■H?£ 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 3fcltiiuS of an Bntitnt €itp 
 
 DISCOVERED IN 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY G. SCHULZE, 
 
 13, POLAND STREET. 
 
r 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 fttttnd of an SLntitnt €itp, 
 
 DISCOVERED NEAR PALENQUE, 
 IN THE KINGDOM OF GUATEMALA, IN SPANISH AMERICA : 
 
 TRANSLATED 
 
 FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 CAPTAIN DON ANTONIO DEL RIO: 
 
 FOLLOWED BY 
 
 TEATRO CRITICO AMERICANO; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 
 
 INTO 
 
 Wbt pgtetorg of titf glnuricans, 
 BY DOCTOR PAUL FELIX CABRERA, 
 
 OF THE CITY OF NEW GUATEMALA 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HENRY BERTHOUD, 
 
 NO. 65, REGENT'S QUADRANT, PICCADILLY ; 
 
 AND SUTTABY, EVANCE AND FOX, STATIONER'S COURT. 
 
 1822. 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 Research Library, The Getty Research Institute 
 
 http://archive.org/details/descriptionofruiOOroan 
 
DEDICATED BY PERMISSION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD HOLLAND. 
 
 *yf6u *£oro, 
 
 iJvavina veen honoured with uour ^Lerwilfdion to 
 dedicate tne firedent volui?ie to uour ^Lorod/u/i, c7 now 
 avaii mudeif of tfie ^Latronaae do AmcUu accorded ; 
 and tn tfie no/ie mat the enduina fmaed man ve round 
 dufficientm mtezedtwa to endure your d/f/irovatfon, os 'Oea. 
 to duvdcrive mildew, 
 
 tAbn ^Cord, 
 
 JJour bCorddJdfo d modt Obedient, 
 
 and obliged Aumvie Servant, 
 
 THE PUBLISHER. 
 
PREFATORY ADDRESS. 
 
 As attempts have so frequently been made to deceive the world, 
 by announcing* and publishing- the details of discoveries which 
 were never effected, and the description of places, having no 
 existence but in the writer's brain ; the editor conceives himself 
 imperiously called upon to offer some prefatory words, explana- 
 tory of the manner in which the literary documents, comprised 
 in this volume, together with its pictorical embellishments, 
 came into his possession. 
 
 The original manuscript of Captain Antonio del Rio's 
 Report, together with the erudite investigation, written in 
 consequence of that officer's researches, by Doctor Paul Felix 
 Cabrera, were deposited in the archives of the city of new Gua- 
 temala, from whence they were obtained by a gentleman who 
 was for many years a resident in that city, and are now open 
 for public inspection at Mr. Berthoud's, the publisher of the 
 present volume. 
 
 The peculiar apathy of the Spanish character, generally 
 speaking, as far as relates to any vestiges of antiquity, may 
 have been one of the causes which has hitherto prevented the 
 publication of these extraordinary documents, concealed, as we 
 may say, from an anxious and enquiring world, from the year 
 1787; the period of Captain del Rio's discoveries, and 1794 
 
VIII 
 
 the epoch at which Doctor Cabrera produced his curious, and 
 learned solution respecting the original population of America. 
 Another motive, which may have equally operated with the 
 Spanish government in concealing these important documents 
 from publicity, may have originated in the jealousy entertained 
 by that nation with regard to their possessions in Mexico, and, 
 the consequent desire they entertained of burying in total obli- 
 vion, any circumstance that might conduce to awaken the 
 curiosity, or excite the cupidity of more scientific and enter- 
 prizing nations ; such indeed, has been, and is the secresy still 
 maintained upon this head ; that, at the city of Mexico and even 
 at new Guatemala, the existence of this ruined extensive place, 
 is scarcely known, though, we may venture to affirm, that if, 
 instead of the researches so repeatedly undertaken in lower and 
 upper Egypt, a small portion of the same indefatigable proceed- 
 ings had been resorted to in South America, an inexhaustible 
 source would have presented itself to the admirers of remotest 
 antiquity, and a copious mine of wealth have been opened to 
 those adventurers, whose sole object was, the acquirement of 
 riches. This silence, on the part of the Spanish authorities, 
 would have, in all probability, continued, and these discoveries 
 have remained hidden perhaps for ever; had it not been for the 
 political revolution brought about in that country, the effects of 
 which, having expanded the public mind, its prevailing influence 
 has been extended to the functionaries of the government, so 
 that state secrets and the lonu treasured documents in the 
 public archives have been explored, through which means, the 
 
IX 
 
 original manuscripts, from whence these sheets are translated, 
 were rescued from that oblivion to which they had so long been 
 consigned. 
 
 In respect to the authenticity of the ensuing record, and the 
 existence of the Palencian city, the writer begs leave to remark, 
 that the distance from Palenque, in the district of Carmen pro- 
 vince of Chiapa, to the ruins of the Palencian city is no more than 
 fifteen miles; and if any further confirmation is required upon 
 this head, on referring to Mr. Humbolt's travels in America, it 
 will be found that this ruined city was known to that scientific 
 gentleman, who not only makes mention of its existence, but has 
 inserted an engraving from one of the pictorical illustrations of 
 the present volume, being that which displays the kneeling 
 figure apparently in the act of supplication ; in explaining 
 which, however, Mr. Humbolt is altogether in error ; if the 
 solution of the subject, as given by Doctor Cabrera, is deemed 
 conclusive. The leading motive that induced Mr. Humbolt to 
 insert the plate in question, was, to show the extraordinary 
 lineaments of the countenances there represented, which are 
 altogether dissimilar to those of any other existing nation, or that 
 have hitherto been found in the sculptored representations of the 
 people of antiquity. If the learned gentleman of whom we are 
 speaking, had not been at an immense distance from that part 
 of the country where the ruins lay, there is no doubt but he 
 would have visited these extraordinary remains, in which case 
 the result of his acuteness must have proved highly valuable to 
 the cause of science and the developement of truth. 
 
 b 
 
The editor, without assuming to himself any particular 
 merit in publishing the translations of these manuscripts, cannot, 
 however refrain from applauding his good fortune in being thus 
 enabled to present a work to the public which must excite 
 peculiar interest in many points of view ; and, in order therefore 
 that the narrative of Captain del Rio, and the disquisitions of 
 Doctor Cabrera, might be scrupulously attended to, they have 
 been rendered into English with every requisite attention to faith- 
 fulness in the translation, as may be verified by any gentleman 
 conversant with the Spanish language, who shall deem it 
 expedient to compare the subject matter of this volume with the 
 original manuscripts in the hands of the publisher. On account 
 of this particular attention to the documents in question, refe- 
 rences will be found to drawings mentioned by Captain del Rio, 
 which did not fall into the hands of the fortunate possessor of 
 these details, while other designs are described, which do not 
 appear to coincide precisely with any of the accompanying 
 plates ; to this the editor has only to remark that he has presented 
 to the world every relic in his possession, from which he does 
 not doubt but the spirit of inquiry will be most powerfully 
 awakened, and that the happiest results must accrue to history, 
 to science, and to literature in general. 
 
 It is to the labours of the antiquarian we must now look for 
 a developement of the hieroglyphic characters traced through- 
 out this ruined city, as well as in various other parts of the 
 Mexican continent; which, when compared with the important 
 discoveries effected of late years in Africa, Egypt, &c, &c. from 
 
XI 
 
 thence perhaps may be demonstrated, beyond the possibility of 
 doubt, that such a striking analogy exists between the vestiges 
 of those nations as to draw this inference; that a connexion 
 originally did exist between those people having been broken 
 by revolutions, of which no records are handed down ; as well as 
 by the tremendous and sweeping current of all destructive time. 
 
 On contemplating the subjoined plates, it will be found that 
 the apron descending from the abdomen and covering mid-way 
 down the thigh, as well as the ornaments affixed round the 
 wrists, of these singular figures, are, in many respects, analogous 
 to those parts of the Egyptian costume and ornament, nor is it 
 less singular to observe the delineation of the physiognomies 
 here traced, where the forehead and the nose are particularly 
 predominant, together with thick and underhung lips, which 
 traits are equally as dissimilar to those of the present race of 
 Mexicans, as are the black Eg ptians of this day to the brick- 
 dust coloured representations of the natives of antiquity. 
 
 From the style adopted by Doctor Cabrera the reader will 
 immediately become impressed with an idea of his rigid adhe- 
 rence to the Catholic religion, and the reverential deference he 
 uniformly bestows upon the Mosaic tradition, this subject, 
 however, it is not the province of the writer to discuss, nor to 
 venture any remarks upon a very prevalent hypothesis respecting 
 the duration of the world, promulgated by Monsieur Dupuis, 
 member of the national institute, and many other learned men in 
 astronomy and the sciences, from having consulted the planisphere 
 or zodiac of Denderah now at Paris, together with a multiplicity 
 
 b 2 
 
XII 
 
 of other records discovered on the soil of Egypt ; the writer, on 
 the contrary, has given Doctor Cabrera's solution precisely in 
 his own words, without annexing any comment ; thus leaving a 
 further investigation respecting the feasibility of his proofs, or 
 the influence of his religious prejudices, to the consideration of 
 the learned enquirer, and the public at large. Upon one point, 
 however, it is deemed essentially necessary to lay a stress, which 
 is the representation of a Greek cross in the largest plate illus- 
 trative of the present work, from whence the casual observer 
 might be prompted to infer, that the Palencian city flourished 
 at a period subsequent to the christian sera ; whereas it is 
 perfectly well known to all those conversant with the mythology 
 of the ancients, that the figure of a cross constituted a leading 
 symbol of their religious worship, for instance, the augural staff 
 or wand of the Romans was an exact resemblance of a cross, 
 being borne as the ensign of authority by the community of the 
 augurs of Rome, where they where held in such high venera- 
 tion, that, although guilty of flagrant crimes, they could not be 
 deposed from their offices ; and with the Egyptians the staff of 
 Bootes or Osiris, is similar to the Crosier of Catholic bishops, 
 which terminated at the top with a cross ; to these might be 
 added various other pi oofs, were it necessary to dwell more at 
 large upon the subject. 
 
 In the progress of Doctor Cabrera's inquiry, the well in- 
 formed and reflecting mind will no doubt experience feelings of 
 the most poignant regret, on discovering that the religious 
 fanaticism of the first conquerors of new Spain led them to 
 
XIII 
 
 destroy all the records of history, which had been carefully 
 preserved by the ancient Mexicans, in order, as they fallaciously 
 imagined, to obliterate altogether the venerated traditions of 
 paganism and the worship of their heathen divinities, whereby 
 they thought to forward the grand cause of Christianity; however, 
 very far from accomplishing the end proposed, they only enve- 
 loped history in such a mazy labyrinth of doubt, that the most 
 learned and experienced writers upon the subject have found it 
 utterly impossible to solve the grand mystery of the origin of 
 the Mexicans, the development of which now appears to be 
 effected : but, even supposing that any latent doubts should be 
 entertained upon the subject after perusing the present volume, 
 it is more than probable, the momentary and destructive ebulli- 
 tions of bigotry and barbarism will be ultimately obliterated by 
 patience and persevering industry, and that the ruins of the 
 Palencian city will afford ample means for restoring the basis of 
 the knowledge contained in those records, which were sacrificed 
 at the shrine of Spanish superstition and Vandal ignorance. But 
 even suppose we admit, for the sake of argument, that Doctor 
 Cabrera's premises are wholly inconclusive; and it would be no 
 easy task to refute every argument he adduces, it certainly cannot 
 be denied that this most important discovery opens a new aera in 
 the field of historic speculation ; and that the result, be it what 
 it may, must materially alter hitherto accredited notions, by 
 affording an irrefragable datum whereupon to ground some new 
 hypothesis, instead of arguing from vague notions or mere sur- 
 mises, unsupported even by the shadow of a proof. 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 ANTONIO DEL, RIO 
 
 TO 
 
 DON JOSE ESTACHERIA, 
 
 BRIGADIER, GOVERNOR AND COMMANDANT GENERAL OF THE KINGDOM OF 
 
 GUATEMALA, ETC. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In compliance with the resolution of his Majesty, communicated 
 by his royal order, bearing date May 15th, 1786, relative to 
 another examination of the ruins discovered in the vicinity 
 of Palenque, in the province of Ciudad Real de Chiapa, in New 
 Spain, you was pleased, on the 20th of March last, to desire 
 that I should proceed thither, in order to renew the operations 
 directed by the different items comprised in the said order, and 
 to exert all the industry and means in my power for the 
 accomplishment of the intended object. 
 
 I accepted this charge with the greater degree of satisfaction, 
 as I thereby felt convinced of the honourable confidence you 
 reposed in me for the execution of this task ; and I, therefore, lost 
 no time in repairing to the spot, where I arrived on the 3rd of 
 May, and on the 5th, proceeded to the site of the ruined city, 
 which is there called Casas de Piedras (stone houses). On 
 
 B 
 
making my first essay, I experienced some of the difficulties 
 attendant upon such an undertaking, in consequence of my 
 being unable to discover the direction in which I ought to 
 advance, owing to a fog so extremely dense, that it was impos- 
 sible to distinguish each other at the distance of five paces ; 
 and whereby the principal building, surrounded by copse wood 
 and trees of large dimensions, in full foliage and closely inter- 
 woven, was completely concealed from our view. 
 
 This first impediment occasioned my return to the village 
 on the following day, with the intention of concerting with Don 
 Joseph Alonzo de Calderon, deputy of the district, the necessary 
 means of procuring as many Indians, and persons speaking 
 the Spanish language, as could be collected, for the purpose 
 of effectually clearing these woody obstructions. 
 
 Accordingly an order was issued to the inhabitants of the 
 town of Tumbala, requiring two hundred Indians who should be 
 provided with axes and bill-hooks : none, however, arrived until 
 the 17th, and then only seventy-nine in number, furnished with 
 twenty-eight axes, after which twenty more were obtained in the 
 village, and with these supplies I again moved forward on the 
 18th to the stone houses. The operation of felling immediately 
 commenced, and was completed on the 2nd instant, which was 
 followed by a general conflagration, that soon enabled us to 
 breathe a more pure and wholesome atmosphere, and to continue 
 our operations with much greater facility. 
 
 I was convinced, that, in order to form some idea of the first 
 inhabitants and of the antiquities connected with their establish- 
 
ments, it would be indispensably necessary to make several 
 excavations ; and to this object I therefore directed my chief 
 attention, as, by so doing, I was led to hope that I should find 
 medals, inscriptions, or monuments that would throw some light 
 upon my researches ; and I, therefore, commenced this work 
 without delay, notwithstanding the scarcity of proper imple- 
 ments, as the number was by this time reduced to seven iron 
 crowbars and three pick-axes, a very small supply, indeed, for 
 the accomplishments of so laborious an undertaking as these 
 immense masses of stone ruins presented to the view in every 
 direction. By dint of perseverance I effected all that was 
 necessary to be done, so that ultimately there remained neither a 
 window nor a doorway blocked up ; a partition that was not 
 thrown down, nor a room, corridor, court, tower, nor subterranean 
 passage in which excavations were not effected from two to 
 three yards (varus) in depth, for such the object of my mis- 
 sion and the research to which it was directed required, and the 
 result of these labours proved as follows ; 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE SITUATION OF THE STONE HOUSES. 
 
 From Palenque, the last town northward in the province of 
 Ciudad Real de Chiapa, taking a south-westerly direction, and 
 ascending a ridge of high land that divides the kingdom of 
 Guatemala from Yucatan, or Campeachy, at the distance of 
 two leagues is the little river Micol, whose waters flowing in a 
 
 b2 
 
4 
 
 westerly direction unite with the great river Tulija, which bends 
 its course towards the province of Tabasco; having passed the 
 Micol the ascent begins, and at half a league from thence the 
 traveller crosses a little stream called Otolum, discharging its 
 waters into the before-mentioned current: from this point heaps 
 of ruins are discovered, which render the road very difficult for 
 another half league, when you gain the height whereon the 
 stone houses are situated, being fourteen in number, some more 
 dilipidated than others, but still having many of their apartments 
 perfectly discernible. 
 
 A rectangular area, three hundred yards in breadth by four 
 hundred and fifty in length, presents a plain at the base of the 
 highest mountain forming the ridge, and in the center is situated 
 the largest of these structures which has been as yet discovered : 
 it stands on a mound twenty yards high, and is surrounded by 
 the other edifices, namely : five to the northward, four to the 
 southward, one to the south-west, and three to the eastward. In all 
 directions the fragments of other fallen buildings are to be seen 
 extending along the mountain, that stretches east and west, 
 about three or four leagues either way, so that the whole range 
 of this ruined town may be computed to extend between seven 
 and eight leagues ; but its breadth is by no means equal to its 
 length, being little more than hajf a league wide at the point, 
 where the ruins terminate, which is towards the river Micol that 
 winds round the base of the mountain, whence descend small 
 streams that wash the foundation of the ruins on their banks, so 
 that, were it not fpr the thick umbrageous foliage of the trees, 
 
they would present to the view so many beautiful serpentine 
 rivulets. 
 
 It might be inferred that this people had had some analogy 
 to, and intercourse with the Romans, from a similarity in the 
 choice of situation as well as a subterranean stone aqueduct of 
 great solidity and durability, which passes under the largest 
 building. 
 
 I do not take upon myself to assert that these conquerors did 
 actually land in this country ; but, there is reasonable ground for 
 hazarding a conjecture that some inhabitants of that polished 
 nation did visit these regions ; and that, from such intercourse, the 
 natives might have imbibed, during their stay, an idea of the arts, 
 as a reward for their hospitality. 
 
 To the natural beauty of a charming locality may be added 
 fertility of soil and a delightful climate, which, without doubt, 
 produced in great abundance almost every production necessary 
 for a comfortable and tranquil life; this is apparent from such 
 wild fruits as the sapotes, acquacates, camotes, yuca or cassava, 
 and plantains, being now found in great plenty, which plainly 
 demonstrate what would be their profusion and delicacy if 
 improved by cultivation. The rivers abound with fish, consisting 
 of the moharra, bobo, and turtle, as do the smaller streams with 
 crabs, and the lesser species of shell fish. These circumstances, 
 and the laborious workmanship of their edifices, constructed 
 without the assistance of iron or other metals, for with these 
 they seem to have been unacquainted, amply justify a belief that 
 they enjoyed in a peaceable manner of living more real' and 
 
6 
 
 substantial felicity than all the concentrated luxury and refine- 
 ment of the most polished cities at the present period can produce. 
 
 Equal advantages were afforded them for commerce and 
 intercourse with their neighbours, undiminished by the expensive 
 inconvenience of undertaking long and fatiguing journies by 
 land ; for the rivers running to the east, north and west afforded 
 them the benefits of trafic by means of navigation. The river 
 Tulija opened a passage for trade into the province of Tabasco ; 
 the sea-coast of Catasaja and the river Chacamal falling into the 
 great Usumasinta presented a short and commodious route to the 
 kingdom of Yucatan, with which, beyond all doubt, they carried 
 on their principal commerce. This circumstance may be inferred 
 from monuments and vestiges plainly demonstrating that these 
 two nations differed in a very slight degree, either in their 
 customs, religion, or knowledge; the firmest bonds of fraternal 
 alliance and friendship by which they could be united, whereto 
 we may add the uniformity and resemblance in their buildings, 
 which, I think, are proofs that tend still further to substantiate 
 this position. 
 
 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 Palenque, 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 facade. The apartments, 
 the exterior corridor, the pillars with figures in medio relievo, 
 and decorated with serpents, lizards, etc., 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 Avails 
 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 ante- 
 rior 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 pro- 
 lixity, but because the identity of the ancient inhabitants of Yu- 
 catan and JPalenque, is, in my opinion, evidently proved by the 
 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. 
 
 In endeavouring to convey some idea of this country, I have 
 deviated a little from the instructions contained in my commis- 
 sion, to which, perhaps, I ought to have strictly adhered ; yet, 
 as implicit obedience to those commands has only been infringed 
 for the purpose of introducing a few remarks, not wholly divested 
 of originality, they may, from their connexion with the present 
 subject, influence your acquaintance with venerable antiquity, 
 and in some respects tend to fix a data to these interesting 
 remains. 
 
 Returning, therefore, to the original subject matter, it is 
 requisite that a description of the situations should be followed 
 by an examination of what it presents to our observation. The 
 interior of the large building is in a style of architecture strongly 
 resembling the gothic, and from its rude and massive construction 
 
9 
 
 promises great durability. The entrance is on the eastern side, 
 by a portico or corridor thirty-six varas or yards in length and 
 three in breadth, supported by plain rectangular pillars, without 
 either bases or pedestals, upon which there are square smooth 
 stones of more than a foot in thickness forming an architrave, 
 while on the exterior superficies are species of stucco shields, the 
 designs of some of them, accompanying this report, are numbered 
 1, 2, 3, while, over these stones, there is another plain rectangu- 
 lar block, five feet long and six broad, extending over two of 
 the pillars. Medallions or compartments in stucco containing 
 different devices of the same material, appear as decorations to the 
 chambers, (see fig. 3) : and it is presumable, from the vestiges 
 of the heads which can still be traced, that they were the busts 
 of a series of kings or lords to whom the natives were subject. 
 Between the medallions there is a range of windows like niches, 
 passing from one end of the wall to the other, some of them are 
 square, some in form of a Greek cross and others, which 
 complete the cross, are square, being about two feet high and 
 eight inches deep, as represented in fig. 4, 5 and 6. Beyond 
 this corridor there is a square court, entered by a flight of seven 
 steps ; the north side is entirely in ruins, but sufficient traces 
 remain to show that it once had a chamber and corridor si- 
 milar to those on the eastern side, and which, continued en- 
 tirely along the several angles. The south side has four small 
 chambers with no other ornament than one or two little windows, 
 like those already described. The western side is correspondent 
 to its opposite in all respects, but in the variety of expression 
 
 C 
 
10 
 
 of the figures in stucco : these are much more rude and ridicu- 
 lous than the others, and can only be attributed to the most 
 uncultivated Indian capacity. — The device is a sort of grotesque 
 mask with a crown and long beard like that of a goat, under 
 this are two Greek crosses, the one delineated in the other as 
 appears in fig. 7. 
 
 It is by no means improbable that these fantastic forms, 
 and others equally whimsical, were the delineations of some of 
 their deities to whom they paid an idolatrous worship, consistent 
 with their false belief and barbarous customs. 
 
 We know that the Romans pourtrayed Jupiter crowned 
 with laurel, the visage presenting mature age, having a long 
 beard and a terrible aspect; and a similar cast of countenance, in 
 these representations, leads one to reflect on a sameness of 
 manners and religion, as the particular traits in the two heads 
 are alike, with the exception of those advantages conveyed to a 
 bust by Roman sculpture the principles of which, this people 
 could have obtained but imperfectly, although they might have 
 imbibed some ideas from their conquerors, or from other inter- 
 mediate nations ; the common result of conquest in all ages. 
 
 Proceeding in the same direction there is another court 
 similar in length to the last, but not so broad, having a passage 
 round it that communicated with the opposite side ; in this 
 passage there are two chambers like those above mentioned, and 
 an interior gallery looking on one side upon the court-yard, and 
 commanding on the other, a view of the open country. In this 
 part of the edifice some pillars yet remain on which are the 
 
11 
 
 relievos shown in figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, they apparently represent 
 a mournful subject, alluding, no doubt, to the sacrifice of some 
 wretched Indian, the destined victim of a sanguinary religion. 
 
 To convey a satisfactory idea of the stucco used in forming 
 these, as well as the other medio relievos, and in order to afford 
 a clear notion of the ability possessed by the ancient inhabitants 
 in the art of sculpture, I have transported from this chamber 
 the head of the sufferer, fig. 8, and the foot and leg of the 
 executioner or sacrificer, fig. 11, which pieces are numbered 4 
 and 5, in order to distinguish them. 
 
 Returning by the south side, the tower, delineated in fig. 12, 
 presents itself to notice: its height is sixteen yards, and to the 
 four existing stories of the building was, perhaps, added a fifth 
 with a cupola, which, in all probability, it once possessed ; 
 although these piles diminish in size and are without ornament, 
 as by the drawing will appear, yet the design of them is 
 singular and very ingenious. This tower has a well imitated 
 artificial entrance, as was clearly proved by making an horizontal 
 excavation of more than three yards which I wished to carry 
 quite through the edifice, but was forced to desist from the 
 operation, as the stones and earth slipped down in large 
 quantities from the pressure of the solid body ABC that passes 
 through its centre. This, upon inspection, proved to be an 
 interior tower quite plain, with windows fronting the former and 
 gives light to the steps, by which you are enabled to ascend to 
 its summit, from whence it appears obvious that the entrance 
 must have been on the north side, though I did not proceed to 
 
 c2 
 
12 
 
 indentify the fact, being unwilling to lose time in removing the 
 accumulated heaps of rubbish, sand and small stones by which 
 it is concealed. Behind the four chambers already mentioned, 
 there are two others of larger dimensions, very well ornamented 
 in the rude Indian style, and which appear to have been used as 
 oratories. Among the embellishments are some enamelled 
 stuccos, (see figs. 13 and 14) ; the Grecian heads represent sacred 
 objects to which they addressed their devotions and made their 
 offerings, probably consisting of strings of jewels, as the attitudes 
 of the statues placed on the sides denote. Beyond these oratories, 
 and extending from north to south, there are two apartments 
 each twenty-seven yards long by little more than three broad ; 
 they contain nothing worthy of notice, excepting a stone of an 
 elliptical form, embedded in the wall, about a yard above the 
 pavement, the height of which is one yard and a quarter, and the 
 breadth one yard. 
 
