that reason in him had not arrived at maturity.

It certainly would be iuteresting to trace the history of Nestorianism in the East, since some learned men have
supposed that the Nestorians in early ages penetrated to Thibet, and proselyted to their faith an extensive territory.



It is probable that many superstitions have, in the course of revolving ages, passed from Asia to America; but how
truly surprising it is to find that the Mexicans, who seem to have been quite unacquainted with the doctrines of the
migration of the soul and the metempsychosis, should have believed in the incarnation of the only son of their supreme
god Tonacatecutle. For Mexican mythology speaking of no other son of that god except QuecaJcoatle, who was born
of Chimalman the virgin of Tula, without connection with man, and by his breath alone, (by which may be signified
his word or his will, announced to Chimalman by word of mouth of the celestial messenger, whom he dispatched to
inform her that she should conceive a son,) it must be presumed that QuecaJcoatle was his only son. Other arguments
might be adduced to show, that the Mexicans believed that Quecalcoatle was both god and man, that he had
previously to his incarnation existed from all eternity, that he had created both the world and man, that he descended
from heaven to reform the world by penance, that he was born with the perfect use of reason, that he preached a new
law, and, being king of Tula, was crucified for the sins of mankind, as is obscurely insinuated by the interpreter of the
Vatican Codex, plainly declared in the traditions of Yucatan, and mysteriously represented in the Mexican paintings.
It would be a useless repetition of facts already stated in the preceding pages of the present volume, to undertake
separately to prove all these points; and we shall confine ourselves in this place to the three first very important
articles. The reflection must have suggested itself to those who have perused the New Testament, that Christ is as frequently
distinguished there by the appellation of the Son of Man, as by that of the Son of God, in reference no doubt
to his humanity, and to the famous prophecy contained in the ninth verse of the ninth chapter of Isaiah: "For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given:" which Christians, on the authority of many passages in the four Gospels,
apply to Christ, although the Jews sometimes interpret it of the Messiah, and sometimes of king Hezekiah. The
Mexicans bestowed the appellation of Topiltzin on Quecalcoatle, the literal signification of which is 'our son' or 'our
child,' that proper name being compounded of to 'our', and piltzin, defined by Alonso de Molina in his rare and
copious vocabulary of the Mexican and Spanish languages to be nino 6 lIij'ia, 'a boy or a girl,' and associated by him
with the cognate terms of piltontli and piltzintia; and it may not be unreasonably assumed, since analogies, which are
numerous and not isolated, as their number increases increase also in their ratio of probability, not only that the Mexicaus
were acquainted with Isaiah's famous prophecy, but to mark their belief of the accomplishment of that prophecy
in the person of Quecalcoatle, that they named him Topiltzin; no less on account of his having been born from a virgin
of the daughters of men, than because another equally celebrated prediction of the same prophet declared, that he
should receive a name from that very circumstance: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give yon a sign, Behold a
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." And the proper name Topiltzin does in fact
bear a signification corresponding, if not literally, yet entirely in substance with that of Immanuel: since' God with
us,' which is the interpretation of the Hebrew name, means God domiciliated amongst men; and the full force of the
expression is preserved in the term Topiltzin, which might be interpreted the Son of Man, or God on a level with men;
for the Mexicans believed that Quecalcoatle took human nature upon him, partaking of all the infirmities of man, and
was not exempt from sorrow, pain, or death, and that he suffered voluntarily to atone for the sins of mankind. They
also believed that he alone of all the gods had a human body, and was of a corporeal essence; a notion which we can
only wonder whence it could have been derived. Las Casas and Torquemada both assert that Quecalcoatle had been
in Yucatan; and there can be little doubt, when we reflect on the mysterious history of Bacab, that the Cross discovered
by M. Dupaix in the ancient temple of Palenque was connected with the tradition of his crucifixion. The four female
figures, each holding in her arms an infant, which adorn the walls of another temple in the immediate vicinity of that
just mentioned, probably represent Chimalman and the infant Quecalcoatle; which the two units conspicuously sculptured
on the body of the second infant, the constant concomitants of the cane which was his sign, seem further to indicate.
Smoke may perhaps also be intended to be represented as proceeding from the left foot of the female figure in
the same plate. The prophecies contained in the Old Testament relating to the Messiah being so frequently only
obliquely alluded to in the New, and this class being extremely difficult to trace, we must leave to others the task of
ascertaining whether the promise of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, as recorded in the thirty-fifth verse of the
first chapter of Saint Luke, -- "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God," -- be couched in the
language of ancient prophecy; since, should this be the case, it is not improbable that the head of the dragon which
forms the crest of three of the female figures, as it may also be presumed that it did of the fourth when entire, (if it be




508 NOT E S.
not a symbol which Chimalman borrowed from her son's name,) was intended to denote that she had been overshadowed
by the power of Huitzilopuchtli, whose device, as we are informed by Sahagnn in the first chapter of the first book of
his History of New Spain, was the head of a dragon. Representations of the female figures here referred to, as well
as of the Cross, will be found in the fifth volume of the present work, Part III. of the Monuments of New Spain; and
we shall only further observe in reference to the Cross, that similar ornaments to those sculptured on its two arms decorate
the symbol borne aloft by the principal figure in the twenty.eighth plate of the same Part; before whom there
is another figure in a kneeling attitude, which may suggest the idea of that symbol being intended to represent a
cross, although nearly as unlike one as the devices, consisting of broken lines, with which the ancient Mexicans frequently
decorated their shields, and as those painted on the earthenware vases discovered by Lieutenant Hardy
among the ruins of Las Casas Grandes.

It is singular that the Mexicans shonld have viewed Quecalcoatle in the light of a god and of a man, of a father
and of a son, of the creator of the world and of him by whom the world was finally doomed to be destroyed, since it
is hard to reconcile such conflicting notions with each other. That they did so, will be apparent from the following
passages extracted from the sixth book of Sahagun's History of New Spain, which contains the prayers addressed by
by the ancient Mexicans to their gods, as well as from what has already been said of the probable derivation of the
proper name Topiltzin, and from what remains to be said of the belief which the Mexicans entertained, that the world
would be destroyed when the Sun should be in the sign of four earthquakes. Quecalcoatle is emphatically styled
Father in tne exhortation which the Mexican priest addresses to the penitent who had come to make confession to him
of his sins, whose entire speech will be found at page 359 of the fifth volume of the Antiquities of Mexico. "Quando
fuistes criado y enviado a este mundo, limpio y buena fuisles criado y enviado, y tu padre y madre Quetzalcoatl te
formo como una piedra preciosa y como una joya rica de oro muy resplandeciente y muy pulida; pero par tu propia
voluntad y albedrio te ensuciastes, y te amancillastes, y te revolcastes en el estiercol y en las suciedades de los
pecados y maldades que cometistes, y ahora has confesado." "When thou wert created and sent into this world, thou
wast created and sent into it pure and good, and thy father and mother Quetzalcoatl formed thee like a precious
stone, like a rich jewel of gold, beautiful to look upon and well polished; but thou by thine ownfree will and choice
hast defiled and polluted thyself, and hast wallowed in the mire of the sins and iniquities which thou hast committed,
and now thou hast confessed." From this passage it is plain that the doctrine of free will, as opposed to absolute
predestination, was a fundamental article of the religion of the Mexicans, although in some degree qualified by
their notions on judicial astrology, as we learn from the following passage of the same chapter of the sixth book of
Sahagun; where the Mexican priest or confessor, supplicating Tezcatlipoca on the behalf of the repentant sinner,
addresses him in the following language: "En presencia de Vuestra Magestad hablo, que sabe todas las cosas, y
sabeis que este pobre no peco con libertad entera del libre albedrio, porque fue ayudado e inclinado de la condicion
natural del signa en que nacio." "I am speaking in the presence of Your Majesty who knowest all things, and
lmowest that this miserable man did not sin with the entire liberty of his free will, since he partly acted under the
influence of the sign in which he was born." The notion of original sin, in the acceptation in which the term is
understood by Christians, which was totally different both in cause and quality from the frailty of human nature,
which the ancient philosophers were all prepared to admit, was quite familiar to the minds of the Mexicans, who
ascribed it to Suchiquecal, and to her disobedience in plucking frnit in the garden of Tamoanchan; and hence a
difficulty may arise in understanding the construction which ought to be put on that part of the speech of the
Mexican priest to the penitent, where he says to him" when thou wert created and sent into this world, thou
wast created and sent into it pure and good;" which seems merely to allude to what is said in the first chapter of
Genesis, of man having been created in the image of God, and of the works of his hands being all good, and to
contain no denial of the doctrine of original sin, the Mexican belief in which is unequivocally declared in the
thirty-second and thirty-seventh chapters of the same book of Sahagun'S History of New Spain, in the speeches
which the midwife there addresses to the infant on baptizing it and washing it with water. That the Mexicans knew
that man had been created in the image of God, may be inferred from the following passage of Sahagun, which deserves
to be considered in connection with the Peruvian tradition of men having been created by Viracocha after the
likeness of images made by himself, which is perhaps after all only a sample of the artifices to which the Spanish
clergy had recourse in order to consign to oblivion all knowledge of the ancient religion of Pern; which could more



NOTES. 509

easily and with less suspicion be effected by substituting fables of their own for those of the Peruvians, and modifying
the latter as the occasion required, so as to impose even on the recollection of the Indians, than by a rude attempt
to han ish them wholly from their memory. "Tendras cargo de ofrecer papel y copal, y tambien de hacer limosnas a
los hambrientos menesterosos, que no tienen que coman, ni que beban, ni qne vistan, aunque sepas quitartelo de tu
comida para se 10 dar; y procura de vestir a los que andan desnudos, y desarropados; mira que su carne es como la
tuya, y que son hombres como tu; mayormente Ii los ellfermos pOl"que son imagen de Dios." These words are addressed
by the Mexican priest to the penitent whose confession be has just received; and since he enjoins him to reconcile
himself to Te7.catlipoca by charity to the poor, as well as by the performance of penance, it may be inferred that the
Mexicans helieved that charity diminished sin, which is also a Roman Catholic doctrine, and is noted as such in
page 415 of the present volume; in reference to which particular passage it may be observed, that to offer charitable
donations at the Temple was a Jewish custom, as we learn from the account of the widow's mite contained in the
twelfth chapter of Saint Mark. The subjoined is the translation of the above Spanish passage: "You must make an
offering of paper and copal, and likewise give alms to the hungry and needy, who have neither meat nor drink, nor
wherewithal to clothe themselves, and this you must do although you deprive yourself of food to give it to them; do
your best also to clothe the ragged and naked; consider that their flesh is as thine, and that they are men like thee,
and especially the sick, for they are the image of God." It is surprising to what fanciful theories the twenty-ninth
verse of the first chapter of Genesis, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him,
male and female created he them," has given rise among the Jewish Cabalists, * The transition from the singular to
the plural in the above-mentioned verse, and the mention of the subsequent creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the
twenty-second verse of the following chapter of Genesis, has greatly perplexed both them and the Rabbis, who have
vainly taken counsel together to reconcile the former with the latter verse, deducing conclusions which have excited
the laughter of many Christian commentators; which at least ought to be tempered, when it is recollected that the
transition From the singular to the plural, in the twenty-sixth verse of the former of these chapters, has been considered
by themselves a departure from the ordinary rules of grammar, of such importance and so full of meaning,
as to be appealed to by them as an argument in proof of the Trinity. It is a remark of Selden, the truth of
which the rites of the Mexicans and Peruvians abundantly testify, "Neque novum est ut impietatis initia ex
Sacris Literis seu cabala sacra (qure idem sunt) depromantur; quod innu1Ileris illustrari posset et firmari exemplis:"
and he afterwards, as it were in illustration of this passage, in his prolegomena, when discussing the nature of the
Hebrew Teraphim in the second chapter of his Treatise De Diis Syris, refers the origin of that idolatry to the twentyseventh
verse of the first chapter of Genesis, as must reasonably be inferred from the association of ideas which his
quotation from Hermes is necessarily calculated to produce in the minds of his readers. "Propius autem ad TWV
Teraphim naturam accedunt imagines, qure non solum a. siderum positura, verum etiam a7l'0 TWV 71'poueyy,aewv dremoniorum,
et oracula reddere et mala depellere simul putabantur: 71'poaeyy,aet' vero 71'0,~aaa9a, dicuntur dremones
Michaeli Psello, cum invocati simulacra sibi dicata ingrediantur. Hujusmodi statu arum vetustissima memoria.
Hermes ilIe Ter Maximus in Asclepio: 'Ita humanitas semper memor humanre naturre et originis sua; in illd divinitatis
imitatione perseverat, ut sicut Pater ac Dominus, ut sui similes essent, deos fecit reternos; ita humanitas deos suos
e:c sui vultus similitudine figuraret. ASCL. Statuas dici., 0 Trismegiste? TRTS. Statuas, 0 Asclepi; videsne quatenus
tuipse diffidas? Statuas animatas sensu et spiritu plenas, tantaque facientes et talia. Statuas futurorum prrescias, ea
qure forte omnis vates ignoret, in multis et variis rebus prredicentes, imbecillitates hominibus facientes, easque curantes,
tristitiam lretitiamque pro meritis.''' Selden proceeds to observe in a succeeding passage of the same chapter,
"Plurima occurrunt (i. e. angelorum nomina) in apocryphis Enochi, qure ab iIIustrissimo Scaligero in Notis Eusebianis
transcripta. KeKpvl'l'eV~v etiam ei8wAoAaTp€lav vocat Synodus Laodicensis «yyeAov, ovol'a~«v Ka, avva!;«, 71'O"'V,
quemadmodum legimus Codice Canonum cap. cxxxix. Et sub persona impiorum, qui Salvatoris Jesu miracula
calumniabantur, Arnobius adversus Gentes, lib. 1. 'Magus fuit, clandestinis artibus omnia ilia per fecit. lEgyptiorum
ex adytis angelorum potentium nomina et remotas furatus est disciplinas'. Quin nomina angelorum


-----
* A name borrowed from the term Cabala, which is thus defined by Selden in the prolegomena to his treatise concerning the Gods
of the Syrians: "Quicquid arcano volumine condidit postea Moses, id Cabala alltea erat, sive 1TaTp01utp«8oTOY, quod velut jus sacrum
et hereditarium ad posteros continuA. generationum serie transmittebatul."




510 NOTES.

observare jur,gumndo obstringebantur Essenorum sectre olim initiati, uti scriptum reliquit Flavius Josephus; quos
perstrinxit forsan D. Paulus ad Coloss. cap. 11. comm. lB. ubi '/rep' Op~UKeta. TWV ayyeAwvagit." It is certainly surprising
to find that every thing that was dreadful in the religious rites of the New World when first discovered
by the Spaniards, or immane, if we.may be permitted to use a Latin epithet which is still more expressive, was
well known to the Jews of the Old Continent: the writings of the Rabbis, where the Bible is silent, prove this
fact, and are evidence from which there can be no appeal: but will the force of prejudice, the particular views or
private interests of any order of men, or the egotism of the Jews, maintain that it was the prerogative of the
Hebrew nation, as being the chosen people of God, to know these things? and to teach them to others would be the
sure and bitter retort of their enemies; and that inspiration-but here the divine altars would burn pale, and religion
would avert and veil her face. Selden, in a preceding page, notices the curious opinions entertained by some celebrated
Rabbis respecting the Teraphim, or idols worshiped by Laban, and which were stolen from him by his
daughter Rachel, the wife of the patriarch Jacob: "Utrum autem ut dii colerentur Teraphim, utcunque dii dicti,
an vero divinationis tantum instrumenta haberentur, vetus est inter magistros controversia, quod liquet ex Rabbi
Simeone Ben Joachi in libro Zohar, fol. 94. b. ad Genesin. Modum autem feralem quo fiebant, ex Capitulis Rabbi
Eleazaris adfert Elias in Thisbi. 'Mactabant,' ait ille, 'hominem primogenitum, cujus caput torquendo prrescindebant
(ita transtulit P. Faginus; Elire autem, seu Eleazaris, verba sunt '1V~i f1~ l'v'n~, id est, ungue secabant, aut
manibus discerpebant, caput ejus. N am v,n hoc sensu usurpatur Levit. i. com. 15, et v. com. B. ubi de avibus
offerendis agit Moses, quorum capita hoc ritu divellenda): caput vero abscissum sale et aromatibus condiebant,
scribebantque super laminam auream nomen spiritus immundi, qua supposita capiti ejus, ponebant illud in pariete,
incendentes coram eo candelas, et adorantes coram eo. Atque cum istiusmodi loquutus fuit Laban '. Eadem fere paraphrastes
ille qui Ben Uzielis nomen in Pentateuchum falso gerit: sed suam illi pralstent fidem." "Whether the
Teraphim were worshiped as gods, although called gods, or whether they were simply instruments of divination,
has been the subject of ancient controversy amongst the Masters, as may be proved out of Rabbi Simeon Ben Joachi,
in the book Zohar, page 94. b. on Genesis. Elias declares in Thisbi, on the authority of Rabbi Eleazar, the dire
method of fabricating them. They killed, says he, some first-born of man, whose head they cut off, twisting it when
performing that act (so P. Faginus translates the passage, but the words of Elias or Eleazar are '1V~i f1~ l'v'Jn, which
signify divided with the nails, or tore off the head from the body with the hands; for v,n is used in this sense in the
fifteenth verse of the first chapter of Leviticns, and in the eighth verse of the fifth chapter, in which Moses directs
how birds should be offered, the heads of which were to be torn off in this manner): and they preserved the head,
after it had been cut off, with salt and spices, and wrote upon a plate of gold the name of some unclean spirit, which
they put under the head and placed it in a wall, burning torches before it and performing adoration. And this
was the sort of instrument of divination which Laban consulted. That paraphraser of the Pentateuch, who goes by
the false name of Ben Uziel, writes nearly to the same effect; but let those who please give credit to him." Those
who peruse the curious passage which has been just quoted from Selden, whose veracity was certainly as great
as his learning, must confess, that if the horrid superstition of immolating human victims and converting their embalmed
heads into Teraphim was pagan, at least some notions appear to have been borrowed from the Hebrew
ritual; for example, attaching superior importance to the first-born of man was eminently characteristic of the Jews,
and grounded amongst them on the declaration contained in the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, that all the firstborn
of man should be set apart unto God; and the mode of twisting or tearing off the head from the body of the
victim was such as was prescribed by Moses in Leviticus in the case of birds, in order not to cause death by strangulation,
and similar to that practised by the Mexicans in their daily sacrifices, not of young pigeons, but of quails, as we
learn from Sahagun in the Appendix to the second book of his History of New Spain, page 100 of the seventh volume
of the present work, where the phrase "arrancandolas la cabeza," tearing off their heads, occurs; but if the Rabbis
choose to nnderstand v'Jn in the sense of dividing with the nails, it cannot apply to the separation of the head from
the body, but must merely signify the division of the skin of the neck of the victim; but whether such a thought
could ever have been likely to have associated itself in the mind of a Jew with religion, we leave to an expert
Hebrew Mohel to decide. The Jews, ever since the age of Tobit, the sixth chapter of whose book may be found in
many editions of the Old Testament, have believed in unclean spirits, and beginning with Asmodeus have succeeded
in forming rather an extensive nomenclature of them; they have likewise not scrupled to make use of the divine




