Chapter VII: Antiquities of Oajaca and Guerrero (2)

The remaining palaces of Mitla, Nos. 2, 3, and 4, may be more briefly disposed of, since in the construction of their walls they are precisely the same as No. 1, but are not in so good a state of preservation. No. 2 is located south-west of No. 1, and almost in contact with it, so that both groups have been by some visitors described together under the name of First Palace. It consists of four buildings, built on low mounds like those of No. 1, from seven to nine feet high, about a square court. All four are precisely the same in their ground plan, which is identical with that of the western building in palace No. 1. The dimensions of the four buildings are also the same, according to Castañeda's plan, being about eighteen by ninety-two English feet;[VII-54] but Mühlenpfordt's plan, so far as it can be understood, makes the eastern and western buildings about one hundred and forty feet long, the northern and southern being about twenty by one hundred feet, and the former somewhat larger than the latter.

The western building is the best preserved, being, so far as can be judged by human figures in Charnay's photographs, about seventeen feet high. The eastern building has fallen, and only its foundation stones remain by which to trace its plan. Three doorways open on the court from each building, and in the rear wall opposite the doors square niches are seen. There are no traces of columns in any of the apartments; nor was any part of the roofs in place in 1806. The outer walls are composed, as in palace No. 1, of oblong panels of mosaic; whether any mosaic work is found in the interior, is not stated. The court is said by Mühlenpfordt to be covered with a coating of cement five or six inches in thickness, painted red as was also the exterior of the buildings. The same writer, and Müller, noted that the supporting mounds were double, or terraced, on the exterior;[VII-55] and the latter, that one of the central doorways diminishes in width towards the top. If this, latter statement be true, it must be one of the doorways in the southern building, of which no photographic view was taken.[VII-56] Views of the southern façade of the northern building are given by Charnay, Dupaix, Mühlenpfordt, and Tempsky; of the court façade of the western building, by Charnay and Mühlenpfordt; and Charnay also took photographs of the western and southern façades of the latter building.[VII-57]

* * * * *

Under the northern building of this palace there is a subterranean gallery in the form of a cross. The entrance to this gallery is said by several writers to have been originally in the centre of the court, but this seems to rest on no very good authority, and it is not unlikely that the entrance was always where it is now, at the base of the northern mound, as shown in the photograph and in other views. The centre of the cross may be supposed to be nearly under the centre of the apartment above, and the northern, eastern, and western arms are each, according to Castañeda's drawings, about twelve feet long, five and a half feet wide, and six and a half feet high. The southern arm, leading out into the court is something over twenty feet long, and for most of its length only a little over four feet high; its floor is also several feet lower than that of the other arms, to the level of which latter four steps lead up. Nearly the whole depth of this gallery is probably in the body of the supporting mound rather than really subterranean. The top is formed of large blocks of stone, stretching across from side to side, and, according to Mühlenpfordt, plastered and polished. The floor was also covered, if we may credit Müller, with a polished coat of cement. The walls are panels of mosaic work like that found on the exterior walls above. Mühlenpfordt noticed that the mosaic work was less skillfully executed than on the upper walls, and therefore probably much older. The large dall that covers the crossing of the two galleries is supported by a circular pillar resting on a square base. According to Tempsky the natives call this the 'pillar of death,' believing that whoever embraces it must die shortly. The whole interior surface, sides, floor, and ceiling, are painted red. No relics of any kind have been found here. Fossey says that this gallery, or at least _a_ gallery, leads from the palace to the eastern pyramid--meaning probably the western pyramid, No. 5 of the plan--and from that point still further westward, where it may be traced for a league to the farm of Saga, and extends, as the natives believe, some three hundred leagues. Tradition relates that the Zapotecs originally had their temples in natural caverns, which they gradually improved to meet their requirements, and over which they finally built these palaces. There are consequently many absurd rumors afloat respecting the extent of the subterranean passages, but nothing has ever been discovered to indicate the existence of natural caves or extensive artificial excavations at this point. At the time of Charnay's visit the opening to the gallery had been closed up, and the natives would allow no one to remove the obstructions, on the ground that hidden treasure was the object sought.[VII-58]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: THIRD PALACE.]

Palace No. 3 of the plan is said to have no supporting mound, but to stand on the level of the ground. Its ground plan, according to Castañeda, the only authority, is shown in the cut. The whole structure, divided into three courts, is about two hundred and eighty-four feet long and one hundred and eight feet wide, the thickness of the walls, not shown in the plan, being five or six feet. Nearly all the walls have fallen except those of the buildings about the central court, B, which have been repaired, covered with a roof of tiles, and are occupied by the curate of the parish as a residence. In the western front a doorway has been cut, before which, supporting a balcony, or awning, stand two stone columns which were evidently brought from some other part of the ruins. Both on the exterior and court walls, the regular panels of mosaic work are seen in the upper portions; the lower parts have been repaired with adobes, and newly plastered in many places. The modern church, quite a large and imposing structure, stands either upon or adjacent to a part of this ancient palace.[VII-59]

[Sidenote: FOURTH PALACE, AND PYRAMIDS.]

The cut is a ground plan of palace No. 4, which is also said to stand on the original level of the ground. The walls are spoken of by all visitors as almost entirely in ruins, and as presenting no peculiarities of construction when compared with the other palaces. From one of the portions still standing, however, Mühlenpfordt copied some fragmentary paintings, representing processions of rudely pictured human figures, as shown in the accompanying cut. The same author speaks of similar paintings, very likely not the work of the original builders of Mitla, on the walls of some of the other buildings.[VII-60]

* * * * *

Two mounds, or groups of mounds, stand west and south of the other ruins at 5 and 7 of the plan. No. 5 was photographed by Charnay, and is described as built of adobes, ascended by a stone stairway, and bearing now a modern chapel. According to Castañeda's drawing probably representing these pyramids, the principal structure had four stories, or terraces, and was about seventy-five feet high, measuring at the base about one hundred and twenty feet on its shortest sides from east to west. The stairway faces westward towards the court formed by the smaller mounds which have only two stories. Group No. 7 is represented by Castañeda as consisting like No. 5 of a large mound and three small ones, of two and one stories respectively, surrounding a court in whose centre is a block, or altar, which Dupaix thinks may conceal the entrance to a subterranean passage. Mühlenpfordt represents the arrangement of the mounds as on my plan, and thinks the smaller elevations may have borne originally buildings like the northern palaces. In one of these mounds, according to the last-mentioned author, a tomb was found. Dupaix also describes two tombs found under mounds, the locality of which is not specified. One of these tombs was in the form of a cross, with arms about three by nine feet, six feet high, covered with a roof of flat stones, and in its construction like the gallery under palace No. 2, except that the small brick-shaped blocks of which its sides are formed are not arranged in grecques, but laid so as to present a plain surface. The second tomb was of rectangular form, about four by eight feet in dimensions. In one of them some human remains, with fragments of fine blue stone were discovered.[VII-61]

[Sidenote: FORTIFIED HILL.]

