Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/62

 From these traditions, we derive several important facts. First, that, was "god of the air:" Second, that he was represented as a "feathered serpent:" Third, that he was the great divinity of the Cholulans: and, Fourth, that a hill was raised by them upon which they erected a temple to his glory, where they celebrated his festivals with pomp and splendor.

Combining all these, is it unreasonable to believe that the Pyramid of Cholula was the base of this temple, and that he was there worshipped as the Great Spirit of the air—or of the seasons; the God who produced the fruitfulness of the earth, regulated the sun, the wind and the shower, and thus spread plenty over the land? I have thought, too, that the serpent might not improbably typify lightnings and the feathers, swiftness; thus denoting one of the attributes of the air—and that the most speedy and destructive.

In a worship of propitiation, it would be most proper and reasonable that that destructive element should be personified and supplicated.

In the city of Mexico I constantly saw serpents, carved in stone, in the various collections of antiquities. One was presented to me by the Conde del Peñasco, and the drawings below, represent the figures of two "feathered serpents," which, after considerable labor I disinterred (I may say,) from a heap of dirt and rubbish, old boxes, chicken-coops and decayed fruit, in the court-yard of the University.