NOTES. 511

name, or the tetragram, in magical incantations; and the thirty-sixth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus
proves, that the custom of writing upon a plate of gold existed in very early ages among them. Maimonides likewise
forbade his countrymen to seek divination from skulls, knowing that the twenty-eighth chapter of the first book of
Samuel disposed them to believe in necromaucy. It is singular that M. Dupaix should have discovered circular
niches in the walls of the palace of Mitlan, described at page 449, which, according to Indian tradition, were made
for the reception of a skull; he also found skulls placed in separate bowls or chargers, in excavating the interior
of another ancient monument in the vicinity of Zachila; but it would perhaps be setting no reasonable limits to
conjecture, to suppose that this mode of interment might have been to commemorate the death of John the Baptist,
although Europe has witnessed far greater extravagancies in the posthumous honours decreed to saints, who, like
Saint Ignatius Loyola, deserved no other honour than that of martyrdom. The fiftieth plate of the second Part
of the Monuments of New Spain contains a representation of one of the wooden skulls, which was placed along with
the real one in the same dish, as a substitute perhaps for the latter when it should have mouldered away through
time. Selden, in illustration of the hypothesis unhesitatingly advanced in the third chapter of the prolegomena to
his treatise De Diis Syris, "neque novum est ut impietatis initia ex Sacris Literis seu cabala sacra (qure idem sunt)
depromantur," which partakes rather of the nature of an axiom than of a postulate, and which if true of the Jews, the
Egyptians, and the Persians, it certainly will not be making a camel pass through the eye of a needle to apply to the
Mexicans, proceeds to remark: "lEgyptiis quotannis in Judaico Paschate greges et arbores, minio, velut alexeterio,
iIIinere solenne erato Id ex depravato traditionis sacrre de Ebrreorum superliminaribus sanguine iIIitis intellectu
manavit; quod fusius narrat Epiphanius in Hreresi Nazarrenorum. Perperam accepta Mosis de reneo serpente historia,
ut thymiamata ei incenderentur, effecit. Thoth et Bau in Phrenicum sanctuariis ex 1i011iln in Geneseos initio petunt
docti. Id quod toties occurrit,;, ~€O, 'A{3paal',;, ~€or. 'IaaaK,;, ~€O, 'IaKw{3, jamdiu est cum in carmina transmigravit
magic a; atque ita est sumptum, ut nec Abraham, nec Isaac, nee Jacob alius quam Deus ob amphiboliam censeretur;
de qua re, si placet, consulendus Origenes adversus Celsum, lib. iv. et ejusmodi alia habet lib. i. et v. uti etiam Trallianus
medicus, lib. xi. Quin et umbrre in ho,:ologio Achazi regis mystica erat Persarum sacerdotibus memoria in
Mithrre -rp,,,).ac,,ov sacris, qUal MV~l'oavva nuncupabant, si au tori fides. Is est Dionysius Areopagita dictus, qui
Epist. vii. ad Polycarpum verba faciens de recessu iIIo, 'TovTo,' inquit '-rat< IT€P"WV i€panKa" €1'<p€p€Ta, cJ>~l'a,c, Ka, €;"€T'
Mayo, Ta MV~l'oavva TOV Tp,,,).aawv M,8pov 'I'€).ov",v.' Ad quem locum Georgius Pachymerius, 'Persre', inquit, '1'0 "apeKTal'"
'illC -r,/J.epac €KELVl1C 8," T'1£: TEAET'l1C 'TWV Mv"p.ocrvvwv 'TOll -rp"7rAaalOU O'l1/LatVOUUlV, hoc est, extensionem ill ius diei in
sacris qure mnemosyna, seu memoria, Triplasii, id est, triplicis Mithrre appellantur, denotant: ita et Maximus
Scholiastes. Cum enim priscis xii. essent artificialis, quem vocant, diei horre, quas inrequales seu planetarias nuncupant,
et per decem gradus rediret in ortum umbra, supputant Dionysii sequaces (qui nec pauci sunt), quasi sol,
superatis jam decem diei horis seu horologii gradibus, par remensus spatium horizontem revisisset, dein vero absolutum
xii. horis diem ita terminasset, ut continua ilia lux xxxii. horis inrequalibus constaret, qure synecdochicws
triduum, horas nempe bis xii. et viii. conficiunt; un de -rp,,,).aa,ov nomen aiunt fictum. Creterum suam hic liberent
fidem, nec in Grreculorum verba juravi. Alia longe erant triplicis Mithrre mysteria, et, si fas sit dicere, sanctiora
quam qure hujusmodi peterent exordia; et sacram multo aliter merito intelligunt veteres historiam. Attamen non
piguit et halc adjecisse, ut id genus errorum origines olim agnitas amplius patefaceremus; quas eo libentius, etiam
luculentius, memorare visum est, quod non alia est ansa tam frequenter arrepta, unde impia in,,0).v8€'t',,).avl1 sacra
conflarentur; teste Justino in Apologia v,,€P Xp,a'l',avwv ii. ubi Bacchi fabulas, Bellerophontis item, Herculis, lEsculapii,
totius ferme gentium theologire, ex depl'avato Sacrarum Literarum sensu elicitas et vulgo obtrusas esse docere
conatur; uti et alii patrum alibi. Unde nam Jupiter Sabazius 1 nonne a Jehovah Sabaoth, quod inculcante srepius
Jeremia proprium Dei Opt. Max. nomen 1" Undoubtedly if those Fathers to whom Selden here alludes still flourished,
they would, after pronouncing the opinion which they have done on Jupiter Sabazius, feel no small embarrassment at
being requested to read the sixth book of Sahagun, and to return a categoric&l answer to the question, "Unde Tezcatlipoca
1 nonne a monte Sina 1" And, considering the many other questions to which this first one might lead,
how often, blaming themselves for the unnecessary concession of a principle, would they not feel inclined to exclaim
" sed revocare gradum, -- hoc opus hic labor est" ! The Deity is said in so many passages of the Old Testament to be
jealous of his honour, and to work miracles for his name's sake, that many persons may feel it hard to reconcile that
professed jealousy with the desecration of his name so common among the Jews, the profanation of his temple, and




512 NOT E S.
the human sacrifices which they offered to him; the corollary of all which IS, that though Abraham received the
covenant from God, and Moses promulgated his laws to the Jews, still Judaism was never under such special divine
protection as to prevent its degenerating into most abominable rites in the Old World, nor consequently in the New;
and therefore let it not be maintained that Jehovah could not have been worshiped under the name of Tezcatlipoca
by the Mexicans,. and human sacrifices offered to him in New Spain as in Palestine of old; but even on the assumption
that this was the case, let not God impiously be made accountable for the crimes which men may have committed in
his name, for the cruelty or absurdity of the religious rites by which they may have sought to honour him, or for the
fables which they may have ridiculously invented of him. If some of those misguided men, commonly named the
Fathers, whose writings were revered in the ages which they were so instrumental in rendering dark, but which (such
is the vicissitude of all earthly things,) are little read or esteemed in the present day, were living, they would find
that Christianity itself might be overthrown by the same arguments, if admitted to be valid now, which they employed
so successfully nearly two thousand years ago against Paganism, which all resolve themselves into reasoning
against the religions of antiquity from their abuses. Those reckless sophists scrupled not to hold up to ridicule every
thing that preceding ages of mankind had held most sacred, they invented new crimes, but did not ameliorate their
own age, they blasphemed the First Cause at the very time that they were pretending to teach the adoration which it
was proper to pay to the God of the universe; for who will venture to maintain, that under the name of Jupiter the
ancients did not worship the First Cause, who was, and is, and ever will be, as Saint Paul rightly declares, the nnknown
God; for it is a vain boast of the Jews to say that the world knew more of God when it became acquainted with the
history of their ancestors' flight from Egypt, and their passage across the Red Sea, than it did before, since all that
man can know of the Deity is, that he is excellent and incomprehensible: to write, therefore, in the style of invective
and obscenity, which Clemens Alexandrinns has employed to destroy the reverence of the Greeks and Romans for
Jupiter, was to blaspheme the First Cause. But if the last-mentioned Father had known that;";", Yaoua, would
be adored by the Mexi"cans not uuder the title of Yao the God of Sabbath, but of Yao the terrible God and the God
of battles; and that the sacrifices of the old law, the seal of which was circumcision, which wonld still be retained
amongst the Indians, would degenerate into the immolation of human victims at his shrine; he, perhaps, would have
triumphed less at finding that Jupiter (as the poets feigned) had sometimes forsaken the seats divine, confessing the
power of mortal charms, and have thought it less advisable to feign thereat holy horror, when it would be so necessary
to reserve the feeling for another and a better occasion which the future had in store for him. The Jews are
accused of having corrupted the Old Testament with their traditions; and if this charge has been truly brought
against them in the Old Continent, is it at all nnreasonahle to suppose that in the New they may not have profaned
it with their paintings? and, indeed, the forty-eighth verse of the third chapter of the first book of Maccabees, which
differs materially in the Roman edition from the passage as it is rendered in our English translation of the Bible,
makes it very doubtful whether the Jews did not in early ages disfigure the Old Testament with frightful paintings
of idols. The following is the verse alluded to: "Ka, €~€1T€'I'aaaV TO {3,{3Awv TOU VO!'OU 1T€P' WV €~€P€UVWV Ta eOv" 'I'a
ol'olwl'a'l'a TWV €i8wAwv av'l'wv:" "and they unfolded the book of the law (that they might know likewise) whence the
heathen borrowed the patterns of their idols." This is the probable signification of this very obscure passage, which
is evidently elliptical, because TO {31{3Awv cannot be the antecedent to 1T€P' wV, and the ellipsis is here supplied in a
manner which accords with the idiom of the Greek language. It may be proper to observe, that in the Spanish
edition of the book of Maccabees the following material variation occurs in the reading of the passage in question:
" €~€p€Uvwv 'I'a €OV~ 'I'OU €1T'ypa"'€lv €1r' av'l'wv 'I'a 0lwlw!'a'l'a:" from which it would appear that the Gentiles took the pains
of painting their idols on the leaves of the Pentateuch, with the intention, according to commentators, of shocking the
pure eyes of the Jews with the contemplation of their law and idols at the same time. But where is the necessity of
supposing that the Gentiles painted idols on the leaves of a book which contained the word of God, when the Jews
covered the walls of the temples, in which they believed that he was continually present, with paintings of the most
deformed idols that imagination can conceive, as Ezekiel himself informs us in the eighth chapter of his book of
prophecies? The passage which has been already quoted from the sixth book of Sahagun's History of New Spain,
proves that the Mexicans regarded Quecalcoatle in the light of a father; in the following, which is taken from
the thirty.fourth chapter of the same book, it will be seen that they considered and named him their son: "0 nieto
mio y senor nuestro, persona de gran valor, y de gran precio, y de gran estima, 0 piedra preciosa, 0 esmeralda, 0



NOTES. 513

zaliro, 0 plumage rico, cabello y una de alta generacion, seais muy bien venido, seais muy bien llegado; habeis sido
formado en lugar mas alto donde habitan los dos supremos Dioses, que es sobre los nueve cielos; hanos hecho de
vaciadizo como una cuenta de oro; hanos agujerado como una piedra preciosa muy rica y muy labrada vuestro padre
y vuestra madre, el gran Senor y la gran Senora, y juntamente con ellos nuestro hijo Quetzalcoatl." "0 my son and
lord, thou who art dear, estimable, and highly prized by us, precious gem, emerald, and saphire, rich feather, hair
and nail of noble sires, welcome is your arrival amongst us, welcome hast thou come; thou wert formed in the highest
heaven, which is above the nine heavens, where reside the two supreme Gods; they have fashioned thee like a bead
of gold; thy father and mother, the great Lord and the great Lady, and together with them our son Quetzalcoatl,
have pierced you like some rich and costly and highly polished jewel." The Mexican lords were accustomed to
send formal complimentary messages to each other on the occasion of the birth of an elder son, and an old man
addressed a salutation in their name to the mother and the infant in the manner thus briefly described by Sahagun
at the commencement of the chapter above referred to: "Despues que ya se sabe que la Senora N. pario, luego los
amigos y parientes de los pueblos circunstantes van a visitar al nino, y a la madre, y a los parientes; y primeramente
en la visitacion hablaban al nino recien nacido, y para saludarle descubrele la madre, paraque este patente al
que Ie habla." "As soon as it was known that a lady of distinction had given birth to a child, the relations and
friends of the family, who resided in towns in the neighbourhood, came to visit the infant, the mother, and her relations,
and they paid the first salutation to the new-born infant, whom the mother uncovered that it might be seen by
him who addressed it." The custom of presenting gifts on such occasions is noticed by Sahagun in the thirty-fifth
chapter of the same book, which deserves to be considered in connection with what is said in the second chapter of
Saint Matthew of the wise men of the East following the star "till it came and stood over where the young child
was," since this custom was probably of Hebrew origin. "And when they were come into the house, they saw the
young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him; and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh." "En este negocio de saludar a los ninos que
estan en la cuna y a sus padres, no tienen medida, porque dura diez y veinte dias el saludarlos, quando los que son
saludados son principales y Senores. Los que saludan dan los presentes de mantas ricas, y si la criatura es hembra,
dan naoas y vi piles hasta veinte 0 cuarenta; y a esto llaman Y xquemitl, que quiere decir ropa para envolver a! nino.
Entre los que no son Senores sino gente honrada 0 rica, llevan una manta y un maxtli, 6 una naoa y un vipil si es
hembra la que naci6; y los que son de baja suerte usan hacer esta salutacion presentando com ida y bebida." "The
time employed in the single formality of saluting the infant in the cradle and its parents, exceeded all reasonable
bounds, for the ceremony of the salutation lasted ten or twenty days, when those who were saluted were princes and
lords. Those who came to salute presented gifts at the same time, consisting of rich mantles, and, if the infant was a
girl, they presented as many as twenty or forty naoas and vipiles (under and upper garments); they named these gifts
Yxquemitl, which signifies clothes to wrap the infaut in. Those who were not lords, but rich and respectable
persons, gave a single mantle and maxtle, or one naoa and vipil, if the infant was a girl; and the lower classes of the
people performed the salutation by merely presenting provisions." In the following passage of the thirty-fifth chapter
of the above-mentioned book, children, which are elsewhere named the gift of Tezcatlipoca, appear to be ascribed to
Quecalcoatle: "0 Senora nieta e hija mia, paloma y doncella muy tierna y muy amada, como estais? que sentis?
gran fatiga habeis padecido, gran trabajo habeis tenido; habeis os igualado, habeis imitado a vuestra madre la
Senora Cioacatlquilahtli: muchas gracias haremos a nuestro Senor al presente, porque ha tenido por bien que viniese
y saliese a luz esta preciosa piedra y este rico Quetzatl, llegado a la una y cabello de nuestros Senores que ya fallecieron,
que ya se fueron. Brotado ha, y florecido ha su planta y generacion de los Se,101"es, COllsules, 'Y Reyes; salido
ha, manifestatlose ha la espina de maguey y la cana de humo, la qual dejaron plantada profundamente nuestros
Senores y Reyes pasados que fueron famosos y valerosos; de vos, Senora, ha cogido una piedra preciosa; de vos ha
tornado un plumage rico nuestro hijo Quetzalcoatl. Sea nuestro Senor alabado, porque con prosperidad apart6 de vos
el peligro y la batalla con que peleastes contra la muerte en el parto; por ventura os sobrepujara en dias el nino
recien nacido; por ventura sera la voluntad de nuestro Senor que viva, 6 por ventura morira el primero; por ventura
tierno como esta, hara pedazos el Senor del mundo a esta piedra preciosa, a este sarta! de piedras preciosas; por ventura
nos Ie vendra a tomar y llevar el que Ie cri6; por ventura pasara de repente delante los ojos de su reino 6
Senorio, y nos dejara como burlados por nuestros pecados, que no Ie merecemos gozar. O! hagase la voluntad de



514 NOTES.

nuestro Sefior; haga el 10 que fuere servido; pongamos en el toda nuestra esperanza." "0 Lady, who art dear to
me as my daughter or grandaughter, I am solicitous to be informed of your health; you have endured a long and
severe trial, you have rivalled, you have imitated your mother the goddess Cioacatlquilahtli; many thanks have we
now to return to our Lord, hecause he has vouchsafed to send us this precious gem, this rich Quetzatl which has
come to light, the image, hail', and nail of our Lords who are dead, who have long since been no more. The stock
and scion of our Lords, Consuls, and Kings has budded, has bloomed; the thorn of the aloe and the odoriferous
cane, which our Lords and departed Kings, who were valiant and renowned, planted deep in the earth, has sprnng up,
has appeared; from you, Lady, our son Quetzalcoatl has received a precious gem, from you he has obtained a rich
feathe.r. May our Lord be praised, since he has happily preserved you from danger, and from the battle which you
fought with death at the time of delivery; perhaps the days of the infant to which you have just given hirth will
outnumher yours; perhaps it will be the will of our Lord that he shall live, or perhaps he will die the first; perhaps,
tender as he is, the Lord of the universe will break into atoms this precious gem, this chain of costly jewels; perhaps
he who made him will come and take him from us unto himself; perhaps he will pass him momentarily before the
eyes of his kingdom and state, and deprive us of him, turning us into mockery on account of our sins, because we are
unworthy of enjoying him. O! let the will of our Lord be done; let him do what seemeth good unto him; in him
let us place all our hope." It is evident from the concluding portion of this salutation, that the Mexican religion
enjoined resignation and submission to the divine decrees, and hope in God, which after all is not an article confined
to any particular creed, hut a consolation that was poured into the cup of misfortune when first presented to
man to taste, which if religion inculcates, reason nevertheless teaches without the aid of inspiration. We cannot
omit carefully to point out here the phrase "your mother the goddess Cioacatlquilahtli," since it is perfectly analogous
to that of our mother Eve; Cioacatlquilahtli being the Eve of the New World, who, as the Mexicans believed,
brought sin into the world, and entailed death on her posterity, as is distinctly stated in the thirty-third chapter of the
sixth book of Sahagun. This goddess is more frequently named simply Cioacoatl or Quilahtli, she is also named
Suchiquecal or Xochiquecal, and in the same manner as the first name seems to allude to her temptation by the
serpent, so the last seems to refer to her having plucked the forbidden frnit, or the roses, in Xochitlicacan or the
garden of Eden. There is also something rather equivocal in the allusion contained in the words "the stock and
scion of our Lords, Consuls, and Kings:" the Hebrew patriarchs, judges, and kings may by possibility be here
referred to, whose fame the Jews would speedily have spread abroad on their arrival in America. Having elsewhere
made the observation that the Mexicans resembled the Jews in their frequent use of the same metaphors, of which
the entire of the sixth book of Sahagun'S History of New Spain furnishes abundant proof, we shall here remark that
the 'hair and nail of their forefathers', under which simile the Mexicans represented posterity, is very like the
Hebrew metaphor of 'flesh of flesh' and 'bone of bone,' which the Jews applied to their near relations and descendants,
as we learn from the fourteenth verse of the twenty-ninth chapter of Genesis, where Laban addressing Jacob
says, "Surely thou art my bone and my flesh." The expression" cortados de vuestros elltranas y de vuestros lomos,"
which is applied to children in the twenty-fifth chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun, is in the pure Hebrew idiom, and
might almost have been borrowed from the Psalms. Scripture phraseology, likewise, employing the latter term' loins'
in the famous prophecy relating to the birth of the Messiah, who was to be of the seed of David, it is probable that
the Jewswould have quickly incorporated that metaphor into the Mexican language. In the following passage of the
thirty-third chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun, children, who are elsewhere named the gift of Tezcatlipoca,
appear to be ascribed to Quecalcoatle. "Aqui en vuestra presencia ha nacido la criatura de nuestro Senor, que es
como una piedra preciosa y una pluma rica, en cnya cara habeis ya puesto vuestros oj os. Es por cierto este nino
como una planta que dejaron echada sus abuelos; es como un pedazo de piedra preciosa que fue cortada de los antiguos,
y ha muchos dias que murieron. Hanos la dado nuestro Senor a esta criatura, pero no tenemos certidumbre de
su vida, sino como de un sueno que sofiamos. Ya ven nuestros ojos 10 que ha nacido; es como una piedra preciosa
y pluma rica, que ya ha brotado en nuestra presencia. Lo que puedo ahora afirmar cs, que nuestro Senor Quetzalcoat1,
que es Criador, ha puesto una piedra preciosa y una pluma rica suya en este polvo y en esta casa pobre hecha
de canas; y puedo tambien decir, que ya ha adornado vuestra garganta, y vuestro collo, y vuestras manos, con un
joyel de piedras prcciosas y de plumas ricas, y que raramente se hallan ni aUll a comprar: puedo decir, que ha
puesto en vuestras manos un manojito de plumas ricas que se Haman QuetzaHi, de perfecta hechura y de perfecto




