IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE ANCIENTS  
“Builded on the ruins of dead thrones
Whose temple walls were old when Thebes was new;
On altars whose weird sacrificial stones
With ghastly offerings were crimsoned through;
Oblivion hides and holds thy secrets fast—
The dust of ages lies upon thy past,
All wonderful, mysterious Mexico.”[1]
Mexico is a land of ruins and the footprints of former races can be traced all over the southern half of the country. These ruins teach us that it must have taken many centuries to develop the land into the condition in which it was found by the Spaniards. It was not only the growth of a long time, but it was the product of the civilization developed by many different races and tribes. Otherwise Mexico would not be filled to-day with a hundred tribes speaking as many distinct dialects. There are many ruins of cities extending from the Valley of Mexico to the remotest corner[145] of Yucatan, and many of them show evidences of wonderful structures that are the amazement of even the present generation. Not buried beneath volcanic lava, like Pompeii and Herculaneum, yet all are silent cities, for their inhabitants departed hundreds, perhaps, thousands of years ago. A few broken columns now remain where doubtless whole cities once stood.
Nothing is known of the history of these cities. The Spanish priests, with fanatical frenzy, destroyed all of the picture writings of the Aztecs that they could lay their hands upon. So many were destroyed, some chroniclers say, that great bonfires were made. What light these manuscripts might have cast upon the history of these early races cannot even be conjectured. As Prescott says, “it is impossible to contemplate these mysterious monuments of a lost civilization without a strong feeling of curiosity as to who were their architects and what is their probable age.” They are undoubtedly very old, and some claim they are as old as the architecture of Egypt and Hindoostan. They have marked Eastern characteristics, as in the hieroglyphical writings at Palenque, in Yucatan, where are ruins of a palace and supposed holy city, with many[146] sculptured figures of human and animal beings. The same is true of Uxmal, also in that same quaint and interesting corner of Mexico. These writings never have been and probably never will be deciphered. Then at Palenque can be traced the outline of the Roman cross which has greatly mystified antiquarians. We can only speculate on the origin of these monuments; whence came the people who constructed them; and in what period of the earth’s history they were built; but speculation proves nothing and convinces nobody.
East of the City of Mexico about twenty-seven miles lies the village of San Juan Teotihuacan. Near this hamlet are traces of a great city covering more than four square miles, and remains of walls and fortifications, a part of the wall that still stands being more than two hundred feet thick and thirty-two feet high. The most marked features of these ruins are the numerous pyramids, great and small, which lie scattered over the plain. Teotihuacan means “City of the Gods,” and doubtless these pyramidal structures were a necessary part of a holy city in the eyes of the race that constructed them, and were mounds of worship. Otherwise why would a race build[147] such great structures at such an infinite cost of labour?
The largest of these numerous pyramids is called the “Pyramid of the Sun,” which has a base seven hundred feet square, and a height of one hundred and eight-seven feet. The next largest is the “Pyramid of the Moon,” which is one hundred and thirty-seven feet high, and has a base four hundred and fifty feet square. At a distance the pyramids seem rather insignificant, and their outlines resemble an ordinary steep-sided hill, but on nearer approach they are better appreciated. The comparison with the noted pyramids of Egypt would, at first glance, seem unfavourable, for the vegetation and vines that cover the sides rather hide the pyramidal outline. They were probably higher originally, but the destructive work of man and action of the elements have reduced the size. Recent investigation shows that these pyramids are built in layers of volcanic rock, cement, pottery and sun-dried brick. There are five layers—each layer being a complete pyramid in itself.
It is supposed that on the summit of each pyramid was a platform which supported great golden images of the sun and moon respectively, but no vestige of any such image has[148] ever been discovered. If made of gold, and the Spaniards set their eyes on it, it would not have remained long. Authorities differ as to whether the Toltecs, or a race that preceded them, erected these mighty structures. The Mexican government has undertaken the work of restoring the two pyramids, and has appropriated a large sum of money to carry on the work. Several hundred labourers are now engaged in denuding them of the soil and growth of centuries that covers them.