 («). — Fig. 15 exhibits what seems to have been one of their 
 gods, sitting sideways on an animal as delineated in the sketch ; 
 to judge from the way in which the ancients used to indicate the 
 same subject, this may be supposed to represent a river god. 
 
 Father Jacito Garrido, a dominican friar, native of Hueste in 
 Spain, who visited this province in 1638, where he taught theo- 
 logy, and was well versed in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin 
 languages together with three of the native dialects, as well as 
 arithmetic, cosmography and music, has left a Latin manu- 
 script, in which he states it as his opinion, that the northern 
 parts of America, had been discovered by the Greeks, English 
 
13 
 
 and other nations ; a supposition he deduces from the variety of 
 their idioms, as well as some monuments existing in the village 
 of Ocojingo, situated twenty-four leagues from Palenque ; but as 
 his narrative affords no circumstance worthy of attention res- 
 pecting these ruins, I have, in consequence, refrained from 
 inserting any extracts. If, instead of his mere conjectures, this 
 reverend writer had endeavoured to define the period when these 
 alleged strangers arrived, the duration of their stay and final 
 departure from the southern regions, we might perhaps, from 
 knowing their customs and religion, have been put into pos- 
 session of some clue whereby a solution of this problem might 
 have been effected. 
 
 ( b). — But to resume my narrative : below the elliptical 
 stone above described, there is a plain rectangular block, more 
 than two yards long by one yard and four inches broad and seven 
 inches thick, placed upon four feet in form of a table, with a 
 figure in bas-relief in the attitude of supporting it. Fig. 16 
 represents one of these feet, and no. 6 is the original which I 
 dispatch, in order that the bas-relief may be the more easily 
 understood, as well as to give a specimen of the progress of the 
 natives in this branch of sculpture, so very prevalent on all the 
 stones, although displaying no variety of subject or difference 
 either in the quality or style of the execution. 
 
 Should government, at any time, judge it expedient to have 
 any of these specimens deposited in the royal cabinet, the 
 removal may be effected without more expense than that of 
 transporting them from Cadiz to Madrid, because the Indians 
 
14 
 
 will undertake the charge of embarking them on board the 
 king's lighter, in the roads of Catajasa, only six leagues distant 
 from Palenque, in which they may be conveyed, by the lake 
 Jerminos or by the district of Carmen, to Vera Cruz or Cam- 
 peachey, and thence transported on board the first of his 
 Majesty's ships, sailing from either of these ports for Europe. 
 
 The well known protection which our beneficent and 
 beloved Monarch displays respecting every thing that relates to 
 arts and ancient history, warrants a belief, that this removal 
 would be effected, were any gentleman animated, by similar 
 sentiments, to represent to his Majesty, through the medium of 
 his zealous and enlightened minister of the Indies, how greatly 
 the glory of the Spanish arms would be exalted, and what credit 
 would accrue to the national refinement, so superior to the notions 
 of the Indians, in becoming possessed of these truly interesting 
 and valuable remnants of the remotest antiquity. 
 
 Fig. 17 exhibits characters or symbols that adorn the edges 
 of the table; they must have had a determinate signification in 
 the language of the original natives, as they are frequently found 
 on stones and stuccos, though their use, value and meaning are 
 altogether unknown. 
 
 At the extremity of the last mentioned apartment, and on a 
 level with the pavement, there is an aperture like an hatchway, 
 two yards long and more than one broad, leading to a subter- 
 ranean passage by a flight of steps, which, at a regular distance, 
 forms flats or landings, each having its respective door-way, 
 ornamented in the front after the manner described in fig. 18. 
 
15 
 
 Fig. 19 represents another entrance into the subterranean 
 avenue by a different way from the first, and to these may be 
 added a third into the same passage, but which is now actually 
 buried beneath heaps of rubbish. In another of the many 
 openings leading to this under ground passage, my regard was 
 attracted by the stone, no. 7, which I broke off from the left 
 hand side of the first step ; this I have brought away, in order 
 that the various devices of its bas-relief may be more accurately 
 investigated : it is however, as well as the preceding number 6 
 reduced one half in size to facilitate the transport, and a copy of 
 this is also given in fig. 20. On reaching the second door, artificial 
 light was necessary to continue the descent into this gloomy 
 abode, which was by a very gentle declivity. It has a turning at 
 right angles, and, at the end of the side passage there is 
 another door communicating with a chamber sixty-four yards 
 long and almost as large as those before described ; beyond this 
 room, there is still another, similar in every respect, and having 
 light admitted into it by some windows commanding a corridor 
 fronting the south, and leading to the exterior of the edifice. 
 Neither bas-reliefs, nor any other embellishments were found 
 in these places ; nor did they present to notice any object, 
 excepting some plain stones two yards and a half long, by one 
 yard and a quarter broad, arranged horizontally upon four 
 square stands of masonary, rising about half a yard above the 
 ground. These I consider to have been receptacles for sleeping, 
 and this a place for retirement during the night ; a belief in which 
 I am still more confirmed from the circumstance of the large 
 
16 
 
 stones being partitioned off in the forms of alcoves. Here all 
 the doors and separations terminated, and as nothing but stones 
 and earth were discovered by digging, I determined on proceed- 
 ing to one of the buildings, situated on an eminence to the south 
 of about forty yards in height. This edifice forming a parallelo- 
 gram, resembled the first in its style of architecture, it has square 
 pillars, an exterior gallery, and a saloon twenty yards long by 
 three and a half broad, embellished with a frontispiece on which 
 are described female figures with children in their arms, all of 
 the natural size, executed in stucco medio reliefs : these represen- 
 tations are without heads, as pourtrayed in figs. 21 and 22. Some 
 whimsical designs, serving as ornaments to the corners of the 
 house, I brought away ; they are numbered 8, 9 and 10, but all 
 knowledge respecting them is concealed from us, owing to no 
 traditionary information or written documents being preserved, 
 explanatory of their real meaning, and the manner in which 
 the inhabitants used such devices for the conveyance of their 
 thoughts. 
 
 In the inner wall of the gallery, and on each side of the 
 door leading into the saloon, there are three stones, measuringthree 
 yards in height and being upwards of one broad, all of them 
 covered with the hieroglyphics in bas-relief, recently mentioned 
 the whole of this gallery and saloon being paved. Leaving this 
 structure and passing by the ruins of many others, or perhaps 
 what is more probable, of many buildings accessory to this 
 principle edifice, the declivity conducts to a little valley, or 
 open space whereby the approach to another house in this 
 
17 
 
 direction (southerly) is rendered practicable, you arrive at the 
 entrance by an ascent where it is found to have a gallery and a 
 saloon similar to that last described, and at the door of this saloon, 
 a stucco ornament, (fig. 23), displays by its allegory the super- 
 stition of the founders. 
 
 Eastward of this structure are three small eminences forming 
 a triangle, upon each of which is a square building eighteen yards 
 long by eleven broad, of the same architecture as the former, 
 but having along thin roofings, several super structures about 
 three yards high, resembling turrets, covered with different 
 ornaments and devices in stucco. In the interior of the first of 
 these three mansions, at the end of a gallery almost entirely 
 dilapidated, is a saloon having a small chamber at each 
 extremity, while in the centre of the saloon stands an oratory 
 rather more than three yards square, presenting, on each side 
 of the entrance, a perpendicular stone, whereon is pourtrayed the 
 image of a man in bas-relief as in figs. 24 and 25. Upon 
 entering, I found the entire front of the oratory occupied by 
 three stones joined together, on which the objects described in 
 fig. 26, are allegorical ly represented. The outward decoration is 
 confined to a sort of moulding finished with small stucco bricks, 
 on which are bas-reliefs, nos. 11 and 12, being specimens of the 
 devices ; the pavement of the oratory is quite smooth, and 
 eight inches thick, which it was necessary to perforate in order 
 to make an excavation. Having proceeded in this labour at 
 about half a yard deep, I found a small round earthen vessel, 
 about one foot in diameter, fitted horizontally with a mixture of 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 lime to another of the same quality and dimensions ; these were 
 removed, and the digging being continued, a quarter of a yard 
 beneath, we discovered a circular stone, of rather larger diameter 
 than the first articles, and on removing this from its position, a 
 cylindrical cavity presented itself, about a foot wide and the 
 third of a foot deep, containing a flint lance, two small conical 
 pyramids with the figure of a heart in dark crystalized stone, 
 (which is very common in this kingdom and known by the name 
 of challa) ; there were also two small earthen jars or ewers with 
 covers containing small stones and a ball of vermilion, which, 
 as well as the other articles, I transmit to you being numbered 
 13, 14, 15 and 16. The situation of the subterranean depository 
 coincides with the centre of the oratory, and in each of the inner 
 angles, near the entrance, is a cavity like the one before des- 
 cribed, where the little jars numbered 17 and 18 were also buried. 
 
 It is unnecessary to dilate on the subjects represented by 
 the bas-reliefs on the three stones, or on the situation of the 
 articles found in this place ; they convey to the mind an idea 
 that it was in this spot they venerated, as sacred objects, the 
 remains of their greatest heroes, to whom they erected trophies 
 recording the particular distinctions they had merited from their 
 country, by their services or the victories obtained over its 
 enemies, while the inscriptions on the tablets were intended to 
 eternise their names ; for, to this object, the characters as well 
 as the bas-reliefs surrounding them, evidently refer. 
 
 The other two edifices are of similar architecture, and divided 
 internallv in the same manner as the one above described, 
 
19 
 
 varying only in the allegorical subjects of the bas-reliefs on the 
 stones. 
 
 On gaining the second oratory, its entrance presented the two 
 delineations of men copied in figs. 27 and 28, while the front 
 exhibited the three stones displayed in fig. 29. Having proceeded 
 to excavate at this spot, I discovered the flint lance, two conical 
 pyramids, the representation of an heart, and two earthen jars, 
 being the objects numbered 19, 20, 21, and 22. 
 
 Fie:. 30 and the last of this collection, shews the interior front 
 of the third oratory,formed like the others of three stones of similar 
 size ; and, if due attention be given to the bas-reliefs thereon 
 represented, the conclusion drawn from thence must be, that the 
 antient inhabitants of these structures lived in extreme darkness, 
 for, in their fabulous superstitions, we seem to view the idolatry 
 of the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans and other primitive 
 nations most strongly pourtrayed. On this account it may 
 reasonably be conjectured, that some one of these nations pursued 
 their conquests even to this country, where it is probable they 
 only remained long enough to enable the Indian tribes to imitate 
 their ideas and adopt, in a rude and awkward manner, such arts 
 as their invaders thought fit to inculcate. 
 
 I omit any description of the buildings situated to the 
 northward, as they are now nearly destroyed, and afford neither 
 reliefs nor other ornaments, and only vary in their style, similar 
 to those described in the south ; it therefore merely remains for 
 me to take notice of the few articles discovered from digging in 
 various parts of this ground, as well as at the edifice in the south 
 
 d 2 
 
20 
 
 west direction. In architecture this structure does not differ 
 from the others : its divisions consist of a corridor and a saloon 
 without decorations or bas-reliefs. In digging, an earthen vase 
 was found, but broken to pieces, which contained some small 
 pieces of challa in the shape of lancets, or thin blades of razors, 
 which were probably used by these uncivilized people for the 
 same purpose as the latter articles are now applied to by Euro- 
 peans; these instruments and small fragments of the vessel in 
 which they were deposited, I submit for your inspection and. 
 examination, being numbered 23 and 24. 
 
 No. 25 is an earthen pot containing a number of small 
 bones, grinders, molares, and teeth taken from the same excava- 
 tion. 
 
 No. 26 and those that follow denote the quality of the lime, 
 mortar and burnt bricks employed by the inhabitants ; it may 
 be inferred that they used the latter very sparingly, as only 
 those, which I have brought, away for mature examination, were 
 to be found among the ruins — they will tend to give full 
 satisfaction and illustrate the points contained in the last royal 
 mandate, which occasioned a second examination of this ruined 
 city; during which, no circumstance worthy of notice, has 
 been omitted, neither have I spared any exertion that could give 
 effect, either to the research or the narrative which I now 
 terminate. 
 
 I confess, Sir, that the well known zeal of your Excellency 
 for his Majesty's service, your activity and punctuality in 
 
21 
 
 carrying into effect his royal commands, your profound know- 
 ledge and good taste in the subjects which this commission 
 embraces, and which your Excellency has had the goodness to 
 entrust to my care, have been the most powerful incentives to 
 give energy to my application, my industry and my perseverance 
 in fulfilling these various operations, which I have pursued 
 without regard either to labour or fatigue. My endeavour has 
 uniformly been scrupulously and diligently to obey the orders 
 confided in me, as a recompence for which, my sole desire is to 
 merit your approbation, in having conformed to the instructions 
 of the King and the ideas of his enlightened minister. 
 
 ANTONIO DEL RIO. 
 
 Palenque, June 24, 1787. 
 
TEATRO CRITICO 
 
 AMERICANO, 
 
 OR, 
 
 A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 
 
 INTO 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICANS; 
 
 The Monuments found by Captain Dei, Rio, analized and compared with those of the Egyptians 
 and other Nations, proving that a connexion has existed between them and the Americans, 
 and solving the grand historical problem of its population, who were the first 
 Inhabitants of the Shores on the Gulph of Mexico ; — the Period of their first Arrival ; the 
 Discovery of the Kingdom of Amaguemecan, and its chief city Huehuetlapallan ; its 
 commencement, duration and the causes of its ruin; — Who Huitzilopochtli or Mexitli, 
 the Mars, and principal Protectorof the Mexicans, was ? — Who were theTuLTECAS ? — The 
 period of their peregrination ; the foundation of their Empire, etc., etc. 
 
 BY 
 
 DOCTOR PAUL FELIX CABRERA. 
 
SOLUTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GRAND HISTORICAL PROBLEM 
 
 OP THE 
 
 POPULATION OF AMERICA. 
 
 X HE injudicious and total destruction of the annals and records 
 of the American nations, has not only proved a most serious loss 
 to history, but very prejudicial to that religion, whose progress, 
 it was supposed, would thereby have been accelerated : such 
 unexpected effects are sometimes produced by the very limited 
 connexion between the understanding and the policy of men, to 
 whom it is natural to err, even in designs the best conceived, 
 both as to their means and object ; in addition to which, they are 
 too frequently the result of prejudice or of ignorance. 
 
 Religion, which has always been the leading object of 
 attention with civilized nations, is invariably connected with 
 their history ; neither can the one fail in affording instruction as 
 regards the other. If the history of a nation deserves to be 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 destroyed and blotted out from the memory of man, merely 
 because it is the record of superstitions, idolatries, and other 
 errors, repugnant to true religion, then the sacred books, that are 
 the foundation of our holy catholic faith, would not have been 
 exempted from the fatal misfortune which produced the destruc- 
 tion of the American Records. 
 
 The Hebrews, who were chosen by God, from among all 
 nations, to be the depositaries of his true religion and worship, 
 were not less inclined to idolatry, than were the American 
 nations ; for the sacred text informs us of their frequent lapses 
 from the divine ordinances, and of the various punishments 
 inflicted by the Almighty for the purpose of correcting and 
 bringing them back to the path of truth, but it does not conceal 
 from us the idolatrous errors into which they were precipitated. 
 
 We no where read of, nor has it ever been asserted of the 
 apostles, who with their inspired voices, disseminated the 
 mysteries of the catholic religion throughout the world, and 
 who endeavoured to exterminate idolatry, even by the sacrifice of 
 their lives, that they destroyed the histories of the Pagan nations 
 in whose hearts they implanted the true faith; even the holy 
 fathers and doctors of the church did not disdain to refer to these 
 very histories in their expositions of the holy scriptures ; nor did 
 the general council of the church neglect to have them compiled 
 with minute descriptions of the many superstitious errors to 
 which they were addicted. 
 
 The fate of the American histories immediately brought 
 into action the pens of many learned men, natives as well as 
 
27 
 
 Spaniards, and roused the attention of Philip the second and of 
 the first viceroys of Mexico, to replace, as far as possible, so 
 deplorable a loss (note 1). Their exertions do not prove of 
 any essential service, as the histories which they produced 
 embrace only a few of the latter ages ; neither do they appear 
 to have employed much research in discovering the origin of the 
 Americans. At subsequent periods, however, many men of supe- 
 rior attainments undertook to write on this subject (note 2). But 
 what has proved the result ? Notwithstanding all their zeal and 
 application, after undertaking much and having essayed through 
 many different channels an investigation of how, and from whence 
 the first inhabitants of America came, yet, to the present pe- 
 riod, no hypothesis has been advanced, that is sufficiently proba- 
 ble, to satisfy a mind sincerely and cautiously desirous of arriving 
 at the truth. This is the conclusion drawn by that illustrious 
 benedictine, Fray Benito Geronymo Feyjoo, in the twenty-fifth 
 discourse of the fifth vol. of his Teatro Critico, where he says : 
 " After long study and attentive examination of so many, and 
 " such various opinions, I find no one, having the necessary 
 " appearance of truth to satisfy a prudent judgment, and many 
 " that do not possess even the merit of probability." 
 
 A research enveloped in so much obscurity, led the cele- 
 brated advocate Guiseppe Antonio Constantini to declare, that 
 whatsoever may be advanced upon the subject, does not pass 
 beyond the limit of mere opinion, as we have neither histories, 
 manuscripts, nor traditions of the Americans ; the greater part 
 of whom, he says, when they were discovered, were ignorant 
 
 e 2 
 
28 
 
 and uncultivated, and that the suppositions given by many 
 writers are subject to inscrutable difficulties (note 3). 
 
 Francisco Xavier Clavigero, a modern American author, has 
 said — " that the history of the primitive population of Anahuac 
 " is so obscure and so much involved in fable as to render it 
 " not merely a most difficult matter for solution, but totally 
 " impossible to come at the truth" (note 4). 
 
 The darkness of this historical question opened the road to an 
 attack upon the impregnable rock of religion. About the middle 
 of the last century, Isaac Peyrere erected his system of the Praea- 
 damites which he founded upon the more philisophical than 
 historical one, of the deluge, invented by Thomas Burnet in his 
 sacred Theory of the Earth (note 5). Peyrere in this system (note 6) 
 denying, on the one hand, the universality of the flood upon the 
 earth, in opposition to the irrefragable sense of the scriptures, 
 and the uniform belief of the church, pretends, on the contrary 
 with the synagogue, that all the human race are not the 
 descendants of Adam and Eve, and consequently denies original 
 sin and the principles of our holy catholic religion ; producing 
 the population of America as the chief support of this hypothesis, 
 and the ignorance that exists as to the source of its origin. 
 Assuming the fact, that there is no communication between the 
 two continents by land, and not without traversing immense 
 seas, he infers that, anterior to the invention of the mariner's 
 compass, men could not pass over either from Europe, Asia, or 
 Africa ; therefore, as it is clear that America was peopled before 
 the time of that invention, he infers therefrom, that its inhabitants 
 
29 
 
 are not the descendants, from those of the old continent ; and 
 therefore not indebted to Adam and Eve for their origin, but to 
 others of the human race both male and female, whom God had 
 created at a much earlier period, and placed in these southern 
 regions. 
 
 Innovation is not to be tolerated in religion ; for, being sole, 
 holy and eternal, it is, as it has been, and as it will be to the end 
 of time, immutable; new doctrines may be admitted in philoso- 
 phical matters, but even many of these become dangerous and 
 detrimental to religion from the influence which they may 
 acquire. Thus, for instance, the systematic novelties of Descartes 
 and other modern philosophers, which, in the beginning, appeared 
 to be neither morally good nor positively bad, by time and the 
 force of inference, went the length, not only of overturning the 
 spirituality and the immortality of the soul, and of making it 
 material and corruptible ; but even proceeded so far as to destroy 
 religion itself so completely, as to fall into the still greater 
 impiety of atheism : the system of Burnet gave rise to the 
 heretical one of the Praeadamites ; and there are many others of 
 a similar stamp abounding in this inconstant age of our's, which 
 advances such bold pretensions and calls itself the most 
 enlightened. 
 
 Although the Almighty subjected nature to certain laws, he 
 has, notwithstanding, reserved to himself a more supreme 
 dominion over her, and has, from time to time, been pleased to 
 give the most resplendent demonstrations of his omnipotent arm, 
 in acts and incidents stupendous in themselves, and even 
 
30 
 
 superior to those very laws. In such cases it is better to believe 
 his works miraculous, than endeavour to make an ostentatious 
 display of our talents by the cunning invention of new systems, 
 in attributing them to natural causes {note 7). On this account, 
 Burnet will always be reprehensible for the singularity of his 
 system, as will many other modern philosophers, for the notions 
 they have disseminated ; but, that of Peyrere, must ever be 
 condemned for its heretical principles : Feyjoo, father Garcia, 
 and his illustrator, mentioned by Constantini, Clavigero, and all 
 who have written from the commencement of this century on the 
 origin of the Americans, are alike open to the censure of being 
 careless investigators, in having passed over the indubitable 
 memorials on the first inhabitants of America written by the 
 bishop of Chiapa, don Francisco Nunez de la Vega in his 
 Diocesan Constitution, printed at Rome in 1702. 
 
 Among the many small historical works that fell into the 
 hands of this illustrious prelate, 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 ; 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 thepre- 
 " sent time there has existed a family of the Votans in Teopizca. 
 " He says also that he is lord of the Tapanahuasec {note 8) ; 
 
31 
 
 " that he saw the great house (meaning the tower of Babel), 
 " which was built by the order of his grand-father Noe (Noah), 
 " from the earth to the sky ; that he is 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 different 
 " language was given to each nation." 
 
 This illustrious prelate could have communicated a much 
 greater portion of information relative to Votan and to many 
 other of the primitive inhabitants, whose historical works, he 
 assures us, were in his own possession ; but feeling some scru- 
 ples, on account of the mischievous use the Indians made of 
 their histories in the superstition of the nagualism {note 9), 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, 
 " least, 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 
 tf Notices of the Indians (the word idols is here used which 
 <f seems to be an error of the press), and the substance of the 
 " primitive errors, in which tbey 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 
 
32 
 
 placed by Votan himself, as a proof of his origin and a memo- 
 rial 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 
 many 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 superstitious figures. — These were 
 " 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 visite 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 
 
33 
 
 of which I have seen being as follows, Historiadel 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 to, 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 a work, so perfect in its kind, as 
 will completely astonish the world. 
 
 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 theTzendal 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 SS ; upon the upper 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 SS placed horizontally on the bars, but I am not certain 
 whether upon the upper or lower bars, but I believe upon 
 the latter. When speaking of the places he had visited on 
 the old continent, he marks them on the margin of each 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 chapter, with an upright S, and those of America with an 
 horizontal S. Between these squares stands the title of his 
 history, f? Proof that I am Culebra" (a snake), 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 Valum 
 Chivim, from Valum Chivim 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 Culebras. 
 
 He relates, that, in returning from one of his voyages, he 
 found seven other families of the Tzequil nation, who had joined 
 the first inhabitants, and recognised in thein the same origin as 
 his own, that is, 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 obedience to him ; and that he was chosen captain of all 
 these united families. 
 
35 
 
 It would be of great importance to have this memoir lite- 
 rally translated ; for, although it is written in a laconic and 
 figurative style, it would lead to a more ample interpretation 
 and illustration of history, both divine and human; indeed, such a 
 translation may be considered requisite to the gratification of 
 the public, and, on another account, because a great number of 
 persons are likely to produce more accurate observations and 
 discoveries than an individual is able to achieve ; but, as the 
 proprietor of this fragment expressed himself to me, we must be 
 satisfied, for the present, with the little that has been accom- 
 plished, (considering the difficulty of understanding the sentences 
 and situations of the places mentioned), towards construing it, 
 insufficient as it is, to clear up the historical obscurity which has 
 hitherto fatigued the greatest talents of the world to no good 
 purpose. 
 
 L,et us now follow the progress of this celebrated chief of 
 the first inhabitants of the American continent, let us examine 
 his narrative carefully, and observe if it agrees with the histories 
 and antient traditions of the writers of both hemispheres, and 
 compare it with some of the few monuments and documents 
 furnished by Antonio del Rio, captain of artillery, who was sent 
 in consequence of an order from his Majesty Charles the third, 
 dated March 15th 1786, by his Excellency don Joseph Esta- 
 cheria, captain general of Guatemala, to examine the ruins of a 
 city of very great extent and antiquity, the name of which is 
 unknown, that was discovered in the vicinity of Palenque, 
 district of Carmen, in the province of Chiapa where he found 
 
 f 2 
 
36 
 
 magnificent edifices, temples, towers, aqueducts, statues, hie- 
 roglyphics and unknown characters, that have withstood 
 the ravages of time and a succession of ages, and of which he 
 made many plans and drawings. 
 
 Among the figures which this officer copied, are two that 
 represent Votan on both continents, and an historical event, the 
 memory of which he was desirous of transmitting to future ages. 
 
 The first figure displays Votan adorned with many hiero- 
 glyphics, the meaning of some of them I will explain, unless my 
 humble abilities mislead me. — The hero has a symbolical figure 
 twined round his right arm; this is significative of his voyages to 
 the old continent. The square, with a bird painted in the cen- 
 tre, indicates Valum Votan : whence he commenced his travels; 
 and it is an Island, because among antiquarians it is unanimously 
 agreed, that a bird is the symbol of navigation ; for only by the 
 means of navigation could his voyages be undertaken : the re- 
 mainder of the figure shews the course taken to reach Valum 
 Chivim. 
 
 The figure, with the bird in the middle, resembles the one I 
 stated as descriptive of his maritime route to the other old con- 
 tinent ; but the bird being figured in an opposite direction, de- 
 notes his return to Valum Votan. He holds in his left hand a 
 sceptre, from the top of which issues the symbol of the wind, 
 such as Clavigero in his second vol. states it to have been repre- 
 sented by the Americans. Dependant from the right hand is a 
 double band, but to avoid repetition, I shall reserve the meaning 
 of this until 1 explain the second figure, as well as that of the 
 
37 
 
 deity at his feet,in flie act of supplicating to be taken to America, 
 in order to be there known and adored. 
 
