The walls of the adjacent minor mounds had all fallen inward, from which the traveller concluded that they had been used for sepulture; but he does not seem to have taken the time or trouble to verify this conjecture by personal explorations. The ground, for several miles around, was strewn with loose hewn stones of various shapes, and broken fragments of pottery, which had unquestionably formed parts of domestic utensils. Fragments of obsidian, which had no doubt been the knives and weapons of the former inhabitants of this spot, were also plentifully scattered about, and every indication existed of a dense population in the by gone days. These ruins are placed by Mr. Norman in 98° 31´ west longitude and 22° 9´ north latitude.
But the remains of edifices, pyramids and tombs were not the only relics found by the traveller in these dense forests bordering the Atlantic coast. The Indians who once dwelt in this district, like the Aztecs, Zapotecs and Yucatese had evidently devoted themselves to sculpture; but whether for the purpose of simple adornment or for idolatry, there are no facts to apprise us with certainty. The most remarkable relic found by Norman, was a large head, beautifully cut in fine sandstone, of a dark reddish hue, which abounds in the neighborhood. The face stands out in bold relief from the rough block, as if it had been left unfinished, or as if it was originally designed to occupy a place among the ornamental portions of an edifice. The industrious traveller caused this object to be borne, with others, to Tampico, and has deposited it in the collection of the New York Historical Society. Other stones, of a somewhat similar character, attracted his attention, but the most extraordinary sculpture he has described in his work is that to which he assigns the name of the American Sphynx. It is the image of a gigantic turtle, with the head of a man protruding boldly from beneath its carved and curving case. The back was correctly and artistically wrought, and all the lines of the scales were neatly cut in exact proportions. There were also in many parts fainter lines, shewing that the peculiar and graceful arabesques which are wrought by nature on the shell of this amphibious animal, had not been overlooked by the artist. This huge figure, raised on its four legs, was placed upon a large block of concrete sandstone. All its parts were equally true to nature. It was much mutilated, and the human head had been especially injured, but not sufficiently to obliterate the artistic workmanship with which it had been originally chiselled.
The place where Mr. Norman found these remains had evidently been the site of a large city; and, proceeding with his excavations among huge masses of earth or stones of every size and shape, he was, at length, rewarded by the discovery of another ancient figure. It was merely a human face, in full relief from the block, which was entirely cut away from the top and bottom, but left in two nearly circular projections at the sides. The ornaments on the head are peculiar, and are formed of three balls, with slight indentations, connected together by a band running across the top of the cerebrum and terminating at the sides just above the gigantic ears, which are nearly half the size of the face. The features and contour of the head are described as not resembling those of the American or Mexican Indian in any of their lines. This head is seventeen inches in length, twenty-one in width, including the ears, and ten in thickness. It was found on the side of a large pile of ruins, the remains of dilapidated walls, of which it had unquestionably formed one of the ornaments. It is to be regretted that Mr. Norman was unable to devote more time to the exploration of this region. His antiquarian researches however formed only an episode in his travels through portions of Mexico, and besides this, his labor was exceedingly great in cutting his way through the dense shrubbery which covers the ground amid a wilderness of trees, matted and woven together with thousands of creepers or plants whose thorns pierced or obstructed him at every moment. He had, moreover, to contend with myriads of annoying insects, and he feared the bite of the poisonous alacranes or the spring of the tiger that sometimes started from the thickets. He received no assistance from the stupid Indians dwelling in the neighborhood. They could not conceive that curiosity alone would prompt any one to encounter the toil and danger which must be endured in explorations in the Tierra Caliente of Mexico, and imagined that the search for gold and buried treasure, rather than antiquities, was his real motive for attempting to penetrate the recesses of their lonely wilderness.
CHAPTER III.
WEST COAST OR PACIFIC STATES.
OAJACA—EXTENT—BOUNDARIES—GEOLOGY—VALLEY—INDIANS—DEPARTMENTS—POPULATION—MINES—PORTS—PRODUCTIONS—CATTLE—TOWNS—ANCIENT REMAINS—MITLA—THE PALACE—TOMBS—ANTIQUARIAN SPECULATIONS—CONNECTION OF MEXICAN REMAINS—QUIOTEPEC, OR CERRO DE LAS JUNTAS.
THE STATE OF OAJACA.
This rich and beautiful State lies, for 118 leagues, along the Pacific Ocean. On the north-west, it is bounded by the State of Puebla, on the north by Vera Cruz, and east by the State of Chiapas and the republic of Central America or Guatemala. It extends from east to west about 115 leagues, and from north to south 322 leagues, containing an area of 5,046 square leagues.
We pass now from the hot and sickly sands and marshes of the eastern coast to a region which has been considered by many writers and travellers as the most delightful in Mexico. Beauty of natural scenery and salubrity of climate, fertility of soil and richness of productions, combine to render Oajaca valuable, not only in a commercial aspect, but as a residence in which it would be agreeable to pass a life time. Nor is this the opinion only of the present inhabitants, for the remains of antiquity still found within the limits of the State, prove it to have been the seat of Indian civilization long before the arrival of the Spaniards. The geological structure of this State is different from that of Puebla and Mexico; and the vegetation is quite as vigorous as that of other prolific regions, without the rankness which produces rapid decomposition and miasma. The rains are generally abundant from May to October.
In our general description of the geological and geographical characteristics of Mexico, we have already shown that the great Cordillera, forming the spine of this continent, divides into two arms after leaving the Isthmus, which connects North and South America. One of these mountain ranges with its high vallies and table lands forms the barrier along the Pacific, while the other spreads out its massive veins throughout the middle and eastern portions of Mexico. Between these formations, the Valley of Oajaca lies embosomed; and from this beautiful and fruitful region, which was bestowed by the Spanish crown upon Cortéz, he obtained his Marquisate del Valle de Oajaca, in which his family still possessed, previous to the revolution, 49 villages, with a population of 17,700 persons.
In these two mountain regions, thus sundered by the valley, have dwelt, from the earliest periods, two Indian races known as the Mixtecas and the Zapotecas; the former of which is characterised by activity, intelligence and industry. Besides these tribes, seventeen others are reckoned still to inhabit Oajaca.