At a distance of a league and a half eastward of the village, Dupaix described and Castañeda sketched a small plain square stone building, divided into four apartments, standing on the slope of a high rocky hill. On the plate there is also shown the entrance to a subterranean gallery not mentioned in Dupaix's text.[VII-62] Three fourths of a league westward from the village is a hill some six hundred feet in height, with precipitous sides naturally inaccessible save on one side, toward Mitla. The summit platform, probably leveled by artificial means, is enclosed by a wall of stone about six feet thick, eighteen feet high, and over a mile in circumference, forming many angles, as is shown in the annexed plan. On the eastern and accessible side, the wall is double, the inner wall being higher than the outer; and the entrances are not only not opposite each other, but penetrate the walls obliquely. Heaps of loose stones, _c_, _c_, _c_, were found at various points in the enclosure, doubtless for use as weapons in a hand-to-hand conflict. Outside of the walls, moreover, large rocks, some three feet in diameter, were carefully poised where they might be easily started down the sides against the advancing foe. Within the fortress, at several places, _d_, _e_, _f_, _g_, are slight remains of adobe buildings, probably erected for the accommodation of the aboriginal garrison. All we know of this fortress is derived from the work of Dupaix and Castañeda.[VII-63]

Dupaix claims to have found the quarries which furnished material for the Mitla structures, in a hill three-fourths of a league eastward from the ruins, called by the Zapotecs Aguilosoé, by the Spaniards Mirador. The stone is described as of such a nature that large blocks may be easily split off by means of wedges and levers, and many such blocks were scattered about the place; the removal of the stone to the site of the palaces, here as in the case of many other American ruins, must have been the chief difficulty overcome by the builders. Stone wedges, together with axes and chisels of hard copper, are said to have been found at Mitla, but are not particularly described.[VII-64]

A head in terra cotta, wearing a peculiar helmet, was sketched here by Castañeda, and is shown in the cut. Another terra-cotta image represented a masked human figure, squatting cross-legged with hands on knees. A large semicircular cape reaches from the neck to the ground, showing only the hands and feet in front. The whole is very similar to some of the figures at Zachila, already described, but the tube which may be supposed to have held a torch originally, projects above the head, and is an inch and a half in diameter. The only specimen of stone images or idols found in connection with the ruins, is shown in the cut. It represents a seated figure, carved from a hard red stone, and brilliantly polished. Its height is about four inches. Tempsky tells us that the children at Mitla offered for sale small idols of clay and sandstone, which had been taken from the inner palace walls.[VII-65]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: GENERAL REMARKS.]

[Sidenote: COMPARISONS.]

The ruins of Mitla resemble Palenque only in the long low narrow form of the buildings, since the low supporting mounds can hardly be said to resemble the lofty stone-faced pyramids of Chiapas. A stronger likeness may be discovered when they are compared with the structures of Yucatan; since in both cases we find long narrow windowless buildings, raised on low mounds, and enclosing a rectangular courtyard, walls of rubble, and facings of hewn stone. The contrasts are also strong, as seen in the mosaic grecques, the absence of sculpture, and the flat roofs, in some cases supported by columns; although in one city on the east coast of Yucatan flat roofs of wooden beams were found. Whether the mosaic work of Mitla indicates in itself an earlier or later development of aboriginal art than the elaborately sculptured façades of Uxmal, I am unable to decide; but the flat roof supported by pillars would seem to indicate a later architectural development than the overlapping arch. The influence of the builders of Palenque and the cities of Yucatan, was doubtless felt by the builders of Mitla. How the influence was exerted it is very difficult to determine; Viollet-le-Duc attributes these northern structures to a branch of the southern civilization separated from the parent stock after the foundation of the Maya cities in Yucatan. Most antiquarians have concluded that Mitla is less ancient than the southern ruins, and the condition of the remains, so far as it throws any light on the subject, confirms the conclusion. This is the last ruin that will be found in our progress northward, which shows any marked analogy with the Maya monuments, save in the almost universal use of supporting mounds or pyramids, of various forms and dimensions. It has already been shown that the Zapotec language has no likeness whatever to the Aztec, or to the Maya, and that so far as institutions are concerned, this people might almost as properly be classed with the Maya as with the Nahua nations. The Abbé Brasseur in one part of his writings expresses the opinion that Mitla was built by the Toltecs from Cholula, who introduced their religion in Oajaca in the ninth or tenth century. Mitla is also frequently spoken of as a connecting link between the Central American and Mexican remains; this, however, is merely a part of the old favorite theory of one civilized people originating in the far north, moving gradually southward, and leaving at each stopping-place traces of their constantly improving and developing culture. There seems to have been no tradition among the natives at the Conquest, indicating that Mitla was built by a people preceding the Zapotecs. On the contrary, Burgoa and other early Oajacan chroniclers mention the place frequently as a Zapotec holy place, devoted to the burial of kings, the residence of a certain order of the priesthood, who lived here to make expiatory sacrifices for the dead, and a place of royal mourning, whither the king retired on the death of a relative. Subterranean caverns were used for the celebration of religious rites before the upper temples were built. Charnay fancies that the palaces were built by a people that afterwards migrated southward. He noticed that the walls in sheltered places were covered with very rude paintings--a sample of which has been given--and suggests that these were executed by occupants who succeeded the original builders. It will be apparent to the reader that the ruins at Mitla bear no resemblance whatever to other Oajacan monuments, such as those at Guiengola, Monte Alban, and Quiotepec; and that they are either the work of a different nation, or what is much more probable, for a different purpose. I am inclined to believe that Mitla was built by the Zapotecs at a very early period of their civilization, at a time when the builders were strongly influenced by the Maya priesthood, if they were not themselves a branch of the Maya people.[VII-66]