 The second figure shews Votan returned to America ; the 
 deity, before seen kneeling at his feet, is here placed on a seat 
 covered with hieroglyphics ; Votan, with his right hand, is pre- 
 senting him a sceptre armed with a knife of the ytzli stone, 
 known here under the name of chay: it is a species of black 
 quartz, but is sometimes found of other colours, it is vitreous, 
 semi diaphanous and infusible ; the natives armed their lances 
 and arrows with this instead of iron which was unknown to them, 
 they frequently formed swords of the same by placing it in a piece 
 of wood split lengthways; and also used it to make the knives em- 
 ployed in their sanguinary sacrifices : by this act Votan shews the 
 deity to be a principal one to whom sacrifices were offered. Votan 
 has in his turban the emblem of the air, and a bird with its beak 
 in an opposite direction to his face, to signify his sailing from 
 that side of the world to this. From his left hand hang the two 
 bands spoken of in the first figure, but they are here more dis- 
 tinct than in that ; the lower band shews the line of his descent 
 on the old continent, and the upper one exhibits his American 
 progenitors. The three human hearts shew, that he who holds 
 the band, is Votan, and the third of his race, as he represents 
 himself to be in his historical account. To comprehend this 
 more clearly, it must be observed, that the word Votan in Tzen- 
 dal language, means heart; Nunez de la Vega, speaking of this 
 hero of antiquity in no. 34, section 30, says: " This Votan is much 
 " venerated by all the Indians, and in one province they look 
 " upon him as the heart of the people." 
 
38 
 
 By comparing Votan's narrative on the subject of his voyages 
 to, and returns from, the old continent, and of his being the 
 third of the race ; with the duplicate effigies of him which 
 Captain del Rio found sculptured on stones, in one of the 
 temples at the unknown city, that we will, for the present, 
 designate as the Palencian; we shall have a very conclusive proof 
 of its truth, and this one will be corroborated by so many others, 
 that we shall be forced to acknowledge this history of the origin 
 of the Americans, excels those of the Greeks, the Romans, and 
 the most celebrated nations of the world, and is even worthy of 
 being compared with that of the Hebrews themselves. 
 
 If we accompany this renowned hero and writer of antiquity, 
 Tdo not hesitate to assert, that he will leave us fully satisfied with 
 his veracity on the important point of the American population, 
 and whence it proceeded ; thereby putting an end to the con- 
 jectural assumptions of modern authors, by enforcing a belief 
 of testimonies so ancient and venerable, and confirming a 
 discovery made in our own times, which will cause the despised 
 authorities of the ancients to be received, and smooth those diffi- 
 culties, hitherto produced by the readiness of writers, to escape 
 from the real obscurity of the subject, by starting brilliant ideas 
 instead of seriously discussing facts. 
 
 Before we proceed, it is necessary to identify the deity who 
 has been already described in one place, in the act of supplica- 
 tion, and in another, as seated on the throne of the altar, and 
 receiving the symbol of homage and adoration from that hand 
 whence he had before implored favour. 
 
 The mitre or cap, with the bull's horns, which this idol 
 
39 
 
 bears on its head in both figures, remove all doubts as to his 
 being the celebrated Osiris of the Egyptians, who, according to 
 Diodorus Siculus, is the same as Mesraim or Menes, son of Cham 
 and heir to the kingdom of Egypt, known to the Greeks and 
 Romans, and worshipped by them as Dionysius or Bacchus ; 
 adopted also by other nations under different names, and 
 particularly by the Phoenicians, all firmly believing in him, 
 and that, in every place and under what name soever he was 
 the active power of nature, viz : the good spirit, good for- 
 tune, and the bestower of all virtue, prosperity and joy. On 
 the other hand, his enemy Typhon was believed to be the evil 
 principle, the general cause of misfortunes and vices ; whom, 
 according to Plutarch, neither order nor reason, affections nor 
 family, light nor health could restrain ; for this cause whatever 
 perturbed or disfigured nature, even to the very eclipses, was 
 attributed to him. 
 
 The great aptness of Osiris in the invention of the arts 
 necessary to social life; his justice in settling disputes between 
 individuals, his prudence in transmitting to his children the 
 inheritance that had descended to him from his father; finally, 
 his strength and courage in destroying ferocious beasts, obtained 
 for him the confidence and love of his subjects, or rather, of his 
 family, as it is probable that all the Egyptians were either his 
 brothers or nephews, over whom he had no other right than that 
 which was conferred by primogenitureship. This people has 
 always continued firm in the belief of being indebted to him for 
 the art of cultivating the ground, of grinding corn, of making and 
 
40 
 
 baking bread, of cultivating the vine, flax, hemp, and the 
 aromatics peculiar to Egypt, and of preparing the wool of 
 animals, for the clothing of men. 
 
 The gratitude due to him for discoveries so numerous and 
 so useful, was accompanied by the affections of his people; but, 
 not content with making them happy, he sought to extend his 
 humanity to the mostremote nations, who, living like the beasts 
 of the forest, were unacquainted with the benefits of social life. 
 
 With this intention, he left the government of his kingdom 
 in charge of his equally humane and virtuous sister and wifelsis, 
 and attended by a large army, in which there were a great 
 number of musicians and dancers of both sexes, he departed ; not 
 with the intention of conquering kingdoms, but impelled by the 
 desire of subduing the hearts of men, by instructing them in the 
 same arts, he had taught his own subjects, thinking, most 
 reasonably, that it would be more glorious to succeed by persua- 
 sive means in drawing mankind from the rude and wandering 
 mode of life they had hitherto lead, than by force, to attempt 
 bringing them to that gentleness of manners, consistent with the 
 true character of humanity. 
 
 His indefatigable zeal and incessant love towards the human 
 race, his heroic object of rendering them happy without a 
 thought of depriving them of their liberty, begat a veneration so 
 profound, that it quickly proceeded to the excess of paying di- 
 vine honours to a man who only sought to imitate the author of 
 nature in his paternal goodness. 
 
 A reign so fraught with general felicity well deserved to be 
 
41 
 
 eternized; but it was shortened by an enemy rendered more 
 terrible and dangerous, because unsuspected, and allied by 
 the closest ties of consanguinity. This enemy was Typhon, 
 his own brother, a wretch excited by the fierce spirit of envy, 
 who contrived schemes to obscure the fame of him he could not 
 imitate; and, being assisted by his compeers, he conspired 
 against bis brother's life, and repeated the atroci us crime of 
 Cain. In the absence of Mesraim, Typhon secretly formed a 
 party, and, accompanied by twenty six traitors, assassinated 
 him on his return. — Villainy so atrocious, could not be long 
 concealed by the shallow contrivance of spreading a report, that 
 the king had been devoured by a crocodile or hippopotamus. — 
 It was soon ascertained that his body had been cut into as 
 many pieces as there were conspirators ; Typhon supposed that, 
 dividing the body of Menes among his accomplices, would 
 inflame them against the memory of the prince, and, as he was 
 ambitious as well as cruel, he expected to be able to engage 
 them, as a consequence of their babarity, in support of his 
 usurpation of the crown. 
 
 Impious and inhuman Typhon, may thy memory be 
 accursed with interminable hatred, for daring to stain thy 
 murderous hands, with the blood of thy brother and thy king, thus 
 leaving to posterity the execrable example, of a two fold crime so 
 horrible ; thy ambition caused a polished people to tear asunder 
 the most sacred bonds, to precipitate themselves into the greatest 
 atrocities, to tarnish the glory of their ancestors, and to disgrace 
 their nation !. . . . 
 
 As soon as Isis was informed of Typhon's barbarity, inflamed 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 with rage, and assisted by her eldest son Orus, known to the 
 Greeks by the name of Apollo, she avenged the 'death of her 
 husband. With a powerful army of her faithful subjects, who, 
 no less incensed than herself at the melancholy fate of their 
 beloved monarch, and equally eager to take vengeance; she 
 went in pursuit of the murderer, fought a sanguinary battle, 
 defeated, took him prisoner, and then put him to death with the 
 most guilty of his rebellious partizans. 
 
 Not satisfied by thus punishing the infamous brother, Isis 
 resolved to give proofs of piety and affection for her husband, 
 and collected the dispersed portions of his mutilated body, to 
 honour them with obsequies worthy of so good a king. Only 
 one part of the corpse was deficient, and this had been thrown 
 into the Nile, because no one of the conspirators would carry it 
 away. — Isis greatly lamented this lost portion, and therefore 
 resolved that more respect and veneration should be paid to it 
 than to any other : for this purpose she pretended to have found 
 it, and, to celebrate the recovery, ordered that all the women 
 should carry its effigy suspended from their necks (note 10). 
 This effigy, deemed impure by us in modern times, was greatly 
 honored by the antients, and, by some nations, even now conti- 
 nues to be venerated. The Bramins of India carry it in solemn 
 procession at certain festivals, and present it to be kissed by the 
 people, who believe that they are paying devotion to the author 
 of nature, by honoring the symbol of fecundity, which the 
 Greeks named Phallo, and the festivals in honor of the same. 
 Phallophorides, see Descartes at these words . • 
 
 As Osiris had taught men the art of tillage, the priests 
 
43 
 
 chose the ox, as a symbol of agriculture, to represent this deified 
 prince ; the cow was chosen as the type of Isis who was raised to 
 a divinity after her death ; and this symbolized ox and cow they 
 called Apis. Hence it is that Osiris was represented with a mitre 
 from which issue two horns, as spoken of in the figures just des- 
 cribed. Sometimes a twisted or crooked stick was placed in his left 
 hand, and a sort of strap or thong with three ends in his right, this 
 strap may be observed below the knees of the first figure, and 
 with the distinction of the three ends in the right hand of the 
 second. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus, lib. 1, has left us a description of Osiris 
 found upon ancient monuments, which shews what the people, 
 who adopted his worship, thought of him — viz. " Saturn, the 
 " youngest of all the gods, was my father ; I am the king Osiris, 
 " who, followed by a powerful army, overran all the earth, 
 " from the arid sands of India to the frosts of the bear ; and, from 
 " the source of the Ister, to the shores of the ocean, so that my 
 " inventions and my benefits were carried into every region." 
 
 The superstition of the antients was not satisfied by perpe- 
 tuating the fame of Isis and Osiris, but it was also necessary to 
 conciliate the infamous Typhon, known in fabulous history 
 under the name of Python, which is only an inversion of the 
 same letters; to the former they offered sacrifices to obtain favors, 
 as they did to the latter to escape injuries. 
 
 In the present day Osiris is recognised by the people of 
 Upper Tartary and in China as the god of heaven, and the 
 dispenser of good; and Typhon as god of the earth andinflicter 
 
 g 2 
 
44 
 
 of evils ; he is worshipped under the form of an idol cloathed 
 with skins and called Natigai. This belief in benificent and 
 malignant deities was common with the Americans daring their 
 idolatry. In Typhon they even now fear the devil ; but he does 
 not, at present, possess the power of seizing those who speak ill 
 of him. In mythological fable, that is chiefly founded upon the 
 events of Egyptian history, the victory of Apollo over Typhon 
 is well known : it is feigned that the latter, overwhelmed by 
 shame and rage, fled from his conqueror; and wandering through 
 the deserts, under the form of a serpent, was at last destroyed 
 by a thunderbolt. 
 
 The Egyptians conceived so much animosity and aversion to 
 the domestic enemy of their country, that, because Typhon had 
 red hair, they would not suffer any one whose head was distin- 
 guished by that obnoxious colour to remain alive. An unfortu- 
 nate stranger, with the proscribed chevelure, happening to arrive 
 in the country shortly after the death of Osiris, encountered the 
 fury of the people, who dragged him to the sepulchre of the 
 king and immediately immolated him to his manes. 
 
 The following is a drawing from the figure which Captain 
 del Rio found in the temple before mentioned, and describing 
 this event as do several other figures of Bacchantes sculptured on 
 the walls, which are detailed in his report. It represents a priest 
 performing the initiatory purification of the victim, who is placed 
 on the tomb of Osiris, which is decorated with many Phalli 
 connected. In this temple, the same gentleman discovered the 
 figure of Isis which accompanies his memoir. It has on its head 
 
45 
 
 a cap similar to that of Osiris, and holds with both hands a 
 twisted stick adorned with flowers, having, at one end, a human 
 head, the symbol of royal authority in the administration of 
 justice, and of the duties of sovereigns, both political and civil, 
 in providing for the happiness of the subject, by giving encoura- 
 gement and promoting religion, arts and sciences in their 
 dominions. The male figure, with a sceptre in his hand, is 
 Mercury, whom Osiris left as chief counsellor and minister to Isis 
 during his absence. This Mercury was the celebrated Atho is 
 or Copt of the Egyptians, second son of Isis and Osiris ; a prince 
 of extraordinary prudence and ability, known among the Greeks 
 as Thot or Thaut, Theutat by the ancient Celts, and Mercury 
 by the Latins. He founded the city and kingdom of Thebes in 
 that part of Egypt which fell to his share on the monarchy 
 being divided between his brothers and himself, after the death of 
 their father. Mercury was the inventor or restorer of the art of 
 writing by sacred hieroglyphics, the knowledge of which was con- 
 fined to the priesthond alone, under pain of capital punishment 
 in case of reveali tg the same; he also invented the common 
 method, in a different character, for the use of the people. 
 Diodorus Siculus, in the book before cited, has preserved the 
 valuable inscription of Osiris, mentioned by him, and another of 
 Isis in the following" terms : " I am Isis, queen of this country, 
 " I had Mercury as my chief minister : no one was able to resist 
 " the execution of my commands. I am the eldest daughter of 
 " Saturn, the youngest of all the gods, sister and wife of Osiris, the 
 " king, and mother of king Orus." 
 
 The abbate de Castres, in the fourth vol. of his Mythologi- 
 
46 
 
 cal Dictionary or Pagan Ages, speaks of a large copper plate 
 called the Isiac table, found at Rome, in 1525, on which were 
 engraved many Egyptian gods, and in particular many figures of 
 Isis with various symbols. It was purchased by cardinal Bembo, 
 and afterwards passed into the duke of Mantua's possession, after 
 whose death it was splendidly engraved in its full size, by Eneas 
 Vico of Parma. The plate is divided into three horizontal bands 
 which are occupied by Egyptian deities and a great number 
 of hieroglyphics that Pignorio, in his Mesa Isiaca, and father 
 Kircher, in his (Edipus iEgyptiacus, have explained, and, I 
 doubt not, but their expositions may serve to interpret the 
 Egyptian figures and deities of the Palencian city and more 
 particularly the hieroglyphics. 
 
 Although the figure of Votan is not found among these, yet, 
 having the fabulous history of Isis and Osiris fully delineated, 
 (without adverting to many other ultramarine subjects found by 
 del Rio, that will, of themselves, afford matter for many conclu- 
 sive proofs), there is a very powerful argument to remove doubts 
 about the existence of a maritime communication between the two 
 continents in the very remotest ages of antiquity ; but, finding 
 the duplicate figures of Votan in the attitudes we have described, 
 and combining the Indian tradition, that Nunez de la Vega 
 found verified by his discovery at the casa lobrega, with the 
 small portion of information this illustrious prelate has commu- 
 nicated, and with the little added thereto by the presbyter 
 Ordonez, these are conclusive proofs in favor of Votan ; the truth 
 of his voyages to the old continent, and of his being the first 
 populator of the new world. 
 
47 
 
 I repeat, let us confidently follow this ingenious historian 
 and examine what he means by Culebra, and what proofs he 
 gives of being Culebra. His words are : " I am Culebra, because 
 I am Chivim," this, at first sight, appears a very short and 
 inconclusive argument, but with a little study, admits of a clear 
 and convincing explanation. 
 
 Among the few writers I have consulted, in order to com- 
 prehend Votan, the benedictine Calmet, in his commentaries on 
 the Old Testament, has cleared the way for me, and saved much 
 trouble in this work, as by diligent study and unwearied industry, 
 he has collected whatever the most esteemed ancient authors 
 have produced, in my opinion, as most probable. 
 
 Let us suppose then, with Calmet and other authors whom 
 he quotes, that some of the Hivites, who were descendants from 
 Heth, son of Canaan, were settled on the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean sea, and known from the most remote periods under the 
 name of Hivim or Givim from which region they were expelled, 
 some years before the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, by 
 the Caphtorims or Philistines, who, according to some writers, 
 v/ere colonists from Cappadocia, others conceiving them to be 
 from Cyprus, and, more probably, according to a third opinion 
 from Crete, now Candia ; that, to strengthen their native country 
 Egypt, and to protect themselves from all assault, they built five 
 strong cities, viz. Accaron, Azotus, Ascalonand Gaza, from whence 
 they made frequent sallies upon the Canaanite towns and all 
 their surrounding neighbours, (except the Egyptians, whom they 
 always respected,) and carried on many wars in the posterior ages 
 against the Hebrews [note 11). 
 
48 
 
 The scriptures, Deuteronomy, chap. 2, verse 23, and Joshua 
 chap. 13, verse 4, inform us of the expulsion of the Hivites, 
 (Givim) by the Caphtorims, from which it appears that the latter, 
 drove out the former, who inhabited the countries from Azzah 
 to Gaza. Many others were settled in the vicinity of the 
 mountains of Eval and Azzah, among whom were reckoned the 
 Sichemites and the Gabaonites ; the latter, by stratagem, made 
 alliance with Joshua, or submitted to him ; lastly, others had 
 their dwellings about the skirts of mount Hermon beyond Jordon 
 and to the eastward of Canaan. Johsua, chap. 11,3. Of these 
 last were Cadmus and his wife Hermione or Hermonia, both 
 memorable in sacred as well as profane history, as their exploits 
 occasioned their being exalted to the rank of deities, while in 
 regard to their metamorphosis into snakes, (culebras) mentioned 
 by Ovid, Metam. lib. 3, their being Hivites may have given rise 
 to this fabulous transmutation, the name in the Phoenician 
 language, implying a snake, which the ancient Hebrew writers 
 suppose to have been given from this people being accustomed 
 to live in caves under ground like snakes (note 12). 
 
 Cadmus, in the opinion of Suidas, was the son of Agenor or 
 Ogyges, who, according to Calmet, is the giant Og, king of 
 Basan, (situated at the foot of mount Hermon) who was van- 
 quished and slain with all his family and followers by Moses 
 when he entered into the land of promise, about the year of the 
 world 2253, which agrees with 1451 of the vulgar era, and 1447 
 before Christ. — We are told of his immense stature in Deutero- 
 nomy, 3, 11, by theenormous size of his iron bedstead, the length of 
 which is described in cubits, viz. 9 by 4. In the time of Moses, 
 
49 
 
 sojourning in the wilderness. Cadmus, accompanied by his 
 sister Cilix, his mother Telephassa and a numerous company of 
 his friends who were desirous of sharing his fortunes, quitted his 
 father at the entreaty of his sister Europa, to take revenge upon 
 Jupiter, who had transformed himself into a white bull and 
 carried her away : some mythologists, however, suppose that the 
 ship in which she was transported had the figure of a white bull 
 at its prow, and in this manner the fable originated ; but the 
 most probable conjecture is, that he abandoned his country from 
 a reasonable dread of the sentence promulgated by the Almighty 
 for the total destruction of the children of Canaan, of which the 
 Hebrew people was destined to be the instrument ; and this fear 
 might have been encreased by the dreadful plague of hornets 
 that preceded the Hebrew invasion [note 13). 
 
 The first enterprise undertaken by Cadmus was the con- 
 quest of the Sidonians, (the descendants of Sidonius, eldest son 
 of Canaan,) and the foundation of the kingdom of Tyre in that 
 part of the country, bounded on the west by the Mediterranean 
 sea, and by the Red Sea on the east ; a situation most convenient 
 for extending the great commerce that has rendered this people 
 so celebrated in history, both sacred and profane. The esta- 
 blishment of this kingdom is fixed by Calmet anno mundi 2549 
 or 1455 before Christ, and which year, he says, corresponds with 
 the 37th of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness : about 
 the same period Cilix founded the kingdom of Cilicia, on the 
 confines of Tyre and on the same coast of the Mediterranean. 
 
 Cadmus was not satisfied with this conquest, but recollecting 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 the succes of Cecrops, an Egyptian prince who, eight years 
 before, had subjugated that part of Greece where he founded the 
 kingdom of Athens, and considering Greece well peopled as it 
 was, an object worthy of his ambition, and the conquest of it 
 within his power, he directed his views towards Bceotia ; not at 
 all intimidated by the circumstance of its being then governed 
 by the valiant Draco, a son or a descendant of Mars. " The 
 " commencement of this enterprise was commensurate with his 
 " wishes ; his progress was brilliant, but the termination 
 " disastrous ; as it happens in small monarchies when the chiefs, 
 " prompted by ambition and covetousness, mutually seek each 
 " others destruction and finally become the victims of the most 
 " powerful." Calmet, lib. 1, cap. 8. 
 
 Cadmus founded the city of Thebes, situated near mount 
 Parnassus, the capital of his empire, and fortified it with a 
 citadel which he called Cadmea after his own name. 
 
 The epoch of the foundation of Thebes is ascertained from 
 one of the Parian marbles (now called the Arundel marbles, 
 because the earl of Arundel, an English nobleman, at a very great 
 expense, transported them to his own country) to have been in 
 the sixty -fourth year of the Attican sera, indubitably coinciding 
 with 3195 of the Julian and 1519 before the Christian aera; at 
 which period Moses, was with his father in law Jethro, in the 
 land of Madian (note 14J. 
 
 Greece was indebted to Cadmus for the art of writing, the 
 cultivation of the vine, the consecration of images, the rights of 
 sanctuary so scrupulously respected by antiquity, and the use of 
 
51 
 
 arms offensive and defensive ; he was the first warrior who 
 armed his soldiers with helmets of copper, and he taught the 
 extraction of this metal from the mineral containing it, and which, 
 up to the present day, has retained the name of Cadmia. His 
 disastrous end did not prevent the superstition of the times from 
 celebrating his worth, his talents, and his valour, by placing him 
 among the demi-gods (note 15J. The fable says, that his soldiers 
 having been killed by a serpent near a fountain, whither they 
 went to fetch water, (alluding to a battle that he lost against 
 Draco), he avenged their death by killing their destroyer from 
 which he pulled out the teeth, and sowing them, by the advice 
 of Minerva, they produced a plentiful harvest of armed men, so 
 warlike, and so fiery in their tempers, that, upon a slight 
 disagreement arising between them, they fought and killed each 
 other, excepting five only, by whom this part of Greece was 
 afterwards peopled (note 16 J. This is not a proper place to 
 discuss the meaning of the fable : unseasonable eruditon seldom 
 fails to weary the reader, and leads his attention from the princi- 
 pal subject under consideration ; Homer and many other grave 
 authors have transgressed by such a display, it is nevertheless 
 undeniable that this fable is one of the greatest supporters of 
 history ; I cannot, however, forbear remarking, that the Phoeni- 
 cian words expressive of a copper helmet, were so ambiguous 
 as to signifiy also, a man armed for war, a serpent's teeth, and the 
 number five. The invention of such a fable, its being fostered 
 and propagated, either by the priests of the deified personage, or 
 the princes his descendants and successors, might have occasioned 
 
 H2 
 
52 
 
 the first and true meaning of the words to be forgotten ; while 
 their own interest or convenience may have engrafted the 
 deception on the minds of the vulgar, who, from ignorance and 
 simplicity, are always prone to credit portentous novelties ; more 
 particularly, when they tend to identify the characters of their 
 beloved princes with their national glory ; and especially when 
 their religion is concerned. 
 
 It is also necessary to observe, that the names of Cadmus 
 and Henuione are not proper to these persons : Hermione was so 
 called, from being born an Hivite among those who dwelt near 
 mount Hermon ; while Cadmus signifies an eastern man, or one 
 who comes from the country situated towards the east ; but this 
 denomination was not indiscriminately given to all Orientals, as 
 Calmet together with other authors quoted by him, believes; but it 
 properly belonged to the Hivites near mount Hermon, who 
 were known as Kadmonites or Cedmonites, from the Hebrew 
 word kedem, which, according to the interpretation of the rabbi 
 Jonathan, Genesis, chap. 15, verse 19, means east; and Calmet 
 also places them in this situation. Paraphrastres of Jerusalem 
 in glossing the word Heveum, chap. 10, verse 17, of Genesis, is, 
 in my opinion, more correct in rendering it Tripolitanum, mean- 
 ing to insinuate, as Calmet says, that " the Hebrews removed 
 " themselves to Africa, into the kingdom of Tripoli," or to speak 
 more accurately, to Tripoli of Syria, a town in the kingdom of 
 Tyre which was anciently called Chivim. Under this supposi- 
 tion, when Votan says he is Culebra, because he is Chivim, he 
 clearly shews, that he is a Hivite originally of Tripoli in Syria, 
 
53 
 
 which he calls Valum Chivim, where he landed, in his voyages 
 to the old continent. 
 
 Here then we have his assertion, I am Culebra, because I 
 am Chivim, proved true, by a demonstration as evident, as if he 
 had said, I am a Hivite, native of Tripoli in Syria, which is Valum 
 Chivim, the port of my voyages to the old continent and belong- 
 ing to a nation famous for having produced such a hero as 
 Cadmus, who, by his valour and exploits, was worthy of being 
 changed into a Culebra (snake) and placed among the gods ; 
 whose worship, for the glory of my nation and race, I teach to 
 the seven families of the Tzequiles, that I found, on returning 
 from one of my voyages, united to the seven families, inhabitants 
 of the American continent, whom I conducted from Valum Votan, 
 and distributed lands among them. 
 