NOTES. 515

color. Y en agradecimiento de tan gran beneficio, conviene que respondais con 1I0ros y con oraciones de votos a
nuestro Senor que esta en todo Iugar: suspirad y 1I0rad basta saber su voluntad, si por ventura vivira esta piedra
preciosa y esta pluma rica, de que ahora hablamos como sonando; la qual no sabemos si crecera y se criara, y si
vivid algunos dias 0 anos, 0 si sera imagen, y retrato, y houra, y fama de los viejos y viejas que ya pasaron, de los
quales desciende: no sabemos si por ventura resucitara la suerte y levantara la cabeza de sus abuelos y abuelas."
" Here, in your presence, the infant of our Lord is born, which is like unto a precious gem or a rich feather, on whose
face you have already fixed your eyes. This child does indeed resemble a plant set by his sires; he is, as it were, the
fragment of a jewel cut by the ancients, who are long since no more. Our Lord has given this infant to us, but we
cannot tell whether he will live, or be like a vision seen in a dream. Our eyes now contemplate the infant which
has been born; he resembles a precious stone and a rich feather, which has already displayed itself to our view.
That which I am at liberty to declare is, that our Lord Quetzalcoatl, who is the Creator, has placed a precious stone
and one of his rich feathers in the dust before us, and in this poor and cane-built hut; and I may likewise add, that
he has ornamented your neck and wrists with costly gems and rich feathers, such as are rarely to be met with and
difficult to be obtained even for a price; and, further, that he has placed in your hands a handful of rich feathers,
called Quetzalli, of perfect form and perfect colour. In return for so signal an act of grace, it is right that you
should address yourself with tears, prayers, and vows to our Lord who is everywhere; sigh and weep until you
know whether it be his will that this precious stone and rich feather, of which we are speaking like persons in a
dream, shall live: we know not whether he will grow and arrive at maturity, or whether his term of life will be a
few days or years, or whether he will be the image, likeness, glory, and renown of the elders, who have already passed
away, from whom he descends: we know not whether, peradventure, he will resuscitate the fortune and raise the head
of his forefathers." The concluding sentence of this passage is very remarkable: proceeding from the lips of the
Mexicans, it is enigmatical and unintelligible; since, if we reflect for a moment that the Mexican empire was, according
to the testimony of all historians, at the height of its greatness in the reign of Montezuma, the wish here
expressed must appear alike devoid of meaning and of application, except Mexican history was something very different
from what historians have represented it to be: but in the mouth of a Jew the allusion would be plain, and
would strikingly illustrate the truth of a remark previously made in page 385 of the present volume, that the
Jews, wherever residing, and however well offin their temporal concerns, have been accustomed to indulge in a tone
of complaint ever since the fall of their empire. It has also a tincture of Hebrew rhetoric, since children are in many
parts of the Old Testament named the oroaments of their parents, and Christ is called in the New the image of his
Father's glory. He likewise compares himself, apostrophizing Jerusalem in the thirty-fourth verse of the thirteenth
chapter of Saint Luke, to a hen ready to protect her brood beneath her wings; which metaphor, as well as the analogous
simile of shading like a tree of spreading foliage, under which type Nebuchadnezzar beheld himself in the
dream described in the fourth chapter of the book of Daniel, was very familiar to the ancient Mexicans, and was frequently
employed by them in their prayers to the gods. Quecalcoatle is empbatically styled' Maker and Creator' in
the following passage of the twenty-fifth chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun, into which brief space many Jewish
notions are crowded: "Nieta mia muy amada, y preciosa como piedra preciosa, como chalchiuitl y zafiro, noble y
generosa, es cierto ahora que nuestro Senor se ha acordado dc vos, el qual esta en toda parte y hace mercedes a
quien quiere: ya esta claro que est6.s prenada, y que uuestro Senor os quiere dar fruto de generacion, y os quiere
poneI' un joyel y daros una pluma rica. Por ventura 10 han merecido vuestros suspiros y vuestras lagrimas, y el
entendimiento de vuestras manos delante de nuestro Senor Dios, y las peticiones y oraciones que habeis ofrecido en
presencia de nuestro Senor, lIamado Tiniebla y Aire en las vigilias de la media noche; por ventura habeis velado;
por ventura habeis trabajado en barrer y ofrecer incienso en su presencia; por ventura por estas buenas obras ha
hecho con vos misericordia nuestro Senor; por ventura esta fue la causa, porque se determino en los cielos y en los
infiernos, antes del principio del mundo, que se os hiciese esta merced; por ventura es verdad, que nuestro Senor
Quetzalcoatl, que es Criador y Hacedor, os ha hecho esta merced; por ventura 10 ha determinado el que reside en el
cielo, un hombre y una muger que se lIaman Ometecutli y Omecioatl; por ventura esto esta ya asi determinado.
Mirad, hija mia, que no os ensoberbezcais, por la merced que os ha hecho." "My dear daughter, precious as a gem,
and as a chalchiuitl or saphire, who art good and noble, it is now certain that our Lord, who is everywhere, and
shows kindness to whom he will, has remembered you: it is plain that you have conceived, and that it is our Lord's



516 NOTES.

pleasure that you should be fruitful: to whom it seems good to adorn you with a jewel, and to bestow a rich feather
upon you. Perhaps your sighs, your tears, and the lifting up of your hands before the Lord our God, and the prayers
and supplications which you have offered in the presence of our Lord, whose name is Obscurity and Air, in vigils at
midnight, have merited this favour; perhaps you have watched; perhaps you have employed yourself in sweeping
and in offering incense in his presence; perhaps for the sake of these good works our Lord hath dealt mercifully
with you; perhaps au? this very account it was determined, before the commencement of the world, in heaven and in
hell, that this kindness should be shown to you; perhaps it is true that our Lord Quetzalcoatl, who is Malter and
Creator, has shown you this kindness; perhaps it had been decreed by the pair who inhabit heaven, the man and the
woman named Ometecutli and Omecioatl; perhaps it was long since so determined. Take care, O my daughter, not
to allow yourself to feel proud on account of the favour which has been shown to you; take care that you say not
inwardly to yourself, I have conceived; take care that you attribute not this favour to your own deserts, for should yon
do so, you will not be able to hide your inward thoughts from our Lord, for nothing is hidden from him, be it within
either rocks or trees; and thus you would excite his displeasure against you, and he would send some chastisement
upon you, so that we should lose that which is within you; our Lord slaying it in the womb, or causing it to be born
an idiot, or to die in its tender infancy; or perhaps our Lord would visit you with some disease of which you would
die; for the fulfilment of our wish to have children and posterity depends upon the sale mercy of God; and if our
thoughts are at variance with this truth, imagining that it happens through our own deserts, we defraud ourselves of
the boon which is vouchsafed to us. Perhaps, daughter, pride will render you unworthy of letting the light behold
that which has begun and is now coming." A Jewish tone of sentiment, it must be coufessed, pervades the entire of
this address; whilst Christian ethics, Scriptural allusions, and Hebrew customs seem all wonderfully mixed up in it.
It was a Hebrew custom to lift up the hands in prayer, as we learn from the second verse of the hundred and fortyfirst
Psalm: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifices."
And David commemorates his midnight vigils in the sixty-second verse of the hundred and nineteenth Psalm:
" At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee, because of thy righteous judgments." Children are named in various
parts of the Old Testament the ornaments of their parents, and compared to jewels about their necks: they were
likewise believed by the Jews to be the gift of God, on the authority of many passages of Holy Writ; and they are
so expressly stated to be in the third verse of the hundred and twenty-seventh Psalm, "La children are an heritage
of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Jacob, likewise, in the thirty-third chapter of Genesis, answers
in reply to Esau's question, "Who are those with thee?" "The children which God hath graciously given thy servant."
And Isaiah exclaims in the eighth chapter of his Prophecies, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord
hath giveu me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion." The
admonition towards the conclusion of the address might have suggested itself to the mind of the speaker, from the
recollection of the example in the Old Testament of Sarah's having incurred the displeasure of God, by laughing and
commenting inwardly to herself on the promise made by him to Abraham, that she should bear a son; the occasion
of which is thus described in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis: "And he said, I will certainly return unto thee
according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent-door, which
was behind him. Now Ahraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; and it had ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have
pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of
a surety hear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto
thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not: for she
was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh." It must have been Sarah's fear that induced her on that
occasion to contradict God, since, having been so long the wife of the patriarch Abraham, she could not have been
ignorant that he knew what passed in her heart; and, except on this assumption, her want of faith would have been a
lesser crime than her presumption; nor would a contradiction in return from God have been a punishment adequate
to her temerity. A famous example however of pride of heart, venting itself in boastful language, and meeting with
severe chastisement from God, is afforded in the case of king Nebuchadnezzar, who having exclaimed to himself,
"Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the
honour of my majesty?" was driven from his throne and the habitations of men, "had a beast's heart given unto him,"




NOTES. 517

and did eat grass as o:r:en: which expressions in the fonrth chapter of Daniel have indnced some of the Rabbis to
maintain that he was changed into a real ox, asking at the same time the rational question, Whether a mau could
live on grass alone? Without pausing to reply to their query, we shall proceed to observe, that the New Testament
affords an example in Herod of exultation of heart immediately drawing down Divine vengeance: "And upon a set
day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a
shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because
he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." The manner of Herod's death, as
recorded in the twenty-third verse of the twelfth chapter of the Acts, resembles that of Antiochus, who in the ninth
verse of the ninth chapter of the Second Book of Maccabees is said to have been eaten by worms as a punishment for
his pride. It is probable, therefore, that the extreme fear which the Mexicans entertained that God would severely
punish them for the slightest degree of pride or presumption, was borrowed from the Jews, with whom, "Keep me, O 
Lord, from presumptuous sins" was a prayer. Their supposition, likewise, that Tezcatlipoca would punish the infant
for the sin of its mother, was strictly in accordance with the doctrine inculcated throughout the Pentateuch; which
induced the Jews to reproach the blind man, whose sight had been restored to him by Christ, with having been
born in sins, as related in the thirty-fourth verse of the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Saint John: "They answered
and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out." This principle
of the Jewish religion is also asserted in the second commandment, where the threat, "I am a jealous God, and
visit the sins of the fathers upon the children," being denounced against the sin of idolat,,!!, and not against intemperance,
does in fact require a very different explanation from that which most commentators have chosen to give to
it. The notion of God not permitting children to arrive at perfection from displeasure against their parents for their
sins, was Hebrew, as we learn from the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon: "As for the
children of adulterers, they shall not come to their perfection; and the seed of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted
ou!." Other exceedingly curious notions respecting children were entertained by the Mexicans: they believed that
they were dear to God, and that they interceded with him for the world and for men; that on their deaths they went
to heaven, and were nourished by the tree distilling milk, which grew in the garden of Tonacaquahtitlan, where they
ever abided in the presence of Tonacatecutli: the name of the tree was Chichiualquauitl, and a representation of it
will be found in the fifth page of the larger Vatican MS. When we recollect what is said in the New Testament
of little children, and the mysterious words of Christ in the tenth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Saint Matthew,
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always
behold the face of my Father which is in heaven," coupled with the preceding ones in the sixth verse, "But whoso
shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea," and compare them with other similar passages contained in
the ninth chapter of Saint Mark and the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke; -- considering at the same time that the
signification ofTonacaquahtitlan is, 'the place where grows the tree of our bodies or of life', that word being compounded
of tonacayo, defined by Molina in his Lexicon of the Mexican language to be "cuerpo humano 6 nuestra
carne," i. e. the human body or our flesh, and quauitl, which signifies, according to the same author, "arbol 6 palo," a
tree or a piece of wood (quauitl nepaniuhtoc, meaning' a wooden cross'), to which is added a particle of local reference
; -- can a doubt remain in our mind that the Mexicans borrowed some of their notions about children from the
Scriptures, and had heard of the tree of life which grew in the garden of Eden, the fruit of which is said in the
twenty-second verse of the third chapter of Genesis to confer immortality on the taster; and which is again mentioned
in the following terms in the last chapter of the Revelations by Saint John, in his description of his vision of New
Jerusalem; "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations"? which passage might have been corrupted by course of time and tradition into the doctrine, that the tree
of life bestowed immortality upon the souls of children who died before attaining the knowledge of good and evil, or,
as the interpreter of the Vatican MS. expresses it, "che muorono senza l'uso della ragione," and who therefore could
not have earned it by faith or good works. The god Tonacatecutli was believed by the Mexicans to reside in the
garden of Tonacaquahtitlan: he was the father of Quecalcoatle, and was also named Ometecutli, which signifies, the
Most High, that name being compounded of ome, 'twice', which particle when prefixed to an adjective has an intensive



518 NOTES.

force like the Latin tel', and teeutli, 'lord' or 'king'. This observation will serve to correct an erroneous explanation
of the proper name Hometeuli, in the note subjoined to page 156 of the present volume. The meaning of the proper
name Tonacatecutli, is 'the lord of our bodies or of our flesh'; and it deserves to be remarked, that the Jews styled
Jehovah the Lord of alljlesh, or of all living things, the two expressions being synonymous, because animal life cannot
exist without flesh, nor flesh enter on its first stage of existence without life, or remain flesh any length of time after
death: hence it is apparent that the tree of life was named with the greatest propriety by the Mexicans, Tonacaquauitl
or Tonacaquahuitl. And since the Jews believed that the life of the flesh was the blood, grounding that notion upon
the fourth verse of the ninth chapter of Genesis, "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye
not eat," it is probable that the Mexicans represented the tree, described in page 127 of the present volume, bloody and
cracked in the middle. This tree must have been very celebrated in Mexican mythology, since it has a distinct place
assigned to it in the Tonalamatl or Mexican calendar; Suchiquecal also is recorded to have sinned by plucking its
fruit. Having observed above that the Mexicans believed that the intercessions of children in behalf of men were efficacious
with God, we shall quote a remarkable passage from the twenty-first chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun's
History, in confirmation of that curions fact: "Decian, que por estos sustentaba Dios al mundo, y que ellos eran
nuestros intercesores para con Dios." "They say, that it is for their sake that God preserves the world, and that
they (children) are our intercessors with God." Which passage deserves to be considered in connection with what is
said of children in the second verse of the eighth Psalm: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy. and the avenger." From the fifteenth
and sixteenth verses of the hundred-and-thirty-ninth Psalm, -- "My substance was not hid from thee when I was made
in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was
none of them;" -- as well as from other parts of Scripture, it would appear that it was a Jewish doctrine that children
were fashioned by God's eternal decree before they had any material existence in their mother's womb, and that the"e
they became the objects of his peculiar care and love; -- that this was precisely the belief of the Mexicans is evident
from the passage last cited from Sahagun: in reference to a curious sentence which there occurs, "perhaps on this
very account it was determined, before the commencement of the world, in heaven and in hell, that this kindness
should be shown to you," it may be proper to observe that the Mexicans believed, like the Jews, that God was omnipresent 
both in heaven and in hell; and that, therefore, that which was decreed in the one place, must necessarily have
been decreed in the other; the latter grounding their belief on the eighth verse of the hundred-and-thirty-ninth
Psalm: "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." The omnipresence
of the Deity is so often insisted upon in the prayers which the Mexicans addressed to Tezcatlipoca, that it is
difficult to imagine hut that they must have borrowed that notion from the Jews; for the ancient philosophers did
not imagine that their idea of the Deity was heightened by adding to omnipotence and omniscience the attribute of omnipresence,
but, on the contrary, that it was materialized and debased by it: and hence the Jews were accused, III
very early ages, of being Ccelicol<e, or worshipers of the material heavens; to which J uvenal alludes in the verse
H Nil pneter nubes et Creli numen adorant,"
in his fourteenth Satire; and Petronius, with more irony, in the line
" Et Creli sum mas acl,'ocet auriculas;"
and, indeed, O-nIV, the Hebrew name for heaven, being so often understood in Scripture to mean Jehovah, might have


-----
* From this Hebrew word some writers have imagined that the Indians of Haiti, or the island of Saint Domingo, named the phylacteries
which they bound to their hair, zemes. Piedrahita, in the third chapter of the first book of his History of the Conquest of
New Granada, describes the stranger who preached to the Mozcas, or Indians of Bogota, -- whom some named Nemquetheba, others
Bochicha, and others Zuhe, -- as wearing a kind of phylactery on his forehead, in imitation of which the Indians of that province of South
America continued to wear roses made of feathers hanging over their eyebrows, until the conquest of their territory by the Spaniards.
" Este tal, dizen, que tenia la barba muy crecida hasta la cintura, los cabellos recogidos con una cinta como trenc;a puesta a la manera
que los antiguos Fariseos usaban los philacterios 6 coronas con que se rodeaban las cabezas, trayendo colocados en mitad de la frente
los preceptos del Decalogo. Pues a esse modo refieren Ie usaba, y en essa forma en los rodetes que se ponen los Indios en las cabezas,
colocan una rosa de plumas, que les cae sobre las cejas. Andaba e3te hombre con las plantas desnudas, y traia una almalafa puesta