The mosaic work undoubtedly bears a strong resemblance to the ornamentation observed on Grecian vases and other old-world relics; but this analogy is far from indicating any communication between the artists or their ancestors, for, as Humboldt says, "in all zones men have been pleased with a rhythmic repetition of the same forms, a repetition which constitutes the leading characteristic of what we vaguely call grecques, meandres, and Arabesques."[VII-67]

In the northern part of Oajaca, towards the boundary line of Puebla, remains have been found in several localities. Those near Quiotepec are extensive and important, but are only known by the description of one explorer, Juan N. Lovato, who visited the ruins as a commissioner from the government in January, 1844.[VII-68] Lovato's account contains many details, but the drawings which originally accompanied it were, with two exceptions, not published, and from the text only a general idea can be formed respecting the nature of the ruins. The following are such items of information as I have been able to extract from the report in question.

[Sidenote: RUINS OF QUIOTEPEC.]

A hill about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide at its base, and over a thousand feet high, known as the Cerro de las Juntas, stands at the junction of the rivers Quiotepec and Salado. At the eastern end, where the streams meet, the ascent is precipitous and inaccessible, but the other sides and the summit are covered with ruins. The slopes are formed into level platforms with perpendicular terrace walls of stone, of height and thickness varying according to the nature of the ground. In ascending the western slope, thirty-five of these terrace walls were encountered; on the southern slope there were fifty-seven, and on the northern eighty-eight, counting only those that were still standing. One of the walls at the summit is about three hundred and twenty feet long, sixty feet high, and five and a half feet thick.

Scattered over the hill on the terrace platforms, the foundations of small buildings, supposed to have been dwellings, were found in at least a hundred and thirty places. In connection with these buildings some tombs were found underground, box-shaped with walls of stone, containing human remains and some fragments of pottery. Tumuli in great numbers are found in all directions, probably burial mounds, although nothing but a few stone beads has been found in them. Other mounds were apparently designed for the support of buildings. At different points towards the summit of the hill are three tanks, or reservoirs, one of which is sixty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and six feet deep, with traces of steps leading down into it. In the walls traces of beams are seen, supposed by the explorer to have supported the scaffolding used in their construction.

Besides the terrace walls, foundations of dwellings, and the remains that have been mentioned, there are also many ruins of statelier edifices, presumably palaces and temples. Of these, the only ones described are situated at the summit on a small level plateau, of a hundred and twenty-two by two hundred and forty-eight feet. These consist of what are spoken of as a palace and a temple, facing each other, a hundred and sixty-six feet apart. Between the two are the bases of what was formerly a line of circular pillars, leading from one edifice to the other. The bases, or pedestals, are fourteen inches in diameter, five inches high, and about fourteen feet apart. The Temple faces north-east, and its front is shown in the accompanying cut. This is a form of the pyramidal structure very different from any that has been met before. Its dimensions on the ground are fifty by fifty-five feet. The Palace is described as thirty-nine feet high in front and thirty-three feet in the rear, and has a stairway of twenty steps about twenty-eight feet wide, leading up to the summit on the front. Judging by the plate, this so-called palace is a solid elevation with perpendicular sides, ornamented with three plain cornices, one end of which is occupied throughout nearly its whole width by the stairway mentioned. The material of the two structures is the stone of the hill itself cut in thin regular blocks, laid in what is described as mud, and covered, as is shown by traces still left in a few parts, with a coating of plaster. Both the structures, according to the plates, have a rather modern appearance, and differ widely from any other American monuments, but there seems to be no reason to doubt the reliability of Sr Lovato's account, considering its official nature, and I cannot suppose that the Spaniards ever erected such edifices. The foundations and arches of three small apartments are vaguely spoken of as having been discovered by excavation in connection with the Palace, but whether they were on its summit or in the interior of the apparently solid mass, does not clearly appear, although Müller states that the latter was the case. On the summit of the Palace a copal-tree, one foot in diameter, was found. Five sculptured slabs were sketched by Müller at Quiotepec, but he does not state in what part of the ruins they were found. Each slab has a human figure in profile, surrounded by a variety of inexplicable attributes. The foreheads seem to be flattened, and four of the five have an immense curved tongue, possibly the well-known Aztec symbol of speech, protruding from the mouth. Somewhere in this vicinity, on the perpendicular banks of rock that form the channel of the Rio Tecomava, painted figures of a sun, moon, and hand, are reported, at a great height from the water.[VII-69]

[Sidenote: TUXTEPEC AND HUAHUAPAN.]

Near the town of Tuxtepec, some fifty miles eastward from Quiotepec, near the Vera Cruz boundary, there is said to be an artificial mound eighty-three feet high, known as the Castillo de Montezuma. A passage leads toward the centre, but nothing further is known of it, except that some stone idols are mentioned by another writer as having been dug from a mound in a town of the same name.[VII-70]

At Huahuapan, about fifty miles westward of Quiotepec, Dupaix found the sculptured block shown in the cut. It is four and a half feet long, and a foot and a half high; the material is a hard blue stone, and the sculpture in low relief seems to represent a kind of coat of arms, from which projects a hand grasping an object, a part of which bears a strong resemblance to the Aztec symbol of water. This relic was found in a hill called Tallesto, about a league east of the town.[VII-71]

In another hill, called Sombrerito, only half a league from the town, a laborer in 1831 plowed up an ancient grave, said to have contained human bones, fine pottery, with gold beads and rings. All the relics were buried again by the finder, except four of the rings, which came into the possession of the Bishop of Puebla, and two of which are shown in the cut. With some doubts respecting the authenticity of these relics I give the cuts for what they are worth. There are accounts and drawings of several rudely carved stone images from the same region.[VII-72]

At Yanguitlan, ten or fifteen miles south-east of Huahuapan, several relics were found, including a human head of natural size carved from red stone; two idols of green jasper, slightly carved in human likeness; three cutting implements of hard stone; and the two objects shown in the cuts on the opposite page. The first is a spear-head of gray flint, and the second a very curious relic of unknown use, and whose material and dimensions the finder has neglected to mention. It is of a red color, and is very beautifully wrought in two pieces, one serving as a cover for the other, apparently intended to be joined by a cord as represented in the cut. Among the uses suggested are those of a censer and a lantern.[VII-73]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: ANTIQUITIES OF GUERRERO.]