 Should a scrupulous reader not feel conviction from this 
 interpretation, the brass medal of which two specimens were 
 found, one of them now in the possession of Don Ramon 
 Ordonez ; the other, which was my own, I presented to the 
 King with two copies of this work by the hands of the President, 
 on the 2nd of June, 1794, will remove every doubt on this 
 head (the drawing is in all respects the same as the original, 
 except being rather enlarged), and fully authenticate the rest 
 of what Votan relates in his history, as well as demonstrate 
 that the American tradition as to his origin and his expul- 
 sion from the kingdom of Aguemecan, which was his first 
 disaster on this continent, applies to him ; while the narrative 
 and the medal, assisted by some portions of information from 
 
54 
 
 Captain del Rio, will elucidate a few historical fragments, 
 which have been related by writers of the greatest authority, 
 but are considered apocryphal by the most esteemed modern 
 authors. 
 
 The medal is a concise history of the primitive population 
 of this part of North America, and of the expulsion of the 
 Chichemecas from Amaguemecan, the capital of which, indu- 
 bitably was, the Pal en ci an city, hitherto sought for in vain, 
 either to the northward of Mexico, or in the north of Asia. 
 This history, comprised in so small a compass, is the best 
 panegyric that can be given, upon the sublime genius of its 
 inventors, of whose descendants, at the time of the conquest, it 
 was a matter of doubt, whether they possessed rationality or not. 
 — On one side, the first seven families to whom Votan distributed 
 lands, are symbolized by seven trees ; one of them is withered, 
 manifestly indicating the extinction of the family it represented ; 
 at its root, there is a shrub of a different species, demonstrative 
 of a new family supplying its place. — The largest tree is a cieba, 
 wild cotton, placed in the midst of the others, and overshadowing 
 them with its branches, it has a snake, Culebra, twined round 
 its trunk, shewing the Hivite, the origin of all these seven 
 families; and the principal posterity of Cadmus in one of them; 
 it also exposes the mistake of Nunez de la Vega, in applying 
 the symbol of the cieba to Ninus (note 17 J, and more strongly 
 than ever establishes the derivation of Votan and the seven 
 families he conducted hither from the Culebras. The significa- 
 tion of the withered tree, the shrub at its foot, and the bird on 
 
55 
 
 the top, I shall give, when I speak of the idol Huitzilopochtli. 
 — The reverse of the medal shews other seven trees, with an 
 Indian kneeling, the hands joined, the countenance sorrowful, 
 the eyes cast down, in the act of invoking divine help in the 
 serious tribulation that afflicts him : this distress is typified by a 
 crocodile on each side with open mouth, as if intent on devouring 
 him. — These devices, doubtless imply the seven families of the 
 Tzequiles, whom Votan says he found on his return from Valum 
 Chi vim. — Although it may not be an easy matter to assign a 
 reason why each tree is expressive of each family in particular, 
 it is incontrovertible, that the Mexican nation had the Opuntia 
 or Nopal, (two of them), as its peculiar device, therefore, the 
 others might, in the same manner, have belonged to other tribes 
 now unknown. An eagle, with a snake in its beak and claws, 
 on the Nopal is also confirmatory of Votan's having recognised 
 in the Tzequiles the same origin from the Culebras, as his own ; 
 and strengthens the Mexican tradition, of his having been driven 
 from Amaguemecan. 
 
 Clavigero, in his ancient history of Mexico, vol. I, book 2, 
 speaks of this kingdom and the arrival of the Chichemecas, at 
 the city before mentioned, which he calls the country of Ana- 
 huac and interprets the name to mean " the place of the waters:" 
 he says their native country and principal city was named 
 Amaguemecan, a word implying the same meaning as Anahuae, 
 where, according to their own account, many kings of their 
 nation had reigned. Torquemada says, he found, from the 
 Mexican written and oral histories, that there had existed three 
 kings of Amaguemecan. 
 
56 
 
 The traditions alluded to by Tor quemada, receive some con- 
 firmation from Captain del Rio's Report, in which he sayshe found 
 in the corridor of a building, (called by him the great house, casa 
 grande, in the Palencian city), three crowned human heads, cut 
 in stone; and connected with the same, by a line proceeding 
 from the hinder part, there were figures representing different 
 subjects. — In this manner the antients used to describe their 
 sovereigns ; and, in still more remote periods, their deities. — It 
 is known beyond the possibility of doubt, that, in the early ages 
 of paganism, the idols were represented by symbols or symbo- 
 lical figures only ; until in the course of time, painting and the 
 sculpture of human figures were introduced, and afterwards 
 greatly improved by Daedalus of Crete. — Thus, formerly, a 
 trident was the synonymy of Neptune, until the improved art of 
 designation placed a human head before it ; a shield or a club 
 indicated Hercules; a sword or a shield Mars; so that each 
 deity or demi-god, was known by his appropriate symbol. 
 
 The Mexicans followed this method to express the names of 
 their kings and transmit the remembrance of them to posterity, 
 and, in so doing, they used the same means of description that 
 they had been taught by their ancestors from the old continent. 
 Clavigero has given, in his second volume, portraits of the nine 
 monarchs who occupied the Mexican throne. The first was 
 Acamapitzin, represented by a crowned head, to the posterior part 
 of which, joined by a line, is the device of a hand grasping some 
 reeds, because the name Acamapitzin signifies " one who has 
 " reeds in his hand." — The second was Huitzilihuith, who had 
 for his device, the small bird called chupajlores or chupamiel 
 
57 
 
 (the humming bird), with one of its feathers in its beak ; Huitzi- 
 lihuith, meaning a chupaflore's feather. The third Chimalpo- 
 poca had a shield emitting smoke ; his name, by interpretation, 
 is " a smoking shield." The fourth Itzcoate, a snake armed 
 with small lances, the itzli stone; the name implying " snake 
 armed with itzli," — and in like manner for the others. 
 
 Another important monument, still more clearly elucidating 
 the Mexican tradition and Torquemada's story of the kings of 
 Amaguemecan, is the tower discovered by del Rio in the court- 
 yard of the great temple : it consists of three stories or floors, 
 which was beyond a doubt the sepulchre of the three kings. He 
 found the entrances to the tower stopped up, and having ordered 
 some of them to be opened, was surprised to see the interior 
 filled with loose sandy earth, but knew not from what cause, 
 being unacquainted with the practices of the Americans ; and he 
 was still more surprised on finding an interior wall connected 
 with that of the exterior. The supposition to be drawn from such 
 a circumstance, is, that for the purpose of raising the third story, 
 for the sepulchre of the last king, the directors of the work, found 
 it necessary to give a more extended circuit to the building, and 
 therefore, devised the expedient of strengthening it by an 
 outward wall, and perhaps, with the intention of continuing 
 other stories as cemeteries for future kings, until the whole should 
 have attained a very considerable altitude. 
 
 In the small turrets on the top of the tower, Rio found two 
 stones embedded in the walls : on these were sculptured two 
 female figures with extended arms, each supporting an infant ; 
 
 I 
 
58 
 
 this circumstance appears to point out the burial places of two 
 queens, or two young princesses, or perhaps of both. Of these 
 figures he took drawings, but they are imperfect, as the faces 
 had disappeared beneath the mouldering touch of time. 
 
 Combining then the tradition of the Mexicans, as related 
 by all writers on their history, respecting their kingdom of 
 Amaguemecan, f their having been three Chichemecan kings ; 
 of their expulsion from thence, as mentioned by Torquernada and 
 confirmed, by del Rio's account of the three crowned heads, 
 accompanied by devices similar to those used by the Mexicans to 
 represent their sovereigns ; the tower divided into three portions, 
 in each of which was deposited the body of a king : keeping 
 also under consideration Votan's history, and that, so ingeniously 
 shewn by the medal ; all these circumstances united tend to 
 demonstrate, by evidence, as clear as evidence can prove, that the 
 kingdom of Amaguemecan was situated in the present province 
 of Chiapa ; and that all the writers, who have embraced the 
 opinion that it existed in the North of America or in Asia, have 
 continued in error. — They may have been misled by discovering 
 in some accounts, that the Chichemecas and other tribes came 
 from the northward to possess themselves of the kingdom of the 
 Tultecas, which had been nearly depopulated by the plague ; they 
 appear however to have overlooked the information they might 
 have acquired, or perhaps did acquire, that the earliest inhabitants 
 of America came from the eastward ; that they proceeded from 
 the eastern part to the northward, and again descended thence ; 
 or, more probably, from carelessness of research than from 
 
59 
 
 a total want of information, which, how slender soever it 
 might have been, their curiosity should have prompted them to 
 examine thoroughly. 
 
 Of this historical fact, Herman Cortes obtained intelligence 
 from the Emperor Moetezuma himself, almost immediately after 
 his arrival : the information was confirmed in a most solemn 
 manner when Moetezuma and the nobles of his empire assembled 
 to swear homage to the monarch of Spain, Charles V ; Cortes 
 however supposing Moetezuma was mistaken, paid no attention 
 to his account : he was himself deceived, and continuing in this 
 belief, has been the cause of succeeding writers perpetuating the 
 error, if I may be permitted to speak so decisively. — In order 
 however to fix the reader's attention to what I have here asserted, I 
 shall introduce, literally, the twodisconrses of Moetezuma asCortes 
 communicated them to his Majesty Charles V, in his first letter, 
 dated October 30, 1520. — This, with several other letters, notes 
 and documents, was reprinted at Mexico in 1770, by order of 
 Don Francisco Antonio Lorenzana, at that time Archbishop of 
 Mexico, afterwards Archbishop of Toledo, and subsequently 
 raised to the dignity of a Cardinal. 
 
 " It is," said Moetezuma to Cortes, " now many days since 
 " our historians have informed us, that neither my ancestors, nor 
 " myself, nor any of the people who now inhabit this country 
 ' are natives of it ; we are strangers and came hither from very 
 ". distant parts ; they also tell us, that a Lord to whom all were 
 " vassals, brought our race to this land and returned to his 
 native place. That after a long time, he came here again and 
 
 i 2 
 
60 
 
 " found that those whom he had left were married to the women 
 '* of the country, had large families, and had built towns in which 
 " they dwelt. He wished to take them away, but they would 
 " not consent to accompany him, nor permit him to remain here 
 " as their chief; therefore he went away. That we have always 
 " been assured his descendants would return to conquer our 
 " country and reduce us again to his obedience. You say you 
 " come from the part where the sun rises, we believe and hold to be 
 " true the things which you tell us of this great Lord or King who 
 " sent you hither; that he is our natural Lord, particularly as 
 " you say that it is very many days since he has had notice of us. 
 " Be therefore sure we will obey you, and take you for our Lord 
 " in the place of the good Lord of whom you tell us. In this 
 " there shall be neither failure nor deception; therefore, command 
 " according to your will in all the country, that is, in every part 
 " I have under my dominions; your will shall be obeyed and 
 " done ; all that we have is subject to whatever you may please 
 " to command. You are therefore in your own country, in your 
 " own house; rejoice and rest from the fatigues of your journey, 
 " and the wars you have been engaged in." He continued to 
 say many other things which I omit as being irrelevant. 
 
 In another discourse Moetezuma said to the chiefs and 
 Caciques, whom he had convoked in presence of Cortes and 
 himself: — " My brothers and friends, you already know, that 
 " your grand-fathers, your fathers and yourselves, have been, and 
 " are the vassals of my ancestors and myself; by them and by 
 " me you have always been honoured and well treated ; you 
 
61 
 
 " have uniformly performed every thing that good and loyal 
 " subjects are bound to do for their natural Lords. I believe 
 '' also, you have heard from your predecessors, that we are not 
 " natives of this country ; that they came from a far distant land ; 
 " that they were brought hither by a Lord who left them here, 
 " and to whom all were subject. A long time after, this Lord 
 " came again and found that our grand-fathers had married with 
 " the women of this country, had settled and peopled it with a 
 " numerous posterity, and would not accompany him back to 
 " his country, or receive him here, as the chief of this. He then 
 " went away, saying he would return with, or send such a 
 " power as should overcome them and reduce them to his service. 
 " You well know we have always expected him, and according 
 " to the things, which the Captain has told us, of the King who 
 " sent him to us, and from the part he says he comes from, I 
 " think it certain, and you cannot fail to be of the same opinion, 
 " that this is no other than the chief we look for, particularly, as 
 " he declares that, in the place he comes from, they have been 
 " informed about us. As our predecessors did not do what they 
 " ought to have done by their chief, let us do it, and let us give 
 " thanks to our gods that, in our time has come to pass the event 
 " which has been so long expected. As all this is manifest to 
 " all of you, much do I entreat you to obey this great king 
 " henceforward as you have hitherto obeyed and esteemed me as 
 " your lawful Sovereign, for he is your natural Lord, and in his 
 " place I beseech you to obey this his great Captain." 
 
 He proceeded by desiring that such tributes and services as 
 
62 
 
 had usually been paid to and performed for him, should in future 
 be transferred to Cortes as the representative of their King ; 
 saying, that he would himself pay contributions to him, and serve 
 him in whatsoever he should command. 
 
 The assembled chiefs confirmed the tradition, and replied, 
 " that they had always considered him as their Lord, and were 
 " bound to perform whatever he should command them, and, 
 " for this reason, as well as for the one he had just given them, 
 " they were content to do it." (Let this expression, they were 
 content, &c. be noted.) All this, says Cortes, passed before a 
 notary who reduced it to the form of a public act, and I 
 required it to be testified as such in the presence of many 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Cortes, wishing to keep Moetezuma in the error which he 
 supposed him to have fallen into, says in his first letter : — " I 
 " replied to all he had said in the way most suitable to myself, 
 " especially, by making him believe your Majesty to be the 
 " chief whom they have so long expected." 
 
 It is surprising that the unvarying tradition of the first 
 occupiers of America having come from the east, should not have 
 been examined or attended to by Cortes, and that it should have 
 been unobserved by subsequent writers, and by the introduction 
 of the following notes into the republication of Moetezuma's 
 discourses, is not le^s astonishing. " The Mexicans, by tradi- 
 " tion, came from the nothern parts of the province of Quivira, 
 <* and the particular places of their habitations are known- with 
 " certainty ; this affords an evident proof that the conquest of 
 
63 
 
 " the Mexican empire was achieved by the Tultecas or people 
 " of Tula which was the capital. This was an erroneous 
 " belief of the Indians, because they came from the north ; but, 
 " had they proceeded from the peninsula of Yucatan it might, 
 " with truth be said, that they came from the east, with respect 
 " to Mexico. In the whole of this discourse, Cortes obviously 
 " took advantage of the erroneous notions of the Indians." 
 
 The natives were not mistaken, but Cortes was in error 
 from disregarding their traditions, which, to say the least, he 
 ought to have kept in recollection and carefully examined 
 when a little industry would most unquestionably have satisfied 
 him ; but, as it was known on the other hand, that the 
 Mexicans and other nations, occupying the desolated king* 
 dom of the Tultecas, descended from the nothern regions, he 
 took no pains to search out from whence and in what manner 
 they came. This negligence of Cortes, occasioned the error in 
 authors who wrote after him ; and it arose principally from 
 their not having attended to the tradition of the few existing 
 testimonies of the Tultecas, Chiapanecos and Yucataneses, and 
 the few historical fragments produced by writers of the greatest 
 authority on the other continent, who have been similarly con- 
 temned, by the most celebrated modern authors. 
 
 The Indians carefully preserved the remembrance of their 
 origin, and of their ancestor's early progress from the voluntary 
 or the forced abandonment of Palestine on the ingress of the 
 Hebrews; but these incidents have been, in my opinion, 
 erroneously interpreted by authors. — I will here introduce what 
 
64 
 
 the advocate Joseph Antonio Constantini advances on this 
 subject. In the second volume of his Critical Letters, in that 
 entitled on the Origin of the Americans, he says: " We are 
 " indebted to Gemelli for some valuable information which he 
 " obtained, during his residence in Mexico, from Don Carlos de 
 " Siguenza y Gonzora, into whose possession it came, as being 
 " testamentary executor of Don Juan de Alva, a lineal descen- 
 " dant from the king of Tezcuco who received it from his 
 " ancestors i this is, therefore, the most authentic document 
 " which Gemelli procured, and he has carefully preserved it in 
 " his sixth volume by a plate. This engraving displays a table 
 " or itinerary, on which are delineated the voyages of their 
 " progenitors who peopled Mexico ; it consists of different circles 
 " divided into an hundred and four signs, signifying 104 years, 
 " which they say their forefathers spent in their several doini- 
 " ciles, before they reached the lake of Mexico ; there are 
 " numerous and various representations of mountains, trees, 
 " plants, heads of men, animals, birds, feathers, leaves, stones, 
 " and other objects descriptive of their different habitations, and 
 " the accidents they met with, but which, at present, cannot be 
 " understood." 
 
 This itinerary I have never had an opportunity of seeing, 
 although very desirous of obtaining that advantage, nor the 
 book which Bottnrini says was written by the celebrated Mexican 
 astronomer Huematzin and called by him Teomoxtli: the divine 
 book ; wherein, by means of certain figures, he shews the origin 
 of the Indians, their dispersion after the separation of nations 
 
65 
 
 subsequent to the confusion of tongues, their wanderings, their 
 first settlement in America, and the foundation of the kingdom 
 of Tula, (which, I suspect from the mistakes of writers, is not 
 that of Amaguemecan), and their progress down to his time, 
 these incidents appear to be the same as those which happened 
 to the Canaanites generally, and to the Hivites in particular 
 along the whole coast of Africa, until their passing into 
 America and arrival at the lake of Mexico. The hundred and 
 four years of domicile described by him were in Africa, and not 
 for the space of one year each, but of many years, according to 
 the exigence of circumstances in the progress of population ; for 
 it is evident the peopling of the earth after the general disper- 
 sion of the human race, advanced but slowly, as colonies could 
 not be settled without surmounting great difficulties in clearing 
 the ground from trees and thickets which covered it in every 
 part. This was boring the ground, in the meaning of Votan, 
 when he says, he went by the road that his ancestors the Cule- 
 bras had formerly bored. 
 
 Calmet, in his dissertation on the country to which the 
 Canaanites retired when they were expelled by Joshua, concurs 
 in affirming this to be true. 
 
 This enlightened writer, after relating various opinions 
 which he proves to be ill-founded, says, the one most generally 
 received, most consonant with truth, and also conformable to 
 the Gemarra Hierosolemitana, is that which supposes the 
 Canaanites went into Africa. He adds that Proeopius, lib. 2, 
 cap. 10, of the Vandalic War, says they first fled into Egypt, 
 
 K 
 
66 
 
 when they encreased in number, and then pursued their 
 course to the remotest regions of Africa ; they built many cities, 
 spread themselves over the adjacent countries, ocupying nearly 
 all the tract that extends to the columns of Hercules, and 
 retained their ancient language, although in some degree cor- 
 rupted. To support this opinion, he adduces a monument 
 erected by this nation, which was found in the city of Tangier : 
 it consisted of two columns of white marble, with this inscrip- 
 tion in Phoenician characters. " We are the children of those 
 who fled from the robber Jesus, the son of Nave, and here found a 
 safe retreat {note 18). 
 
 These columns may very possibly be the marks that Votan 
 says he left behind him on the road that his ancestors had 
 bored ; but they were considered Apochyphal by Feyjoo, from 
 the expression of the inscription, that, Jesus or Joshua was the 
 son of Nave, where as it is stated in the scriptures, that he was 
 the son of Nun ; it seems therefore to have escaped Feyjoo's recol- 
 lection that Joshua is indiscriminately called the son Nave or of 
 Nun in different places of Holy Writ. 
 
 Although we cannot fix to a certain epoch the time of the 
 Canaanites occupying the coasts of Africa, inasmuch as it did 
 not take place at one period, but gradually, as they found 
 themselves oppressed by the Hebrew wars ; and because many of 
 the Hivites, as we have already said, abandoned their dwellings 
 before Joshua entered Palestine (note 19). There is no doubt 
 that all these colonies existed prior to the Trojan war, because 
 Greeks returning from thence found that every part of the coast of 
 
67 
 
 Africa where they landed had been already peopled by the 
 Phoenicians. On this point the Greek and Latin writers agree, 
 according to the testimony of Bochart in his work entitled 
 Canaan ; and of Hornius, on the origin of the people of America. 
 Lib. 2, cap. 3, 4 : quoted by Calmet, 
 
 The aera of the Trojan war is fixed at two hundred and 
 forty years after the death of Joshua. Taking this for granted, 
 and comparing the epoch when the aforesaid colonies were 
 established in Africa, with that which I shall presently shew 
 concerning the foundation of the first colony in America by 
 the grand-father of Votan, it will clearly appear, that, each of 
 the hundred and four signs in the itinerary of Gemelli does not 
 correspond with a residence of one year, but of many. 
 
 This itinerary, supposed by many historians as appertaining 
 to Asia, or the nothern parts of America, has been the means 
 of augmenting our historical difficulties so much, tftat we 
 encounter nothing but confusion, doubts and queried this will 
 be seen by referring to the works of Clavigero, Torquemada and 
 all others who have treated on this subject. It nevertheless con- 
 firms the narrative of Votan and the suppositions I have 
 ventured to make as will hereafter appear 
 
 As it has been already proved ths* Valum Chivim, where 
 Votan landed in his four voyage to the old continent, is 
 Tripoli in Syria; it is now reqiVsite to examine what was the 
 situation of Valum Votan, fror* whence he took his departure. 
 
 In order to discuss this important question, which will have 
 the effect of drawing from the depths of obscurity and uncertainty, 
 
 k2 
 
68 
 
 into which time and revolutions upon the old continent, have 
 plunged those historical records that remained in ancient 
 traditions; we shall derive sufficient assistance from Cal met in 
 his dissertations before mentioned, relative to the country in 
 which the'Canaanites, when expelled by Joshua and the Judges, 
 his successors took refuge, as also from the excellence of the 
 Hebrew history. 
 
 This celebrated writer recites the opinions of the most 
 classic authors on the discovery of America, and the origin of 
 its inhabitants, to which, however, he does not always assent, 
 and among them produces that of Hornius, who, supported by the 
 authority of Strabo, affirms, as certain, that voyages from Africa 
 and Spain into the Atlantic ocean were, both frequent and cele- 
 brated, addingfrom Strabo, that Eudoxius sailing from the Arabian 
 gulpU to Ethiopia and India found the prow of a ship that had 
 been wrecked, which, from having the head of a horse carved 
 on it, he k^ew belonged to a Phoenician bark, and some Gadi- 
 tani merchant delared it to have been a fishing vessel : Laertius 
 relates nearly the same circumstance. Hornius says (continues 
 Calmet,) that, in vtry remote ages, three voyages were made to 
 America, the first by +he Atlantes or descendants of Atlas, who 
 gave his name to the Ocea^ and the islands Atlantides; this name 
 Plato appears to have leaded from the Egyptian priests, the 
 general Custodes of antiquity. The second voyage, mentioned 
 by Hornius, is given on the authov.ty of Diodorus Siculus, lib. 5, 
 cap. 19, where he says: The Phoenicians having passed the 
 columns of Hercules, and being impelled by the violence of the 
 
69 
 
 wind abandoned themselves to its fury, and after experiencing 
 many tempests, were thrown upon an island in the Atlantic 
 ocean, distant many days navigation to the westward of the coast 
 of Lybia ; which island, possessing a fertile soil, had navigable 
 rivers, and there were large buildings upon it. The report of this 
 discovery soon spread among the Carthaginians and Romans the 
 former being harassed by the wars of the latter, and the people 
 of Mauritania ; sent a colony to that island with great secresy, 
 that, in the event of being overcome by their enemies, they might 
 possess a place of safe retreat (note 20). 
 
 In another place, Calmet introduces this passage of Diodo- 
 rus more in detail, saying, that the Phoenicians having returned 
 from the island, so highly extolled its beauty and opulence as to 
 inspire the Romans with a desire of making themselves masters 
 of it and settling a colony there. This perplexed the Carthagi- 
 nians, who began to fear their countrymen would be ena- 
 moured of a fertility so much praised, and abandon their native 
 soil to settle there. They viewed it on the other hand, as a 
 safe refuge in the event of any unforeseen calamity, or, if their 
 Republic in Africa should fall, to which, as being masters of the 
 sea, they could easily retire to secure themselves and families, 
 more especially as the region was unknown to other nations 
 (note 21). Aristotle, continues Calmet, in his book of 
 wonderful things, speaking of this island, says, the Magistrates 
 of Carthage having observed that many of their citizens, who 
 had untertaken the voyage thither, had not returned, pro- 
 hibited, under the penalty of capital punishment, any further 
 
70 
 
 emigration, and ordered those who had remained there to 
 return to their country, fearing, that as soon as the affair should 
 be known, other nations would endeavour to establish there a 
 peaceable commerce {note 22). 
 
 The other voyage in the Atlantic spoken of by Calmet 
 was anterior to the preceding, and is that attributed to Her" 
 cules, who is the supposed author of the Gaditanian columns 
 and whom Galleo ranks as contemporary with Moses, and chief 
 of the Canaanites who left Palestine on the invasion of Joshua : 
 this hero, had the surname Magusanus, derived from the Chal- 
 dean word Gouz, signifying to scratch, and by metaphore to 
 pass, from which root, ships and fords of rivers are called 
 Megizze in the Chaldaic idiom ; of his sea voyages, there 
 existed a vestige in the town of West Cappell in the island of 
 .Walcheren ; it was the painting of a ship and her captain, who 
 was represented at an advanced age, the forepart of his head 
 bald, and his face tanned by the sun ; he was worshipped as a 
 deity at a temple in the same town, and sacri6ces, according to 
 the Phoenician rites, were offered to him {note 23). There were 
 many other heroes of this name ; but no writer has decided 
 whether to Magusanus or one of his descendants, or whether to 
 a Phoenician distinguished by the same appellation, we are to 
 attribute the navigation of the Atlantic. Certain however, it is, 
 that Diodorus speaks of a Hercules who sailed round the world 
 and who founded the city of Lecta in Septimania ; but no writer 
 has pointed out its situation {note 24). 
 
