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430 the size of the base at less than half that stated, and the height at nearly double the figures given, but presume that accurate measurements must have been made at some time, and its real dimensions are probably known. The lower terrace is quite perfect, but the upper ones have become so washed by the rains and disturbed by the great trees which have taken root in the soil, that they are traceable, with certainty, only in a few places. A winding or zig-zag pathway, some thirty feet in width, and paved with lava, leads up to the summit of the pyramid. The old Spanish Zealots erected a Christian Church on the ruins of the ancient heathen temple, and that, too, becoming dilapidated and untenable with the lapse of years, was pulled down, and a new and very tasteful chapel, erected altogether by the labor of native Indian craftsmen, is now being finished, and will soon be dedicated to the service of the Christian's God. With the vanity of the human race, this pyramid has been selected, also, for a burial place, and we saw several new graves on the upper terrace, in the soil which has been soaked, time and time again, with the blood of human sacrifices.

Two immense cedar trees, which must have been standing on the summit in the days of Cortez, were cut down, or hopelessly mutilated by the workmen engaged in erecting the new chapel, and our party carried off numerous samples of the wood as souvenirs of their visit.

It has been the commonly accepted theory of the origin of the Pyramid of Cholula, that it was built as a temple and place for human sacrifice, altogether by the hand of man; but while standing on its summit, and