Respecting the relics of the state of Guerrero, my only information is derived from a statistical work by Sr Celso Muñoz, contained in the report of Gov. Francisco O. Arce to the legislature of the state in 1872. This author mentions such relics in the district of Hidalgo, north of the Rio Zacatula towards the Mexican boundary, as follows: 1st. "The _momoxtles_, or tombs of the ancient Indians, which are found in almost all the towns, although they are constantly disappearing, and abound especially in the municipality of Cocula." 2d. "Traces of ancient settlements of the aborigines, who either became extinct or migrated to other localities: such are seen on the hill of Huizteco, in the municipality of Tasco, in that of Tetipac el Viejo and of Coatlan el Viejo, of Tetipac, of Coculatepil, of Piedra Grande or San Gaspar, region of Iglesia Vieja, Cocula, and many others." 3d. At Tepecoacuilco "there are traces very clearly defined of many foundations of houses; and in excavations that have been made there have been found many idols and flint weapons, especially lances, very well preserved, and other curious relics of Aztec times." 4th. At Chontalcuatlan, there are traces of the ancient town on a hill called Coatlan el Viejo, where there is also said to be a block of porphyry one or two mètres in diameter, on the surface of which is sculptured a coiled serpent.[VII-74]

FOOTNOTES:

[VII-1] See vol. ii., chap. ii., of this work.

[VII-2] _Arias_, _Antigüedades Zapotecas_, in _Museo Mex._, tom. i., pp. 246-8, _Müller_, _Reisen_, tom. ii., pp. 356-7; _Hutchings' Cal. Mag._, vol. ii., pp. 395; 539-41; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 359, with reference to _Carriedo_, _Estudios hist. y estad. del Estado Oaxaqueño_, tom. ii., append. i.; _Garay_, _Reconocimiento_, p. 110; _Id._, _Survey_, pp. 112-13; _Id._, _Acct._, pp. 79-81.

[VII-3] _Dupaix_, 3d exped., pp. 6-7, pl. iii.-v., fig. 6-9; _Kingsborough_, vol. vi., p. 469, vol. iv., pl. iii.-v., fig. 6-9; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. Guat._, pl. viii., from Dupaix, showing second pyramid; _Mayer's Observations_, pp. 25-6, with cut of the first altar representing its successive platforms as forming a spiral ascent.

[VII-4] _Dupaix_, 3d exped., p. 6, pl. ii., fig. 5; cut of same lance-head in _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., p. 85, pl. xiv.; _Museo Mexicano_, tom. i., pp. 248-9, tom. iii., pp. 135-7; _Hist. Mag._, vol. iii., p. 240.

[VII-5] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Voy. Tehuan._, pp. 122-5.

[VII-6] _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., cap. lxxii.; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 9-10.

[VII-7] _Lafond_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 139.

[VII-8] _Museo Mex._, tom. i., p. 248.

[VII-9] _Dupaix_, 3d exped., p. 8, pl. vi., fig. 10; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., p. 289, vol. vi., p. 469, vol. iv., pl. vi., fig. 10; _Lenoir_, pp. 16, 71. Kingsborough calls the name of the locality of these remains Chilmitlan. His plate shows regular quadrilateral openings in the parapets, while in Castañeda's plate they appear of irregular form, as if made by the removal of stones.

[VII-10] _Garay_, _Reconocimiento_, pp. 110-12; _Id._, _Survey_, pp. 113-15; _Id._, _Acct._, pp. 79-81.

[VII-11] _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., p. 298; _Florencia_, _Hist. Comp. Jesus_, pp. 233-6, _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 39, 286, tom. i., p. 146.

[VII-12] Besides remains attributed to particular localities, see _Museo Mex._, tom. iii., p. 135, cuts and descriptions of four earthen idols found in this state; _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. i., fol. 160, 166, 170, 197, tom. ii., fol. 275, 298, 319-21, 330, 344-5, 363, mention and slight description of burial places, caves, temples, etc., of the natives, some of them seen by the author; _Mühlenpfordt_, _Mej._, tom. ii., pp. 186, 195, 200, 206, 212, 215, slight mention of scattered relics; _Mayer's Mex. Aztec, etc._, vol. ii., p. 218, cuts of three heads in Peñasco collection, said to have come from Oajaca.

[VII-13] _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 28-9.

[VII-14] _Müller_, _Reisen_, tom. ii., p. 282, with cut of the ring.

[VII-15] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 47.

[VII-16] _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., p. 91.

[VII-17] _Museo Mex._, tom. i., p. 249.

[VII-18] _Dupaix_, 3d exped., p. 6, pl. ii., 2d exped., p. 51.

[VII-19] _Fossey_, _Mexique_, pp. 375-6. No authority is given, and M. Fossey was not himself an antiquarian explorer.

[VII-20] _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 249-51.

[VII-21] _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 17-23, pl. xxi-viii., fig. 64-77; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., pp. 247-51, vol. vi., pp. 444-6, vol. iv., pl. xix-xxv., fig. 64-77; _Lenoir_, pp. 16, 22, 49-51. Carriedo's _Atlas de una Fortaleza Zapoteca, etc._, mentioned by _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., p. 94, and in _Museo Mex._, tom. i., p. 246. The editors of the latter magazine announced their intention to publish the drawings as soon as the plates could be engraved, but I have not seen the volume in which their purpose was carried out, if indeed it was ever carried out. García's report in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., pp. 270-1, with plates; _Müller_, _Reisen_, tom. ii., pp. 270-1, with plates; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 250-3; _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, pp. 25-6, with cut. Other references to slight notices of Monte Alban, containing no original information are;--_Larenaudière_, _Mex. Guat._, pl. i., from Dupaix; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 340; _Fossey_, _Mexique_, pp. 370-1. This writer locates the ruins ¼ of a league from the city. _Escalera_ and _Llana_, _Mej._, p. 332; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, p. 91.

