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]
Relics from Yanguitlan.
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]
CHAPTER VIII.
ANTIQUITIES OF VERA CRUZ.
Physical Features of the State—Exploration and Reports—Caxapa and Tuxtla—Negro Head—Relics from Island of Sacrificios—Eastern Slope Remains—Medelin—Xicalanco—Rio Blanco—Amatlan—Orizava—Cempoala—Puente Nacional—Paso de Ovejas—Huatusco—Fortifications and Pyramids of Centla—El Castillo—Fortress of Tlacotepec—Palmillas—Zacuapan—Inscription at Atliaca—Consoquitla Fort and Tomb—Calcahualco—Ruins of Misantla or Monte Real—District of Jalancingo—Pyramid of Papantla—Mapilca—Pyramid and Fountain at Tusapan—Ruins of Metlaltoyuca—Relics near Pánuco—Calondras, San Nicolas, and Trinidad.
Passing now to the eastern or gulf coast, I shall devote the present chapter to the antiquities of Vera Cruz, the ancient home of the Totonacs in the north, and the Xicalancas and Nonohualcos in the south. Vera Cruz, with an average width of seventy miles, extends from the Laguna de Santa Ana, the western boundary of Tabasco, to the mouth of the River Pánuco, a distance of about five hundred miles. Its territory is about equally divided lengthwise between the low malarious tierra caliente on the immediate gulf shore, and the eastern slope of the lofty sierra that bounds the Mexican plateau. Two or three much-traveled routes lead inland from the port of Vera Cruz towards the city of Mexico, and travelers make haste to cross this plague-belt, the lurking-place of the deadly vomito, turning neither to the right nor left to investigate the past or present. A railroad now completed renders the transit still more direct and rapid than before. Away from these routes the territory of this state is less known than almost any other portion of the Mexican Republic, although a portion of the southern Goatzacoalco region has been pretty thoroughly explored by surveyors of the Tehuantepec interoceanic routes, and by an unfortunate French colonization company that settled here early in the present century. The mountain slopes and plateaux twenty-five or thirty miles inland are, however, fertile and not unhealthy, having been crowded in ancient times with a dense aboriginal population, traces of whose former presence are found in every direction. Most of our information respecting the antiquities of this state is derived from the reports of Mexican explorers, only one or two of whom have in most cases visited each of the many groups of ruins. These explorers have as a rule fallen into a very natural, perhaps, but at the same time very unfortunate error in their descriptions; for after having displayed great energy and skill in the discovery and examination of a ruin, doubtless forming a clear idea of all its details, they usually compress these details into the space of a few paragraphs or a few pages, and devote the larger part of their reports to essays on the Toltec, Chichimec, or Olmec history—subjects on which they can throw no light. They neglect a topic of the deepest interest, concerning which their authority would be of the very greatest weight, for another respecting which their conclusions are for the most part valueless.