NOT E S. 519
disposed both the idolatrous amongst the Jews, who worshiped many gods, and the atheistical, like the Sadducees,
who denied the existence of any, and were a most numerous sect in the days of Christ, to worship the material
cuyas puntas juntaba con un nudo sabre el ombro; de dande afiaden aver tornado el traje, el usa del cabello, y de aodar descal~os."
The Ingas of Peru wore a tassel hanging from the forehead as the insignia of royalty, which in the Peruvian language was named' sunturpaucar'l,
and by the Spaniards' borla'; which, considering that they accounted themselves the representatives of Viracocha, might have
served to remind them to keep his laws, and, like the rose worn by the Mozcas, have been in imitation of the bead-dress of Bochicha:
a comparison of the royal costume of the Ingas, as represented in the plate inserted by Herrera in his General History of the Indies,
with that of the Zippas, or sovereigns of Bogota, in the plate prefixed by Piedrahita to his History of the Conquest of the Kingdom of
New Granadaa will render this supposition more probable from the extreme similarity of the dress of the Ingas to that of the Zippas, who
it is to be supposed imitated even more closely than their subjects the costume of Bochicha. The cleft or episcopal mitre upon the head
of Sugamuxi, the fcunner of the empire of Bogota, and those upon the heads of Pachacuti Yupangui and Topaynga Yupangui, the
tenth and eleventh Illgas of Peru, are very deserving of notice, and remind us that the Ingas of Peru and the Zippas of Bogota considered
a priest the founder of their respective dynasties. The mitre does in fact seem to have usurped the place of the crown in the New
World, for the capilli worn by the Mexican monarch was a half-mitre; and the coincirlence is curious, that all the native Indian
monarchs, at the period of the discovery of America by the Spaniards, should have worn mitres as the ensign of royalty; for the only
monarchies then existing worthy of the name were those of New Spain, of Peru, and of Bogota, which, though widely apart, had many
things in common in their religion, laws, and institutions. An interesting account of the latter state, which was advanced in civilization,
and the subjects of which made use of golden money in their dealings with each other, will be found in the Supplemental volume of this
work: it is taken from an unpublished manuscript of the most authentic character. To an objection which may be urged against admitting
the plates referred to in the Histories of Herrera and of Piedrahita in proof of what was the ancient costume of the Ingas, on the ground
of the Spaniards being themselves ignorant of it, it may be observed that these plates are found in the works of two eminent historians,
that they mutually confirm each other, and that the accuracy of another plate in Herrera, in which Acamapichtli, the first sovereign of
Mexico, is represented in the true costume of the Mexican kings, tends further to that confirmation. A more reasonable exception may
be taken to the crosses placed over the heads of each of the Zippas, since no such symbol!:) are added to the portraits of the Ingas, although
crosses, as G arcilaso de la Vega asserts in the second part of his Royal Commentaries, were adured in Cuzco, and found in the
temples and the palaces of the Ingas ' by the two Spaniards dispatched to that city by Pizarro. The cross being likewise immemorially
the companion of the crozier, the acquaintance with the latter, implied by the question put by the Peruvians to the Spaniards on first
seeing a bishop, whether he was the Guaca of the Christians? argued acquaintance on their part with the former symbol. Gomara
incidentally records, in the following vassage of his History of the Indies, this curious question of the Peruvians: u Entre sus muchas
Guacas, assi llaman los idolos, avia muchas COil baculos y mitras de obispos." U Amongst their many Guacas, by which appellation
they name their idols, there were many with bishops' croziers and mitres." But he immediately afterwards adds, with perhaps well
feigned simplicity, U mas la causa dello aun no se sabe," U but the reason of this is not yet known;" nor does it appear that the Spaniards
took any great trouble to clear up this mystery. If, however, any proof were wanting to show that the crozier and the mitre were
associated with the cross in the New World as well as in the Old, it would be found in the larger Vatican MS., the fifth page of which
represents Quecalcoatle holding a crozier, and habited with a mitre, and a mantle covered with red crosses. The objection, however, that
Spanish authors could not insert in their works plates representing the costume of the Ingas which their countrymen had never seen,
although very futile, would be rendered in appearance even superfluous, regard being had to the weightier objection, that the portraits contained
in the two plates referred to must be merely imaginary, because the sovereigns whom they represented had been dead many years
before the arrival of the Spaniards. This is an Objection that Dr. Robertson would have admitted, proceeding on his assumption that
the Indians were barbarians in a sense almost unlimited, and that the arts of sculpture and painting were wholly unknown in America.
That the contrary however was the case, is evident from original monuments still in existence. Neither was Europe so enlightened at the
beginning of the sixteenth century as to justify Dr. Robertson in the paranel which he h.. been pleased to draw between the civilized
population of his part of the world and the barbarous Indians. The Spaniards, it cannot be doubted, had the opportunity of seeing many
statues and paintings of the Ingas which represented them attired in the royal costume; and embalming was carried to such perfection
in Peru, that when they opened the tombs of the Ingas for the sake of plundering them of the gold and silver which they contained, they
found the bodies of those princes preserved with such art, that, according to the testimony of Acosta and Garcilaso de la Vega, who saw
them, they appeared to be alive; their features were plain and di stinct, and covered with a sort of varnish. Acosta remarks, that a golden
plate was substituted for the eyes in each, shaped so as exactly to resemble them. Garcilaso says, that the licentiate Polo Ondegardo
showed him five of these royal bodies in a room in his house at Cuzco, observing to him, U Since you are going to Spain, come into
this room, and you shall see some of your ancestors whom I have brought to light, that you may have something to tell when you arrive
1 Balboa, in the eighteenth chapter of his inedited History of Peru, to which he has given the title of" M isceUanea Antarctica," mentions,
along with the tassel, a sceptre, mantle, and sandals, as composing the regalia of the Ingas, and assigns to them the names, in the
order in which they stand, of Suntur-paucar, Topa.yauri, Tarc(}ogualca, and Oxotas.
, Vide cap. xxxii. of the first book of the Second Part of the Royal Commentaries of Peru, entitled, "Llegan los dos Espanole,.1
Cuzco, haUan Cruces en los Templos y en las Casas Reales."




520 NOTES.

heavens, to all the host of which their forefathers offered up their vows. The Mexicans commended a lying-in 
woman to the care of the ti~itl or midwife, to the goddess Yoalti<;itl, and to Tezcatlipoca, who was otherwise named

-----
there." And a MS. copied from the original in the archives of Simancas, with the simple title of "A Report addressen to the Vicero of
Peru, Don Andres Hurtado de Mendoza, Marques de Cafiete," but to which is added, in a note at the end, "El autor de esle p: el
parece ser el Licenciado Polo de Ondegardo," has the following curiou;; passage, in which the writer, speaking of himself, mentions his
discovery of the embalmed body of the Inga Yupangui, together with some knots, or quipus, recording the principal events of his reign
which it is singular should have been buried with him: II Y 0 haU~ su estatua en el CUleo en poder de su gente; la qual era de cierta;
mantas muy gruesas: y ham el cuerpo del Y1Iga Yupangi embalsamarlo en g"an veneracion, y los hilos y cuenta de 'us "azanas y fiestas
e idolatr-ias que estatug6, y Ia principal era que havia dado este renombre al Viracocha, y que con el ha\'ia subjetado todo el reyno, al
qual el comun tenia en mucha mas veneracion que a Guainacapa, a 10 que a mi me pareci6, aunque no file tan rico en joyas. aunque
tuve muchas; y dicen los Y ndius baverse pagado de eUas y de 10 de Guainacapa el rescate de Cajamalca, y no se hizo mas averiguacion
por no impedir el descubrimiento de los idolos." The statue alluded to was that of Viracocha, to whom the Inga Yupangui gave the
title of Pachayachachi, which signified, the creator of the universe, in consequence of his having appeared to him in a dream, and declared
to him that he had created the sun and the universe, and that the sign of it should be, that the Inga should vanquish his enemies, which
accordingly came to pass; the Peruvians dating the prosperity of their empire from the period when their Inga hart his memorable dream.
The same author accounts in the following manner for the appellation of Viracocha, which was given to the Spaniards by the Peruvians,
respecting the origin of which name, he says, there was much diversity of opinion. It When the generals of Atabalipa got possession of
the person of Guascar by treachery, the Ingas, after they had carried him off, celebrated a great sacrifice to Viracocha, in order that he
might liberate bim, in which they burnt a great number of children, cattle, and a quantity of apparel; and the intelligence of Atabalipa's
having been taken prisoner by the Christians, happening to arrive immediately after the sacrifice, they believed that they were men sent
by Viracocha in consequence of the sacrifice, and named them Viracochas; and this name originated in Cuzco, where it was given; for
in the camp of Atabalipa, both before and after his imprisonment, they only named them Zungazapa, which signifies' men with beards';
and this is a true historical fact which ought to be known, although it has no connection with the question put by His Majesty."
it Desta fabula que estos cuentan, se entenuedl la ocasion que tuvieron de l1amar a los Cristianos Viracochas en que tantas opiniones
hay, y es asi, que al tiempo que los capitanes de Tabalipa prendieron en el Cuzco a Guascar Y nga por engafios, despues que Ie llevaron,
hicieron los Y ngas un gran sacrificio al Viracocha para que Ie librase, en que quemaron gran suma de ninos y cameros y ropa; y como
immediamente quando se acab6, vi no nueva que los Cristianos havian prendido a Atabalipa, entendieron que fuese gente que huviese
embiado el Viracocha por razon del sacrificio, y llarnaron los Viracochas, y este nombre bajo del Cuzeo donde se introrilljo, porque en el
campo de Tabalipa antes y despues que le prendieron, no los llamavan sino Zungazapa, que quiere decir barbudos; y esta es verdatlera
historia y es bien que se sepa, aunque no haga al proposito de 10 que S. M. pregunta." It would be wrong to infer utter ignorance on
the part of the Peruvians of" bearded nation before the arrival of the Spaniards amongst them, from the name of Zungazapa which they
gave to Pizarro and his army, sillce the ancient traditions of Peru, as well as those of Mexico, recorded the arrival ages before of white
men with beards; and Cieza de Leon, and especially Balboa, in his Miscellanea Antarctica, mention the edifices which they constructed;
the latter author affirming, that in a progress which Topa lnga, the son and successor of the loga Yupangui, made through his empire,
he was shown, in Xauxa, monuments erected by white strangers. The following are the words of Balboa: "Pas6 a Xam:a, donde Ie
fueroll mostrados ciertos antiquisimo~ edificios que alli se ven, que dicen los naturales haver sido obra de unos valerosisimos estraogeros,
blancos y de buena estatura, tan inumerables y valientes que solo el tiempo los pudo contrastar." "The lnga passed on to Xauxa, where
some most ancient edifices, which are there to be seen, were pointed out to his observation, which the natives say were constructed by
strangers of white colour, tall stature, and extreme valour, so numerous and brave that time alone could withstand them." We shall resen'e
for the Supplemental votume some further extracts from the MS. of Balboa relating to the appearance of certain holy men in Peru, who
preached a new law to the natives, wore long beards and decent appar€l, and left impressions of their hands and feet engraved upon rocks
and stones; as also an account of the famous general council, convoked at Cuzco by the fnga Yupangui for the abolition of the undue
homage which the people paid to the sun, and the promulgation of the decree that Tieci Viracocha Pachacamae was the supreme God
and the creator of the universe, ("cosa notable y de admiracion," as Balboa terms it,) to which all the religious orders in the state were
summoned, the Inga himself presiding at the solemn conclave. But we cannot refrain from inserting here the curious relation which the
same author gives of the sea voyage, of a year's duration, undertaken by Topa lnga Yupangui, the successor of the Inga Y upangui,
and of his discovery of some islands situated far in the bosom of the South Sea, to which the Peruvians gave the appellation of Haguachumbi
and Nina-chumbi, and which the Spaniards supposed might have been the islands of Solomon, the name which was first given
to the islands of Otaheite; which supposition is not so imprObable, from the Deity being supposed by the natives of Huaheine to reside in
an ark expressly named by them Ewharl'e tlO Eatua, 'The House of God' - from circumcision being practised in other islands, as Captain
Cook declares in the narrative of his Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, who says that the men of Tongataboo were all circumcised,and
from the Jewish doctrine of uncleanness I baying been found amongst those islanders, as exemplified in the account which Captain
1 This doctrine held among the Jews a middle state between positive sin and virtue: modern jurisprudence has, however, rejected
it as little conducive to morals; time having shown, and indeed the history of the Jews, whose whole ceremonial law, although an inspired
code, was still only one of conventional virtue, having fully proved, that it is better that vices and virtues should be few in number,



NOTES. 521

yoalJiehecatl, which proper name signifies 'obscurity' and 'air,' that epithet having been applied by them to the Deity
for the reason contained III the ejaculation with which the first prayer in the sixth book of Sahagun commences: 
"C. Cook gives of the rite of 'taboo mattee,' or 'purifying from uncleanness' contracted by the touch of a dead body, which rite was strictly
enjoined by Moses to the Jews in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Numbers; and it is singular enough that the phrase' taboo
mattee' should so nearly resemble the Hebrew expression no MOD, in the eleventh verse of the above-mentioned chapter. If the Ingas,
when in the height of their glory, had wished to imitate Solomon by undertaking naval expeditions, and the result of some voyage
had been the discovery of the islands of Otaheite, it cannot be doubted that they would have introduced many of their customs amongst
the natives. The question however deserves to be considered, Whether all the islands of the South Sea lying to the east of the Indian
Archipelago may not have been originally culonized from America? Some interesting remarks respecting two supposed aboriginal races
of men, the one black and woolly-haired, and the other of the brown complexion of the Peruvians, will be found in the first chapter of the
first book of Crawfurd's History of the Indian Archipelago.

The following is Balboa's account of the naval expedition of Topa Inga, which is extracted from the seventeenth chapter of his
I Miscellanea Antarctica'; a valuable history of Peru, which never bas been published, and of which the MS. in our possession may be
possibly that to which Solorzano refers I, in the fifth chapter of the first book of his treatise (De Indiarum Jure,' as belonging to
himself: which history Calancha, in the tenth chapter of the second book of his 'Corouica de S. Augustin en el Peru,' a work of the
greatest rarity, belonging to that class of books which underwent proscription in Spain, seems to allude to in noticing the worship
which the Jungas (a race of Indians inhabiting the sandy plains in the neighbourhood of Lima) offered to Pachacamac, although
'Miguel Cabello Balboa, c1erigo presbitero del Arzobispado de los Reyes en el Piru, Natural de la Villa de Archidona en Andaluzia,'
is the name which the author gives to himself in the title-page of the' Miscellanea Antarctica'; which work he began in Quito in
the year 1576, and completed on the 9th of June in 1586; professing in his preface to have conferred, when in New Granada, with
the Adelantado Don Gonzalo Ximenez de Quesada, upon the obscure question of the origin of the Indians, whose ancestor he supposes
to have been the patriarch Ophir. "Tuvo noticia el Topa Y nga como muy cerca de alii (Apelope) avia buen puerto para poder
sulcar, y ver si en la mar avia alguna empresa en que poder ganar con el mundo nomure y reputacion, y aviendo consultado con sus
mayore!:! Stl deliberacion y intento, se puso en camino con sus esquadrones (y casi innumerables) y se aposent6 en Manta, y en Charapoto,
y en Piguaca, porque en menos espacio no podia aloxarse, ni sustentarse tanta multitud de naciones como tras si traia. En este lugar fue
donde la vez primera el rey Topa Ynga vi6 el mar, al qual como 10 descubriese de un alto, hiza una muy profunda adoracion y Ie llam6
Mamacocha, que quiere decir, madre de las lagunas: y hizo apercibir gran cantitad de las embarcaciones que los naturales usavan (que
son ciertos palos livianos notablemente) y atando fuertemente lInos con otros, y haciendo encima cierto tablado de canizos texidos, es muy
segura y acomodada embarcacion, a las quales oosotros avemos lIamado balsas: pues a\'iendose juntado de estas la copia que parecio
bastante para la gente que consigo determinava llevar, tomando de los natnrales de aquellas costas los pilotos de mas experiencia que
pudo hallar, se metio en el mar con el mismo brio y animo que si desde su nacimiento huviera esperimentado sus fortunas y truecos. De
este viaje se alej6 de tierra mas que se puede facilrnente creer; mas cierto afirman los que sus cosas de este valeroso Y nga cuentan, que
de este camino se detuvo por la mar duracion y espacio de un aria, y dicen mas, que descubri6 ciertas Yslas, aquien llamaron HaguaChumbi
y Nina·Chumbi: que Y slas estas sean en el Mar de el Sur (en cuya costa el Y nga se embarco) no 10 osnre determinadamente
afirmar, ni que tierra sea la que pueda presumirse ser hallada en esta navegacion. Las relaciones que de este viage nos dan los antiguos,
and that mankind should strictly observe or avoid these, than invent a thousand new and imaginary crimes, the only effect of which is to
lessen the respect to which virtues, coeval with human nature, are alone entitled; to make vices and virtues clash with each other; and to
render it necessary, according to the views of many modern political economists, that some vices should not only be tolerated but publicly
encouraged, to avoid what they are pleased to name greater.

-----
1 Solorzano mentions the work of Balboa in the fifth chapter of his first book' De Indiarum Jure,' slightly changing the title which the
author himself gave to it; u Tres libros non contemnendos scripserat Michael Balboa Cabello, Peruensis Presbyter, sub nomine (MiscelIan
ere Australis,' qui apud me manuscripti servantur." He also cites in a marginal note to the fifth chapter ofthe first book of his' Politica
Indiana' the treatise of the celebrated Garcia, concerning the preaching of the Gospel in the New World, which like the 'Peruvian
Monarchy' of the??me author has disappeared, and refers to page 20 of the fourth chapter of the first book of that treatise. Calancha,
professing to give an account of the origin of the Peruvians from a MS. in his possession composed by Luis de Toruel a Jesuit,
speaks likewise in high terms of commendation of Balboa: "Prueva la fabula de su origen con la autoridad y trabajada informacion que
hizo de todo el Dotor Juan de Balboa, Canonigo de la Catedral de Lima, varon muy docto i diligente inve.tigador de las antiguas
tradiciones destos Indios, Catedratico de su lengua en esta Universidad, cuyo libro dice que tiene en su poder; i la fabula del origen dellos
i de sus guacas, tiene mas abilidad i similitud con 10 que dice el Genesis de la creacion del mundo, i suceso del diluvio, que 10 que
fabularon Ovidio, i los poetas Griegos i Latinos. que creyeron los Espanoles antes que se convirtiesen it la Fe." Coronica de S. Augustin
en el Peru, cap. x. lib. 2. fol. S66. -- Calancha's Augustine Chronicle of Peru is a large folio volume, containing 922 pages: it was
printed in Barcelona in the year 1638, and is a book full of the most curious information. Its scarcity may be estimated from the assertion
of Pinelo, page 64S of his' Bibliotheca Occidental,' that the celebrated Spanish scholar Don Nicolas Antonio, who published the
"Bibliotheca Hispana,' doubted whether the Peruvian History of Brulius was not a translation of it. We are enabled, from possessing
both works, to say that they are totally distinct; the latter is a book printed in Holland in the year 1652, which is also interesting, and
seldom to be met with.




522 NOTES.

valeroso Senor nuestro, debajo de euyas alas nos amparamos, y defendemos, y hallamos abrigo; tu eres invisible y
no palpable, bien asi como )a noehe y el aire." "O valiant Lord, beneath whose wings we shelter and defend our son