 With how much reason was the prize awarded to that young 
 
71 
 
 prince of the royal house of David, who maintained, when 
 disputing in the congress of wise men assembled by king 
 Ahasuerus, that truth is the most irresistible gift that can be 
 bestowed ; for the power of the most absolute monarch, the 
 stimulating effects of the most generous wine, nor the transcen- 
 dant charms of the most bewitching beauty, are not sufficiently 
 strong to subdue it. 
 
 The coincidence in the memorials of the writers of the old 
 continent, whom I have just mentioned, with the tradition, as 
 introduced in Moetezuma's two discourses, that the Mexicans 
 came originally from the east; with the narrative of Votan, with 
 the incidents commemorated by the medal, with the report of 
 Captain del Rio, and with the figures of the ultramarine deities Isis 
 and Osiris sketched by him in the temple of the Palencian city, 
 form altogether such an irrefragable body of evidence as it is 
 almost impossible to discredit. The revolution of ages has been 
 the parent of an error among modern writers, and even rendered 
 the truths of the more classic antients problematical, because the 
 latter have not been studied with sufficient care by their succes- 
 sors ; but time itself now steps in to vindicate their credit, and 
 becomes an incontrovertible evidence of the veracity of these 
 slighted and discredited narratives. 
 
 To connect the various incidents I have adduced, it will now 
 be necessary to examine the periods of the events narrated, and 
 inquire in which of the voyages, already mentioned, the popu- 
 lation of America had its beginning ; and in what part, and at 
 what time, the ancestors of Votan colonised it, and who these 
 ancestors were. 
 
72 
 
 The first voyage was that of Atlas. Atlas was the son 
 of Japetus brother to Saturn, and cousin to Jupiter, who, in 
 the war which the latter waged against his father Saturn and his 
 uncles the Titans, made himself master of the frontiers of Africa ; 
 Atlas and Jupiter were therefore contemporaries : the reign of the 
 latter is supposed, by many ancient historians, to have been 
 coeval with that of Belus king of Assyria ; but this supposition 
 determines nothing with certainty, on account of the difficulty 
 which exists in attempting to ascertain the precise epoch when 
 the Assyrian empire commenced. The abbe Lenglet, after much 
 research, decides it to have been one thousand eight hundred 
 years prior to the christian sera. See his work, 8vo. edit, torn II, 
 chap. 12. 
 
 It will be pertinent to our enquiry, to introduce a brief 
 sketch of Jupiter's genealogy from the detailed account of him 
 in the above named part of the Abbe's work. 
 
 The descendants of Magog, the second son of Japetus, formed 
 at the earliest periods the Dacian, Celtic, and Scythian nations, 
 and subsequently the Tartars and the Moguls; they remained 
 but a short time in the country where they settled after the 
 general dispersion ; but, overrunning America, they occupied 
 the best and most fertile parts of the country, as Strabo informs 
 us, lib. 2 : Sacce optimum Armenice partem occuparunt. Not 
 content with this excellent location, their restless disposition 
 and warlike spirit, keeping them unsettled, they spread over the 
 western part of Asia, then called Asia-minor, and now Anatolia, 
 they then took possession of Cappadocia, and pursuing their 
 course along the shores of the Euxine, now the Black Sea, built 
 
73 
 
 the city of Acinonia, in that part bounded by the rivers Thermo- 
 don and Iris ; they afterwards built another in Phrygia, which they 
 also named after Acmon the son of Menes, whom StephanusByzan- 
 tinus, in his explanation of the word Acinonia, affirms to have 
 been their chief in the first invasion. Acmon met a violent death 
 by his eager pursuit after wild beasts, and was placed among 
 the gods to eternize his moral, political and military virtues ; he 
 was worshipped as a supreme being, under the appellation of 
 the most high ; woods were consecrated to him, and sacrifices 
 celebrated in honour of him, as we are told by Sanchoniathon 
 in Eusebius, lib. de Preparatione evangelica Uranius, that his 
 eldest son, was the brother and husband of Titeca from whom 
 sprang the Titans so well known in history for their extraordi- 
 nary strength and prowess {note 25). Uranius succeeded his 
 father in the empire which he greatly extended, and even excelled 
 him in his virtues and valour. His attachment to the science of 
 astronomy and his continually studying the movements, revolu- 
 tions and influence of the heavenly bodies, obtained for him the 
 surname of Ccelus, while Titeca received that of Terra; their 
 descendants availed themselves of these appellations, concealed 
 their origin, being in common with all mortals, and taking 
 advantage of circumstances, caused themselves to be acknow- 
 ledged, and obeyed by the people, who feared them under the 
 high sounding title of the sons of heaven and earth. 
 
 The sons of Uranius were Titanus, Oceanus, Hypericon, 
 Japetus or Japhetus the father of Atlas, and Saturnus the 
 youngest of all. Uranius discovering that his sons were 
 
 L 
 
74 
 
 conspiring to rebel against him, caused them all to be seized, 
 except Oceanus who refused to join his brothers in the revolt, 
 but Saturnus, encouraged and aided by his mother Titeca, set 
 them at liberty, and they, in gratitude, placed him on the throne, 
 by dispossessing their father, who died a few years after, borne 
 down by age and sorrow. 
 
 Saturn, according to Diodorus, lib. 3, married his sister 
 Rhea, but fearing the imprecations his father had fulminated 
 against him, and the prediction, that one of his children should 
 treat him in the manner he had used his father, he caused all his 
 offspring to be incarcerated as soon as they were born, but they 
 were educated in a manner suitable to their rank ; which gave 
 rise to the fable of his having devoured them. 
 
 Rhea exasperated by her husband's cruelty, was dexterous 
 enough to rescue her youngest son Jupiter, and had him 
 educated secretly by the Curetes in the island of Crete. The 
 Curetes were descended from a brother of Uranius to whom he 
 confided the government of Crete, which had just been subdued. 
 This Govenor, at his death, left ten sons who were called Curetes, 
 and became celebrated from the order of priesthood which they 
 exercised on mount Ida for many ages. 
 
 The Titans, mortified that Saturn should reign alone to 
 their exclusion, revolted several times and ultimately succeeded 
 in getting both him and Rhea into their power ; but, as soon as 
 Jupiter got intelligence of his parent's captivity, he speedily 
 equipped a force and hastening from Crete to their assistance ; 
 having obtained a complete victory over the insurgents, he set 
 
75 
 
 them at liberty, replaced them on the throne, and then returned 
 to Crete. 
 
 The suspicion of Saturn encreased as he advanced in years, so 
 that he every day grew more fearful of his father's menace, and as 
 the oracle which he consulted, advised him to be upon his guard 
 in respect of his youngest son, he plotted against Jupiter's life, 
 who, more by stratagem than force, contrived to defeat many of 
 the machinations by which his existence was menaced, and 
 continued to treat his father with filial respect ; till at length he 
 was forced, in self-defence to come to an open rupture with him, 
 after a sanguinary contest compelled him, with such of the 
 Titans as escaped with their lives, to retreat into Italy. Saturn 
 found an asylum with Janus king of Latium, but not thinking 
 himself secure as Jupiter continued in pursuit, and extended 
 his conquests to the extremities of Spain, he retired to Sicily, 
 where he soon died oppressed by misery and old age. History 
 tells us, that the place of his sepulchre was long remembered ; 
 and venerated by his subjects for many ages. 
 
 Jupiter lived an hundred and twenty years, and reigned 
 after the defeat of the Titans sixty-two years with great glory : 
 he died in Crete where his sepulchre remained for centuries near 
 Gnossa, one of the principal cities, and had honours paid to it. 
 His heroism raised him to the highest pitch of admiration ; he was 
 not only exalted over all mortals but elevated to the dignity of a 
 god, considered superior to all those who had preceded him, 
 and extolled as the father and king of all the deities. 
 
 Neither from Atlas then, nor from any of his posterity could 
 
 l 2 
 
76 
 
 Votan derive his origin, for this reason, among many others, that 
 I omit in order to avoid fatiguing the reader, that the Atlan tides 
 were not. of the race of the Culebras. 
 
 Votan's family must, therefore, be sought for among some of 
 the maritime heroesof succeeding ages. It could not have been from 
 anyone of the Phoenicians in the second voyage that has been 
 described, since they found large houses on the island, consequent- 
 ly it must have been peopled long before their arrival, and if 
 we examine attentively the time at which this voyage could have 
 been made, it will appear to be long subsequent to the period of 
 which Votan speaks in his history. At the time Diodorus 
 alludes to, the Republic of Carthage was in the zenith of its 
 splendour, for it was then able to intercept the expedition sent 
 against the island by the Romans, with the intention of estab- 
 lishing their dominion in the same. This epoch must have been 
 a little prior to the first Punic War; the commencement of the 
 kingdom of Amaguemecan was at some period during the 
 progress of that contest ; this kingdom was not however of long 
 continuance, and its ruin gave rise to that of Tula. This 
 hypothesis we shall now proceed to elucidate. 
 
 The Romans were engaged in three very destructive con- 
 flicts with the Carthaginians : the first commenced two hundred 
 and sixty-five years before the christian sera, and lasted twenty- 
 three. Historians have not related what caused the interrup- 
 tion of that friendship which the two Republics had so often 
 professed for each other; but it is certain that about three 
 hundred and seven years before Christ, under the Consulate of 
 
77 
 
 Quintus Martius and Quintus Fabius Tremulus, the Romans 
 entered, for the second time, into an alliance with the Carthao-i- 
 nians ; this coincides, according to Varo's computation, with the 
 four hundred and forty-eight years after the building of Rome. 
 
 Some historians, it is true, attribute the breach between 
 these rival Republics to a stroke of policy, for it is usual with 
 the powerful to dignify the abominable vice of covetousness by 
 giving to it this virtuous apellation. They say that the war 
 between Pyrrhus and the Romans being terminated, the former 
 was driven from his kingdom of Macedonia by Brennus king of 
 the Gauls, (others say that Brennus was only general of the 
 Gauls under the king), and retired to the Italian states, where, 
 with a view to idemnify himself for the losses he had just sus- 
 tained, he once more declared war against the Romans ; but the 
 latter being victorious, and making themselves masters of all 
 Italy, soon turned their attention towards Carthage, a power that 
 could then impede them in their vast projects [note 26). 
 
 The Roman war against Pyrrhus was declared four 
 hundred and seventy-three years after the foundation of Rome, 
 or two hundred and eighty-two years before Christ, under the 
 consulate of Lucius Einilius Barbulus, and Quintus Mancius 
 Philipus, and lasted six years, for, in the year four hundred and 
 seventy-nine, Marcus Curius Dentatus, and Lucius Cornelius 
 Lentulus, being Consuls, Pyrrhus was again defeated and com- 
 pelled to abandon Italy to the conquerors [note 27). Historians 
 have observed, that it is the characteristic of barbarous nations 
 alone, to wage war upon, and invade the territories of their 
 neighbours, without a just cause, or, at least offering some good 
 
78 
 
 pretence for the same, in order to disguise their depraved wishes 
 from the public eye. Is it then credible that a Republic so ambi- 
 tious of glory as that of Rome, should have declared hostilities 
 against Carthage without alledging some cause, either real or 
 imaginary, after having long kept up a friendly understanding 
 with her? There is in consequence every reason to believe that 
 the obstructions, which the Carthaginians opposed to the convoy 
 that Diodorus affirms the Romans attempted sending to the 
 newly discovered island with the intent of colonizing the same, 
 may have been deemed a sufficient inticement for such belligerent 
 operations. 
 
 The second Punic war began two hundred and eigh- 
 teen years before Christ and lasted seventeen years. The 
 severity which the Romans bad displayed towards the Cartha- 
 ginians in the treaty of peace, inflamed the minds of the latter 
 with a desire of revenge and reprisal. The Romans lost four 
 battles that would have annihilated any other power; but, during 
 their greatest distresses, Italy furnished them with resources by 
 her councils which they could not derive from their arms, to rescue 
 them from the almost inevitable gulph of ruin. The Romans 
 scarcely able to defend their own walls, nevertheless found means 
 to carry the war, even to the gates of Carthage. Scipio was dis- 
 patched into Spain which he subdued, rather by the prudent 
 advice of Lelius, than by belligerent measures, and imme- 
 diately passing into Africa, raised the glory of the Republic 
 so as to command the admiration of the world, by granting 
 peace to its vanquished and powerless rival {note 28). 
 
 The third Punic war commenced one hundred and forty- 
 
79 
 
 seven years before Christ and terminated with the Carthaginian 
 Empire six years afterwards. During the preceding wars, 
 although the Carthaginians were conquered, they were neither 
 subjugated nor enslaved, their resentful spirits still plotted 
 against the Romans while they waited for a favourable oppor- 
 tunity to compass revenge ; the latter therefore, considering they 
 could not be free from future inquietude while Carthage existed, 
 determined upon her ruin, and Carthage was, in consequence, 
 destroyed {note 29). 
 
 From the different epochs of the Punic wars, we may cer- 
 tainly perceive that they were ulterior to the time at which 
 Votan says he undertook his voyages to the old continent, and 
 much more recent than the period when the first American 
 colony was settled by the grand-father of Votan, as well as 
 many ages posterior to the foundation of the kingdom of 
 Amaguemecan, which, as I have before observed, are the points 
 we must now consider. 
 
 We will therefore commence by enquiring who was Votan's 
 grand-father? Sallust, quoted by Calmet, in his commentary 
 on the Jugurthine war, states in the history of the kingdom of 
 Numidia, writ-ten in the Punic language, that he had read an 
 African tradition of the arrival in that country, of Hercules 
 Tyrius or Lybius, with an army of Medes, Persians and Arme- 
 nians; these soldiers married Lybian women, and their language 
 imperceptibly degenerating from its original purity ; in process 
 of time, they lost the name of Medes and Armenians, and at last, 
 by an astonishing corruption of the*e words, were called Mau- 
 rucii or Moors. 
 
80 
 
 Kornius, in his commentary upon this passage of Sal lust, 
 relying on the authority of Pausanias, says, that the true name 
 of this Hercules was Macerim, which he supposes to be derived 
 from the Phoenician, or Hebrew word mechoer, meaning, wise, 
 desirous of knowing, or investigator. 
 
 Sallust, from not being well informed in the affairs of the 
 Canaanites, may very probably have confounded the names of 
 the Arabians, Syrians or Amorites, conducted by Hercules ; 
 so that the Armenians the Amorites, may have been the Mau- 
 rucii, or Madianites the Medes, and the Pheresians the 
 Persians. 
 
 The opinion, says Calmet, of such authors as conceive that 
 the major part of the Canaanites, after being driven from Palestine, 
 occupied the coast of Africa, is neither new, nor doubtful : it is 
 confirmed by ancient names such as Ardanes, Pona Leptis, Utica, 
 Tangier and others, which are all of Phoenician origin ; and in 
 the time of Saint-Augustine these people still retained some 
 record of having originally been Canaanites; for, he says, in his 
 exposition of Saint-Paul's epistle to the Romans, when interro- 
 gating the country people concerning their origin, they replied 
 in the Punic tongue, that they were Canaanites (note 30). 
 To this we may add, that, modern critics acknowledge an affi- 
 nity between the Punic and Canaanite languages ; that the 
 places mentioned have Phoenician appellations ; the name of 
 Carthage is Phoenician, and so for instanceis that of the Canary 
 islands, so called, from their inhabtants having been Cana- 
 anites, and giving this name generally, (note 31), while Hornius 
 speaking of Gomera one of these islands, supposed it to have 
 
81 
 
 been peopled by the Artnorites. More credit must be ascribed to 
 Votan, who makes the people of the same race as himself, viz. : 
 of the Culebras and consequently Hivites ; these Islands, are 
 thirteen in number, and it can scarcely be doubted that they are 
 the thirteen houses of the Culebras which he speaks of having 
 visited in his voyages : it is also as little to be disputed that in 
 these islands, as well as throughout all the coast, the race of 
 Canaan was found to be mixed with the Hivites. 
 
 The bird, noticed in the Itinerary by Gemelli, shews the 
 coast which the Hivites took in their route to these islands ; but, 
 the arm of the sea observed by Torquemada in all the paintings 
 of the same document, is not, and indeed cannot be, the Rio Colo- 
 rada (red river) as Claviger and other authors have imagined, 
 whose waters fall into the bay of California, which is the most 
 considerable of all those northward of Mexico from whence it is 
 pretended those nations came who first peopled the continent, as 
 it evidently represents that part of the Atlantic, between the Ca- 
 naries and America. See Torquemada and Claviger in their 
 second volumes. 
 
 All that has been advanced, will prove Hercules Tyrius to 
 have been a different person from Magusanu and subsequent 
 to him ; the latter, as Lenglet understands, was Ethens, a contem- 
 porary of Moses and the former an Hivite, from being a Ty- 
 rian ; it has equally been proved that the Hivites founded the 
 kingdom of Tyre, and what Sallust relates convinces us, in all 
 its circumstances, that the irruption of this Hercules was many 
 ages after that of Magusanus. 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 Votan declares himself to be the third of the Votans, Sallust 
 affirms that the soldiers of Hercules Tyriusand their wives spoke 
 the African language, but sensibly degenerated from its ancient 
 purity. Diodorus asserts that one Hercules navigated the whole 
 circuit of the earth, and built the city ofAlecta in Septimania, 
 All these circumstances, in conjunction with what I have already 
 stated, induce me, and will lead any erudite examiner to con- 
 clude, with every appearance of probability, that Hercules Tyrius 
 was the progenitor of Votan, that Septi mania is, beyond a doubt, 
 the island Atlantis, or Hispaniola, that the city of Alecta was 
 Valum Votan, capital of the same island from whence Votan em- 
 barked his first colony to people the continent of America, and 
 whither he departed for the countries on the old hemisphire. 
 
 I am confirmed in my selection of this island from among the 
 
 many dispersed throughout the Atlantic, not onlyon account of its 
 
 position and magnitude exceeding all the others, but also, from 
 
 its fertility and numerous navigable rivers, and chiefly from its 
 
 having been the island of the Olmeca nations. In the Mexican 
 
 tradition, which has been adopted by many eminent authors, 
 
 (Siguenza, andBoturini among others), it was considered certain, 
 
 that the Olmecas arrived at this island from the eastward, and 
 
 crossed from thence to the continent. Boturini, however, is of 
 
 opinion, that when the Olmecas were driven from their country, 
 
 they proceeded to the Antilles Island and thence to the southern 
 
 part of America ; this may have been the fact with part of that 
 
 nation, when the kingdom of Amaguemecan was destroyed, 
 
 without being repugnant to an idea that the portion of that race 
 
83 
 
 which remained on Terra Firma, may have penetrated further into 
 the continent and shared in the adversities of the other nations 
 expelled from the same kingdom. I refer the reader to what father 
 Jumillasays on this subject in his "Orinoco Illustrated" respecting 
 those nations that retained the tradition of their having left the 
 island of Hispaniola in order to take possession of those countries. 
 
 If what has been adduced be combined with the points of 
 history I have extracted from writers of both hemispheres, it will 
 not be difficult to fix the epoch in which Hercules Tyrius lived, 
 and founded the first town in America ; that, in which his grand- 
 son Votan lived ; of his voyages to the old continent ; of his 
 arrival there from America ; of the Phoenician ship driven ashore 
 by the tempest ; of the transport of the Carthaginian colony to 
 America ; of the prohibitory decree inflicting capital punishment 
 on any of their subjects who should proceed thither, and the re- 
 calling such as had already emigrated; the periods of the foun- 
 dation and ruin of Amaguemecan ; the circumstances which caused 
 that event, and, as connected with it, the beginning of the king- 
 dom of the Tultecas. 
 
 Admitting then, that Votan was the third of his race, and 
 supposing thirty years to be allowed for each generation ; 
 Hercules Tyrius will appear to have lived ninety years before 
 Votan. This period is not so definitively fixed, but that the 
 variation of thirty or forty years, more or less, may be admitted ; 
 " the error of a few years in the calculation of historical periods 
 may be allowed, but the mistake of two or three centuries is not 
 to be tolerated," says Dionysius Halicarnassus, and the abbe Len- 
 in 2 
 
84 
 
 glet conjectures, that by an age in chronology the space of thirty 
 years is to be understood. Under such a supposition, the above 
 period will correspond with three hundred and eighty -one years, 
 a little more or less, before the christian sera {note 32). 
 
 The epoch of Votan's voyages to the old continent may be 
 decided with certainty, for, he says that he was at Rome and saw 
 the great House of God building. 
 
 Consulting the annals of the Roman Republic, we find that in 
 the four hundred and sixty-fourth year of the foundation of that 
 city, and two hundred and ninety-one years before Christ, peace 
 was granted to the Samnites after a sanguinary war of eight years, 
 and an alliance founded between the two nations; in commemo- 
 ration of which event, Publius Cornelius Rufinus, then Consul, 
 ordered a magnificent temple to be built in honor of Romulus 
 and Remus, the founders of the city, upon the side of the Curia, 
 which had been the residence of the first of those two brothers, 
 and where, after his death, the Senate used to assemble in order 
 to deliberate on public affairs {note 33). 
 
 About this period Rome and Carthage were in alliance 
 for the second time, and the first war between them commenced 
 forty-two years after this alliance, and twenty six-years after the 
 arrival of Votan, consequently in the four hundred and forty-eighth 
 year of the foundation of the city corresponding with three hundred 
 and seven years before Christ, this second alliance was formed, 
 and in the four hundred and ninetieth year of Rome and the two 
 hundred and sixty-fifth year before Christ, the first Punic 
 War began. There is but little doubt that the Romans and 
 
85 
 
 the Carthaginians obtained their first knowledge of America from 
 Votan himself, although, it is probable, the latter soon after 
 obtained a confirmation of his report from the mariners of 
 the ship spoken of by Diodorus ; or, that the seven Tzequiles, 
 whom Votan speaks of finding in one of his returns, were of 
 this same people; nor is it less to be doubted, that the first colony 
 sent to America by the Carthaginians, was previous to the first 
 Punic War. 
 
 This colony united to the Tzequiles and reinforced by the 
 Carthaginian mariners who fled from the miseries of war, 
 remained in America, and almost immediately rendered itself 
 master of the country by subduing the first inhabitants, and inter- 
 rupted the order which the native people had, until that time 
 observed, of being governed by two Captains elected by the 
 priests, one from the family of Votan, the other from the 
 Tzequiles, as related by Claviger lib. 1. To preserve harmony 
 between them, the kingdom of Amaguemecan was established ; 
 and the perceptible migrations of the Carthaginians from their 
 own country, occasioned the Senate's decree commanding them 
 to return, as mentioned by Diodorus and confirmed by Moete- 
 zuma in his discourses with Cortes. 
 
 It is very credible that disobedience to this decree, the 
 refusal to acknowledge fealty, the threat of the person sent to 
 make known the decree, that he would either return with, or 
 send a sufficient force to overpower and compel them to sub- 
 jection, and the consternation excited in their minds by such a 
 menace (for this alarm is implied in the Mexican tradition, and 
 
86 
 
 was spoken of by Moetezuma to Cortes, when he says : " that those 
 who were descended from him would return to conquer the country 
 and reduce them to vassalage,") may have occasioned the down- 
 fall of Amaguemecan, because, the original inhabitants, taking 
 advantage of the general panic, which was probably encreased 
 by the death ofHamacatzin the last king, and the dissensions 
 arising between his two sons Acheauhtzin and Xolotl respecting 
 the succession, seriously thought of shaking off the yoke. For 
 this purpose they formed secret meetings to concert measures, for 
 simultaneously commencing in all parts, operations against their 
 oppressors, and, they suddenly expelled them. Torquemada, 
 Claviger and others, mention these circumstances very confusedly, 
 but, they had not access to information of which we are now in 
 possession. This fact, supported as it is by traditions of the 
 Mexicans and Tultecas of Amaguemecan, is confirmed by the 
 suppliant posture of the Indian between the two crocodiles on 
 the medal, a document, sufficient in itself to perpetuate so great 
 and memorable an event. 
 
 Again, there were no more than three kings of Amagueme- 
 can (Torquem : vol.2). Ycoantzin, Moceloquichtzli, and Ama- 
 calzin ; to the second, authors assign a reign of one hundred and 
 fifty-six years, and to the third, one hundred and thirty-three 
 years, but make no mention of the period the first reigned,; these 
 epochs are wholly beyond the pole of probability. By following 
 however the rule laid down by Dionysius, Halicarnassus, and the 
 note of Lenglet as better founded on experience, we shall have 
 ninety years, little more or less, which assumes a much greater 
 
87 
 
 appearance of truth ; and, if this computation be adopted, it will 
 shew that the dynasty was extinct shortly after the decree which 
 caused this revolution, had been promulgated. If we have 
 ascertained precisely the period when Votan was at Rome, it 
 enables us to do the same in respect to other periods now under 
 consideration, and, it is undeniable, that from fixed principles, 
 consequences equally certain, may be deduced. 
 
 To accomplish, this we must have recourse to the Mexican 
 computation, collate it with ours, and compare it with the 
 periods of certain events of American history and to the epochas 
 assigned to them in their annals. The abbe Clavigero, in the 
 sixth book of his second volume, treats, with great erudition, 
 upon the system adopted by the Americans in reckoning their 
 months, years, and centuries. 
 
