Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/280

Rh

In the northwestern corner of Tezcoco is a pile of earth, bricks, mortar and pottery, entirely shapeless, and covered with a field of aloes; on the top of this I found several very large slabs of basalt, squared with the chisel and laid due north and south. Tradition says, that these are the remains of the

On this spot, some years ago, the small fragment represented in the opposite drawing was found, and immediately transferred to the collection of the Conde del Peñasco, in Mexico, where it is now preserved.

It appears to be the remains of a trough or basin, and the sculpture is neatly executed in relief. I imagine that it was designed to represent a conflict between a serpent and bird, and you cannot fail to remark the cross distinctly carved near the lower right-hand corner of the vessel.

At the southern end of the town, there are still distinctly traceable three immense pyramids, the forms of which are not so much obliterated as might be supposed after the lapse of centuries. They lie in a line with each other from north to south—are about four hundred feet in extent on each side of their bases, and are built partly of adobes and partly of large burned bricks and fragments of pottery. In many places I discovered remains of a thick covering of cement, through which small canals or gutters had been formed to carry off the water, or, perhaps, the blood, from the upper terrace. The sides of these pyramids were strewn with fragments of idols, clay vessels, and obsidian knives. It is related by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, that the great temple of Tezcoco was ascended by one hundred and seventeen steps; and it is probable that one of these pyramids was the base of the Teocalli to which the historian alludes.

These were all the antiquities I could find in the town of Tezcoco, except the spot where tradition says that Cortéz launched his vessels. It still passes by the name of "Puente de los Bergantines," and is now probably rather more than a mile in a direct line from the lake.

While I was in Mexico a most interesting piece of antiquity was sent from Tezcoco to General Tornel, and presented by him to Mr. Morphy, an opulent English merchant, who has since returned to England. It was a group, modelled in clay, about a foot and a half high, representing a sacrifice, and consisted of two figures—the priest and the victim. The latter (a female) had been thrown over a tall and narrow stone; the priest had just made a deep incision in her back—torn out her heart—and was in the act of offering it to the idol. The expressions of death and agony in the countenance of the woman—and of pride and enthusiasm in the priest, were admirably rendered. I intended making a drawing of this group, but Mr. Morphy sent it to the coast for shipment