-----
que trujo de alla Yndio, p";sionero, de color negro, y mucho oro y plata, y mas una silla de laton y cueros de animales como caballos:
y de parte donde se puedan traer las tales cosas, de todo punto se ignora en este Piru, yen el mar que 10 va prolong.ndo." It must be
admitted that this account of the voyage performed by Topa Inga is extremely curious, and it deserves to be considered in connection
with a very remarkable passage in Gomara's History of the Indies; where, describing at page cxvi. the province of Quivira, and the
Spanish expedition thither in search of the seven cities reported in the first instance, by Brother Mark de Niza, to belong to a king who
exhibited some conformity, in his adoration of the cross and homage to the Queen of Heaven, to the religion of the Spaniards, and whose
history on that account might have been consigned to oblivion, -- he observes, speaking ofthe coast of the Pacific Ocean, "Vieron por Ia
costa naos que trayan arcatra~es de oro y de plata en las proas, con mercaderias; y pensaron ser del Catayo y China, porque sefialavan
aver navegado treynta di.,." But how much more curious will the following relation of Brother Antonio Tello be judged! taken from
an original MS., which it would be wronging history to suffer to remain unpublished, in which mention is made of the north-west
passage having been accidentally discovered in a remote century by two ships, to what nation belonging is unknown; one of which was
wrecked, while the crew of the other is recorded by native tradition to have colonized the north-west coast of America, and taught the
Indians to adore the Cross, to wear scapularies, and to shave the crown of their heads; on which account the Spaniards, on first entering
their province, and beholding the strange attire of the Indians, and their mode of wearing their hair, named it Provincia de los Frayles;
and the Indians themselves, Indios Coronados, from the round tonsure on the crown of their heads. The Indians, in confirmation of the
truth of this tradition, which had been handed down to them from their ancestors, showed the Spaniards a large iron anchor (una ancora
gastadisima de errumbre). Tello himself supposes that these ships must have been either Dutch, English, or Spanish vessels, which,
sailing through the Straits of Anian, entered by that route into the Pacific Ocean: and next follows, in order to render this supposition
plausible, an assertion of an extraordinary fact unknown to the present age, which it may be proper to insert in the original Spanish.H
Como 10 hicieron en nuestros tiempos ciertos estrangeros los quales llevados por las costas de los Bacallados y Tierra4nueva pasaron el
Estrecho de Anian, y dieron con su navio en el Mar del Sur: y de su viage hicieron una relacion al Rey N. S. Felipe Segundo, y despues
de su muerte el Rey N. S. Felipe Tercero viendola, mand6 Ii su Virrey Conde de Monterey que Ii costa de sus reales haveres hiciese el
rlescubrimiento de esta navegacion, 10 qual se puso en execucion en cinco de Mayo del ailo de 1602, que se hicieroll a la vela dos naos,
capitana y almiranta, y una fragata, y fue por General Sebastian Viscayno; y habiendo navegado y descubierto muchas yslas llegaron al
Cabo Mendozino que esta en quarenta y dos grados de altura, y se pusieron en quarenta y tres en un cabo 6 punta que nombraron Cabo
Blanco, junto a el qUtll se hallaron un rio caudaloso y hondable: procuraron sondearle y las corrientes no dieron lugar: entendiese que este
rio es el que descubrieron los Holandeses viniendo derrotados, y que es el Estrecho de Anian por donde el navio que Ie descubri6 atra\'es6
y pas6 del Mar del Norte al del Sur:" -- the substance of which relation is briefly as follows; "That certain strangers (who, from
the ardour displayed in Queen Elizabeth's reign for prosecuting naval discoveries, and especially for exploring the North Pole, we must
suppose were Englishmen), at a period not very remote from that in which Tello lived (for in this sense the phrase "en nuestros tiempos"
ruust be understood, except it be opposed to the presumed antiquity of the period when the passage was first effected through the Straits
of Anian by the two ships previously mentioned), had coasted the shores of Bacallaos and Newfoundland, and passing through the Straits
of Ani.n, penetrated with their ships into the South Sea; information of which having been transmitted to Philip the Second, which was
perused by Philip the Third, the latter monarch commanded his viceroy, the Count de Monterey, to fit out an expedition at the public
expense to discover this passage, which was completed on the 5th of May in the year 1602, when two ships and a frigate sailed under
the command of Sebastian Viscayno; which, having discovered many islands, arrived at Cape Mendozino in 42 degrees north latitude, and
prosecuted the voyage as far as a cape or point, to which they gave the name of Cabo Blanco, situated in latitude 43 degrees, near which they
found a great and deep river, unfathomable from the strength of the current. Tello is persuaded this was the river discovered by the Dutch,
and the same as the Straits of Anian, through which the ships that discovered those strait, sailed, and passed from the Northern into the
Southern Ocean." From this account it would appear that a north4west passage, of the existence of which little doubt has ever been
entertained, but of the practicability of navigating it the greatest, has twice served as a channel of communication between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans. Two reasons might be alleged for so important a fact having been buried in secresy, till it became finally forgotten;
but it could be only the effect of their combined action, and the jealousy which Spain must have naturally felt of the ambition of England,
whose powerful navy in the reign of Elizabeth threatened, by effecting disembark.tions in various parts of the southern continent of
America, to revolutionize the Indian population, in the beginning but imperfectly subdued, and long impatient of the Spanish yoke. The
reasons are these: -- first, the unwillingness of Philip to cede to his rival, Queen Elizabeth, the honour of a discovery which he might have
judged more properly belonged to himself; and, secondly, the cautious policy of that monarch, his regard to the mercantile interests of his
kingdom, and perhaps erroneous anticipations respecting the utility which such a passage, when once decl.red practicable, would be of to
the northern European powers, to the prejudice of Spanish commerce, which might have made him little eager that it should be discovered.
A prince, moreover, even more inclined to protect philosophy and science than was Philip, might have deemed that one age at least
should rest content with the great discoveries in geography which had so recently been made, and which it would be better to acquire a
more perfect knowledge of, than to attempt new ones. -- Before terminating this note we may be permitted to observe, that the only conclusion
which the relation of Tello seems to warrant, appealing as he does to Indian tradition and to the proceedings of the Spanish
Government, in proof of ships having sailed through the northern straits into the Pacific, and thus uniting the testimony both of Spaniards
and Indians in favour of the supposed passage, is, that there is an appearance of probability that the north-west passage has been found
by experience to be practicable for ships.



NOTES. 523

selves and find protection, thou art invisible and impalpable, just in the manner of night and air." And here we
shall take occasion to observe, that Acosta's not knowing that Yoalliehecatl, which proper name is compounded of
yoaUi, 'night', and ehecatl, 'wind or air', was an epithet belonging to Tezcatlipoca, led him into the enor of asserting
that the Mexicans adored night, wind, and darkness on the festival of Tezcatlipoca, imploring their succour and protection;
and he has fallen, in almost the next sentence, into the graver error of maintaining that the religion of the
Mexicans did not hold out threats to the wicked of any punishment in a future state. The passage of Acosta referred
to, will be found in the note subjoined to page 224 of this volume. The Mexicans styled Tezcatlipoca ' valiant
Lord,' because they considered him the god of battles, by which latter title he is expressly designated in the prayer
which the Mexicans addressed to him, beseeching of him victory over their enemies; which prayer will be found
entire in the third chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun, -- a short extract from which is here inserted, not only because
it contains the above-mentioned title, but on account of the Jewish tone of sentiment which pervades it, and its Scriptural
phraseology, and likewise because it serves to illustrate an observation of Torquemada in the note annexed to
page 245 of this volume. "Y por quanto es vuestra magestad Senor de las batallas, y de cuya voluntad depende la
victoria, y a. quien quereis desamparais, y no teneis necesidad de que nadie os de consejo; y pues que esto es aSl,
suplico a. vuestra magestad, que desatineis y emborracheis a. nuestros enemigos, para que se arrojen en nuestros
manos, y sin hacernos dano caigan todos en las manos de nuestros soldados y peleadores, qne padecen pobreza y
trabajos. 0 Senor nuestro, tenga por bien vuestra magestad, pues que soys Dios, y 10 podeis todo, y 10 ordenais todo,
y entendeis en disponer todas las cosas, y en ordenar y disponer it que esta vuestra republica sea rica y prospera, y
ensalzada, y honrada, y afamada en los ejercicios y valentias de la guerra." "And inasmuch as your majesty is Lord
of battles, on whose will depends victory, who forsakest whom thou wilt, and standest in no need of counsel from
anyone; since so it is, I supplicate your majesty to deprive our enemies of reason and to make them drunkm'ds, in
order that they may throw themselves into our hands, and, without doing us any harm, may all fall into the hands of
our soldiers and men of war, who endure poverty and hardships. O Lord, may it please your majesty, since thou art
God and can do all things, and ordainest all things, and art ever employed in directing the affairs of the universe,
and in ordering and providing for the riches and prosperity and glory and honour and fame of this thy republic, in
the deeds and achievements of war."

It is very remarkable that the Mexicans should have prayed to Tezcatlipoca to afflict their enemies with drunkenness,
since that prayer accords with what is said in the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth verses of the twelfth chapter
of Job: "He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness
where there is no way: they grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken
man;" and with the threat pronounced by Jeremiah in the thirteenth verse of the thirteenth chapter of his Prophecies
against the Jews themselves, who were very fond of denouncing against others the judgments which Moses, speaking
in the name of God, uttered against them in case of disobedience to his laws. The passage of Jeremiah referred to is
the following: "Then shalt thon say unto them, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings
that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness."
A sort of spiritual drunkenness is certainly here signified, which in the case of the prophets, if compatible at all with
inspiration, must nevertheless have rendered the predictions which they uttered very innocuous, and still more calculated
to excite the mirth than the fear of the Canaanites, and their other enemies, against whom they were chiefly
directed, who would have felt inclined to pay little regard to the prophecies of these blind leaders of the blind. The
notion of Tezcatlipoca protecting the people beneath his wings, -- which metaphor was employed by the ancient Mexicans,
who emphatically styled themselves his people, and their kingdom God's kingdom, and the throne of their
kings God's throne and the seat of judicature, -- strongly assimilates itself to the language of David in the fourth verse
of the ninety-first Psalm: "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth
shall be thy shield and buckler." They likewise considered this supreme God their shield and buckler; and the
proper name Chimalman, which is derived from clzimalli the Mexican name for a shield, being compounded of that
term with the elision of the final syllable Ii, and man devoid of signification, as is most probably here the case, and
which perhaps would have been mar but that the Mexican language wants the letter r, may not unreasonably be supposed
to have been given to the Virgin of Tula, the mother of Quecalcoatle, on that account. In reference to two
opinions of the ancient Mexicans which have already been noticed, -- one of which seems related to Hebrew usages,



524 NOTES.

and the other to be strangely allied with a prejudice to which the second verse of the eighth Psalm might have given
rise among the Jews, -- we must observe, that it was customary for Hebrew women to seek the favour of Jehovah by
ministering in the service of his temple; an example of which is recorded by Saint Luke of the prophetess Anna in
the second chapter of his Gospel: "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow
of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night
and day." And hence perhaps the interrogation in the passage already quoted from Sahagun, "por ventura habeis
velado; por ventura habeis trabajado en barrer y ofrecer incienso en su presencia; por ventura por estas buellas obms
Ita heclw can vas miseric01'dia nuestro Senor." The passage in the Psalms which in the English version of the Bible is
rendered "out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies that thou
mightest still the enemy and the avenger," which is translated in the Septuagint "e/C "TOIla'ro~ V~1TlWV Kal O~Aa1:ovTwv
KaTfjpTHJW aivav' eVEKa 'TWV EX()pWV O'OU, 'TOU "a-raA-vaa, €X(Jpov Kat E"~tKf1Tl1V," might have induced the Mexicans, borrowing
the notion from the Jews, to imagine that through the intercession of children with God the world was preserved;
since if the latter had understood the enemy and the avenger to mean Satan, which it is highly probable they
would, because he is e.tpressly named the adversary and the accuser in many places of the Old Testament, and more
especially in the book of Job, here we might seek the origin of this extraordinary doctrine. The English translation of
the Bible, which although generally formed on the Hebrew text of Scripture, sometimes, and not un:frequently when
the translators were in doubt which was the word of God, prefers the Septuagint rendering of a passage involving
difficulty or contradiction, has in this place' still the enemy and the avenger,' to which the Greek phrase TOV KaTaAv"
al exOpov Kat eK8t/c~T~V corresponds; and it must be confessed that the word' still' would be very applicable to Satan,
who is compared elsewhere in Scripture to a roaring lion going up and down the earth to seek whom he might devour.
'Enemy' and' adversary' are in English synonymous terms, and literally expressive of the signification of exOpov, which
was a name for Satan; but' accuser' and' avenger' are terms of which the meaning is materially different, although
by both these names, taken in acceptations widely different from each other, Satan was known to the ancient Jews,
who called him the avenger of blood, and when they killed cattle were careful to cover up the blood with dust, lest
Satan beholding it should demand vengeance at the hands of God on account of their having put to death an innocent
animal. The Mexicans likewise, who were probably well acquainted with what is said in the eleventh verse of
the fourth chapter of Genesis, of the earth having opened her mouth to receive the blood of Abel from the hand of
Cain, and with the Hebrew custom of covering blood with dust, entertained a superstitious notion about blood being
the beverage of the earth, as has elsewhere been observed. It may be proper however to remark that the Greek word
EK8t/c~T~C signifies both an 'accuser' and an 'avenger', undoubtedly because a legal accuser becomes in a manner an
avenger; and Stephanus thus defines it in the former sense, "persequutor, cujus munus est judicio experiri contra
eos qui aurum vel argentum vel pecuniam reipublicre debent;" from which it would appear that it signified the person
who conducted ex-officio or state prosecutions on the part of the Crown or the public when money was concerned,
but not blasphemy; for that was a crime which even in the age of primitive simplicity, when Rome beheld her
dictators guiding the plough, Roman lawyers disdained to meddle with, and "qui secus fax it, Deus ipse vindex
sit" became a maxim of their jurisprudence, which, rude as was the Latin of the Twelve Tables, could not have
come adorned from the lips of Cicero. From the name of' the accuser' which the Jews bestowed upon Satan, from
believing that his chief function was that of an accuser of men to God, -- which of itself would have suggested the idea
of a mediat01', (traces of both which doctrines may perhaps be recognized in the Mexican fable of Tonatiuh or the Sun,
who was the same as Quecalcoatle, conducting with acclamations the souls of saints to heaven, and of Miquitlantecutli
the god of hell endeavouring to intercept them on the way,)-the Greek word Ata{3oAOO is derived. But although
the New Testament, by bestowing the name of Ata{3oAo~ upon the devil, seems to lend the strongest sanction to the
reasons which led the Jews to name him' the accuser,' still when we reflect that it no where inculcates the Jewish
doctrine upon that point, inferences from the proper name Ata{3oAo~ must be considered nugatory, or be condemned as
opposed to the silence of the Evangelists. The Book of Job places Satan before us in the light of an accuser. But the
same Book places God himself almost in the situation of a tempter, since he it was who, at least by sufferance, afflicted
Job with all manner of diseases to try his patience; and hence the Mexicans might have derived the notion that
Titlacaoa or Tezcatlipoca sometimes tempted them to sin to try their obedience to his commandments; nor can it



NOT E S. 525
be denied, if Moses has been named, on the authority of the sixteenth chapter of Numbers and the thirty-second
chapter of Exodus, the first inquisitor", that Satan has as fair a claim, on that of the Book of Job, to be styled the
first who was zealous to take cognizance of blasphemy. Reasons for supposing that the Mexicans were acquainted
with the Book of Job will be found at page 382 of this volume; and their custom of shaving their hair, sitting down
upon the ground, and sprinkling dust upon their heads as a sign of humiliation, closely resembles what is said in the
first and second chapters of that Book, of the mourning of Job and his three friends.
To add another remark to those which we have already made on the passage in the Psalms, which might have induced
the Mexicans to suppose that Tezcatlipoca spared the world at the intercession of children, we may observe,
that the wicked are perpetually named in Scripture God's enemies, and that €VeKU TWV.XOp'uv, in the second verse
of the eighth Psalm, being understood to mean them, the literal translation of the entire passage would be," Out of
the mouth of infants and sucklings thou hast perfected praise, for the sake of the wicked, that thou mightest confound
the adversary and the accuser." The propriety of understanding the verb KaTaAV(Ja, in the signification here assigned
to it, will be evident to those who consider, that to dissolve the strength or to unnerve the limbs of an adversary, is to
confound him; and the omission of the article before.XOpov is not of the least importance, and might be justified by
reference to innumerable passages in Scripture: the sense even of the verse as it is here translated becomes more obvious
than before, and is strictly accordant with the Jewish notion, that prayers which were acceptable to God confounded
Satan when he presented himself before him to accuse them of sin; which was more reasonable than the
Rabbinical doctrine that the accusations of Satan were confounded by the noise of the trumpets which Moses commanded
the priests to blow on their solemn festivals; and which the Mexicans, -- as it were in compliance with the
precept contained in the eighth verse of the tenth chapter of Numbers, "And the sons of Aaron the priests shall
blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations," -- continually
sounded in the courts of their temple; a custom which the interpreter of the Vatican Codex believed that they borrowed
from the Jews, as he unequivocally declares at page 224 of the present volume. It has been already observed,
that the Mexicans imagined that children were the gift of Tezcatlipoca, and that he fashioned and watched over
them in their mothers' womb; and it is wonderful to find how conformable their customs, as well as their opinions, in
every thing relating to the treatment of mothers and their children, were to those of the Jews. Sahagun, in the 24th,
34th, and 35th chapters of the sixth book of his History of New Spain, informs us, that married women amongst the
Mexicans received two salutations from their friends and kindred, the first on their becoming pregnant, and the
second on their safe delivery, when the mother and the infant were both saluted, and gifts were presented to the latter.
And that this accorded with Hebrew usage is evident from what Saint Luke says, in the first chapter of his Gospel,

-----
* The following panegyric upon the Inquisition, Moses being placed first on the list of inquisitors, is pronounced by Betancurt in his
Treatise concerning the City of Mexico, p. 29. "El Tribunal del Santo Officio es e\ joyel de la Santissirua Trinidad, arbol que plant6
Dios, para que cada ram a estendida por la Christiandad fuesse la vara de justicia con flares de misericordia, y frutos de escarmi..
ento. El primero que exercit6 este oficia fue el mismo Dios quando al primer herege que fue Cain, como dice la traslacion Caldaica,
donde se dice, que mat6 a su hermano Abel porque Ie contradijo sus heregias, que decia no haver juez ni ju~ticia, ni otro siglo, ni premio
para los buenos y pena para los malos(como dice S. Geronymo), y Dios Ie hizo Auto publico condenandole a traer una senal en la frente
impressa como habito de afrenta, y en su contumacion Ie sentencio el Cielo a que Lamec Ie diesse muerte, -- Lamec que quiere decir pobre
y humilde, que para la sobervia de un Herisiarca Ie bastan aDios ministros humildes y sacerdotes pobres que defienden su honra. El p1'imer
Inquisidor que subsliluy6 par Dios file Moyses, que condellb a muerle fII WI dia veinle y Ires mil Heneges Aposlalas, que adoraron el bezerro
que rleshizo, y diD a beber en agua sus cenizas. El segundo fue Elias, que valiendose del auxilio real que el Rey Acab Ie dio, pass6 a
cuchillo todo. los Hereges de Samaria, haziendo Auto de la Fe en el torrente Cison. Elias fue el primero a quifll Dios subdeleg6 el guemar
it, los Apostatos conjilego, como se vio en dos vezes en que el Rey Ocozias Ie embi6 a prender, que en cada una quem6 cinquenta soldados
can su capitan, sentenciandolo Elias, y al pronunciarlo se executa". par los Angeles (que" esle Sanlo Tribunal Ie sirven Angeles lj Ie
obedece el Cielo) en el se vio Ia misericordia como la justicia, pues el tercer capitan que la pidi6 Ie perdon6, que mas tardan en pedir misericordia
los reos, que en concedersela los ministros." When we consider the enormities which the Inquisition has perpetrated in the name
of religion, and recollect how many victims of all ages --

"Pueri, innuptreque puellm,
Impositique rogis juvenes ante ora parentum" -- 

have expiated imaginary crimes in the flames, it is impossible Dot to rejoice that the dungeons of that horrid tribunal are at last pervious
to the pure light of the sun, that its portals are for ever open, its "bridge of sighs" broken, and that pilgrims call DOW seek repose in those
mouldering courts which once blazed bright with funeral piles.




526 NOTES.

of the Virgin Mary going to salute Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist: "And Mary arose in those days, and
went into the hill country with haste, into a city of J uda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
And it came to pass, that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost." -- and from what Saint Matthew and Saint Luke both record of the salutations
which the Virgin Mary herself received from the angels, the shepherds, and the wise men of the East, after she
had given birth to the Messiah, to whom the magi presented an offering of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The second
salutation which Elisabeth received from her friends and kindred is likewise mentioned by Saint Luke in the fiftyseventh
and fifty.eighth verses of the first chapter of his Gospel: "Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be
delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great
mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her."