 In computing centuries, years, and months, says this histo- 
 rian, the Mexicans and other nations used the same method as 
 the ancient Tultecas. The century consisted of fifty-two years, 
 divided into four parts of thirteen years each ; two centuries 
 made an age of one hundred and four years, which denominated 
 Huehiretiliztli, a word meaning old age ; to the end of the cen- 
 tury, they gave the name, Toxihicmolpia, which means the bond 
 of our years, as it united two centuries to form one age. The 
 years had four names, Tochtli (rabbit), Acatl, (reed), Teopatl, 
 (flrnt) and Calli, (house) which, combined with different numbers, 
 formed the century. The first year of the century was one rabbit, 
 the second two reed, the third three flint, the fourth four house, 
 the fifth five rabbit, thus continuing to the thirteenth, which was 
 
88 
 
 thirteen rabbit, when the first period terminated. The second 
 period commenced with one reed, and proceeded, two flint, three 
 house, four rabbit and finished with thirteen reed. The third 
 period began with one flint, and ended with thirteen flint ; 
 the fourth began with one house, and finished the century with 
 thirteen house, so that the names being four, and the numbers 
 thirteen, there was no year that could be confounded with 
 another. 
 
 The Mexican year, like ours, consisted of three hundred 
 and sixty-five days, it contained eighteen months, and each 
 month twenty days, making together three hundred and sixty 
 days; they added to the last month five days, which were 
 called Nemontemi, that is useless, because on those days they 
 did nothing but pay and receive visits. The year one rabbit 
 began on the 26th. of February, but in every fourth year it 
 advanced one intercalary day upon our bissextile year. In the 
 last year of the century they began on the 14th of February, on 
 account of the thirteen days interposed in the course of fifty- 
 two years, but, when the century was completed, they recom- 
 menced upon the 26th. 
 
 The same author says, that he discovered in ancient writings 
 and traditions, that the Tultecas being banished from Amague- 
 mecan and its capital Huehicetlapalla, or Huehuetlapalan, 
 commenced their pilgrimage in the year one flint; and that 
 their settlement, at the foundation of their empire, was, in the 
 year eight reed, and although he supposes these two events 
 happened about the years five hundred and ninety-six, and six 
 
89 
 
 hundred and sixty-seven of the christian aera, he declares in a 
 note, that the dates are not certain but probable. 
 
 It is not very surprising, considering the want of some in- 
 formation which has recently been acquired, that although Tor- 
 quemada and others found from the annals of the Tultecas, that 
 their pilgrimage lasted eight years, from the first flint, until the 
 eighth reed, that they should have confounded it with the one 
 hundred and four years or signs of Gemelli's Itinerary, which, as 
 we have already seen, was in Africa; nor does it excite much 
 astonishment that they have proceeded with so much uncer- 
 tainty and diverged into such a variety of opinions, without 
 having been able to discover the true origin of the Tultecas and 
 Chichimecas. It deserves notice, as strongly confirming Votan's 
 correctness on the subject of the seven Tzequil families, whom the 
 authors before named, discovered, that, during their pilgrimage, 
 the people were subject to seven Captains or Chiefs whose names 
 they have preserved, Zacatlehalcatzin, Evecatzin, Couatzin, 
 Tzihualcoatl, Metzotzin and Tlapalmetzotzin, which are given, 
 with trifling difference by Torquemada, who experienced so 
 much difficulty in comprehending the Mexican tradition, of 
 their coming originally from the seven caves, that he confesses; 
 " he felt great diffidence in endeavouring to unravel a perplexity, 
 the solution of which so many had attempted and yet failed in 
 developing ;" yet all the obscurities would be cleared away by 
 substituting the word houses for caves, and families for houses. 
 The system of the Mexican century, divided as it is into four 
 
 N 
 
90 
 
 names and thirteen numbers, does not admit of any one year 
 being repeated under the same name and number during that 
 century, yet this repetition does occur in different centuries, as 
 will appear in the table, which, for the satisfaction of my readers, 
 is given at the end of this work. This repetition will perhaps 
 occasion doubts as to the century in which any particular event 
 may have happened, especially, in referring to very remote times, 
 therefore, the connexion and combination of one event with 
 another, is the only method of surmounting the difficulty and 
 exactly deciding upon the century to which it refers. 
 
 How are we to demonstrate the correctness of the following 
 epochas 1 ? viz: Votan's arrival at Rome, in one of his voyages, in 
 the year two hundred and ninety-one before Christ ; the punic 
 wars in two hundred and thirty-five, in two hundred and nine- 
 teen and in one hundred and fifty before Christ, and the destruc- 
 tion of Carthage one hundred and forty-seven years before Christ. 
 For these must prescribe the rule whereby to fix the Mexican 
 century in which the pilgrimage of the Tultecas happened, and 
 consequently the destruction of Amaguemecan and such other 
 periods as may be required. Taking these as fixed data, and 
 comparing the Mexican computation with our own, the year 
 one flint, that in which the Tultecas were driven from Huehuet- 
 lapalan, the capital of Amaguemecan and began their pilgrimage 
 will appear to be in one of their centuries which elapsed between 
 Votan's appearance at Rome, and the destruction of Carthage, 
 for in this interval it must have happened ; in one century it will 
 
91 
 
 agree with two hundred and eighty-five, in another with two 
 hundred and thirty-three, and in a third with one hundred and 
 eighty-one years before Christ. 
 
 It is now our business to discover in which of these it actually 
 did happen ; which being discovered and eight years added 
 thereto, will give the precise period of the foundation of the 
 Tultecan empire which arose from the ruins of Amaguemecan or 
 Anahuac It could not have been in the first period, for this 
 would fall on the sixth year after Votan's arrival at Rome, nor 
 in the second, for if ninety years, the duration of Amaguemecan 
 be added to two hundred and thirty-three, on which the year 
 one flint falls, these added together would make three hundred 
 and twenty-three years, and as Votan was at Rome in two 
 hundred and ninety-one, the colony would thereby be dated 
 thirty-two years before his arrival there ; which is not satisfactory 
 for many obvious reasons. 
 
 From hence it may be concluded that the true epoch of the 
 fall of Amaguemecan and the consequent peregrination of the 
 Tultecas or Chichiinecas is, that in which the Mexican year one 
 flint, corresponds with the year one hundred and eighty-one before 
 Christ, because, if the ninety years assigned as the duration of 
 Amaguemecan be added thereto they will make two hundred and 
 seventy-one. The result therefore is, that the date of the colony 
 will be two hundred years after Votan's arrival, or six years before 
 the first Punic war; the decree of the recal by the Carthaginians 
 will appear to have been promulgated thirty-eight years before 
 the second war commenced, thirty-one years before the third war 
 
 N 2 
 
92 
 
 broke out and thirty-four years before the destruction of 
 Carthage. 
 
 The continual wars waged by Carthage during this interval, 
 against the Romans and Numidians deprived it of any oppor- 
 tunity of avenging the affront of its rejected decree, and chas- 
 tising the disobedience of its American subjects. 
 
 Boturini concurs with this epoch, he was well acquainted 
 with the figures, symbols, characters, songs and manuscripts of 
 the Indian authors, and in the Tultecan history, he found that 
 above an hundred years before Christ, they had observed in their 
 ancient country Huehuetlapalan the excess of nearly six hours in 
 the solar, over the civil year, which they regulated by adding an 
 intercalary day to every fourth year. 
 
 Claviger speaking of the idol Quetzalcoatl (a name signifying 
 a snake covered with feathers) the god of the air, says, the Mexi- 
 cans, believed this deity had been the chief priest of Tula, the 
 capital of Tulteca, and that he was of a white complexion, tall 
 and corpulent, with a broad forehead, large eyes, long black 
 hair and a thick beard ; a man of austere and exemplary life 
 clothed in long garments from a sense of modesty of a most 
 gentle and prudent disposition, which shewed itself in the laws 
 he enacted for the good of the people, added to which, he was 
 very expert in the arts of melting metals, and of polishing pre- 
 cious stones, which he taught the Tultecas. 
 
 Tescatlipoca, the god of providence, or more correctly 
 speaking the providence of god, or god in our acceptation, 
 being desirous of withdrawing Quetzalcoatl from Tula, appeared 
 
93 
 
 to him under the form of an old man, stating it was the will of 
 the gods that he should go to the kingdom of Tlapalla to obtain 
 immortality ; he then gave him a certain liquor to drink, which 
 he had no sooner swallowed, than he felt so anxious a desire to 
 repair thither, that he set out immediately, accompanied by many 
 of his subjects. Passing by Cholula he was detained by the 
 inhabitants, who conferred the government upon him, which he 
 retained for twenty years ; being still resolved upon continuing 
 his journey to Tlapalla (which Clavigero supposes to be an 
 imaginary place) and having proceeded as far as the province of 
 Coatzacoalco he dispatched four noble youths who attended him, 
 to acquaint the Cholultecas, that he would afterwards return and 
 render them happy. 
 
 Doctor Liguenza believes this Quetzalcoatl, was the apostle 
 Saint Thomas, who preached the gospel to them, and he main- 
 tains this position with much learning in a work mentioned by 
 Betancourt, and doctor Eguiara in the Biblioteca Mexicana, 
 among others, supports a similar opinion. This work was unfortu- 
 nately lost through the negligence of his heirs, he therein drew a 
 comparison between the name which Saint Thomas bore, viz : Di- 
 dymus, signifying twin, and Quetzalcoatl compounded of the 
 words Quetzalli a precious stone, and Coatl twin a precious twin. 
 
 This agrees admirably well with the time fixed in the 
 narrative of Boturini, which mentions a regulation of the calen- 
 dar to have taken place at Huehuetlapallan, upwards of an 
 hundred years before the kingdom of Amaguemecan was 
 destroyed. If this epoch be adopted, it will be obvious that 
 
94 
 
 there was ample time for the kingdom of Tulteca to become 
 weli established after its foundation in the year eight reed, 
 agreeing with one hundred and seventy-four years before Christ, 
 so that it had already existed more than two hundred years before 
 Saint Thomas announced the gospel to that people. 
 
 The kingdom of Tlapalla was not an imaginary one as 
 Clavigero supposed, and the route taken by Quetzalcoatl from 
 Cholula to Coatzacoalco, in the absence of all other proofs, is 
 sufficient to shew that it was not situated to the northward of 
 Mexico, but to the south east. 
 
 Huehuetlapallan, is a compound name of two words, 
 Huehue, old, and Tlapallan, and it seems the Tultecas prefixed 
 the adjective to distinguish it from three other places, which 
 they founded in the districts of their new kingdom, to perpetuate 
 their attachment to their ancient country, and their grief at 
 being expelled from the same ; whence it arose that the place 
 which formerly had the simple name of Tlapallan, was after- 
 wards denominated Huehuetlapallan ; at least so says Torque- 
 mada. 
 
 Such, without doubt, was the name which anciently distin- 
 guished the Palencian city, and this supposition is strengthened 
 by a report, quoted by Clavigero and other authors, that the 
 Mexicans were driven from their city of Axtlan, as were the 
 Acolhuans from Teoacoluacan ; for these people lived in different 
 cities, each governed by its own chief or cacique, although 
 subject to the sovereign of Amaguemecan, and like him, driven 
 from their domains. 
 
95 
 
 The origin of the Tulteca nation hitherto unknown, has 
 now been proved ; they were Chichimecas or Naguatlacas like 
 the others, but so much exceeding them in stature, that there 
 were some of gigantic size among them ; they obtained the name 
 of Tultecas from excelling in manufactures and arts, particularly 
 that of working in gold and silver : Torquemada says, the word 
 Tultecas means excellent artist; their language and method of 
 reckoning time, were similar to the Mexicans. 
 
 Not less clearlv has it been ascertained that the founder of 
 the Tultecan empire was Achcauhtzin, eldest son of Hamacatzin 
 •last king of Amaguemecan, from whom his brother Xoloth, chief 
 of the remainder of the Chichemecas, separated. But Achcauh- 
 tzin must have died during their eight years wandering, for 
 Torquemada affirms that Chalchuhtlanextzin, who was probably 
 his son, was the first king of Tula known in history. 
 
 The difficulties that have excited so much discussion among 
 writers as to the origin of these nations, the place whence they 
 came and the time of their migration, are now surmounted ; the 
 incongruities which have operated as a barrier against ascer- 
 taining the beginning of their history are reconciled, and the 
 anachronisms which they occasioned are exposed and rectified. 
 
 Returning to the history of Votan and the seven families of 
 the Tzequiles, which he found blended with the seven that he 
 had brought from Hispaniola, and in which he recognised the 
 Culebra origin, there remains but little more to say than that we 
 are warranted in concluding, from the strongest evidence, they 
 were Carthaginians. The illustrious Huet, bishop ofAvranches, 
 
96 
 
 in his Evangelical Demonstrations, Alexis Venegas, in his work 
 on the Variation of Books, and several other writers, after careful 
 examination accord with this opinion, supposing them to have 
 been a colony of Tyrians, consequently Hivites ; therefore the 
 truth of Votan's narrative remains clearly substantiated by many 
 conclusive evidences. 
 
 After bestowing some consideration upon the meaning 
 of the word Tzequil, and confiding in the knowledge of the 
 before-mentioned don Ramon Ordonez, I shall assert that 
 Tzequil, in the Zendal language, means an upper peticoat, 
 (Enagua, Basquina) and the same word means Nahuatlacas in the 
 Mexican idiom ; at the present time the natives of Chiapa call 
 the Mexicans Tzequiles. Don Ramon affirms that the town of 
 Tzequil, founded by these seven families, of which Votan speaks, 
 is the suburb called the Mexican, and joining the city of Ciudad 
 Real (but for this I will not vouch) ; and that they were named 
 Tzequils or Nahuatlacas, not only from having introduced the use 
 of petticoats, for the greater propriety and decency of the women, 
 but also, from having tolerated the sect or superstition of Nagua- 
 lism. Votan alludes to this when he says, the Tzequiles gave him 
 the first notions of a God and of his worship. 
 
 To conclude this discourse in the manner I propose, there 
 still remains to investigate the origin of Huitzilopochtli, the 
 tyrannical deity of the Mexicans, who is said to have destroyed so 
 many hundred thousands of human victims during his empire 
 over them, that they stood in need of arithmetical terms to 
 ennumerate them. For the better solution of this historical 
 
97 
 
 problem I will transcribe the description of this personage lite- 
 rally from Clavigero, vol. 2, book 6. 
 
 " Huitzilopochtli is a name composed of two words, Huitzi- 
 " lin the beautiful bird we call Chupalflores, (the Humming 
 " bird), and Opochtli to the left; this name was given be- 
 " cause the idol has feathers of the Humming-bird placed on 
 " its left foot. Boturini, who understood but little of the 
 " Mexican idiom, derives this name from Huitziton, the chief of 
 " the Mexicans during their peregrination, and supposes the 
 " deity to represent this chief; this is a forced etymology, and 
 " the supposed identity is entirely unknown among the Mexi- 
 *'■ cans, for they worshipped this god of war from time immemo- 
 " rial, before they commenced their wandering life under the 
 '• guidance of Huitziton. Some say this divinity was a pure 
 " spirit, and others represent him as having been born of a 
 " woman, without male co-operation, and relate the circumstance 
 " in this way. There lived, say they, at Coatepec, a place not 
 " far distant from the ancient city of Tula, a woman called 
 " Coatlicue, mother of Centzonthniznahui, and she devoted 
 " herself to the worship of the gods. One day, according to 
 " her custom, being employed in sweeping the temple, she saw 
 " a ball of different coloured feathers fall through the air to the 
 " ground ; she took it up and put it in her bosom, intending 
 '•' to make use of the feathers to decorate the altar; but looking 
 " for them as soon as she had finished her employment they 
 " were not to be found. This excited her surprise, and she 
 " was still more astonished on finding herself from that mo- 
 
 O 
 
98 
 
 " ment pregnant, and the circumstance in due time became 
 " visible to her sons, who, although they did not suspect their 
 " mother's virtue, yet they feared such a birth might bring 
 " disgrace upon them and determined to prevent it by parricide. 
 " This resolution was not taken with sufficient secrecy to 
 " prevent the mother's discovering it, who was bitterly afflicted 
 " at the thought of dying by the hands of her own children, 
 " when she suddenly heard a voice from within her, which said, 
 " Be not alarmed, my mother, fori will preserve your honor and 
 " my own ; her cruel sons, however, were urged on by their sister 
 " Cotolzauhi, who was much more eager to accomplish the 
 " design than they were ready to perpetrate their meditated 
 " atrocity. Huitzilopochtli was at length born with a shield on 
 " his left arm, a dart in his right hand, and a plume of green 
 " feathers on his head; his countenance was of a bright blue 
 " colour, and his left leg, his thighs and his arms were covered 
 " with feathers. The first moment of his existence was signalized 
 " by causing a snake of pine wood to appear before him, and he 
 " commanded one of his soldiers, named Tochnacolgni, to kill 
 " Cotolzauhi with it, because she had been the most culpable, 
 " whilst he attacked her brothers with so much fury, that, in 
 " spite of their strength, their arms and their entreaties, he killed 
 " them, pillaged their houses and presented the spoils to his 
 " mother. This event threw the people into such consternation 
 " that they called him Tetzohuitl (terror), Tetzauhteotl, (ter- 
 " rible god). 
 
 f This god having been protector of the Mexicans, led them, 
 
99 
 
 <c according to their own account, during; many years of their 
 " wandering life, and at last settled them in the place where they 
 " built the great city of Mexico. On his head was a beautiful 
 '•' plumage, shaped like a bird ; on his neck a collar composed 
 " of ten figures of human hearts ; in his right hand a staflf in the 
 " form of a serpent ; and in his left a shield, on which were five 
 " balls of feathers disposed in form of a cross." 
 
 This description of the manner and circumstances under 
 which the Mexicans represented Huitzilopochtli ; the human 
 hearts round his neck; the signification of his compound name; 
 the figure of the bird on his head ; the feathers on his thighs and 
 left leg, and the fable of his birth, being compared with the 
 medal which represents the seven first families ; the withered 
 tree and the bird perched on the shrub springing from its root ; 
 with the figure of Votan having the three human hearts painted 
 on the band which he holds in his hand, will readily point out 
 that the extinct family designated by the withered tree is Votan's; 
 that the mother Huitzilopochtli is the widow of that first popu- 
 lator of America, and that Huitzilopochtli, the illegitimate issue 
 of this hypocritical widow, undoubtedly wished by adopting as 
 his device the bird Huitzlin (humming bird), to enrol himself 
 among the family of Votan, although he had actually destroyed 
 the last members of it, and to take his illustrious appellations 
 from the symbol of Votan (who had been his mother's husband), 
 that is, the hearts, rather than from the father who had begotten 
 him, notwithstanding he was pretended to have been divine. 
 
 It must be observed, that Huitzilopochtli was worshipped by 
 
 o2 
 
100 
 
 all the Chichemecan and Nahuatlacan nations, not even except- 
 ing the Tultecas, with the same sanguinary rites as bv the 
 Mexicans, but it was under different names and figures accord- 
 ing to their peculiar languages; for example, by the Tultecas 
 under thp name of Tlaloc ; by the Tlascaltecas, or Teochiche- 
 mecas as Camaxtle ; and by the Chiapanecos and Mixtecas as 
 the heart of the people ; the two last represented him by a little 
 idol of emerald, about four fingers in length and two in breadth, 
 on which was sculptured the figure of a bird surrounded by a 
 little snake. 
 
 This idol was found by father Benito Fernandez, a zealous 
 Dominican Missionary of Mixteca, on the lofty mountain of 
 Achiauhtla, where it was worshipped by the natives; he refused 
 three thousand dollars which were offered to him by some Spa- 
 niards who saw it, thinking it would be more conducive to the 
 spiritual welfare of his new converts, to reduce it to dust, which 
 he accordingly performed with great pomp in presence of the 
 people. See Clavigero, 2nd vol. of his history. 
 
 In speaking of the Tultecas, Clavigero says : that although 
 they were idolaters, he did not know they offered human victims ; 
 but Torquemada relating the allegorical history of their de- 
 struction, says, an immense number of Tultecas being assembled 
 to celebrate a festival to appease the anger of their gods when a 
 famine and pestilence were raging in their country, after they 
 had danced with a giant phantom that appeared among them, 
 were next morning found dead and their hearts taken out; an 
 evident proof of their having been sacrificed according to the rites 
 of the country. 
 
101 
 
 I have now ascertained the origin, if not of all the Ameri- 
 cans, at least of those who inhabited the countries bordering on 
 the gulph of Mexico and the adjacent islands ; and I have 
 cleared up such other points as I proposed to examine. From 
 various accidents, since the introduction of the arts of navigation, 
 it is probable that many other families besides those alluded to, 
 may have been conveyed to different parts of America and have 
 formed settlements ; the numerous dialects known in America, 
 as well as their superstitious religion and rites of exotic origin, 
 which they continued to practice and diffuse, will warrant such 
 a supposition. At any rate, this present examination, and the 
 traditions which have been regularly and generally preserved by 
 all the nations, from one pole to the other, relative to the deluge, 
 the confusion of languages, and the subsequent dispersion of the 
 tribes, are arguments sufficiently strong, if there were no others, 
 to refute the impious doctrine of the Proeadamites as heretical, 
 and without any foundation on fact. 
 
 That most troublesome of all the difficulties hitherto started 
 by authors respecting the passage of animals to America, parti- 
 cularly of the ferocious kinds at enmity with man, even retaining 
 in full force the plausible reasons so ingeniously urged, if not 
 entirely removed, is nearly surmounted by the discovery and 
 examination of Anian orBehring's straits, which are of no greater 
 breadth than thirteen leagues from shore to shore, and where, by 
 means of the ice, the two continents of Asia and America are 
 connected ; this would afford a practical route not only for 
 animals but men, from whom it is possible to suppose that those 
 
102 
 
 who inhabit the most northernly countries from the straits as far as 
 Hudson's and Baffin's bays, and from the Frozen Sea to Califor- 
 nia, New Mexico, and Canada to the southward, are descended. 
 
 On this subject we may consult the third and fourth volumes 
 of the English Captain James Cook's Voyages, and don Antonio 
 Herrera's Decades to Spanish and foreign authors, who have 
 written concerning the nations that inhabit the regions from 
 California to the other side of New Mexico. We may also take 
 under consideration the accounts given of the latest discoveries of 
 the Spaniards along the Northern coasts of America in the 
 Pacific Ocean ; the languages, manners, customs, rites and 
 religion may be compared with those of the nations of Kams- 
 chatka, Tshutski, Tungusi, Siberia and adjacent territories. We 
 may also examine the quadrupeds of both parts of the globe, at 
 the same time bearing in mind the singular hunting parties 
 formed by the Asiatics, particularly by the Tartars of the vast 
 empire of Genghis Khan, about the eleventh century of the 
 christian sera, in which wild beasts of all descriptions were driven 
 together in general confusion. If we take the trouble to enter 
 upon such examination, the possibility will occur to our minds, 
 that the tenants of the forests, flying from this annual persecution 
 which was ordained by law, may have passed or at least some 
 of them, by the glacial isthmus to America, and spread them- 
 selves over it, occupying those climates most propitious to their 
 respective natures. 
 
 As a corollary to this little work, I will offer my opinion 
 upon the system adopted by the American nations in their com- 
 
103 
 
 putation of time, upon this proviso however, that when it shall 
 appear my humble judgment is opposed to the opinions of 
 many celebrated and estimable writers, in the progress of this 
 discourse, it does not arise from a mere desire of contradiction, 
 but from the necessity of dissenting from their ideas on accout of 
 the more recent information which has been obtained, and from a 
 wish to place truth on its proper basis, that history may shine 
 forth with that lustre, which time has obscured ; while the de- 
 struction of some records, the indistinctness of others, and the 
 difficulty of comprehending the few that remain, has not only 
 dimmed but almost entirely obscured. 
 
 All writers have been surprised at the ingenious method 
 pursued by the Americans from a very remote period, without 
 adopting the practices of any of the polished countries of the old 
 continent as for example in the division of the months into twenty 
 days, the years into eighteen months, and the centuries into 
 fifty-two years ; the duplication of the century to form an age of. 
 one hundred and four years, and the prudent collocation of the 
 intercalary days. Failing in all their efforts to trace an imitation, 
 they have been obliged to confess that this singular system, so 
 far from being inferior to, does actually excel that of the most 
 polished nations in the world : but, being unwilling to yield to 
 the ancient Americans so much talent and discretion as were 
 requisite for its arrangement, they have had recourse to Egypt, 
 the cradle of sciences, and to Asia, whence the Tultecas, its 
 reputed authors, are said to have derived their origin. The 
 utmost, however, that they have been able to discover, is, that on 
 
104 
 
 the 26th. of February, the Mexican century begins, which 
 was celebrated from the time of Nabonassor, seven hundred and 
 forty-seven years before Christ, because the Egyptian priests 
 conformably to their astronomical observations had fixed the 
 beginning of their month Toth and the commencement of their 
 year at noon on that day; this was verified by the Meridian of 
 Alexandria, which was erected three centuries after that epoch. 
 
 Hence it has been contended there could exist no doubt of 
 the conformity of the Mexican with the Egyptian calendar, for, 
 although the latter assigned twelve months of thirty days 
 each to the year, and added five days besides, in order that 
 the circle of three hundred and sixty-five days should recom- 
 mence from the same point ; yet, notwithstanding the deviation 
 from the Egyptian mode in the division of the months and days, 
 they yet maintained that the Mexican method was conformable 
 thereto, on account of the superadded five days ; with this only 
 difference, that upon these the Americans attended to no business, 
 and therefore termed them Nemontemi or useless, whereas the 
 Egyptians celebrated, during that epoch, the festival of the birth 
 of theirgocls, as attested by Plutarch de Feide, and Osiride. Upon 
 the other hand it is asserted, that though the Mexicans differed 
 from the Egyptians by dividing their year into eighteen months, 
 yet, as they called the month Mextli Moon, they must have 
 formerly adopted the lunar month, agreeable to the Egyptian 
 method of dividing the year into twelve months of thirty days ; 
 but to support this assertion no attempt has been made to ascertain 
 the cause why this method was laid aside. 
 