[VII-22] See authorities in preceding note.

[VII-23] Plate showing the stones in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., p. 270.

[VII-24] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 339-40.

[VII-25] 'Elle représente un dieu dont les attributs caractérisent le principe actif de la nature qui produit les grains et les fruits. C'est le dieu qui crée, conserve et est en hostilité permanente avec le Génie destructeur qui gouverne aussi le monde. Son casque ou son diadème, ombragé d'un panache considérable et qui atteste son importance, est orné de la Grande couleuvre, nommée aussi par les astronomes modernes le _serpent d'Ève_, dont la présence dans le ciel annonce la saison des récoltes.' _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., pp. 57-8. Cut also in _Mayer's Obs._, p. 32, pl. iii., from the original which is preserved in Mexico.

[VII-26] Plate also in _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., pp. 64-5, pl. xi.

[VII-27] Copies of plates in _Mayer's Obs._, p. 32, pl. iii.; _Id._, _Mex. Aztec, etc._, vol. ii., pp. 218-19.

[VII-28] Dupaix says of this image: 'Elle participe un peu du style égyptien. Elle est couverte de trois vêtements qui croisent l'un sur l'autre symétriquement, et qui sont bordés de franges. La tête est ornée de tresses qui font deviner le sexe; les oreilles et le cou sont parés de bijoux; enfin toute cette figure est étrange.' 2d exped., p. 49. This image in the opinion of M. Lenoir, _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., pp. 60-1, represents the Mexican goddess Toci, and the preceding one the god of war, Huitzilopochtli. These images are now in the Mexican Museum, and plates of them were published by Sr Gondra, in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., pp. 90-5, pl. xvii., who by no means agrees with Lenoir's conclusions identifying them with Aztec deities, although he agrees with Dupaix respecting their probable use as chandeliers.

[VII-29] Authorities on antiquities of Zachila. _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 44-51, pl. xlvii., fig. 95-116; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., pp. 269-78, vol. vi., pp. 458-63, vol. iv., pl. xlvii.-li., fig. 96-117. Kingsborough also attributes fig. 118-19 to Zachila, but according to the official edition the relics represented by those numbers came from Tizatlan in Tlascala. _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., pp. 57-63. The aboriginal name of the place was Zaachillatloo. _Dupaix_, pp. 44-5. Brasseur, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 47, speaks of a fortress visited by several travelers, built by Zaachila, the great Zapotec conqueror, on the top of a lofty rock 25 leagues east of Oajaca. Mention of ruins and two cuts of figures in _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. iii., pp. 367-8, 480; _Escalera_ and _Llana_, _Mej. Hist. Descrip._, p. 226.

[VII-30] _Escalera_ and _Llana_, _Mej. Hist. Descrip._, p. 226; _Fossey_, _Mex._, p. 376.

[VII-31] Liubá, 'Sepultura;' Miquitlan, 'infierno ó lugar de tristeza.' _Dupaix_, 2d exped., p. 30. Leoba, or Luiva, '_sépulture_;' _Miguitlan_, 'lieu de désolation, lieu de tristesse.' _Humboldt_, _Vues_, tom. ii., pp. 278-9. Yopaa, Lyoba, or Yobaa, 'terre des tombes;' Mictlan, 'séjour des Morts.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 304-5, tom. iii., p. 9. Liobáá, 'place of rest.' _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., p. 170.

[VII-32] 'Uno, llamado Mictlan, que quiere decir infierno ó lugar de muertos, á do hubo en tiempos pasados, (segun hallaron las muestras) edificios mas notables y de ver que en otra parte de la Nueva España. Hubo un templo del demonio y aposentos de sus ministros, maravillosa cosa á la vista, en especial una sala como de artesones, y la obra era labrada de piedra de muchos lazos y labores.' _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 395-6; _Burgoa_, _Descrip. Geog._, tom. ii., fol. 259, etc.

[VII-33] 'Du haut de la forteresse de Mitla, la vue plonge dans la vallée et se repose avec tristesse sur des roches pelées et des solitudes arides, image de destruction propre à relever l'effet des palais de Liobaa. Un torrent d'eau salée (?), qui se gonfle avec la tempête, coule au milieu des sables poudreux qu'il entraîne avec lui. Les rives sont sèches et sans ombrages; à peine voit-on de distance en distance quelques nopals nains, ou quelques poivriers du Pérou, aussi maigres que le terrain où ils ont pris racine. Seulement, du côté du village, la verdure sombre des magueys et des cactus donne au tableau l'aspect d'un jardin d'hiver planté de buis et de sapins.' _Fossey_, _Mexique_, p. 371.