The deference with which women who officiated as midwives were treated by the ancient Mexicans, the appellation
which they gave them of spiritual mothers, and the belief which.they entertained that they were under the
immed'iate inspiration of Tezcatlipoca, are so closely allied to habits and a mode of thinking which, with the greatest
show of probability, may be presumed to have been Hebrew, that it is only necessary to refer to wha,t is said in the
first chapter of Exodus of the meritorious conduct of the Hebrew midwives, who had been commanded by Pharaoh to
destroy the male children of the Israelites at the moment of their birth, and to the declaration contained in the twentieth
verse of the same chapter, "Therefore God dealt welt with the midwives," to render it probable that the Mexican
usages were founded on Hebrew traditions. The treatment of lying-in women amongst the Mexicans seems likewise
to have been the same as amongst the ancient Jews; since a comparison of the sixteenth verse of the first chapter of
Exodus with the following passage, taken from the speech of the mother of the young married woman to the midwife
to whose care she had been entrusted, shows that the bath was resorted to as the chief means of promoting a safe
delivery by both nations: '" Muy amada Senora, y madre nuestra espiritual, haced, Senora, vuestro oficio, responded a
la Senora y Diosa nuestra que se llama Quilaztli, y comenzad a banal' a esta mucacha; metedla en el bano, que es la
floresta de nuestro Senor, que Ie llamamos Temazcalli, en donde esta y de don de cura y ayuda la abuela que es Diosa
del Temazcalli, que se llama Yoalticitl'. Oido esto, la partera luego ella misma comienza a encender fuego para calentar
el bano, y luego metia en el bano la moza prenada." "'Highly esteemed madam, who art our spiritual mother,
perform your office, aid our Lady, the Goddess who is named Quilaztli, and begin to bathe this young woman; put
her into the bath, which is the nursery garden of our Lord, and is called the Temazcalli, where is ever present, to
relieve and to lend assistance, our grandmother, who is the Goddess of the Temazcalli, whose name is Yoalticitl'. This
address having been delivered, the midwife immediately began herself to light the fire to heat the hath, and next proceeded
to put her charge into it." The verse of the first chapter of Exodus, above referred to, is translated in the
Septuagint, "Kat ei1r€II, 'OTRV paLOvaOe 'lac 'E(3pamc, Kat wat 7rpOC; T't' 'T'lICT€tV, eav pEV lrpaev V, ~7rOKTelVaTe aUTO' eRlI ~e Ol]AtJ,
7r'P'7ro,.,a6€ a'",o." "And he said, When ye officiate as midwives to the Hebrew women, and the period of their delivery
has arrived, if it be a male child, kill it; but if it be a female, preserve it." A material difference will be observed
between the translation here given of this passage of Scripture, and that which is found in our English version of the
Bible; whence it is evident that the old translators into English preferred in this place the original Hebrew to the
Greek text; since there is no mention of stools in the latter, but in the former the word O\)J~ occurs, which Parkhurst
understands in this place to mean 'baths; and contends that they have erroneously and even absurdly explained to
signify 'stools'; assigning himself, in his Hebrew Lexicon, the definition of vessels made of stone, troughs or cisterns
to hold water, to the Hebrew word O\)J~, and referring to the nineteenth verse of the seventh chapter of Exodus, in
which the same translators have understood the same word in the sense of vessels of stone made for the purpose of
holding water. From all which it follows, that it is extremely probable that the warm bath was resorted to as a means
of promoting safe delivery in the earliest ages by the Jews, and that its use was continued, and efficacy extolled, in
later centuries, on account of mention of it having been made by Moses in the Pentateuch; and that, finally, they introduced
the knowledge of it to the Mexicans. The chief objection to understanding O\)J~ in the sense of 'a stool' or
'seat' in the abovementioned passage is, that the proper signification of its singular, lJ~, is 'a stone'; which, although
a very proper material for baths which were to be heated with fire, would have been in the other case a strange substitute
for wood, as Parkhurst himself observes. Clavigero, in section LXII. of the seventh book of his History of
Mexico, describes the structure and use of the Mexican temazcalli, of which he says there were several kinds;




NOTES. 527

and he has accompanied his description with a plate, which shows that an arch was employed in their constrnction;
which cnrious fact he notices more particularly in the following passage of the third section of the Dissertations annexed
to his History: "The remains of the ancient palaces ofTezcuco, and still more their ternazcalli or vapour baths,
show us the ancient use of arches and vaults among the Mexicans and the other nations of Anahuac." The twentieth
plate of the Collection of Mendoza presents us with what may not improperly be named an original painting of a
temazcalli; it varies considerably in form from that described by Clavigero, but its component parts are essentially
the same, and it is evidently constructed on the same principle; the bath itself is there represented with a flat roof,
but the stove attached to it is arched above; it occurs in the abovementioned plate (No. 16.) as the symbol of the
tributary city Temazcalapau, which was probably so named on account of the number of its baths. It deserves also
to be remarked, that in the plate representing Cuzco, the capital of the Ingas, which Ramusio has inserted in the
third volume of the Italian edition of his Voyages, published at Venice in the year 1565, the entrance to that city is
through arched gates; and its famous temple is covered with a dome or cupola, which, with its square walls flanked
with high and narrow towers, assimilates it in some measure to the temple carved upon the box represented in the
fourth volume of the present work, and supposed to contain a collection of quipus; whence it may be inferred that
* This box is formed out of a solid piece of wood of the colour of mahogany. Its cover consists of a sliding lid, which is ingeniously
fastened by turning to the left the human figure in the centre of the planetary system represented on its side; its exterior has been gilt;
the carvings upon its sides have been executed with great care, and the subject of them all appears to be connected with the ancient religion
of the Peruvians and their mythological traditions. The principal side represents (most probably) Pacachama, the supreme God
of the Peruvians and the first person in their trinity, riding through the universe upon some unknown animal partaking of the nature of
the Hebrew cherub, whilst the universe itself may be not inaptly typified by the figures of animals belonging to each of the four elements
carved around. The Hebrew metaphor" he rideth upon the cherubim" seems almost to have been present to the imagination of the
Peruvian artist when carving the lid of the box; and, at least, it must be admitted that the rather singular choice of the metaphorical
expression 'ride' to express the motion of an incorporeal spirit, (for such the Perm'ians believed Pacachama to be,) argues some identity
in Peruvian and HebreW' taste, or some acquaintance on the part of the former with the language of the Psalms. All Spanish authors
descri be the temple dedicated to the sun at Cuzco, as one of the most magnificent structures that man ever consecrated to religious
worship; but while they notice the immense size of the stones of which it was built, and the incalculable riches of which Pizarro and his
soldiers plundered it, they say little of its outward appearance or the style of its architecture, which perhaps was owing to their never having
seen more of it than its ruins. The representation, therefore, of this temple in its perfect state, on one of the sides of this box, is very
curious: and its Gothic look, the pointed arches of its windows, doors, and roof, resembling that of the Pantheon at Rome, with
an aperture at the top of the cupola for the admission of light, cannot fail to interest those who may have leisure to peruse the concluding
note of this volume; from which it will appear, that it is not impossible that monks of the order of Saint Columba were the
founders of it, whom an accidental shipwreck, when returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to their monastery at lana, had
cast on the shores of the southern continent of America. That Greenland became in early ages the resort of Christians, and that a
flourishing monastery existeo there during several ages, which probably sent forth missionaries to many parts both of North and South
America, (which would account for the tradition, which was general throughout the New World, that Saint Thomas had preached the
Gospel to the Indians, since the monastery in Greenland was dedicated to Saint Thomas, and the monks would have taken care to preach
that Saint unto them,) will be apparent from the perusal of the note subjoined to page 190 of this volume. The coincidence is curious,
that the habitations of the monks should have been vaulted above and lighted from an aperture in the roof, their church in all probability
being lighted in the same manner, and the simple vault of their dwellings changed into a cupoIa, -- since the temple of Cuzco was built on
this plan. Nor is it. less worthy of observation, that the Mexican temazcallis, small as was their scale, must have nearly resembled, both in
structure and appearance, the houses built by the Greenland monks, who would have been the most likely people in the world to discover
the salutary nature of steam baths, such as were the temazcallis, which were arched buildings with an aperture above for the exit
of smoke and the admission of air, as the representation of one of them in Plate XV. of Clavigero's History of Mexico clearly shows.
If those monks had been animated with a spirit of enterprise, two reasons for a portion of America having been possibly long known to
them, and their concealing all knowledge of it from the rest of the world, might be found in the jealousy which they would naturally have
felt of all foreign interference, -- a feeling which in later centuries actuated the Jesuits of Paraguay, -- and in the profitable monopoly of trade
which they might have carried on with the Indians, which would account for the lavish payments which they were able to give for articles
of mere luxury, and for the concourse of barks which came to them from Trondon (probably Drontheim) in Norway. The discovery
of arches in America, although not so mysterious, is quite as unexplained a fact as that of crosses; neither can their existence be accounted
for by recurring to the old solution of all the doubts and difficulties to which the Patriarchal institutions, Mosaic laws, and Hebrew rites
of the Mexicans and Peruvians gave rise, which proceeded on the assumption that Satan counterfeited in the New World whatever God
had ordained in the Old and New Testament amongst Jews and Christians; since an arch is no where mentioned in Scripture: neither
did Moses command his countrymen to build their public or private edifices with arches, as he did with battlements, with which latter
injunction the Mexicans seem to have been acquainted, since battlements on houses and fringes on garments were as common in Mexico
as they were in Jerusalem. The supposition being as reasonable that America was colonized in early ages by Christians as by Jews, from




528 NOTES.

the Peruvians were acquainted with the arch as well as the Mexicans: and although the plate in Ramusio is coarsely
executed, still, agreeing as it does with the accounts contained in the earliest Spanish authors of the magnificence of
the reverence in which the Indians held the sign of the cross, both parties may consider that they have an equally fair claim to the honour of
having introduced the arch into that continent; but "non nobis est tantas componere lites" would be the only reply which the result of OUf
inquiries on this interesting subject would enable us tu return to either. It has been already observed, that the temple represented upon
the side of the Peruvian box has a Gothic appearance; and a sort of mixed style of architecture, combining Gothic with Indian taste,
seems to be displayed in the temple of Palenque: a church or monastery appears there to occupy the summit of a teocalli, and the roofs
of its spacious and double cloisters invariably terminate in a pointed arch, whilst the height of the pyramid afforded security to its inmates
from any sudden hostile attack. M. Dupaix has observed, that stones of vast size were employed in the construction of the palaces of
Mitlan; and Acosta likewise notices the prodigious size of those which he observed in the ruins of the temple of Cuzco: but, although
the style of architecture of the former edifices is as unlike as possible to Gothic, Greek, or Roman, and displays no vestige of the pointed
arch, while the mosaic decorations of the walls of that which is in the best.tate of preservation, like the devices sculptured upon the walls of
the fortress of Xochica1co, would seem mysteriously to refer to the worship of Queca1coatle; still the discovery of some pillars which once
supported the roof of those palaces shows that they had something in common with the temple of Cuzco which the temple of Palen que
was without. The use of pillars in the architecture of the New World is certainly deserving of attention; and it is extremely probable
that the Tultecas taught the Mexicans and the Peruvians the method of fabricating them, and of afterwards raising and fixing them on
their pedestals. The Jews employed them at the earliest period of their history, as we are informed in the twenty. sixth and twentyseventh
chapters of Exodus, where mention is made of the wooden pillars which supported the sides and hangings, not only of the tabernacle,
but of the tent of the tabernacle, otherwise named the tent of the congregatiun, and of the court of the tabernacle: and Acosta,
in the twelfth chapter of his Natural History of the Indies, after noticing the rich temple of Pacachama, situated at the short distance of
one league from Lima, proceeds to mention the still more sumptuous one of Cuzco, a pillar of which was entire, and perhaps standing in
his time: U Alterum in Peru tern plum priore multo augustius et sancuus habebatur. lllud olim in civitatis Cusco eo loco positum erat,
quo nunc ccenobium S. Dominici erecturn visitur. Inter ejus runera crelera, colurnnam adhuc salvam et inconfractam videre licet, ex
qufl de templi magnitudine, prrestantia. et eminentifl cel'tissima documenta desumi possunt liquidissi01a. Delubrum hoc Romanorum
Pantheo, deorurn omnium domicilio, qufu:iam tenus simile erat." The resemblance of the temple of the Sun at CUlCO to the Roman
Pantheon is not pointed out by Acosta in reference to the style of any portion of its architecture, but to the images of the gods of the
conquered nations which were placed in it, as in the Pantheon. And this remark, whatever might have been the association of ideas which
led to it, could scarcely have been expected from Acosta, who, evidently not caring how many gods the Peruvians had, provided they had
more than one, says, in the thirteenth chapter of the fifth book of his Natural History of the Indies, "Si universa Indicre lillgure nomina
evolvamus, ex omnibus tamen ne unicum inveniemus, quod Deo genuinum sit reque ac apud Hebrreos EI, apud Arabes, Ala: idque tarn in
Cusco, quam in Mexico. Ideoque hodie Hispanicum vocabulum Dios imitantur, illud definiunt ac explicant per proprietates lndicorum
idiomatum, quorum frequentia et varia sunt." In venturing to use a tODe of levity in speaking of an author whose wilful errors on some
material points do not entitle him to unqualified praise, it is by no means our intention to disparage the merits of so justly celebrated an
historian, who still, it should be recollected, had a theory to support, and became, later in life, rector of the college of Salamanca, -- a proof
that his writings were not disagreeable to the age in which he lived. A concession, however, in the very passage in which he intended
to demonstrate that the Indians had no idea of one supreme God, and that the Peruvians did not adore him under the names of Pacachama
and Viracocha, paves the way to the important question, whether, if the Saracens, the bitter enemies of the Christian name, worshiped
Jehovah under the name of t::J'n,>\' (or Allah), the Mexicans might not equally have adored him under that of: -- nn' (or Yao); and if
the former epithet, which many pious persons associate with the notion that the doctrine of the Trinity was in the earliest ages revealed to the
Jews, and believed (for of what use would rel'elation be without beliefr) by the more ancient patriarchs, became the war-cry ofMahometan
hosts, bent on the slaughter of unbelievers in the Roran, -- why the latter may not have been equally profaned in the New World in hymns
responsive to the dying groans of victims immolated at the shrine of Tezcatlipoca. Having already referred to the authority of Acosta in
proof of wh.t has been observed of the size of the stones employed in the structure of the temple at Cuzco, we shall here quote the words
of that writer, as cited by Garcilaso de la Vega in the twenty. seventh chapter of the seventh book of his Royal Commentaries of the lngas;
a work which, though highly deserving of praise, has tended more than any other, from the partiality of the author for his countrymen, to
the dissemination in Europe of the most erroneous opinions respecting the religion of the ancient Peruvians, which was quite as cruel
as that of the Mexicans: "Dice, pues, eI P. Acosta, lib. 6, cap. 14. 'En Tiaguanaco, medi yo una piedra de treinta y ocho pies de

-----
1 A very curious dissertation upon the name t::Im;N occurs in Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon; where, deriving it from l"T'N, I a denouncing
of a curse', that learned author defines it to be II a name usually given in the Hebrew Scriptures to the ever-blessed Trinity, by which
they represent themselves as under the obligation of an oath to perform certain conditions, and as having denounced a curse on all, men
and devils, who do not conform to them." The absurdity of the idea of the Trinity binding themselves by an oath to man can scarcely
be surpassed! since, if seeming propriety in the mere utterance of words, where the relative situations of persons imply superiority and
inferiority in one of them, was so scrupulously regarded by the ancient Jews that David could not be understood to have coiled his son
his Lord, how infinitely derogatory to the majesty of God it must appear, that man should receive an oath from those lips that with their
word created the universe!




NOTES. 529

that imperial city, and the great estimation in which Ramusio has always been held on account of the discrimination
which he exercised in selecting !lnd admitting into his work only what was authentic, being further considered, it ought
not to be judged of no authority. That the Mexicans were acquainted with the cupola, is evident from several of their
ancient ruins discovered by M. Dupaix, and especially from that represented in the twenty-fourth plate of the Second
Part of his Monuments of New Spain; and that they employed the arch in their temples, as well as in their baths, is
stated by Diego Valades, an author whom Clavigero makes casual mention of, but whose work belongs to that class
of books which have disappeared. The fact of the existence of arches in American buildings having been proved, the
question which naturally arises is, Who were the inventors of them amongst the Indians? and assuming that they
were not the Mexicans or the Peruvians, -- not on the ground of either of those nations wanting capacity to invent
an arch, as some writers have pretended, since the quipus of the latter were a more ingenious invention, if reliance
can be placed on Acosta's account of them, but because it is more probable that the New World was indebted for that
invention to the Old, -- it becomes extremely likely that both those nations derived their knowledge of the arch'" from
the Jews, whose descendants, the Tultecas, were famous architects and skilful workmen, as were also their forefathers
in the days of David, who in the passage of the Psalms, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget
her cunning," can only allude to a mechanical quality in which his countrymen excelled, which, considered as a
mental one, he would have disapproved even in Jacob.

largo, y de diez yacho de aneho, y el gTueso seria de seis pies; yen la muralla de la fortalet;a del Cuzco, que es de mamposteria, ay
much as piedras de mucha major grandec;a; y 10 que mas admiro es, que no siendo cortadas estas que digo de 13 muralla, por regia, sino
entre si mui desiguales en el taroauo, y en la faccion, encajan unas con otras con increible juntura, sin mezcla.'" "I myself measured in
Tiaguanaco a stone thirty-eight feet long and eighteen broad, and about six feet in thickness; and there are many stones of much greater
magnitude in the wall of the fortress of Cuzco, which is of masonry; but it is even more wonderful that the stones of the wall which I
have mentioned, which are not cut by rule, but of very dissimilar shapes and dimensions, should be inlaid with each other with incredible
nicety and without cement." M. Dupaix remarks that no cement was employed in the mosaic ornaments of the palaces of Mitlan, and
that their durability was owing to the exact correspondence of the stones with each other, and to the tenacious composition in which they
were inlaid. It has elsewhere been observed that Scripture seems to declare that Solomon's temple was adorned with stones set in
mosaic, and Sahagun intimates by the comparison with which he closes the thirty-ninth chapter of his fourth book that the:Mexicans cultivated
that art. Some remarks having already been made upon the temple carved upon the principal side of the Peruvian box, we shall
add to them by observing that a garden is evidently represented in the back-ground of that temple, and the garden of the temple of the
Sun at Cuzco was one of the most famous things belonging to it. The most respectable Spanish historians, including Garcilaso de la
Vegn, declare that there, as well as in the garden of the Ingas in the island of Puna, the plants, trees, and shrubs were of gold, made so as
to exactly counterfeit nature; and the excessive richness of the Peruvian mines divest the accounts of these Spanish authors of the appearance
of falsehood. Over the middle gate of the temple is an animal, the erect tail and head of which assimilate it to a lion, the ancient
armorial bearing of the tribe of Judah: on another of the sides are the planets, and it is very remarkable that Saturn should be represented
with a ring. The ancient Jews seem to have reckoned eleven the number of the planets; since Joseph, declaring in the thirty-seventh chapter
of Genesis his dream to his brethren, says: "Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun, and the moon, and the
eleven stars, made obeisance to me." The aggregate number of these signs it may be remarked was thirteen, a number highly esteemed
by the Mexicans. At the four angles of the box are figures, as it has been presumed, of the Ingas, and the dress of one of them corresponds
exactly with the costume of the Jewish high-priest, as described in the twenty-eighth and thirty-fifth chapten; of Exodus; the
girdle, the breast-plate, the ephod, the band round the neck, the four rows of stones in the breast-plate, even the chains fastening it at the
shoulders to the ephod, appear to be accurately represented; but it deserves to be remarked that the stones are set vertically and not horizontally,
which was perhaps the Hebrew fashion; and the bells to make a tinkling sound are wholly wanting, although the Mexican
paintings afford evidence that a tinkling sound was considered by the Mexicans a matter of religious moment, and accordingly their
priests occasionally wore bells on their aneles. In the thirty-ninth page of the Mexicau painting preserved in the Royal Library at
Dresden a figure occurs, with a vestment to the fringe of which are fastened bells.


-----
* The language of the ancient Mexicans, which was one of the most copious in the world, (an argument in favour both of the antiquity
and civilization of their state,) had four different names for an arch in architecture: vitoliultqui, tecululli, tellulli, and tequiauatl. The
Mexicans named the rainbow ayauheofamalotl and eOfamalotl, and a bow for shooting arrows Itauitolli 




530 NOTES.

NOTE XIII. page 224.

Yoalliehecatl, the signification of which proper name is 'night and wind,' was an epithet which the Mexicans
bestowed upon their supreme deity Tezcatlipoca, denoting thereby the obscurity and subtilty of the divine essence.
Acosta has been led into the mistake, through not considering that this compound term formed a proper name, of
asserting that the Mexicans adored, on one of their principal festivals, the winds and darkness; but Sahagun no where
says that they attributed divinity to the elementary portions of nature. Fire and water were in no other manner considered
sacred by them, than as being the symbols of Xiuhtecutli and of ChaIchiuitlicue.

NOTE XIV. page 215.