Near Puebla, and situated in a rich and beautiful valley, of which mention has been made elsewhere, is the most noted pyramid in Mexico—that of Cholula. Legend says that it was built by a race of giants who intended to raise it to the very heavens themselves, but that the gods became displeased and destroyed them. It is very similar in nature to the Hebrew story of the Tower of Babel. Because of its great base, which is more than a thousand feet on each side, and covers twenty acres, and has a height of only one hundred and seventy-seven feet, it looks like a natural elevation that has been squared in places and levelled at the top rather than a pyramid. Like the other pyramids the sides are overgrown with trees and bushes. Examination shows[149] that it has been constructed of sun-dried brick, clay and limestone. I quote the dimensions of two of the most famous Egyptian pyramids in order that the reader may better understand the comparative height and base of those and the Mexican structures:
HEIGHT. BASE ON
EACH SIDE.
Cheops, 448 feet 728 feet
Mycerinus, 162 ” 580 ”
Cholula, 177 ” 1,000 ”
Sun 187 ” 700 ”
Moon 137 ” 450 ”
This valley was sacred in early times. Cortez says he counted four hundred towers in the city of Cholula (a much larger city then than now), and no temple had more than two towers. Above the city loomed the great pyramid, on the summit of which stood a sumptuous temple in which was the image of the mystic deity, Quetzalcoatl. He had “ebon features, wearing a mitre on his head waving with plumes of fire, with a resplendent collar of gold around his neck, pendants of mosaic turquoise on his ears, a jewelled sceptre in one hand, and a shield curiously painted, the emblem of his rule over the winds, in the other.” This was the god who drew pilgrims and devotees[150] by the thousands from the farthest corners of Anahuac.
This god was credited with power over rains, and was appealed to especially in time of drouth. Bandelier, who made an exhaustive study of this district, translates an early Spanish writer as follows: “To this god they prayed whenever they lacked water, and sacrificed to it children from six to ten years of age, whom they captured or bought for the purpose. When they sacrificed, they carried the children up the hill in procession, whither went some old men singing, and before the idol they cut the child open with a knife, taking out the heart, and they burnt incense to the idol and afterwards buried the baby there before the idol.” Thus it is seen that the Nahuatl tribe, who occupied this valley, pursued the same bloody rites as the Aztecs.
The first act of Cortez was to destroy this temple and erect a Christian church on the spot, so that spires and crosses have replaced the pagan towers. All over the valley are many great churches so conspicuous in comparison with the humble homes of the natives. The view from the summit of this ancient structure is grand and imposing. John L. Stoddard is inspired by this scene and speaks[151] as follows: “Whatever else of Mexico may be forgotten, I shall remember to my latest breath that wonderfully impressive vision from Cholula. Before me rose, against the darkening sky, a mighty cross, the sculptured proof that here Christianity had proved victorious; and as I lingered, my feet upon the Aztec pyramid, my hand upon the symbol of the conqueror’s faith, my eyes turned towards that everlasting pinnacle of snow, I thought the lesson of Cholula to be this: that higher, grander, and far more enduring than all the different religions of humanity are the Eternal Power they imperfectly reveal; and that above the temples, pyramids, and crosses, which mark the blood-stained pathway of our race, rises a lofty mountain peak, whose glory falls alike upon the Aztec and the Spaniard, and in whose heaven-born radiance all races and all centuries may find their inspiration and their hope.”
The Valley of Oaxaca seems to have been the favourite dwelling place of one or more of the early races of Mexico. All over the vales that centre at Oaxaca, and on the surrounding hills, are ruins of former cities and palaces that strongly resemble in outline and decoration the works of the Ptolemies and[152] Pharaohs. Next to Mitla, the most noted ruins in this valley are those of Monte Alban. The site of this ancient city is four miles from Oaxaca on the summit of a mountain, about eleven hundred feet above the valley. The ruins extend for a distance of more than a mile along the ridge, and enclose a great rectangular, depressed court nine hundred feet long, and three hundred feet in width. There are some well-preserved, sculptured stones with pictorial inscriptions, and images of gods. Because of its situation, which commands a complete view of these valleys in every direction, it is supposed that this place was intended for defence and a pla............