[VII-34] _Humboldt_, _Vues_, tom. ii., pp. 278-85, pl. xvii-viii., fol. ed., pl. xlix-l; _Id._, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., pp. 28-30, supl. pl. viii.; _Id._, _Essai Pol._, pp. 263-5. Humboldt speaks of Martin as 'un architecte mexicain très-distingué.' _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 30-44, pl. xxix-xlvi., fig. 78-93; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., pp. 255-68, vol. vi., pp. 447-56, vol. iv., pl. xxvii-xli., fig. 81-95; _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., pp. 16, 23-4, 52-7. Mühlenpfordt, _Mejico_, tom. i., pref., p. 5, claims to have been for some time Director of road-construction in the state of Oajaca, and states his intention of publishing at some future time 18 or 20 large copper-plate engravings illustrating the antiquities of Mitla and others. These plates, so far as I know, have never been given to the public. Carriedo accompanied Mühlenpfordt, or Mihelenpforott as he writes the name, and published some of the drawings, perhaps all, in the _Ilustracion Mejicana_, tom. ii., pp. 493-8. Some of the German artists' descriptive text is also quoted from I know not what source. _Tempsky's Mitla_, pp. 250-3, with plates which must have been made up for the most part from other sources than the author's own observations. García's visit, _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., pp. 271-2. Sawkin's exploration, in _Mayer's Observations_, p. 28, et seq., with plates. It will be shown later that Mr Sawkins' drawings are without value to the archæological student. Fossey's account, _Mexique_, pp. 365-70; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 261-9, phot. ii-xviii.; _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, pp. 74-104, with cuts. After Charnay had completed, as he thought, the work of photographing the ruins, all his negatives were spoiled for want of proper varnish. He was therefore compelled to return alone, since he had exhausted the somewhat limited patience of his native assistants, and to work day and night to take a new set of pictures. Müller, _Reisen_, tom. ii., pp. 279-81, seems also to have made a personal exploration. Other references for Mitla containing no original information are as follows:--_Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 117-22, with two cuts from Charnay and two from Tempsky, all given in my text. _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 173; _Bradford's Amer. Antiq._, pp. 85-6; _Larenaudière_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, tom. xxxiv., pp. 121-2; _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., pp. 90-5, pl. xvii.; _Mayer's Mex. as it Was_, pp. 251-3; _Id._, _Mex. Aztec_, vol. ii., pp. 213-16; _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 157-60; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 270-1; _Id._, _Travels_, p. 92; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 462; _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., p. 14, vol. iii., pp. 404-6; _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 463; _Mexicanische Zustände_, tom. i., pp. 403-4; _Wappäus_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 162; _Lemprière_, _Mexique_, p. 144; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 255; _Hermosa_, _Manual Geog._, p. 135; _Escalera_ and _Llana_, _Mex._, pp. 327-32, 225, same as in _Fossey_; _Lafond_, _Voyages_, tom. i., p. 139; _Bonnycastle's Span. Amer._, vol. i., p. 154, vol. ii., p. 233; _D'Orbigny_, _Voyage_, p. 356; _Conder's Mex. Guat._, vol. ii., pp. 130-4; _Dally_, _Races Indig._, pp. 16-17; _Macgillivray's Life Humboldt_, pp. 314-15; _Mills' Hist. Mex._, p. 158; _Mexico in 1842_, p. 77; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 105; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. Guat._, pl. ii-vi., from Dupaix; _Delafield's Antiq. Amer._, pp. 55, 59-60.

[VII-35] Charnay, phot. xvii., gives a general view of the ruins, from which, however, no clear idea can be formed of the arrangement of the structures. The buildings are named or numbered as follows by the different authors; Dupaix numbers them as they are marked on my plan; Carriedo and Mühlenpfordt unite Nos. 1 and 2 under the name of 1st Palace, making No. 3 No. 2, and No. 4 No. 3; Charnay's 1st or grand palace is the northern building of No. 1; his 2d is the eastern building of the same; his 3d and 4th are the northern and western buildings respectively of No. 2. My No. 3 is called by him the House of the Curate, and No. 4 is only mentioned by him without name or number.

[VII-36] At the Conquest the ruins covered an immense area, but they now consist of six palaces and three ruined pyramids. _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 261.

[VII-37] Dupaix's ground plan, pl. xxix., fig. 78, represents such a southern building and mound, although very slight, if any, traces remained of the former at the time of his visit. Martin's plan, given by Humboldt, shows two shorter mounds without buildings; while Carriedo's plan locates no structure whatever south of the court, and I have omitted it in my plan.

[VII-38] The dimensions are very nearly those of the plans of Martin and Castañeda, who differ only very slightly. The dimensions given by the different authorities are as follows: A. 12½×47½ varas, _Castañeda_; 13¼×46½ varas, _Martin_, in _Humboldt_; 40 mètres long, _Charnay_; 180 feet long, _Tempsky_; 132 feet long, _Fossey_. C. 22×22 varas, _Castañeda_ and _Martin_; _d_, 7×35½ varas, _Castañeda_; 7½×34½ varas, _Martin_. Walls 1½ to 3½ varas thick, _Castañeda_; 1½ varas, _Martin_. Height 5 to 6 mètres, _Humboldt_; 14 feet, _Fossey_. The height of the inner columns, to be spoken of later, shows something respecting the original height of the walls.

[VII-39] Charnay, p. 264, describes the material of this filling as 'terre battue, mêlée de gros cailloux.' His photographs of walls where the facing has fallen show in some places a mass of large irregular stones, even laid with some regularity in a few instances; in other parts of the ruins there seem to be very few stones, but only a mass of earth or clay; and in still other parts the wall has every appearance of regular adobes. Dupaix, p. 35, says that sand and lime are mixed with the earth. 'El macizo, ó grueso de las paredes se compone de una tierra mezclada y beneficiada con arena y cal.' 'De tierra preparada, hollada ó beneficiada cuando fresca y pastosa.' Tempsky, p. 251, declares the material to be rough boulders in cement. Humboldt, _Vues_, tom. ii., p. 283, speaks of 'une masse d'argile qui paroît remplir l'intérieur des murs.'

[VII-40] 'Los compartimientos divididos por unos tableros cuadrilongos, terminados por unas molduras cuadradas que sobresalen á la linea de la muralla, contienen en sus planos unas grecas de alto relieve de una bella invencion, pues sus dibujos presentan unos enlaces complicados arreglados á una exactisima geometría, con una grande union entre las piedras que los componen, las que son de varios gruesos, y configuraciones; ademas se advierte una perfecta nivelacion en toda esta admirable ensambladura.' _Dupaix_, 2d exped., p. 31. A mosaic of soft sandstone cut in blocks 7×2⅛×1 inches, and all forming a smooth exterior surface. _Tempsky's Mitla_, pp. 251-2, with a very faulty cut. The statement about the smooth surface is certainly erroneous, as is probably that respecting the size of the blocks. 'Ces arabesques forment une sorte de mosaïque, composée de petites pierres carrées, qui sont placées avec beaucoup d'art, les unes à côté des autres.' _Humboldt_, _Vues_, tom. ii., p. 283; with cuts of three styles of this mosaic from Martin. 'Briquettes de différentes grandeurs.' The modern church is built of stone from the ruins. The natives carry away the blocks of mosaic in the belief that they will turn to gold. _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 252, 263-5. Phot. v-vi., view of southern façade. 22 different styles of grecques on this front. _Fossey_, _Mexique_, pp. 367-8. Cuts of 16 different styles in _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., p. 501.