Gomara says, that Guaca, the name which signified in the language of the Peruvians' a temple', properly meant a
place of sorrow or aflliction; being derived from guai, a Peruvian exclamation expressive of grief, which nearly resembles
oval, of such frequent occurrence in the New Testament.

NOTE XV. page 215.

The trophy of a hand borne upon the top of a staff was used by the ancient Mexicans, and is sometimes represented
in their mythological paintings. It is singular that a hand elevated aloft should also have been a Hebrew trophy, as
Parkhurst informs us in his Lexicon; who assigns, as a fourth signification to the Hebrew word 'a hand,' that of
a trophy. "" is used for a trophy or monument of victory, probably because made in the shape of a large hand, the
emblem of power, erected on a pillar. Thus Saul, after smiting the Amalekites, in the pride of his heart, " "::lllln,
erected to or for himself, not for Jehovah, a hand, 1 Sam. xv. 12; where, LXX, X€lpa 'a hand.' 'And David smote
Hadadezer, king of Zobah, when he was going ",::lIX;", to erect his hand or trophy by the river Euphrates,' 2 Sam.
viii. 3; 1 Chron. xviii. 3. And this appears to be the most ancient use of these memorial hands; whence Absalom
seems to have taken the hint of erecting one merely to keep his name in remembrance, 2 Sam. xviii. 18; where
observe that this monument is expressly called not only "I a hand', but;,::llln 'a pillar'; which, together with the
use of the verb::l'X;, in the above texts, shows that the hand was wont to be put on a pillar. See more in Bate's
Crit. Heb., and compare Josephus, Ant. lib. vii. cap. 10. s. 3."

NOTE XVI.

The Mexicans, according to Sahagun, were accustomed to carry their mirrors about their persons, when they
celebrated their solemn dances in the court-yard of their greater temple; and from the eighth verse of the thirtyeighth
chapter of Exodus, it may be inferred that the same custom prevailed at least amongst the Jewish women."
And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking-glasses of the women assembling, which
assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." This vanity on the part of the Jewish women who
assembled at the door of the tabernacle, seems to have led to the consequences described in the twenty-second verse
of the second chapter of the First Book of Samuel: "Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all
Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."



NOTES. 531

NOTE XVII. page 293.

Bishop Cumberland estimates the value of the gold which David prepared for the House of the Lord at 507,575,0001.
sterling, and of the silver at 353,500,0001. sterling; the two sums added together amounting to 861,075,0001. sterling.
It may be proper to add, that the learned prelate grounds his calculation upon the following passage of the twentysecond
chapter of the First Book of Chronicles: "Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the House of the
Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver, and of brass and iron without
weight." How great must have been the wealth of Jerusalem in the ensuing prosperous reign of Solomon, when
David in his trouble was able to amass such vast riches! And where is the absurdity of understanding in a literal
sense, what most persons are inclined to consider an hyperbole, viz. that silver was really as common in Jerusalem, as
stones in the days of the former king; which would serve to explain how the Jews could have maintained, in their
small territory of Palestine, so large an army as that described at page 49 of this volume.

NOTE XVIII. page 191.

It has been remarked in a preceding note, that superstitious nations are too ready to ascribe to prophetic inspiration
things which have been foretold, merely because they were highly probable, and which accordingly afterwards came
to pass. A fictitious case has also been recurred to at page 368, to show that true prophecies need not be always
either miraculous or accidental in their nature. Having already quoted a passage in the chorus of one of the tragedies
of Seneca, which, had it occurred in the Old Testament, would have been accounted a famous prophecy, we shall here
introduce a beautiful passage of Pope's Windsor Forest, which contains a number of accidental prophecies, and amongst
others one the accomplishment of which we trust will be late. The greatest of poets could little have foreseen, when
writing that admired poem, how many of his predictions time would verify; nor would it perhaps have pleased him
to have known, that the period would arrive when his favourite villa, and the grotto in which" 81. John sat and thought,"
would no longer be the chosen resort of the muses, but would be comprised within the suburbs of the gay metropolis.
But who will contend that Pope, by inspiration, knew that London would be doubled in size in the course of a century;
that parliament would grant millions to build new churches; that the Burmese war would take place; that an expedition
would be sent to the North Pole; that the ports of South America would be open to British commerce; that
Englishmen with capital would embark extensively in mining speculations; and that Mr. Huskisson would advocate
the principles of free trade: yet the perusal of the following lines will convince the most sceptical, that he sawall
these things as through a glass darkly which we now behold in the clear light of day.

" Hail, sacred peace! hail, long e.rpected days
That Thames's glory to the stars shall raise,
Though Tiber's streams immortal Rome behold,
Though foaming Hermus swells with tides of gold,
From heaven itself though sevenfold Nilus flows,
And harvests on a hundred realms bestows;
These now no more shall be -the Muse's themes,
Lost in my fame, as in the sea their streams.
Let Volgas banks with iron squadrons shine,
And groves of lances glitter on the Rhine,
Let barbarous Ganges arm a servile train, -- 
Be mine the blessings of a peaceful reign.



532 NOTES.
No more my sons shall dye with British blood
Red Iber's sands, or Ister's foaming flood;
Safe on my shore each unmolested swain
Shall tend the flocks, or reap the bearded grain;
The shady empire shall retain no trace
Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chace;
The trumpet sleep, while cheerful horns are blown,
And arms employed on birds and beasts alone.
Behold! the ascending villas on my side
Project long shadows o'er the crystal tide.
Behold! Augusta's glittering spires increase,
And temples rise, the beauteous works of peace.
I see, I see, where two fair cities bend
Their ample bow, a new Whitehall ascend!
There mighty nations shall inquire their doom,
The world's great oracle in times to come;
There kings shall sue, and suppliant states be seen
Once more to bend before a British Queen.
Thy trees, fair Windsor! now shall leave their woods,
And half thy forests rush into the floods,
Bear Britain's thunder, and her cross display
To the bright regions of the rising day;
Tempt icy seas where scarce the waters roll,
Where clearer jlames glow round the frozen pole;
Or under southern skies exalt their sails,
Led by new stars, and borne by spicy gales!
For me the balm shall bleed, and amber flow,
The coral redden, and the ruby glow,
The pearly shell its lucid globe unfold,
And Pht:ebus warm the ripening ore to gold.
The time shall come, when, free as seas or wind,
Unbounded Thames shalljlowfor all mankind."

NOTE XIX. page 419.

Nieremberg affirms, in the following passage of his Historia N aturre, that the tradition of St. Thomas having
preached the gospel to the Indians was common in various parts of South America: "A pud Iaiaobre Indos in Occidenti
tradita per avos viget memoria S. Apostoli Thomre, quam retinent a transitu ejus per iIIas plagas, cujus non levia
extant indicia: prrecipue quredam semita in illis solitudinibus hactenus perseverat, in qua non oritur herba nisi valde
humilis et parvula, cum utrumque latus herbescat ultra modum; eo itinere dicunt Apostolum incessisse, et inde profectum
in Peruana regna. A pud Brasilienses quoque traditio est, ibi prredicasse. Apud alios barbaros, etiam in
regionem Paraguay venisse, postquam descendit per fluvium Iguazu, deinde in Paranam per Aracaium, ubi observatur
locus in quo sedit defessus Apostolus, et fertur prredixisse, ut a majoribus acceptum est, post se iIIuc adventuros
homines qui posteris eorum annuntiarent fidem veri Dei, quod non leve solatium et animos facit nostrre religionis
prredicatoribus, ingentes labores inter iIIos barbaros pro dilatione Ecclesire perpetientibus." -- Joannis Eusebii Nierembergii
Historire Naturre, lib. xiv. cap. cxvii. Nieremberg's Historia Naturre was printed at Antwerp in folio in the
year 1635: it is valuable from containing copious extracts from the inedited MSS. of the celebrated Spanish naturalist
Hernandez, chiefly relating to the plants and animals of New Spain.




NOT E S. 533
NOTE XX. page 269.
Clavigero, in the account of the writers on the ancient history of Mexico which he has prefixed to his own work,
mentions the name of Doctor Carlos de Siguenza e Gongora in the highest terms of commendation; praising him as
an author of the greatest diligence and research, and expressing at the same time his deep regret that only some
fragments of his writings should have been preserved, which he thinks was owing to the negligence of his heirs, not
suspecting that other causes might have consigned to intentional oblivion the fruits of Siguenza's learned labours. In
the list of his unpublished MSS. inserted by Eguiara in the first volume of his Bibliotheca Mexicana, one occurs of
peculiar interest, from the title of which it might be inferred that Siguenza had discovered clear proofs, in the
traditions and paintings of the Mexicans, that Christianity had once been established in New Spain. The title is
as follows: "Occidentis Phenix S. Thomas Apostolus, nomine Quetzalcoatl, inter antiquarum cineres traditionum
inventus, conservatus in lapidibus et carminibus Tultecorum, et Theochichimecorum ac Me.z'icanorum canticis." The
brief account given by so grave and learned an author as Eguiara of the subject-matter of Siguenza's curious treatise
is deserving of the most serious attention; and we therefore transcribe it from page 481 of his Bibliotheca Mexicana,
observing at the same time that the hymns of the ancient Mexicans, which Sahagun translated into Spanish, and
inserted in the Appendix to the second book of his History of New Spain, which might possibly have contained
traditions of Quecalcoatl, were destroyed by order of the Inquisition, as a note in the original MS. expressly states.
Nor is it unlikely that the Phenix of Siguenza perished in a pile lighted by the same hands. "Ejus argumentum
in prredicationem S. Thomre Apostoli ad Septentrionalem usque Americam nostram productam inquirebat, atque
multis undique conquisitis monumentis, primum Apostolos per omnem, qua late patet, orbem effusos author probabat.
Mox Americam nostram non perinde antiquis incognitam penitus fuisse agebat. Denique S. Thomam, e duodecim
Apostolis unum, in earn migrasse, quem nomine Quetzalcoatl Indi signaverant, collatione utriusque facta, nominis,
vestimenti, doctrinre, vaticiniorum, concludebat; expensis qure peragravit locis, rimatis relictis a se vestigiis, portentisque
in lumen eductis e discipulis, ut 11Ii11imum quatuor in hisce regionibus Christiane institutis."

NOTE XXI. page 465.

The Teponaztli, Or hollow Mexican drum, might have borne some resemblance to the Hebrew musical instrument
N'~!lOlC, mentioned by Parkhurst in page 507 of his Hebrew Lexicon.

NOTE XXII. page 331.

The Mexican women were accustomed to anoint their faces with a yellow ointment named tecofauitl; and we learn
from the third verse of the third chapter of Ruth, that Naomi desired her daughter-in-law to anoint herself and put on
raiment before she introduced herself to Boaz, in order to request him to perform the part of her near kinsman, by taking
her for a wife. In the fourth chapter of the Fourth Book of Kings, or Second Book of Chronicles as it is more usually
designated, the widow's oil which was multiplied by the prophet Elisha is said to have been that which she used for
anointing herself: "OUK 'C1T< 'I'll 80UAll C10U 01,8,. f. '1''1' OiK'I', OT< nAA' ~ 0 ~A€I"'Ol'a, fAa to" "Thy servant hath nothing
in the house save the oil with which I anoint myself." Hence it would appear that the Jewish as well as the Mexican
women were accustomed to anoint their bodies or faces, either for the sake of health or ornament.



534 NOTES.

NOTE XXIII.

In the nineteenth chapter of the fourth book of his History of New Spain Sahagun says, that the family of a Mexican
merchant who had been killed in a foreign country, immediately on receiving the intelligence of his death, made
a wooden image of him, which they adorned with paper, and carried to the temple, where it remained a short time
previously to being burnt. The author of the Apocryphal book of Scripture entitled the Wisdom of Solomon seems
to allude, in the fifteenth verse of the fourteenth chapter, to an analogous custom, whether existing amongst the Jews
or Gentiles is immaterial, since the latter invented no idolatrous custom which the former did not immediately adopt:
" For a father afllicted with untimely mourning, when he hath made an ir,nage of his child soon taken away, now
honoured him as a god, which was then a dead mau, and delivered to those that were under him ceremonies and
sacrifices. "

NOTE XXIV. page 227.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints," is an exclamation of David in the ninety-sixth
Psalm, which occurred to the recollection of the interpreter of the Vatican MS. when expJaining the meaning of
'Tlatzolli Tzonpantli,' who does not appear to have recollected equally well the ejaculation with which the Book of
Psalms may be almost said to close, where David eloquently invokes the saints to sing the praises of God with a two-edged
sword in their hand: "Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds: Set the high
praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand,. to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and
punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute
upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord." The royal bard could never
have contemplated Sicilian vespers when pronouncing this ejaculation; yet we shudder at the remembrance of the
atrocities perpetrated in a recent age by the Anabaptists, who, applying to themselves the prophecy contained in the
eighteenth verse of the seventh chapter of Daniel, -- "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and
possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever," -- thought to establish the fifth monarchy, and to begin the
millennium, by first wading through a sea of blood. The language of truth being so often mistaken for that of
exaggeration, we cannot but entreat modern Anabaptists, who may feel disposed to doubt the fact above mentioned,
to consult the annals of Germany; which having done, it will not be at all surprising if they should be induced to
abandon their creed. It cannot be denied that the ancient Jews were cruel beyond belief to their vanquished enemies:
the innocence of childhood, the sweetness of youth, admiration for valour, or respect for age, never stayed their murdering
swords; and the faults of the father were too frequently visited upon his poor and unoffending babes. In
reading the seventh and following verses of the hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm, strongly significant though
equivocally worded, at the same time recollecting the latitude of meaning which the Rabbis assign to the phrase" the
children of Edom," and the great regard which the Jews have always manifested for ancient precedent, a doubt may
reasonably be entertained whether David's apostrophe to Babylon, "Happy shall be be that taketh and dasbeth thy
little ones against the stones," may not have led the Ingas to view with indiffereuce the crime of infanticide, when
the children slaughtered were those of their enemies. It is an old observation, that the code of the Pentateuch nowhere
inculcates patriotism as a virtue, which Christ appears to have had in contemplation when he uttered the words,
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another;" which could only have referred to the Mosaic law,
since the laws and maxims of antiquity, which have been preserved to the present time, afford the most convincing
proof that they inculcated patriotism and humanity. It is however even more surprising that clemency and pity for
a fallen enemy should have found no place amongst the Levitical enactments; which strengthens our conviction that
the ancient Jews, believing it to be impious in other nations to go to war with God's chosen people, considered it
virtuous to execute vengeance upon their enemies, and to show no mercy to prisoners taken in battle. Their example
was imitated by the Mexicans, who in massacreing their captive enemies only followed the rules of J ewisb warfare.



NOTES. 535

NOTE XXV. page 226.

The following curious passage occurs in the first book of Leo Africanus: "Hujus mali (venerei) ne nomen quidem
ipsis Africanis notum erat antequam Hispaniarum Rex Ferdinandus Judreos omnes ex HispaniG. profligasset: qui ubi
in patriam jam rediissent, creperunt miseri quidam ac sceleratissimi lEthiopes cum ilIorum mulieribus hahere commercium,
ac sic tandem vel uti per manus pestis hrec per totam se sparsit regionem, ita ut vix sit familia qure ab hoc
malo remanserit lihera. Id autem sihi firmissime atque indubitate persuaserunt, ex HispaniG. ad illos transmigrasse:
quamohrem et ilIi morbo Malum Hispanicum, ne nomine destitueretur, indiderunt."

NOTE XXVI. page 202.

Reference to the seventh page of the Dresden Codex, and to an analogous painting contained in the forty-first page
of the MS. of Archbishop Laud, representing a bird inserting its bill into the mouth of some personage, perhaps a
Mexican diviner, may render the following obscure passage of Maimonides more intelligible: j1'JO 'J1V"il iTlI1l'!.:l,J/':l
millN1 1i! O"1~ 'J'O 1?N ?:l1 nm? O'1'nYlD O'-,J, 1'~J -,J"1 il~:lJJ ?1~'lD 'Y o'-,nN O'lDVO iTlI11V1 -"~i't:l1 1'~J V"l" 10= ~1Y OJ/Y
nU1Nil ?N 1J~n ?N JlD l"JO 1i!?lD "Quod est opus arioli? Os avis, cui nomen J aduah, inserit ori suo, et suffitum aliaque
facit, donec fiat mente commotUs, et loquatur qure videntur eventura. Universa hrec sunt idololatrici generis; atque
eorum interdictum habemus, cum dicitur,. Ne vos convertatis ad Pythones." -- Maimonides de IdololatriG., cap. vi.
Divination by a skull, another Jewish superstition noticed by Maimonides, is perhaps represented in the twentieth
page of the Mexican painting in the possession of M. de Fejervary; and in that painting some regard seems to be
manifested for the number twelve, by those who appear to be employed in weaving the spell. Maimonides, in the
ninth section of the third chapter of his treatise concerning Idolatry, declares, "Qui amplectitur idolum aut osculatur;
qui verrit vel aquam e.!fundit coram eo; qui ilIud lavat, vestit, calceat, aut simili afficit honore, transgreditur interdictum:
quia dictum est, N ec servies eis." It is hence evident that he was well acquainted with these various
superstitions; and from his mention of them in that place, coupled with a prohibition to his countrymen against the
practice of them, it is to be presumed that the Jews were acquainted with them likewise; hut it is very remarkable
that they should all be represented in the Mexican paintings.

NOTE XXVII. page 294.

Sahagun, describing in the first paragraph of the twenty-ninth chapter of the tenth book of his History of New
Spain the manners of the Tultecas, says, "La manera de cortarse el cahello era segun su uso pulido que traian los
cabellos desde la media caheza atras." "They cut their hair in such a manner as to wear it, agreeably to their refined
fashion, only on the hinder half of the head." That precisely the same custom prevailed amongst the Jews, we learn
from the following verse of the poet Nonnus's Paraphrase of the Gospel of St. John:

" XPlCJ'f'OC; 01rla(JoKop.wV ",epo'lrw." (JOtV'IJTOP' Xaftl
KX'1TOI; efJv (n.wSOP1l'oc."

" Christ, an invited guest, sat in company with the revelling crew, who were bald except at the hack of their heads."
The Galileans are here alluded to; and the epithet;"naOoKo!'wV applied to them would seem to signify that they used
that particular kind of tonsure which the Greeks named £ICTOP'OC Kovpa, it is to be presumed after Hector, as they also
named it 6.r<11/'C, according to Plutarch, from Theseus, on account of that hero having cut off the hair which grew on
the fore part of his head for an offering at Delphos. The Rabbis have denied that either the epithet of;'",afiOKO!,WV,
or that of.,.poxoovplBec, could be applicable to the ancient Jews, because they would both necessarily imply a breach



536 NOTES.

of the Mosaic law. Josephus, however, was of a different opinion, and did apply the latter to his countrymen: and as
for the modern Jews, having long since done away with phylacteries, they have at last prudently thonght proper to
do away with that part of the Mosaic law which relates to heards.

NOTE XXVIII. page 402.