105 
 
 The analogy between the Mexican and the Egyptian calen- 
 dars is thus assumed to be undeniable. Besides what has been 
 here introduced, the same is attempted to be proved in many 
 other works which I pass over to avoid prolixity, and therefore 
 only mention that they may be -found in Boturmi, in La Idea 
 del Universo, by the abbe don Lorenza de Hervas, published 
 in the Italian language, in Clavigero's dissertations, and in a 
 letter addressed to him by Hervas, which he added to the end of 
 his second volume. 
 
 The reason, according to my humble judgment, which 
 induced the Mexicans to deviate from the Egyptian practice, and 
 form a distinct system for themselves, could be no other than this, 
 viz. : as they had constituted themselves a separate people and 
 independent of the nations of the old continent, they determined 
 to lay aside ine Egyptian style, which was in common use with 
 the Carthaginians, (from whom, be it remembered, they were de- 
 scended and whose yoke they had shaken off), and other nations 
 of the old hemisphere, and by reserving the original basis, from 
 which indeed it was no easy matter to depart, in order to form a 
 new system, analogous both to their origin and to the wandering 
 life of their forefathers, during the hundred and four years or 
 domiciles, before they came to occupy the American soil. 
 
 Having exhausted my small portion of talent in this little 
 work, I am sensible there yet remain many and very serious 
 difficulties to overcome; but, if the arguments I offer do not at 
 present assume the force of evident demonstration, it will not be 
 denied that they amount to probability, which approximates 
 
 P 
 
106 
 
 thereto; and I may, at least, take credit to myself for having 
 discovered a route by which we may ultimately arrive at the 
 truth ; in my opinion it is the only one, and, if not entirely new, 
 is, at any rate, but little trodden by other writers. A search after 
 monuments which doubtless still remain in the Palencian city, 
 in Mayapan or Ocozingo and many other places in the province 
 of Yucatan and that of Chicheu Ytza or Peten, which adjoins as 
 well as at various other places in the kingdom of Guatemala, 
 will some time hence add to it that degree of certainty required 
 at present, and repair the loss (which can never be sufficiently 
 lamented), of the valuable histories of the American nation; a 
 loss, as I have before mentioned, caused by an inconsiderate zeal 
 that has not been less injurious to the republic of letters than 
 prejudicial to the interest of true religion. 
 
 There is yet another circumstance, equally important with 
 the monuments already described, that may powerfully contribute 
 to so desirable an object and which I shall state in the following 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The indifference of many individuals, possessing precious relics 
 that have, from time to time, fallen into their hands is, in my 
 estimation, very reprehensible. 
 
 We have already seen, with grief, what was done by Nunez 
 de la Vega with those which he obtained in the Casa Lobrega at 
 Tlacoaloya ; but without going so far back, or reverting to losses 
 that are now beyond the power of remedy, I will confine myself 
 
107 
 
 to some recent important discoveries which may be preserved, 
 should they attract attention from the superior authorities. 
 
 Being very desirous of ascertaining the time when, and the 
 place where, the two medals before described were found, I 
 collected various reports which indeed agreed but little with each 
 other ; at last, I was assured by don Nicholas Ortiz de Letona, 
 residing in the city of New Guatemala, that, in 1787, don Jose 
 Antonio Colomo, curate of the town of Ostuncalco, in the juris- 
 diction of Questabtenango, informed him, that, having issued 
 orders for diggingat a certain place in his curacy where he had 
 previously observed that something must have been buried, he 
 found, about twelve feet below the surface of the ground, a small 
 jar of fine clay, covered with a tile of the same material, con- 
 taining two hundred different brass medals, and among them he 
 recollects to have seen one similar to that represented in this 
 work. 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 
 bishoprick 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 
 
 p 2 
 
108 
 
 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 worshipped under the from of the idol Quetzalcoatl. 
 
 The licentiate don Francisco Ortiz also informed me, that 
 there is in the possession of the present curate of Saint Ca- 
 tharine of Yatahuacan, a little historical book of an Hebrew 
 Indian nation, which may probably be that of Been, mentioned 
 by Nunez de la Vega. Letters have been addressed to this 
 person with a view to o btain a copy of the same as well as 
 to the curate of Saint Bartholomew for the purpose of veri- 
 fying the fact of the chalice ; but as no replies have yet been 
 received, it is supposed the letters did not reach their des- 
 tination. 
 
 In the environs of this city, on the plain in the road 
 leading to the town of Mixco, there are evident vestiges of the 
 site of an extensive village ; these consist of a vast number of 
 fragments of earthen vessels dispersed in all directions, in nume- 
 rous pyramidical mounds notorious for having been the sepul- 
 chres of distinguished personages, and in many rude statues of 
 stone. One of the latter, which don Paul Tauriginii brought to 
 this city, is now placed at the corner of his house ; a second 
 has been erected near a fountain called el Ojo de Agua, on 
 
109 
 
 the estate named Incienso ; and a third may be seen in an angle 
 of a court yard in the town of Ciudad Vieja de Guatemala. In 
 the inner court of the house on the Incieso estate, there is also a 
 stone tablet supported upon feet, having; hieroglyphics on the 
 four corners of the superficies and on three of its edges; this 
 must have been a table used in sacrifices. 
 
 On the same plain one Felix Consuegra, of this city, dug up 
 a round flat stone about a yard in diameter and a quarter thick, 
 on one of its superficies a deity is represented under the figure 
 of a man in the act of seating himself; pointing upwards with 
 the fore finger of his right hand, and downwards with the fore 
 finger of his left which is placed behind him; before him there 
 is a bird with a crest like a cock and many hieroglyphics and 
 unknown characters. This stone was beneath another very 
 large one of a parallelagramatic form, which shews it to have 
 been an altar for sacrifices. 
 
 Calmet relates that the Cuteans, a people who emigrated 
 from Samaria, worshipped the goddess Nergel under the figure 
 of a bird resembling a hen ; and father Pezronio affirms in his 
 chronological canon, that this emigration was from Persia and 
 headed by Asarradon king of Assyria and Babylon, in the 
 twenty-second year of the reign of Manasses, six hundred and 
 seventy-six years before the christian aera. 
 
 Don Juan de Letona, chief officer of the royal treasury, and 
 donPedro Garziaguirre engraver of the royal mint, have in their 
 possession numerous historical medals. 
 
 There can be no doubt but many important relics might 
 
110 
 
 now be discovered in. the Palencian city, in Mayapam and other 
 places in the same kingdom, if careful researches were made ; 
 because this region was the first on the continent, where the 
 polished nations, before described, founded their settlements. 
 Many valuable documents might be found in the archives of 
 the different bishopricks and in the libraries of convents; indeed 
 in the Dominican convent of this city there are some learned 
 manuscripts in six folio volumes, that were written by father 
 Francisco Ximenes, relative to the conquest of this province, the 
 progress of religion, and the apostolic fathers who desseminated 
 Christianity. In the first volume he has given an history of the 
 creation of the world as believed by the Indians of Chiapa, to 
 ascertain this from the natives cost him a great deal of labour, 
 for so he expresses himself. Such a document will add much to 
 the fame of don Ramon Ordonez who, I am told, has introduced 
 it into his work del Cielo y de la Tierra. There are also many 
 records in the hands of curates, and of private individuals who do 
 not consider them of much value, and probably they will be lost, 
 unless they fall into the possession of those who know how to 
 estimate the treasures of information which they contain. May 
 not the historical works spoken of by Nunez de la Vega, (a 
 Domician friar prior to his nomination to the bishoprick of 
 Chiapa), which he has declared were in his possession, yet be 
 found in the library of the Dominican convent of Ciudad Real, 
 or in the archives of the bishoprick? It is possible. 
 
 All this, however, requires the powerful arm of his Majesty. 
 Were the royal interposition successful, some of the original 
 
Ill 
 
 works might be deposited in the royal cabinet ; faithful copies of 
 which, and of the hieroglyphics, figures and characters that 
 might be discovered, duly authenticated by a public act, would, 
 in my opinion, a most desirable acquisition to the university of 
 this city. Such statues and stones as could be transported, might 
 be placed in the halls and galleries of the university, where they 
 would afford to the students of antiquity, excellent and authentic 
 materials for discussing and reviving their forgotten merits ; 
 which could not fail of redounding to the honor of his Majesty 
 and to the benefit of the public. 
 
 Although Calmet says the few monuments, as well as the 
 hieroglyphics and characters, which have descended to us unin- 
 jured, can now be neither read nor understood, because the Greek 
 language, introduced by the dominion of the Ptolemies, occa- 
 sioned the Egyptian, (which very nearly resembled the Punic and 
 Phoenician) to be forgotten ; I am persuaded the Zendal, Mexican 
 and American mother tongues, must have a great affinity to the 
 Egyptian ; and as it is undeniable that the languages of these 
 nations have been preserved, they may be capable of affording 
 some assistance in decyphering the hieroglyphics and different 
 characters, particularly as the similitude between the Egyptian 
 and the Punic is well known to the learned. 
 
 But, admitting there did exist a great difference between the 
 Egyptian and Punic languages, yet it is probable the method of 
 writing and understanding the hieroglyphics and characters might 
 have been the same with both people, or, have had some resem- 
 blance. This is indeed the opinion of father Kircher who thinks, 
 
112 
 
 as stated by Calmet himself, that the Egyptian hieroglyphics 
 and characters are the same as the Phoenician or Cadmean, 
 introduced by Cadmus into Boeotia, with no other difference, 
 than what I have before pointed out between the sacred and the 
 vulgar. Lucan attributes the invention of the latter to the 
 Phoenicians, in the following verses, lib. 3. 
 
 Phoenicii primi, famae, si creditur ansi 
 Mensuram rudibus vocem signare figuns. 
 Nondum fluraineas, Memphis, contex^re Biblos. 
 Novfirat et saxis tantum, volucresque, ferceque, 
 Sculptaque servabant, Magicas, Animalia, linguas. 
 
 - 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
A 
 
 TABLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MEXICAN YEARS 
 
 From the year two hundred and ninety-one before Christ, when 
 Votan was at Rome, to thirty-four years after the coming of our 
 Saviour, in which he completed the work of our redemption by 
 his agony and death. The eclipse, which happened at the cruci- 
 fixion, as attested by the Holy Evangelists, was noted in the 
 Mexican Calendar in the year seven Tochtli (Rabbit) as traced 
 by Boturini and verified by Clavigero, when he fixed the time of 
 the expulsion of the Chichemecas from Amaguemecan, and the 
 beginning of their peregrination in first Tecpatl, (Flint) and the 
 foundation of the kingdom of Tulteca in eight Acatl, (Reed) 
 and other important periods. 
 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 Mexican 
 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 8 Tochtli, 
 
 Rabbit 
 
 291 
 
 10 Tecpatl, Flint 
 
 289 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 287 
 
 9 Acatl, Reed 
 
 290 
 
 11 Calli, House 
 
 288 
 
 13 Acatl 
 
 286 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 
 285 
 
 7 Acatl 
 
 266 
 
 13 Tochtli 
 
 247 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 
 284 
 
 8 Tecpatl 
 
 265 
 
 1 Acatl 
 
 246 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 
 283 
 
 9 Calli 
 
 Q 
 
 264 
 
 2 Tecpatl 
 
 245 
 
114 
 
 j 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 4 Acatl 
 
 282 
 
 10 Tochtli 
 
 263 
 
 3 Calli 
 
 244 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 281 
 
 11 Acatl 
 
 262 
 
 4 Tochtli 
 
 243 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 280 
 
 12 Tecpatl 
 
 261 
 
 5 Acatl 
 
 242 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 279 
 
 13 Calli 
 
 260 
 
 6 Tecpatl 
 
 241 
 
 8 Acatl 
 
 278 
 
 1 Tochtli 
 
 259 
 
 7 Calli 
 
 240 
 
 9 Tecpatl 
 
 277 
 
 2 Acatl 
 
 258 
 
 8 Tochtli 
 
 239 
 
 10 Calli 
 
 276 
 
 3 Tecpatl 
 
 257 
 
 9 Acatl 
 
 238 
 
 11 Tochtli 
 
 275 
 
 4 Calli 
 
 256 
 
 10 Tecpatl 
 
 237 
 
 12 Acatl 
 
 274 
 
 5 Tochtli 
 
 255 
 
 11 Calli 
 
 236 
 
 13 Tecpatl 
 
 273 
 
 6 Acatl 
 
 254 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 235 
 
 1 Calli 
 
 272 
 
 7 Tecpatl 
 
 253 
 
 13 Acatl 
 
 234 
 
 2 Tochtli 
 
 271 
 
 8 Calli 
 
 252 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 233 
 
 3 Acatl 
 
 270 
 
 9 Tochtli 
 
 251 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 232 
 
 4 Tecpatl 
 
 269 
 
 10 Acatl 
 
 250 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 231 
 
 5 Calli 
 
 268 
 
 11 Tecpatl 
 
 249 
 
 4 Acatl 
 
 230 
 
 6 Tochtli 
 
 267 
 
 12 Calli 
 
 248 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 229 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 228 
 
 12 Tecpatl 
 
 209 
 
 5 Acatl 
 
 190 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 227 
 
 13 Calli 
 
 208 
 
 6 Tecpatl 
 
 189 
 
 8 Acatl 
 
 226 
 
 I Tochtli 
 
 207 
 
 7 Calli 
 
 188 
 
 9 Tecpatl. 
 
 225 
 
 2 Acatl 
 
 206 
 
 8 Tochtli 
 
 187 
 
 10 Calli 
 
 224 
 
 3 Tecpatl 
 
 205 
 
 9 Acatl 
 
 186 
 
 11 Tochtli 
 
 223 
 
 4 Calli 
 
 204 
 
 10 Tecpatl 
 
 185 
 
 12 Acatl 
 
 222 
 
 5 Tochtli 
 
 203 
 
 11 Calli 
 
 184 
 
 13 Tecpatl 
 
 221 
 
 6 Acatl 
 
 202 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 183 
 
 1 Calli 
 
 220 
 
 7 Tecpatl 
 
 201 
 
 13 Acatl 
 
 182 
 
 2 Tochtli 
 
 219 
 
 8 Calli 
 
 200 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 181 
 
 3 Acatl 
 
 218 
 
 9 Tochtli 
 
 199 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 180 
 
 4 Tecpatl 
 
 217 
 
 10 Acatl 
 
 198 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 179 
 
 5 Calli 
 
 216 
 
 11 Tecpatl 
 
 197 
 
 4 Acatl 
 
 178 
 
 6 Tochtli 
 
 215 
 
 12 Calli 
 
 196 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 177 
 
 7 Acatl 
 
 214 
 
 13 Tochtli 
 
 195 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 176 
 
 8 Tecpatl 
 
 213 
 
 1 Acatl 
 
 194 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 175 
 
115 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 9 Calli 
 
 212 
 
 2 Tecpatl 
 
 193 
 
 8 AcatI 
 
 174 
 
 10 Tocbtli 
 
 211 
 
 3 Calli 
 
 192 
 
 9 Tecpatl 
 
 173 
 
 11 A rail 
 
 210 
 
 4 Tochtli 
 
 191 
 
 10 Calli 
 
 172 
 
 11 Tochtli 
 
 171 
 
 4 Calli 
 
 152 
 
 10 Tecpatl 
 
 133 
 
 12 AcatI 
 
 170 
 
 5 Tochtli 
 
 151 
 
 11 Calli 
 
 132 
 
 13 Tecpall 
 
 169 
 
 6 AcatI 
 
 150 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 131 
 
 1 Calli 
 
 168 
 
 7 Tecpatl 
 
 149 
 
 13 AcatI 
 
 130 
 
 2 Tocbtli 
 
 167 
 
 8 Calli 
 
 148 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 129 
 
 3 AcatI 
 
 166 
 
 9 Tochtli 
 
 147 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 128 
 
 4 Tecpatl 
 
 165 
 
 10 AcatI 
 
 146 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 127 
 
 5 Calli 
 
 164 
 
 11 Tecpatl 
 
 145 
 
 4 AcatI 
 
 126 
 
 6 Tochlli 
 
 163 
 
 12 Calli 
 
 144 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 125 
 
 7 AcatI 
 
 162 
 
 13 Tochtli 
 
 143 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 124 
 
 8 Tecpatl 
 
 161 
 
 1 AcatI 
 
 142 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 123 
 
 9 Calli 
 
 160 
 
 2 Tetpatl 
 
 141 
 
 8 AcatI 
 
 122 
 
 10 Tochtli 
 
 159 
 
 3 Calli 
 
 140 
 
 9 Tecpatl 
 
 121 
 
 11 AcatI 
 
 158 
 
 4 Tochtli 
 
 139 
 
 10 Calli 
 
 120 
 
 12 Tecpatl 
 
 157 
 
 5 Acafl 
 
 138 
 
 11 Tochtli 
 
 119 
 
 13 Calli 
 
 156 
 
 6 Tecpatl 
 
 137 
 
 12 AcatI 
 
 118 
 
 1 Tochtli 
 
 155 
 
 7 Calli 
 
 136 
 
 13 Tecpatl 
 
 117 
 
 2 AcatI 
 
 154 
 
 8 Tochtli 
 
 135 
 
 1 Calli 
 
 116 
 
 3 Tecpatl 
 
 153 
 
 9 AcatI 
 
 134 
 
 2 Tochtli 
 
 115 
 
 3 AcatI 
 
 114 
 
 9 Tochtli 
 
 95 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 76 
 
 4 Tecpatl 
 
 113 
 
 10 AcatI 
 
 94 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 75 
 
 5 Calli 
 
 112 
 
 11 Tecpatl 
 
 93 
 
 4 AcatI 
 
 74 
 
 6 Tochtli 
 
 111 
 
 12 Calli 
 
 92 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 73 
 
 7 AcatI 
 
 110 
 
 13 Tochtli 
 
 91 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 72 
 
 8 Tecpatl 
 
 109 
 
 1 AcatI 
 
 90 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 71 
 
 9 Calli 
 
 108 
 
 2 Tecpatl 
 
 89 
 
 8 AcatI 
 
 70 
 
 10 Tochtli 
 
 107 
 
 3 Calli 
 
 88 
 
 9 Tecpatl 
 
 69 
 
 Q 2 
 
116 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 11 Acatl 
 
 106 
 
 4 Tochtli 
 
 87 
 
 10 Calli 
 
 68 
 
 12 Tecpatl 
 
 105 
 
 5 Acatl 
 
 88 
 
 11 Tochtli 
 
 67 
 
 13 Calli 
 
 104 
 
 6 Tecpatl 
 
 85 
 
 12 Acatl 
 
 6G 
 
 1 Tochtli 
 
 103 
 
 7 Calli 
 
 84 
 
 13 Tecpatl 
 
 65 
 
 2 Acatl 
 
 102 
 
 8 Tochtli 
 
 83 
 
 1 Calli 
 
 f4 
 
 3 Tecpatl 
 
 101 
 
 9 Acatl 
 
 82 
 
 2 Tochtli 
 
 63 
 
 4 Calli 
 
 100 
 
 10 Tecpatl 
 
 81 
 
 3 Acatl 
 
 62 
 
 5 Tocbtli 
 
 99 
 
 11 Calli 
 
 80 
 
 4 Tecpatl 
 
 61 
 
 6 Acatl 
 
 98 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 79 
 
 5 Calli 
 
 60 
 
 7 Tecpatl 
 
 97 
 
 13 Acatl 
 
 78 
 
 6 Tochtli 
 
 59 
 
 8 Calli 
 
 96 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 77 
 
 7 Acatl 
 
 58 
 
 8 Tecpatl 
 
 57 
 
 1 Acatl 
 
 38 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 19 
 
 9 Calli 
 
 56 
 
 2 Tecpatl 
 
 37 
 
 8 Acatl 
 
 18 
 
 10 Tochtli 
 
 55 
 
 3 Calli 
 
 36 
 
 9 Tecpatl 
 
 17 
 
 11 Acatl 
 
 54 
 
 4 Tochtli 
 
 35 
 
 10 Calli 
 
 16 
 
 12 Tecpatl 
 
 53 
 
 5 Acatl 
 
 34 
 
 11 Tochtli 
 
 15 
 
 13 Calli 
 
 52 
 
 6 Tecpatl 
 
 33 
 
 12 Acatl 
 
 14 
 
 1 Tochtli 
 
 51 
 
 7 Calli 
 
 32 
 
 13 Tecpatl 
 
 13 
 
 2 Acatl 
 
 50 
 
 8 Tochtli 
 
 31 
 
 1 Calli 
 
 12 
 
 3 Tecpatl 
 
 49 
 
 9 Acatl 
 
 30 
 
 2 Tochtli 
 
 11 
 
 4 Calli 
 
 48 
 
 10 Tecpatl 
 
 29 
 
 3 Acatl 
 
 10 
 
 5 Tochtli 
 
 47 
 
 11 Calli 
 
 28 
 
 4 Tecpatl 
 
 9 
 
 6 Acatl 
 
 46 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 27 
 
 5 Calli 
 
 8 
 
 7 Tecpatl 
 
 45 
 
 13 Acatl 
 
 26 
 
 6 Tochtli 
 
 7 
 
 8 Calli 
 
 44 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 25 
 
 7 Acatl 
 
 6 
 
 9 Tochtli 
 
 43 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 24 
 
 8 Tecpatl 
 
 5 
 
 10 Acatl 
 
 42 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 23 
 
 9 Calli 
 
 4 
 
 11 Tecpatl 
 
 41 
 
 4 Acatl 
 
 22 
 
 10 Tochtli 
 
 3 
 
 12 Calli 
 
 40 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 31 
 
 11 Acatl 
 
 2 
 
 13 Tochtli 
 
 39 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 20 
 
 12 Tecpatl 
 
 1 
 
 13 Calli 
 
 AD. 1. 
 
 12 Calli 
 
 AD. 13 
 
 11 Calli 
 
 AD. 25 
 
117 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 
 Years 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexican 
 
 Before 
 
 Mexicans 
 
 Before 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 1 Tochtli 
 
 2 
 
 13 Tochtli 
 
 14 
 
 12 Tochtli 
 
 26 
 
 2 Acatl 
 
 3 
 
 1 Acatl 
 
 15 
 
 13 Acatl 
 
 27 
 
 3 Tecpatl 
 
 4 
 
 2 Tecpatl 
 
 16 
 
 1 Tecpatl 
 
 28 
 
 4 Calli 
 
 5 
 
 3 Calli 
 
 17 
 
 2 Calli 
 
 29 
 
 5 Tochtli 
 
 6 
 
 4 Tochtli 
 
 18 
 
 3 Tochtli 
 
 30 
 
 6 Acatl 
 
 7 
 
 5 Acatl 
 
 19 
 
 4 Acatl 
 
 31 
 
 7 Tecpatl 
 
 8 
 
 6 Tecpatl 
 
 20 
 
 5 Tecpatl 
 
 32 
 
 8 Calli 
 
 9 
 
 7 Calli 
 
 21 
 
 6 Calli 
 
 33 
 
 9 Tochtli 
 
 10 
 
 8 Tochtli 
 
 22 
 
 7 Tochtli 
 
 34 
 
 10 Acatl 
 
 11 
 
 9 Acatl 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 11 Tecpatl 
 
 12 
 
 10 Tecpatl 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 On reading the third voyage of Captain Cook, after I had 
 finished this work, I found in the general introduction to the 
 first volume, some reflections which accord so well with my own 
 conjectures on the population of America, that they appear to me 
 worthy of being introduced here. In page 59 of the Paris 
 edition 1785, it is said: " The relative positions of Asia and 
 " America which Cook has laid down, and his survey of the 
 " narrow strait that divides the old from the New World, have 
 " thrown great light upon this important part of geography, 
 '* and solved the difficult problem of the population of America 
 " by tribes destitute of the necessary means of undertaking long 
 " voyages." In page 80, " His third voyage has decided other 
 
118 
 
 " and more important points. He has discovered, or at least 
 " proved to demonstration the proximity of the two continents 
 " of Asia and America ; therefore our latest navigators have 
 " rendered a service to religion by refuting an objection started 
 " by sceptics, against the population of different parts of the earth 
 " as related by Moses " Again in a note, " The incredulous have 
 " raised a multitude of objections that betray great ignorance ; 
 " the author of " JRecherches Philosophiques sur les Ameri- 
 " cains," thus expresses himself on this question. " This 
 " distance which Mr. Antermonio deemed so unimportant, is 
 " nearly eighty french leagues, across a dangerous ocean, impos- 
 " sible to be traversed in canoes so bad and so fragile as Ysbrand 
 " describes the canoes of the Tungusians to be." Tom. I. 
 
 Had this writer known that the two continents are no more 
 than thirteen leagues from each other instead of eighty, and that 
 in that short space numerous intermediate islands are dispersed 
 on each side, he would not have ventured to adopt this reason- 
 ing with so much confidence as he has done against Mr. Bell's 
 System of the route by which the inhabitants first attained 'the 
 shores of America. In a learned work composed by the illus- 
 trious Don Francis Jose Granados y Galvez, Bishop of Sonara, 
 entitled Tardes Americanas (American Evenings), printed at 
 Mexico, in 1778, which also fell into my hands after I had brought 
 my work to a conclusion, I find the following remark. " Be- 
 " sides the seven caves from which the Chichemecas emerged to 
 " people the North or Land of Amaguemecan, there are some 
 " islands which they place on their maps towards the east, 
 
119 
 
 " mistaking them for those of the Tultecas which lie to the 
 " westward, the maps of the latter however do not represent 
 " countries, but families." This very valuable and conclusive 
 information, although acquired at the termination of my resear- 
 ches, prompts me to amend the title of this essay which I had 
 intended to call a new Attempt to solve the grand historical 
 problem of the population of America ; whereas I have denomi- 
 nated it ; a Solution of the grand problem, and in so doing I 
 sincerely trust the reader will not ascribe such alteration to an 
 overstrained confidence in my own abilities. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 ■»♦ » 
 
 JVo^e I.— Page 27. 
 