[VII-41] An Indian woman was reported to have one of the heads from these holes, built into the walls of her house, but it could not be found. _Dupaix_, 2d exped., p. 31.

[VII-42] Besides the photograph copied above, Charnay's photographs, vii.-viii., present views from the east and west, showing that the same style of construction and ornamentation extends completely round the building. Dupaix's plate xxx. represents this façade, but shows only a small portion of the stone-work. Kingsborough gives in its place a magnificent plate, 1×5 feet, showing the whole front restored in all its details; he gives also the plate from _Antiq. Mex._, but refers it to the palace No. 2. pl. xxxi., fig. 85. See description of the walls quoted from Burgoa, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., pp. 170-3.

[VII-43] 5.8 mètres high; one third of the height buried in the ground. _Humboldt_, _Vues_, tom. ii., p. 282. 4 varas above surface, 2 varas below, 1 vara diameter. _Id._, in _Antiq. Mex._, suppl. pl. viii. Of the material, Humboldt says: 'Quelques personnes, très-instruites en minéralogie, m'ont dit que la pierre est un beau porphyre amphibolique; d'autres m'ont assuré que c'est un granite porphyritique.' 12 feet high, 9½ feet in circumference. _Fossey_, _Mex._, pp. 367-8. About 14 feet high, _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 263; 5½ varas high, 1 vara in diameter, material granite, _Dupaix_, p. 31. Over 5 varas high. _Burgoa_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., p. 171. 12 feet high, 4 feet diameter. _Tempsky's Mitla_, p. 253. 10 feet 10½ inches above ground, over 6 feet below, 3⅓ varas in circumference; material porphyry. _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., pp. 495-6. So large that two men can hardly reach round them, 5 fathoms high. _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 395-6. Material a porous limestone. _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 78.

[VII-44] See _Charnay_, phot. x.

[VII-45] _Charnay_, phot. vii.-viii.

[VII-46] _Charnay_, phot. xi. Plate in _Tempsky's Mitla_, pp. 252-3, very incorrect, as are nearly all of this author's illustrations.

[VII-47] _Charnay_, phot. ix.

[VII-48] See p. 257 of this volume.

[VII-49] _Murguia_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., pp. 170-3. 'De grandes dalles, de plus de deux pieds d'épaisseur, reposant sur des piliers d'une hauteur de trois mètres, formaient le plafond de ces palais: au-dessus on voyait une corniche saillante ornée de sculptures capricieuses, dont l'ensemble formait comme une sorte de diadème posé sur le sommet de l'édifice.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 26, Burgoa.

[VII-50] As quoted in _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., p. 496.

[VII-51] _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 78-9.

[VII-52] _Charnay_, phot. xii., p. 264; _Dupaix_, pp. 31-2, pl. xxxi., fig. 80.

[VII-53] In the preceding pages it will be noticed that I have paid no attention to the plates and description by Mr J. G. Sawkins, from an exploration in 1837, as given by Col. Brantz Mayer in his _Observations on Mexican History and Archæology_, published among the _Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge_. My reasons for disregarding Sawkins' authority are, that the said descriptions and plates are just sufficiently accurate to identify palace No. 1 with the one referred to, but otherwise constitute one of the most bare-faced frauds recorded in the annals of antiquarian exploration in America. The following points are more than sufficient to substantiate what I have said:--1st. Sawkins reverses the cardinal points, respecting which the other authorities agree, placing the principal building on the east of the court instead of the north, etc. To avoid repetition and confusion, I shall in the following remarks, however, correct this error and speak of each building in its proper location. 2d. Sawkins found five standing columns in the eastern building, _d_, four of which supported parts of a wall, while the other standing apart was taller than the rest; now the columns supporting the wall may have been the piers between the doorways--but only _three_ of these were standing in 1806 (see _Dupaix_, pl. xxxi.); and the taller column standing apart agrees well enough with the truth, except that there were _two_ of them standing in 1859. (See _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, phot. xii.) On the west our explorer correctly found everything obliterated, and the 'crumbling and indistinct walls' which he found on the south may have been part of palace No. 2. 3d. Coming now to the northern building, Sawkins found in the front 4 doorways, so narrow and low that only one person at a time could enter, and that only by stooping; during the next 20 years these doorways grew remarkably in size, and decreased in number, since Charnay's photograph shows 3 doorways with standing human figures in two of them, not obliged to stoop or much pressed for elbow room, as may be seen in the copy I have given. 4th. Sawkins found all the adornments removed from this façade; they were perhaps replaced before Charnay's visit. 5th. In the interior, A of the plan, Sawkins found niches in the end walls not seen by any other visitor. 6th. The six columns represented by Martin and Dupaix as standing in the centre of this apartment, had all been removed (!) at the time of Sawkins' visit. It was a strange freak of the camera to picture them all in place 20 years later. 7th. But Charnay's photographic apparatus had yet other repairs to make, for in the northern wing, C, the walls of the interior apartments had all disappeared, and even the interior surface of the outer walls, which enclosed the quadrangle, had no mosaic work, but the panels presented only 9 long recesses in three tiers on each side. Mr Sawkins' plates are two in number; one of them presents a general view of this palace from the west, and although faulty, indicates that the artist may have actually visited Mitla; the other is a rear view of the northern building, gives a tolerably correct idea of the construction of the walls, and may possibly have been made up from the large plate in Kingsborough's work. I have no more space to devote to Sawkins. He may have been already 'shown up' by some critic whose writings have escaped my notice. It is proper to add that as Col. Mayer apparently consulted only Humboldt's description of Mitla, it is not at all strange that this zealous investigator and usually correct writer was deceived by a pretended explorer.

