ing range, are all of gray porphyry, easily fractured into slabs, and this, with comparatively little labour, has furnished building-materials for the edifices which crown its summit. We saw no remnants of obsidian among the ruins or on the plain-which is remarkable, as being the general substance of which the knives and arrow-heads of the Mexicans were formed; but a few pieces of a very compact porphyry were lying about, and some appeared to have been chipped to a rude form resembling arrow-heads.

"Not a trace of the ancient name of this interesting place, or that of the nation which inhabited it, is now to be found among the people in the neighbourhood, who merely distinguished the isolated rock and buildings by one common name, 'Los Edificios.' I had inquired of the best instructed people about these ruins; but all my researches were unavailing, until I fortunately met with a note in the Abbe Clavigero's 'History of Mexico,' which throws some light on the subject. 'The situation of Chicomoztoc, where the Mexicans sojourned nine years, is not known; but it appears to be that place, twenty miles distant from Zacatecas, toward the south, where there are still some remains of an immense edifice, which, according to the tradition of the Zacatecanos, the ancient inhabitants of that country, was the work of the Aztecs on their migration; and it certainly cannot be ascribed to any other people, the Zacatecanos themselves being so barbarous as neither to live in houses nor to know how to build them.'" "Fifteen leagues west from Papantla," says Mr. Mayer, “lie the remains of Tusapan, supposed to have been a city of the Totonacos. They are situated in the lap of a small plain at the foot of the Cordillera, and are relics of a town of but limited extent. Of all these, however, nothing remains in great distinctness but the pyramidal monument, or Teocalli, of which the following drawing is given by Nebel.

"This edifice has a base line of thirty feet on every side, and is built of irregular stones. A single stairway leads to the upper part of the first story, on which is erected a quadrangular house or tower; while in front of the door still stands the pedestal of the idol, though all traces of the figure itself are gone. The interior of this apartment is twelve feet square, and the roof terminates in a point like the exterior. The walls have evidently been painted, but the outlines of the figures are no longer distinguishable.

"The door and the two friezes are formed of sculptured stones; but it is evident from the fragments of carving, and a variety of figures of men and animals that lie in heaps about the rest of the city, that this temple was, in point of adornment, by no means the most splendid edifice of Tusapan."

RUINS OF PAPANTLA.

"The village of Papantla," says Mr. Mayer, "lies sixteen leagues from the sea, and fifty-two north from Vera Cruz, at the base of the eastern mountains, in the midst of fertile savannahs constantly watered by streams from neighbouring hills. Although it is the centre of a country remarkable for fertility, the Indian village has scarcely a white inhabitant, with the exception of the curate, and some few dealers, who come from the coast to traffic their wares for the products of the soil. The people of the upper country dislike to venture into the heat and disease of the tierra caliente; and, in turn, its inhabitants dislike an exposure to the chills of the tierras frias or templadas. Thus the region of Papantla, two leagues from the village, has hitherto remained an unexplored nook, even at the short distance of fifty miles from the coast; and although it was alluded to by Baron Humboldt, it had never been correctly drawn, or even accurately described before the visit of M. Nebel. The neighbouring Indians, even, had scarcely seen it, and considerable local knowledge was required to trace a path to the relic through the wild and tangled forest.

There is no doubt, from the masses of ruins spread over the plain, mile and a half in circuit. Although that this city was more than

The productions here are vanilla, sarsaparilla, pepper, wax, cotton, coffee, tobacco, a variety of valuable woods, and sugar, produced annually from canes, which it is necessary to plant only ewry seven or eight years.

there seems good reason to believe that it was abandoned by its builders after the conquest, there has still been time enough both for the growth of the forest in so warm and prolific a climate, and for the gradual destruction of the buildings by the seasons and other causes. Indeed, huge trees, trailing plants, and parasite vines have struck their roots among the crannies and joints of the remaining pyramid, and, in a few years more, will consign even that remnant to the common fate of the rest of the city.

"The above plate presents a view of the pyramid, (called by the natives, "El Tajin,") as seen by Nebel after he had cleared it of trees and foliage. It consists of seven stories, each following the same angle of inclination, and each terminated, as at Xochicalco, by a frieze and cornice. The whole of these bodies are constructed of sand-stone, neatly squared and joined, and covered, to the depth of three inches, with a strong cement, which appears, from the remains of colour in many places, to have been entirely painted. The pyramid measures precisely one hundred and twenty feet on every side,

and is ascended, in front, by a stairway of fifty-seven steps," divided in three places by small box-like recesses or niches, two feet in depth, similar to those which are seen perforating the frieze of each of the bodies. This stairway terminates at the top of the sixth story, the seventh appearing (although in ruins) to have been unlike the rest. and hollow. Here, most probably, was the shrine of the divinity and the place of sacrifice."+

With the following account of Misantla, we close our extracts from the entertaining and instructive work of Mr. Mayer.

"Passing by the Island of Sacrificios, I will now describe the ruins that were discovered as recently as 1835, adjacent to Misantla, near the city of Jalapa, and not very far from the direct road to the capital.

"The work from which I extract my information is the Mosaico Mexicano, to which it was contributed, I believe, by Don Isidrio Gondra.

"On a lofty ridge of mountains in the canton of Misantla, there a hill called Estillero, (distant some thirty miles from Jalapa,) near

• Nebel does not give the elevation, but says there are fifty-seven steps to the top of the sixth story, each step measuring one foot in height.

† Vide Humboldt, vol. ii 345,-and Nebel.

which lies a mountain covered with a narrow strip of table-land, perfectly isolated from the surrounding country by steep rocks and inaccessit barrancas. Beyond these dells and precipices there is a lofty wall of hills, from the summit of one of which the sea is distinctly visible in the direction of Nautla. The only parts of the country by which this plain is accessible, are the slopes of Estillero : on all other sides the solitary mountain seems to have been separated from the eighbouring land by some violent earthquake that sunk the earth to an unfathomed depth.

"On this recluded and isolated eminence, are situated the remains of an ancient city. As you approach the plain by the slopes of Estillero, a broken wall of large stones, united by a weak cement, is first observable. This apears to have served for protection to a circular plaza, in the centre of which is a pyramid eighty feet high, forty-nine feet front, and forty-two in depth.

"The account does not state positively whether this edifice is constructed of stone, but it is reasonable to suppose that it is so, from the wall found around the plaza, and the remains which will be subsequently mentioned. It is divided into three stories, or rather, there are three still remaining. On the broadest front a stairway leads to the second body, which, in turn, is ascended at the side, while the top of the third is reached by steps cut in the corner edge of the pyramid. In front of the teocalli, on the second story, are two pilastral columns, which may have formed part of a staircase; but this portion of the pyramid, and especially the last body, is so overgrown with trees that its outline is considerably injured. On the very top, (driving its roots into the spot that was doubtless formerly the holy place of the temple,) there is a gigantic tree, which from its immense size in this comparatively high and temperate region, denotes a long period since the abandonment of the altar where it grows.

"At the periphery of the circular plaza around this pyramid, commence the remains of a town, extending northerly in a straight line for near a league. Immense square blocks of stone buildings, separated by streets at the distance of about three hundred yards from each other, mark the sites of the ancient habitations, fronting upon four parallel highways. In some of the houses the walls are still three or four feet high, but of most of them there is nothing but an outline tracery of the mere foundations. On the south, there are the remains of a long and narrow wall, which defended the city in that quarter.

"North of the town there is a tongue of land, occupied in the centre by a mound, or cemetery. On the left slope of the hill by which the ruins are reached, there are, also, twelve circular sepulchres, two yards and a half in diameter, and as many high; the walls are all