 Don Autonio de Mendoza, the first viceroy of Mexico, ordered a collection of paintings to be 
 executed amounting to sixty-three, which he caused to be explained by the learned natives, and 
 their elucidations to be translated into the Spanish language for Charles V. The ship in 
 which they were sent, was captured by a French privateer, and in consequence they fell into 
 the hands of Fevet, geographer to the then king of France. From his heirs they were 
 purchased by Hakluit, author of the voyages and Chaplain to the English Ambassador at the 
 Court of France, who remitted them to England. The Spanish translation was rendered into 
 English by one Lock, at the command of Sir Walter Raleigh, and published by Samuel Purchas, 
 in the third volume of his Pilgrinages. It was reprinted in Paris, with the interpretation of 
 Thevenot in the second volume of his Relation of Curious Voyages, but was defective, owing to 
 his having mistaken the figures of the years in the copies of the paintings, numbers 11 and 12, 
 and the copies of numbers 21 and 22, added to which, the major part of the figures of the 
 tributary cities are also deficient. Kircher reprinted a copy of Purchase's production in his 
 (Edipus .ZEgyptiacus, which will be found extremely useful to the learned who may employ 
 themselves in writing upon this subject. 
 
 The viceroy Don Luis Velasco, count of Benevento, employed Don Fernando Pimentel 
 Yxtlilxochitl, son of Coanacotzin, the last king of Tezcuco ; and Don Antonio de Tovar Cano 
 Moetezuma Yxtlilxochitl, descendants from the royal families of Mexico and Tezcuco, to write 
 whatsoever they were acquainted with relative to their respective nations. In consequence of 
 this, some letters were produced on the genealogy of the kings of Acolhuacan or Tezcuco, and 
 on some other points of the ancient history of that kingdom, which were preserved in the 
 Jesuit's College of Saints Peter and Paul in Mexico. 
 
 Don Fernando de Alba Yxtlilxochitl under the same auspices wrote many erudite works of 
 great estimation, as he was profoundly versed in the antiquities of his nation, Acolhua or 
 Tezcuco, from the kings of which he was a lineal descendant, viz: 1°. The History of New Spain. 
 2°. The History of Chichemeca. 3°. An historical compendium of the kingdom of Tezcuco. 
 4°. Some historical memoirs of the Tultecas and other nations of Anahuac ; all which works 
 were preserved in the library of the college before mentioned. It is probable that the last 
 production treats of their coming from the old to the new continent ; of their expulsion from 
 their first settlement at the city of Palenque in the kingdom of Amaguemecan, and the cause 
 thereof. This author was so cautious in what he wrote, that, to remove all suspicion of fiction 
 
121 
 
 he caused a deed to be executed in legal form, authenticating his narrative with the historical 
 paintings which he inherited from his ancestors. 
 
 Don Alfonso Zurita, a celebrated jurisconsult, corregidor of Mexico, after having made 
 many researches by order of Phillip II, relative to the political Government of the Mexicans, 
 wrote a compendious account of the chiefs who had governed in Mexico, with their distinctions, 
 the laws, manners, and customs of the Mexicans, and of the tributes paid by them ; the original 
 of which in folio was equally preserved in the Jesuits' Library. In the same depository were 
 also kept several other valuable manuscripts highly deserving of notice. 1°. Annals of the 
 kingdom of Azcapuzalco or Colhuacau ; this must not be confounded with Acolhuacan or 
 Tezcuco. 2". Four Works in the Mexican Language, by Don Domingo Saint Anton Munon 
 Chimalpain, a Mexican noble, viz: a Mexican Chronicle of events from the year 106S to 1597. 
 2". The history of the conquest of Mexico and other Provinces. 3°. Historical commentaries 
 from the year 1064 to 1521. And a Mexican Chronicle, written in Spanish, in the year 1598, 
 by Don Fernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc. In the Jesuits' College of Tepozotlan, there is a 
 history of the voyage of the Aztecas to the country of Anahuac, written by Don Cristoval de 
 Castillis, a noble Mestee 3Iexican. The title of this MS. shews it to be one of importance, as 
 it very probably contains an account of the voyage of the Mexicans, who are the Aztecas, and 
 of the primitive families of the Culebras (snakes), who I shall demonstrate were from the old 
 continent to the new, with an account of the first empire they founded in America, its 
 duration, its decay, and their expulsion from the first settlements of Anahuac. 
 
 Note 2.— Page 27. 
 
 Father Gregoria Garcia, a Dominican, was the first who printed the celebrated book* 
 " On the Origin of the Americans," at Palencia in 1607. This work was augmented, with some 
 very learned notes, by an anonymous author and reprinted at Madrid in 1729. 
 
 Don Cristoval Chaves Castellejo, in the year 1632 wrote a work, entitled " The Origin of 
 the Indians, and their first Colonies in the kingdom of Anahuac. 
 
 Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gonzora, professor of mathematics in the university of Mexico 
 (his native place), wrote many works of great erudition, amoDg which was an history of the 
 kingdom of Chichemeca, wherein he introduced whatsoever he had been able to collect from 
 manuscripts and paintings relative to the first colonies transplanted into America, and to events 
 among the nations settled in Anahuac; to these was added a long and learned treatise upon the 
 promulgation of the Gospel, by the apostle Saint Thomas, founded on the Indian traditions, 
 and on the numerous crosses found in Mexico during its Paganism, and then the objects of their 
 worship. All these manuscripts however, were unfortunately lost by the negligence of his heirs, 
 and there now remain only some fragments of his works, in the writings of Betancourt and Vic- 
 toria, his contemporaries, and in those of his friend Gemelli. 
 
 Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci, a Milanese gentleman, after much trouble in obtaining copies 
 of the best manuscripts and paintings, printed at Madrid in the year 1746 the outline of a 
 grand work, which I have been informed did not appear in consequence of his death. All the 
 authors cited in this and the preceding note, and many others, are mentioned by Clavigero in his 
 
 R 
 
122 
 
 catalogue of writers on America, at the beginning of vol. 1 of his Ancient History of Mexico, 
 printed in the Italian language at Cezenna in 1780. 
 
 Cartas Criticas, torn. II. 
 
 NoteS.— Page 28. 
 
 Note 4.— Page 28 
 
 Tomo 1°, libro 2°. — " L'istoria della primitiva popolazione di Anahuac, & per tal 
 " inaniera oscurata e da taute favole invilluppata che, non che maleggevole, e anche affatto 
 " impossibile il trovar il vero." 
 
 Note b— Page 28. 
 
 The abb£ Lenglet in his method of studying history, vol. 1, chap. 9, quotes this system. 
 Burnet supposes that the primitive earth being formed like an arched vault, was split by the heat 
 of the sun and fell in pieces to the bottom of the liquid element : that if the fall had been equal 
 the whole globe would have been only one uninterrupted sea ; that it did not fall at once, but 
 large portions of it remaining inclined at their extremities in different directions, such large 
 portions are the continents inhabited at the present period. 
 
 Note 6.— Page 28. 
 
 Proeadamitorum Systema, lib. 4, cap. 7, 8, 9, cited by Lenglet, torn. 1, cap. 3, Feyjoo at 
 the place mentioned before. 
 
 Note 7 .—Page 30. 
 
 Credendum potius miracula intercessisse signa necessaria fuerunt, quam scripturce sacrse 
 hisloriae narrationi fidem derrogandum, vel ejus verba in alienos sensus detorquenda, Natal. 
 Alex, iu Histor. Veter. Testam. prima Mundi iEtate, dissert. 10, art. 4. 
 
 Note 8.— Page 30. 
 
 The Tapanahuasee is a hollow cylindar like a large drum, entirely of wood without skins at 
 the ends. It is beaten on its longitudinal surface, where there are two long parallel hollows, 
 a little distant from each other, and struck on the space between the hollows with 
 sticks covered at the ends with Ule or elastic resin ; that the sound produced may be softer. 
 During their paganism the Indians used this instrument in their sacred dances. Even at the 
 present day they employ it in the diversion of dancing called Tepanahuaste, or, as the Mexicans 
 call it, the dance of Teponatzli. 
 
123 
 
 Note 9,— Page 31. 
 
 The same Nunez de la Vega, in several places in his " Constitutions," but more parti- 
 cularly in his ninth Pastoral Letter, at number 4, gives an account of the sect or superstition 
 of Nagualism, which was found to have taken deep root in his Bishoprick and extended over the 
 kingdom of Mexico. " The Nagualists practice it 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, where, 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 mother, instructing them before hand not to be alarmed, 
 " or sign themselves with the cross ; they are afterwards to embrace the Nagual affectionately, 
 " which by some diabolical art or another, 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 lo watch over 
 " their fortunes, to protect, assist and accompany them ; and that it must be invoked upon all 
 " occasions, business, or occurences, in which they may require its aid." 
 
 Note 10.— Page 42. 
 
 Plangebatur et apud Egyptios Osiris. Is enim quurn justissime apud Egyptios reg- 
 nasset, a Typhone fratre homine violento et impio trucidatus est. Is dilacerato interfectus 
 corpore in vigenti sex frusta cuique facinoris socio unum tribuit, ut ornnes eo piaculo 
 obstringeret, sibique in regni defensione et custodia firmos haberet adjutores. Rependet 
 tandem Isis omnia frusta corporis pudendis solummodo demptis. Virilia enim a Ty- 
 phone in fluvium objecta erant, quia sociorum nemo hasc recipere volebat, qua; tandem ab 
 Iside nihilo minus divinis honoribus affecta fuerunt. Nam in templis effigiem horum adornatam 
 coli praecepit et initiorura ceremoniis sacrificiisque : Deo istis peragendis honoratissima ut esset 
 plurimaque veneratione digna effecit. Idcirco et Grseci postquam sacrorum Bacchinorum ritus 
 et orgiarum solemnitatis ab Egyptiis accepere, membrum i'.lud in mysteriis initiis et sacri- 
 ficiis Dei htijus Phalli nomine honorant. Haec Diod. Sicul. lib. I, bibliot. Ptolin. lib. II, Telra- 
 biblos de Assyriis, Peisisque et Egyptiis sacra sunt apud eos membra generationi destinata ab 
 Solis, Saturni Tenerisque aspectibus qui seminales sunt. Schelius de Diis Germanis, pag. 77, 
 Lenglet, torn. 2, cap. 10, de Castre Diccionario Mitologico, torn 6, verb. Osiris, Orgias 
 Phallus, &c. 
 
 Note 11.— Page 47. 
 
 Calmet cap. 10, vers. 17 in Genes. Verb. Evaeum Chivim, et in Diction. Bibliot. Verb. 
 Cadmondi Hevoei Josue et in dissert, de Hsebrseor. histor. prsestan. et de Regione in quam Cana- 
 
 r2 
 
124 
 
 nei pnlsi a Josue sese receperunt, torn. 2, in Josu. de divers, ration, scribeud. veter. torn. 1, el 
 mult, aliis iu locis sparsim : see also Lenglet, torn. 1 et 2. 
 
 Note 12.— Page 48. 
 
 Quo in fabula narranlur de metamorphosi illorum in Augues deductum est e nomine 
 Hevseorum quod Phaenicio sermone anguem sonat. Ideo vero gentibus illis Hevosorum nomen 
 indutum censent Hebrasii quod, anguium more sub terra et iu cavernis babitarent, Calmet, Coin- 
 in Genes, cap. 10, vers. 17. 
 
 Note 13.— Page 49. 
 
 Timorem meum immittam in praecursum tuuin, et occidam omnem populnm ad quern 
 
 ingredieris cunctorumque inimicorum tuorum coram te terga vertam Emittens Crabrones 
 
 prius, qui fugabunt Hevosum etCananaeum, et Helseum, antequam introeas. Exod. 23, 28,29, 
 vide etiam Deuter.9, 3, 32, 22, et Sapien. 12, 8. 
 
 Note 14.— Page 51. 
 
 Calmet, from whom 1 have taken the chronology of the victory of Moses over Og, 
 king of Basan, and the foundations of Tyre and Sidon, has erred in the date of the first; 
 and this error 1 have noticed in two different impressions of his work. It is known that in 
 settling the date of the victory, he made use of the shortest computation of the Hebrew 
 text, which reckons 1656 years from the creation of the world to the deluge ; and 797 years 
 from the latter to the emigration of the Hebrews from Egypt ; these added together make 2453' 
 and this number should be substituted for 2253, which is given as the date of the victory. Such 
 is undoubtedly an error of the amanuensis or the printer. 
 
 But to fix the date of the foundation of Tyre and Sidon, he has recourse to the longest 
 computation of the Hebrew text, that agrees in the same period of 1656 years from the creation 
 to the deluge, but makes the Hebrews' departure from Egypt 857 years after the deluge, these 
 combined amount to 2549 which is the date he assigns ; and such computation agrees with the 
 thirty-six, instead of the thirty-seven years of the Hebrews sojourning iu the wilderness. 
 
 Neither do the dates before Christ correspond. He places the death of Og, in the year 1447, 
 and the foundation of Tyre in 1455, eight years prior to that event; and this he does by fixing 
 the foundation of Thebes, which was certainly in 1519 consequently sixty four years elapsed 
 between the building of the two cities. At this period Moses, so far from being with his father- 
 in-law, in Madian, had been numbered with the dead many years, according to our own compu- 
 tation. Add to this that the major part of those writers who follow the calculations of the 
 Hebrew text, fix the foundation of Thebes at the period of the departure of the Jews from 
 Egypt ; respecting the date of Thebes there can be no doubt, as it is authenticated by the Arundel 
 marbles. These are the most precious of all the records of Antiquity, as they have become the 
 basis of chronology, have enabled us to fix the periods of many remarkable events, and have 
 been the main prop of history. The sacred volume, being intended to make converts to Chris- 
 tianity, pays but little attention to chronology, and therefore seldom mentions the year or time of 
 any event, which, for our instruction is placed before us. Much more might be said in oppo- 
 
125 
 
 sition to Calmet, respecting these days, which I shall omit, as the inaccuracy is sufficiently 
 obvious, and because I wish to avoid being more diffuse in notes than in my principal subject, 
 but this appears to me to be a fit opportunity for introducing the eulogium of Leuglet, vol.], 
 chap. 8. 
 
 " The Augustin father Calmet, who studied ihe holy scriptures most profoundly, has given 
 " to Catholics a work of as much accuracy in its nature as can be desired ; in his labour, he never 
 " lost sight of the great difficulties of his subject which he has overcome in so learned a manner. 
 " His history of the old and new Testaments will serve as a guide in reading the holy scriptures, 
 " until he, or some other person following his steps, shall produce a more detailed work, that 
 " will excite a taste for the original." 
 
 Note 15.— Page 51. 
 
 Calmet ubi supra : Lenglet, torn. 2, chap. 11. Pomey. Panth. Schol. explan. de fab. de 
 Castres, Diccion. Mitolog, or Pagan ages, etc. Cadmus and his wife Hermione died in the 
 greatest misery in Illyricum, now Dalmatia and Sclavonia. 
 
 Note 16.— Page 51. 
 
 Ovid. Metam. lib. 3, Pomey, Banier. Carres. Schot. lib. Geraldi. Lord Herbert de Relig. 
 Gentil. etc. 
 
 Note 17.— Page 54. 
 
 At the head of the calendar is placed the name of Ninus, in the Latin tongue, he was the 
 son of Belus, grandson of Nimrod, great grandson of Chus and great great grandson of Cham ; he 
 gave fresh vigour to idolatry among the Babylonians and the Chaldeans. In more modern calen- 
 dars the latin name Ninus is corrupted into Himos ; and more recently he is called Mox, but 
 always holding the first place. This adulation of Ninus alludes to the Ceiba, a tree which they 
 have in the squares of all their towns within sight of the Cabildo's house ; under it they hold 
 the assembly for electing Alcade's. They consider it as undeniable, that from the roots of this 
 tree, they derive their lineage. No. 33, sect. 29. 
 
 Note 18.— Page 66. 
 
 Nos sumus qui Praedonem Jesum filium nave fugientes, in tutum recepti sumus. Prot. 
 ibid. 
 
 Note 19.— Page 66. 
 
 Non ejiciam eas a facie tua, anno uno ne terra in solitudinem redigatur. Paulatim expellam 
 eos conspectu tuo donee augearis et possideas terram. Exod. cap. 23, ver. 29, 30. 
 
126 
 
 Note 20 — Page 69. 
 
 Altera navigatio ita discribitur Diodoro Siculo, lib. 5, cap. 19, ab Hornio, lib. 7, cap. 7. 
 In remotissima aetate Phaenices transgressi Herculis Columnas ventis abrepti, his se peruiit- 
 tentes, post varias agitationes, tandem in insulam Oceani Atlantici plurium dierura naviga- 
 tione a Lybia distantem occidentem versus jactatisunt, ubi ferax nacti solum, omnes naves et ma- 
 gnas sedes reliquerunt aedificarunt. Ex his famainventae insulaeapud Carthaginenses etTyrrenos 
 quos Carthaginenses quum premerentur frequentibus irruptionibus Tyrrenorum et aliorum 
 populorum Mauritaniae, instructa classe, coloniam ad novam illam insulam deduxerant, re 
 omni celata eo consilio, ut si quando affligerentur ab hostibus, tulum illic haberent effugium. 
 Calm, de regione in quam, etc. 
 
 Note 21. —Page 69. 
 
 Apud Diodorum accuratius. — Nonnulli Phcenices in earn insulam de qua is auctor, veluti 
 amplissima, et terrestri quodam Paradiso loquitur, procellarum impetu adacti, quum deinde 
 rediissent, ejus pulchritudinem et opulentiam, quam maxime praedicarunt ; quare Tyrrenos, 
 ejus desiderio captos eadem potiri eoque coloniam ducere conantes piohibuerunt Carthaginenses 
 veriti,ne Carthaginensium plerique regiones ubertate illecti patria decederent, sibique in eadem 
 insula domicilium constituerent. Eandem praeterea, veluti tutum perfugium respiciebant, 
 ubi ipsos vel improvisa obrueret calamitas, vel eorum in Africa respublica corrueret. FUenim 
 quum mari potirentur, quo magis regio caeteros latuisset, eo facilius putabant, uti illuc se 
 suasque familias reciperent. Calm, in dissert, de Hebror : praestan : 
 
 Note 22.— Page 70. 
 
 De iis regionibus usurpatum est, quod perhibuit Aristoteles de quadam deserta insula citra 
 Columnas Herculis amplitudine eximia, ingentibus quarumlibet arborum sylvis frequeutibus, et 
 magnis fluminibus, a Gadibus plurium dierum itinere disjuncta, primores Carthaginis magistra- 
 Carthaginenses plurimos eo se conferre, nonnullos qui inde minime redirent, comperiissent, ne 
 qui in posterum illuc pergerent, utque extemplo illi degentes reverterentur, capital] paena 
 sanxerunt veriti, ne alii populi, re percepta, in eadem insula imperium constituerent, et Cartha- 
 ginis pacem atque commercium everterent. Calm, ubi supra. 
 
 Note 23.— Page 70. 
 
 Extat inscriptio Herculis Magusani in urbe West Cappel, Portu Zelandiae, in Insula 
 Walcheien, quem Herculem D. Gallseus coaavum Moysis facit et ductorum eorum, qui Palesti- 
 nam ab ingressu Josue deseruerunt, a quo ferunt positas columnas Gaditanas ; referebat pictam 
 
 imaginem Navis, veteris cujusdam Gubernatoris semicalva fronte sola adusta Ritu Phoe- 
 
 nicio colebatur ut numen in templo in eadem urbe West Cappel, nomen Magusanus derivatum 
 
127 
 
 ex Chaldeo Gouz sonat abscindere, et per Metamorphosin transire, et sic Navis et vada flumi- 
 nura Chaldei vocant Megisse Calm. loc. cit. 
 
 Note 24.— Page 70. 
 
 Non est ergo locus ambigendi, Herculem Gaditanum sive aliijuem, ex posteris, vel saltern, 
 quempiam ex Phcenicibus, cui par esset cognomeu, ultra Gaditanum fretum excurrisse, nan ant 
 euim de Hercule totum ab illo orbis ambitum maritimo itinere decursum ; cui etiam Diodorus 
 Alectam Septimania urbem conditam tribuit. Calm. loc. cit. 
 
 Note 25. —Page 73. 
 
 Judith cap. 16, vers 6, 7, in Textu Greece 
 
 Note 26.— Page 77. 
 
 The Romans followed up their conquests in Italy, and as soon as they saw themselves 
 masters of that country directed their attention to exterior affairs. Their first views were bent 
 towards the Carthaginians, as this was a power, which, from its proximity, had the means of 
 incommoding them. Lenglet, torn. 1, chap. 7. 
 
 Note 27.— Page 77. 
 
 In the years 473 of Rome, and 282 years before Christ, Lucilius Emilius Barbula et Q. Man- 
 cius Phillipus, being Consuls, the Roman war against Pyrrh us commenced; and in the year 479 of 
 Rome and 270 before Christ, when M. Curius Dentatus, the 2nd and Cornelius Lentulus, were 
 consuls, Pyrrhus being beaten by the Romans, abandoned Italy. Lenglet, torn. 6, in the chron. tab. 
 
 Note 28.— Page 78. 
 
 The second Punic war broke out two hundred and eighteen years before Christ. The loss 
 of four desperate battles must have proved fatal to any people but the Romans. They had, 
 however a resource in their utmost danger, which was carrying the war into their enemy's 
 country, to avert its consequent miseries from their own, as well as, to prevent the total loss of 
 Italy. Scipio proceeded to Spain and subdued it, two hundred and ten years before Christ ; after 
 which, he marched to Africa : and this war, whose duration was seventeen years, elevated the 
 Romans to the pinnacle of their glory. Lenglet, loc. cit. 
 
 Note 29.— Page 79. 
 
 The third Puuic war began one hundred and forty-seven years before Christ. The Romans 
 were now convinced that they could not be free from future inquietudes, unless Carthage was 
 destroyed. Lenglet. 
 
128 
 
 Note 29.— Page 80. 
 
 Sententia Cananeos Africa pulsos dicens, non est nova, nee incerta, vetera nomina sunt 
 Phaenicia Ardanis Hippona Leptis, Utica. Tiugis, etc. sunt Phaemcia. Carthaginem* omitto 
 quia aedificata post Salomonis aetatem sancti Augustini aetate in expositione Epistolae ad Roma- 
 Interrogati rustici nostri, quid sint Punice, respondent Canani. Calm. loc. cit. 
 
 Note 31. —Page 80. 
 
 Recentiores critici agnoscunt veteris linguae, punicse et Canane consensum. Calm, 
 loc. cit. 
 
 Note 32.— Page 84. 
 
 In supputatione temporum siquis paucis annis fallatur in vetusta historia, ferendum est, 
 sed totis duabus, vel tribus aetatibus aberrare non permittitur. Dion. Halicar. Antiq. 
 Roman, lib. 7. The term age, or generation, ordinarily implies, in Chronology, the space of 
 thirty years, Lenglet, torn. 1. chap. 4. 
 
 Note 33.— Page 84. 
 
 Pietro Rosini an Antiquarian, in his " Wandering Mercury," of the magnificence of 
 Rome, combined with the chronological tables of Lenglet. 
 
 Appendix, Note 1. 
 
 Rarissima autem ejusdem idiomatis (ab Egyptiis) monumenta, quae vel invitis barbaris 
 soeculis inoffensa supersunt, a nemiue legi valent aut explicari. Graecum idioma in Egyptum 
 
 invectum a Ptolomeis linguam et veteres ejus regionis characteres sensim delevit Nemo 
 
 est qui Punicos caracteres et earum regionum nummos explicet. Calm, in Dissert, de Haebr. 
 hist, praestan : tome 2, in Josue's Dissert de varia Scrib. ratio, veter. lom. 1. Lenglet. torn 2. 
 
 * Carthage did not precede the fall of Troy more than fifty years, a little more than four 
 hundred years after its foundation. Dido augmented it by a new colony and fortified a citadel, 
 which she built after the first Olympiad ; this corresponds with nine hundred and twenty-six years 
 before Christ. Lenglet, torn. 1, chap. 7. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY G. SCHULZE, 
 
 13, POLAND STREET. 
 
H r £2»~« ¥ & ■ £trt cy 
 
McQueen P Co. lit/top 
 
-*-//.' "'Qtieev. .'■ \ -.,-/. Jliz&eo 
 

 
 
 
*4f Queen, ofyo. Z1M0*? 
 
jH'<h*n.rCo.ZM v 
 
M-Quem «/i«U. 
 

M.Q>tem PG>> Z/'&o</ 
 

 
 
 
 
 * 
 

 
hj 
 
 I 
 
m c 4*,*.v& J:,**?- 
 
, //" Queen SC Co. Xrf&c? 
 

Jf "f*nr» F6, A%r 
 
m 
 
/.Moy 
 


 •Af" Queen ST Co. LifAoo. 
 
- JCGe^ZMtw 
 
M?&ueen PCo ZetA* ? 
 

 
..WQisen Jt Co 2:t#n,p 
 

 ».-«sKSSSP" 
 

 CUM '■- 
 
 I. ,i