[VII-54] _Dupaix_, pl. xxxii., fig. 81, where the dimensions are 6½×33½ varas. Carriedo's, or Mühlenpfordt's, plan, pl. ii., makes the court 114×135 feet, and the western building 128.9 feet on the inside; on page 495, and on another plan, it is implied that the eastern mound never bore any building.

[VII-55] _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., p. 495.

[VII-56] _Müller_, _Reisen_, tom. ii., p. 280.

[VII-57] _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, phot. xiii.-xvi.; _Dupaix_, p. 33, pl. xxxiii., fig. 82-3; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., pp. 258-9, vol. vi., pp. 450-1, vol. iv., pl. xxx., fig. 84; _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., pp. 53, 16; _Mühlenpfordt_, in _Ilustracion Mej._, p. 500, pl. vi.; _Tempsky's Mitla_, pp. 250-1.

[VII-58] _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 32-3, pl. xxxiv.-v., fig. 82; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., p. 259, vol. vi., p. 451, vol. iv., pl. xxxii.-iii., fig. 86-7, ground plan, and section showing mosaic work; _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., pp. 495-500, pl. iv., v., ix. Humboldt, _Vues_, tom. ii., pp. 278-82, places the gallery erroneously under the northern wing of palace No. 1, with an entrance in the floor of the column chamber. _Murguia_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., pp. 170-3, from Burgoa, about the caves on which the palaces were built. _Müller_, _Reisen_, tom. ii., p. 280; _Tempsky's Mitla_, pp. 250-1; _Fossey_, _Mex._, p. 369; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 264-5; _Mayer's Observations_, p. 30, with cuts from Dupaix. _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., p. 53. 'Un appartement souterrain qui a 27 mètres de long, et 8 de large.' _Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, p. 264.

[VII-59] _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 263, phot. iii.-iv.; _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 33, 35-6, pl. xxxvi., fig. 83; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., p. 259, vol. vi., p. 451, vol. iv., pl. xxxiv., fig. 88, this plan differs from the one given above in making the passage _d_ straight. _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., p. 496.

[VII-60] _Dupaix_, pl. xxxvii., fig. 84; _Kingsborough_, vol. iv., pl. xxxv., fig. 89. The latter plan represents three doorways in each of the buildings fronting on the northern court, C. See also references of preceding note.

[VII-61] _Dupaix_, pp. 34, 39, pl. xxxlx-xl., xliii-iv., fig. 86-7, 91-2; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., pp. 260-1, vol. vi., pp. 451-3, vol. iv., pl. xxxvii-ix., fig. 91-4; _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., pp. 55-6; _Charnay_, p. 263, phot. ii.; _Mühlenpfordt_, in _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., p. 496; Fossey, _Mexique_, pp. 368-9, locates these pyramidal groups east and north, instead of south and west of palace No. 1. He also mentions a granite block, or altar, 4½ feet long and one foot thick.

[VII-62] _Dupaix_, p. 34, pl. xxxviii., fig. 85; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., p. 259, vol. vi., p. 451, vol. iv., pl. xxxvi., fig. 90. Kingsborough's plate represents the walls as mostly fallen. _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. ii., div. i., p. 53.

[VII-63] _Dupaix_, pp. 40-1, pl. xliv.-v., fig. 93-4, view of hill, and plan copied above. _Kingsborough_, vol. v., p. 265, vol. vi., p. 455, vol. iv., pl. xl.-i., fig. 95; _Lenoir_, p. 56. Dupaix's plates are copied in _Mosaico Mex._, tom. ii., pp. 281-4, and _Armin_, _Alte Mex._, p. 290; _Fossey_, _Mex._, p. 370. Plate from Sawkins' drawing, different from that of Castañeda, but of course unreliable, in _Mayer's Observations_, p. 32, pl. iv.

[VII-64] _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 41-3; _Tylor's Anahuac_, p. 139.

[VII-65] _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 37-8, pl. xli.-ii., fig. 88-90; _Kingsborough_, vol. v., p. 254, vol. vi., p. 447, vol. iv., pl. xxvi., fig. 78-80; _Lenoir_, in _Antiq. Mex._, pp. 23-4, 55; _Tempsky's Mitla_, p. 254.

[VII-66] _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, fol. 257-60; _Id._, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. vii., p. 170, et seq., pp. 271-2; _Id._, in _Ilustracion Mej._, tom. ii., p. 494; _Id._, in _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., pp. 21-30. Brasseur says that the temple built over a subterranean labyrinth was called Yohopehelichi Pezelao, 'supreme fortress of Pezelao.' Built under Toltec influence. _Id._, tom. i., pp. 304-5, tom. iii., p. 9. Sacked by the Aztecs about 1494, and the priests carried as captives to Mexico. _Id._, tom. iii., p. 358; _Tylor's Anahuac_, p. 139. Buildings of different age. _Dupaix_, 2d exped., pp. 34-5; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 252-3, 265; _Humboldt_, _Vues_, tom. ii., p. 279.

[VII-67] _Humboldt_, _Vues_, tom. ii., pp. 284-5. 'Les palais funéraires de Mitla reproduisent en certains cas l'ordonnance des demeures chinoises.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. iii. The ruins of Mitla 'nous paraissent appartenir à la civilisation quichée, quoique postérieurs à ceux de l'Yucatan. La perfection de l'appareil, les parements verticaux des salles avec leurs épines de colonnes portant la charpente du comple, l'absence complète d'imitation de la construction de bois dans la décoration extérieure ou intérieure, l'ornementation obtenue seulement par l'assemblage des pierres sans sculpture, donnent aux édifices de Mitla un caractère particulier qui les distingue nettement de ceux de l'Yucatan et qui indiquerait aussi une date plus récente.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, pp. 100-1.

[VII-68] Lovato's report was published with two of the nine plates which originally accompanied it in the _Museo Mex._, tom. iii., p. 329-35, and, without the plates in _Diccionario Univ._, tom. ix., pp. 697-700. Müller, _Reisen_, tom. ii., pp. 251-4, gives an account which seems to have been made up mostly from Lovato's report, although he may have personally visited the ruins. A short description, also from the _Museo Mex._, may be found in _Mayer's Mex. Aztec_, vol. ii., p. 217, and _Id._, _Observations_, pp. 25-6.