The Mexican goddess Cihuacohuatl, or Suchiquecal, was also named Quilaztli, as we learn from the twenty-eighth
chapter of the sixth book of Sahagun's History of New Spain, who there expressly declares that she was Eve: "Esta
es Eva, que es la muger que primero pario." The probability of the Mexicans having been acquainted with the
history of Cain and Abel is pointed out in page 221 of the present volume; and it seems only necessary, in order
fully to identify Suchiquecal with the Eve of Scripture, to show that the Mexicans believed that sbe brought death
into the world, which involves the supposition that they were not ignorant of the doctrine of original sin. From the
following passage of page 469 of the preceding volume, which contains the address of the midwife to the relatives
of a woman who had lately been delivered of a son, it may confidently be inferred that such was their belief: "Por
cierto este negocio es una batalla en que peligramos las mugeres, porque este negocio es como tributo de muerte que
nos echa nuestra madre Cioacoatl y Quilahtli." "This necessity (of giving birth to children) is, indeed, a battle in
which we who are women are exposed to great dangers, for it is as it were the tribute of death bequeathed to us by our
mother Cioacoatl and Quilahtli." It is singular that the Peruvians should have believed, as well as the Mexicans, that
twins were unlucky; they, perhaps, had also a tradition that Cain had murdered his brother Abel. Cieya de Leon
says of the former people, "Tenian por mal aguero estos Indios que una muger pariesse dos criaturas de un vi entre,
o quando alguna criatura nasce con algun defecto natural, como es en una mano seys dedos, 0 otra cosa semejante.
Y si, como digo, alguna muger paria de un vientre dos criaturas, 0 con algun defecto, se entristecian ella y Stl marido,
y ayunavan sin comer agi, ni bever chicha que es el vino que ellos beven, y hazian otras cosas a su uso y como 10
aprendieron de sus padres." -- Parte Primera de la Chronica del Peru, cap. lxv. Amongst the Jews, persons born
with any natural defect were forbidden to discharge the Levitical functions, and Hebrew parents would probably have
felt compunction, as well as sorrow, when such misfortunes befell their children, from the erroneous belief, which
even some of Christ's disciples shared, that the sins of the father were frequently visited by God upon the child; and
hence they might, like the Peruvians, have fasted on the occasion of the birth of deformed children.

NOTE XXIX. page 449.

M. Dupaix, in describing the palace of Mitlan, observes, that not only the inner walls, but even the pillars which
supported the roof of that edifice, had once been painted with vermilion. That this was a Jewish custom, is evident
from the following passage of the twenty-second chapter of Jeremiah: "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by
unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not
for his work; that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it
is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion." Selden, in a passage of the Introdnction to his treatise De Diis
Syris, says, on the authority of Epiphanius, that it was an Egyptian custom to dye the trees and cattle red on the
anniversary of the Jewish passover, in commemoration of the sprinkling of the door-posts with the blood of the
Hebrew lamb. The ancient ecclesiastical writers were so credulous, and so prone to indulge in pious frauds in their
narrations, that it may reasonably be doubted whether such a custom ever existed amongst the Egyptians; it is at the
same time, however, highly probable that the Jews might have dyed the pillars and walls of their houses with vermilion
in commemoration of the flight of their ancestors from Egypt. The following is the passage of Selden alluded
to: "lEgyptiis quotannis in J udaico Pasch ate greges et arbores minio, velut alexeterio, illinere solenne erat: id ex
depravato traditionis sacrre de Ebrreorum superliminaribus sanguine illitis intellectu manavit, quod fusius narrat Epi



NOTES. 537

phanius in hreresi Nazarreorum. Perperam accepta Mosis de reneo serpente historia ut thymiamata ei incenderentur
effeci!." The supposition that the miracles which Moses perIormed, by holdiug up his rod that became a serpent,
inclined his superstitious countrymen in later ages to pay adoration to that reptile, and to regard it in the light of a
tutelary genius, has here the sanction" of high authority; and if Selden has judged it not unreasonable to refer to this
example in Jewish history, to show the probability of Epiphanius's narrative, who will deny the validity of the argument
by which an attempt is here made to prove that the adoption of the serpent as a sacred symbol by the Mexicans
was in commemoration of the brazen serpent which Moses set up in the wilderness? It may be proper to add, that
although the Mexicans carried the figure of a serpent in their religious processions, and wore it on their persons as a
sacerdotal ornament, not scrupling to invest the image of Tezcatlipoca with a symbol so appropriate to Tetzauhteotle,
or the terrible god, they did not adore it except as the type of Quecalcoatle.

NOTE XXX.

The account which Gomara gives of the Spanish expedition in search of the seven cities of Sibola, and the causes
that led to it, is interesting, not only because it records the earliest attempt made by the Spaniards to investigate the
provinces situated to the north of Mexico, but likewise because much mystery attaches to the relation of the friars,
from whom the intelligence of the existence of those cities was first received, who seem either themselves to have
discovered traces of Christianity in that part of America, or to have heard rumours to that effect which they judged
to be worthy of credit. The probability that their relation was a mere forgery, is counterbalanced by the much
greater improbability, that, if that had been the case, they would have ventured to have stated a deliberate falsehood,
likely to involve such serious consequences as an expedition disastrous to the Spaniards, to Cortes, and the Viceroy
of Mexico; or that they would have been able to deceive two persons of such great penetration as were Cortes and
Don Antonio de Mendoza; or, finally, that those persons would have quarrelled with each other about the right which
each claimed, Mendoza as Viceroy of Mexico, and Cortes as Captain-general of New Spain, to undertake the conquest
of Sibola, the former of whom fitted out a numerous army of Spaniards and Indians, with a regiment-of four hundred
cavalry, to take possession of that province, and the latter retired from motives of disgust to Spain. The unfortunate
result, however, of the enterprize, which did not, as was usual in such cases, lead even to the establishment of a
settlement in the provinces which the Spanish army had traversed, furnished Gomara with the opportunity of indulging
in a jest against Brother Mark de Nina, who was the friar who in the year 1539 returned to Mexico, "diziendo
maravillas de siete ciudades de Sibola;" which cities he proceeds thus briefly to describe; "Las famosas siete ciudades
de Fray Marcos de Nina, que estan en espacio de seys leguas, ternan obra de quatro mil ombres. Las riquezas
de su reyno es no tener que comer, ny que vestir, durando la nieve siete meses." "The famous seven cities of Brodler
Mark de Nina, which occupy six leagues of country, may contaiu a population of about four thousand men, whose
only wealth is to have nothing to eat, and to go naked during seven winter months." Gomara is, however, obliged
to own that the courage of the Indians opposed a most vigorous resistance to the Spaniards, who were much disappointed
on taking a town, after a siege of forty-five days, at finding that they had burnt all their turquoise-stones and
property of value in a blazing pile which they had kindled for the purpose. It cannot be doubted that Gomara
represents the provinces of Quivira and Sibola such as he believed them to be; but the following description, by
Lieutenant Hardy, of the ruins which still cover a vast extent of country in the neighbourhood of Las Casas Grandes
may induce some persons to suppose that king Tatarrax did really "adore a cross of gold, and pray to the image of
a woman who was queen of heaven." "Casas Grandes is one of the few ruins existing in Mexico, the original
owners of which are said to have come from the north, and I therefore determined to devote a couple of hours on the
morrow to its investigation. On the thirteenth I examined a ruin about half a mile from my last night's lodgings.
Only a portion of the external walls is standing; the building is square, and of very considerable extent; the sides
stand accurately north and south, which gives reason to suppose that the builder was not unversed in the science of
astronomy, having determined so precisely the cardinal points. The roof has long lain in the area of the building,
and there are several excavations, said to have been made by the Apache Indians, to discover earthenware jars and



538 NOTES.

shells. A specimen of the jars I was so fortunate as to procure, and it is in excellent preservation. There were also
good specimens of earthern images in the Egyptian style, which are to me at least so perfectly uninteresting that I
was at no pains to procure any of them. The country here for the extent of several leagues is covered with the ruins
of buildings capable of containing a population of at least twenty thousand or thirty thousand souls. Casas Grandes is
indeed particularly favourable for maintaining so many inhabitants. Situated by the side of a large river which periodically
inundates a great part of the low surronnding lands, the verdure is perpetual. There are ruins also of aqueducts,
and in short every indication that its former inhabitants were men who knew how to avail themselves of the advantages
of nature and to improve them by art; but who they were and what has become of them there is no chronicle to tell,
and conjecture is left to build as many theories respecting them, as of other extinct nations as little known. On the
south bank of the Rio Gila there is another specimen of these singular ruins; and it may be observed that wherever
these traces are found, the surrounding country invariably possesses great fertility of soil, water, and wood. About half
a league to the north-west of Casas Grandes is an old convent built by the Jesuits, who were equally careful to avail
themselves of similar advantages. It is in ruins also, and stands on an eminence; it appears to have been a very large
building." -- Travels in the Interior of Mexico, page 465. We have availed ourselves with greater pleasure of this
extract from Lieut. Hardy's Travels, because the ruins of Las Casas Grandes, situated nearly a thousand miles to the
north of Mexico, have been known rather by rumour than in any other manner to Spanish authors who have mentioned
them in their writings, and their existence has often been considered problematical. In a note subjoined to
page 183 of the present volume will be found the opinion of Cardinal Lorenzana, that these ruins were the deserted
habitations of the Mexicans; but in the same page reasons are assigned for not attaching much weight to that learned
prelate's opinion, whose certainty on so obscure a matter of history, resting wholly unsupported by any evidence, cannot be
shared by the reader of his edition of the Letters of Cortes. It is to be regretted that Lieut. Hardy should not have been
at the pains of procuring any of the little earthen images in the Egyptian style, of which he says good specimens were
to be found in the neighbourhood of Las Casas Grandes, since it is evident, from the terms in which he mentions them,
that disappointment at their loss would not have caused him to exclaim with Boturini, "no las trocara pOl' oro y plata
pOl' diamantes y perlas;" and the comparison of them with the Mexican Penates or images of baked clay of a similar
description, which a well-informed traveller says are still frequently found in the vicinity of Mexico, Cholnla, and
other ancient cities of New Spain, might have enabled intelligent persons to judge whether the religion of the population
of Las Casas Grandes, and their taste for the arts, resembled that of the Mexicans. The jar, an engraving of which
is given in page 465 of his work, is iuteresting, because the symmetrical lines that ornament its surface are not
unlike those traced in mosaic on the walls of the palace of Mitlan. In Honduras, stone vases have been found embellished
in a more simple manner with broken lines, representations of which will be found in the American Monuments
of Baron de Humboldt. It is probable that the town of Chihuahua, with its extensive plains, described by Lieut.
Hardy as entirely destitute of wood, and lying on the route to Las Casas Grandes, is that to which Gomara gave the
appellation of Cicuic. The numerous herds of cattle grazing upon its neighbouring plains were by no means indicative
of the poverty of the subjects of king Tatarrax: they are thus described by that historian; "De Tiguex fueron en
quatro jornadas a Cicuic, lugar pequeno, y a quatro leguas del toparon un nuevo genero de vacas fieras y bravas, de
las quales mataron el primer dia ochenta que bastecieron el exercito de carne. Fueron de Cicuic a Quivira, que a
su cuenta ay casi trezientas legnas, pOl' grandisimos llanos y arenales tan rasos y pelados que hizieron mojones de
bonigas, a falta de piedras y de arboles, para no perderse a la buelta, ca se les perdieron en aquella llanura tres
cavallos y un Espanol que se desvio a ca~a. Todo aquel camino y llanos estan llmos de vacas corcobadas como la
Sel'ena de ovt;jas, pero no ay mas gente de la que los gum'dan; fueron gran remedio para la hambre y falta de pan que
llevavan. Cayo les un dia pOl' aquelllano mucha piedra como naranjas; y uvo hartas lag-rimas, flaqueza, y votos:
llegaron en fin a Quivira, y hallaron al Tatarrax que buscavan, ombre ya cano desnudo, y con una joya de cobre al
cuello, que era toda su I'iqueza." -- La Istoria de las Indias, fol. CXVI. In the first edition of Gomara's History of the
Indies, printed at Saragoza in 1553, from which the above extract is taken, a wood-cut is given representing a Quivira
ox which appears to have been a real huffalo; another domestic animal with which the Indians of that province of
America were acquainted, and for which they might have been indebted to the Greenland monks, was a large kind of
dog which they employed in carrying burthens. "Ay tambien grandes perros que lidian con un toro, y que llevan
dos arrobas de carga sobre salmas quando van a ea<;a 0 quando se mudan con el ganado y hato." -- La Istoria de las




NOTES. 539

Indias, fol. CXVI. A very small species of dog, less thau a guinea-pig, inhabits the plains of Quivira, and burrows in
the ground like a rabbit; and here we shall take occasion to observe, that various species of dogs being known in the
New World, it is probable that the Indians were acquainted with the hydrophobia, and perhaps with a cure for it,
since accident frequently reveals what the greatest sagacity has failed to discover, and the medicinal properties of
American plants which the Mexicans so well understood, many of which they used as antidotes against the bites of
the most poisonous serpents, are yet but very imperfectly known. The account therefore which Lieus Hardy has
given of the mode by which an Indian woman professed to cure the hydrophobia is not undeserving of attention, and
her notion that the complaint began with an affection of the mouth and tongue, which if removed in time, before the
disease had extended itself through the system, would not prove fatal, acquires some plausibility from the consideration
that the nerves of the mouth as well as those situated about the eye are exquisitely sensitive, and that their
derangement or vitiated action would be likely to produce the most violent disorders. In the relation above, Lieus 
Hardy has compared the ruins of Las Casas Grandes to others situated on the bank of the Rio Gila, a plan and description
of which we subjoin from the MS. relation of the New Discovery of the Port of Monte Rey, composed by
the missionary Pedro Font, who accompanied the expedition which was dispatched thither from Queretaro for the
purpose of colonization in the year 1775. In the eighth volume of the Antiquities of Mexico will be found extracts
from valuable ancient MSS. which will throw new light on the history of the provinces situated to the north of
Mexico, of which so very little is as yet known.
"Salimos del picacho de Facca a las ocho de la manana
y a las cinco y media de la tarde llegamos cerca del
Rio Gila, y paramos en una laguna algo distante de el,
haviendo caminado unas doce leguas con el rumbo, como
seis al Noroeste, tres al N ornoroeste, y al ultimo unas tres
quasi al Norte. Con el recado que ayer se embio salieron
al camino a recibirnos el gobernador de las rancherias de
Papagos Aquituni, y Cuytoa, y el gobernador de Uturituc,
pueblo del Rio Gila, con su alcalde, acompanado del gobernador
de Sutaquison, y otros Indios, todos a caballo, los
quales se apearon para saludarnos, y presentaron a los soldados
dos cabell eras de Apaches que mataron el dia antecedente con quienes tienen guerra continua, y luego montaron a
caballo, y nos acompanaron hasta el parage. Preguntaban si veniamos ya a vivir con ellos, y bautizar la gente, 10
que parece desean mucho, y se manifestaron muy alegres por nuestra lIegada.
"Determino el Senor Comandante que descansara oi la gente, y con esto tubimos lugar de ir a registrar la casa
grande que llaman de Moctezuma, situada a una legua del Rio Gila, y distante del parage de la laguna unas tres
leguas al Estsudeste a donde fuimos acompanados de algunos Indios, y del gobernador de Uturitue, quien en el
camino nos conto una historia y tradicion que conservan de sus pasados sobre dieha casa, que toda se reduce a patranas
mescladas confusamente con algunas vel'dadades Catolicas. Observe este parage de la casa grande, yes senalada en el
mapa con la letra A. y 10 halle en 33°. 3'. Y asi digo: en la cas a grande del Rio Gila, dia 31 de Octubre de 1775,
altura meridiana del bordo inferior del Sol, 42°. 25'. Registramos con todo cuidado este edifieio, y sus vestigios,
cuya planta ichnographica es la que aqui pongo; y para su mejor inteligeneia doi la descripcion, y esplicacion
siguiente. La casa grande, 0 palacio de Moctezuma, tendra de fundacion uuos 500 anos segun las historias, y eseasas
notieias que hai de ello, y dan los Indios; porque segun parece esta fundacion la hicieron los Mejieanos quando
en su transmigracion los llevaba el Demonio por varias tierras, hasta lIegar a la tierra prometida de Mexico, y en sus
mansioues que eran largas, formaban poblaciou, y edificios. EI sitio donde se halla esta casa es llano por todas
partes, y apartado del Rio Gila como una legua, y las ruinas de las casas que formaban la poblazion se estienden
mas de una legua para el Oriente, y demas vientos; y todo es de terreno: esta sembrado de pedazos de ollas, tarros,
platos, &a., unos ordinarios, y otros pintados de varios colores, blanco, azul, colorado, &a., indicio que fue poblacion
crecida, y de distinta gente de los Pimas Gilenos, pues estos no sabeu hacer semejante losa. Hicimos exacta
inspeccion del edificio y de su situacion, y 10 medimos con una lanza por )0 prompto; cuya medida reduje despues
a pies geometricos, y a poco mas 0 menos es )a siguiente.




540 NOTES.

"Esta la casa quadrilouga, y perfectamente a los quatro vieutos cardinales, Este, Oeste, Norte, y Sur, y al rededor
estan unas ruinas que indican algun cerco, 6 muralla, que encerraba a la casa, y otros edificios particularmente en las
esquinas en donde parece habia alguna fabrica como castillo interior, 6 atalaya, pues en el esquina que cae al Sudoeste
hai un pedazo de pie can sus divisiones, y un alto. La cerca exterior tiene de Norte a Sur 420 pies ", y de
Este a Oeste 260. La interior de la casa se compone de cinco salas; las tres iguales en media, y una en cada
extrema mas largas. Las tres salas tienen de Norte a Sur 26 pies, y de Este a Oeste 10. Las dos salas de los extremos
tienen de Norte a Sur 12 pies, y de Este a Oeste 38. Las salas tienen de alto II pies,. y todas son iguales.
Las puertas de comunicacion tienen de alto 5 pies, y de ancho 2, y son casi iguales tad as, excepto las quatro primeras
de las quatro entradas, que parece eran otro tanto anchas. Lo grueso de las paredes interiores quatro pies, y estan
bien ensaradas, y de las externas 6 pies. La casa tiene par 10 exterior de Norte a Sur 70 pies, y de Este a Oeste 50.
Las paredes estan escarpadas par de fuera. Delante de la puerta del Oriente separada de la casa, hai otra pieza
que tiene de Norte a Sur 26 pies, y de Este a Oeste 18, sin el grueso de las paredes. El madera era de pino par 10
que se ve, y la sierra mas cercana que tiene pinos dista unas 25 leguas; y tambien tiene algo de mesquite. Todo
el edificio es de tierra, y segun las senales es tapia fabricada can cajones de varios tamanos. Viene del Rio, y de
bien lejos, una acequia bien grande can que se socorria de agua la poblaziou y esta ya mui cegada. Par fin se
canace que tenia el edificio tres altos; y si es verdad 10 que se pudo rastrear de los Indios, y par los indicios que se
vieron tenia quatro, profundizado el piso de la casa a modo de pieza subterranea. Para dar luz a las piezas no se yen
mas que las puertas, y unos agujeros redondos en media de las paredes que miran al Oriente, y Poniente; y dijeron
los Indios que par aque!los agujeros (que son alga grandes) miraba el Principe, que elias lIaman el hombre amargo,
al Sol quando salia, y se ponia para saludarlo. No se hallaron rastros de escaleras, par 10 que juzgamos que eran
de madera, y se destruyeron can la quemazon que padeci6 el edifici6 par los Apaches.
"Dia 1 de Noviembre salimos de la laguna a las 91 de la manana, y a la una de la tarde !legamos al pueblo de San
Juan Capistrano de Uturituc haviendo caminado 4 leguas can el rumba al Oest Noroeste. Nos recibieron los Indios,
que regule como mil almas puestos en dos filas, los hombres de un lad 0, y las mugeres del otro, y haviendonos apeado
vinieron todos par su torno a saludarnos, y darnos la mana, primero los hombres, y luego las hombres digo mugeres,
manifestando mucho contento de vern as, y nos hospedaron en una gran ramada que hicieron para este fin; delante la
qual plantaron una cruz grande altnqlte gentiles, y luego trajeron agua al real para la gente. Son estos Pimas Gilenos
Indios mansos, y de buen corazon." -- Plan. Geo. Hist. del Nuevo Descr. de el Puerto del Monte Rey.
" The East and West sides of this ollter wall are, in the annexed plan, less extensive than the North and South; an inaccuracy which
the description serves to rectify.



END OF THE SIXTH VOLUME.


RICHARD TAYLOR,
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.