Dupaix in his first exploring tour visited Huatusco, and states that at a distance of half a league down the river from the modern town was found a group of ruins known as the Pueblo Viejo. These ruins were on the slope of a hill, and on the summit stood the pyramid shown in the cut, known as El Castillo. The height of this Castle is about sixty-six feet, and according to Dupaix's text the base is two hundred and twenty-one feet square, but, according to Castañeda's drawing, copied above, each side is not over seventy-five feet.[VIII-23] The foundation, or pyramid proper, is built in three stories, being about thirty-seven feet high. A broad stairway, with solid balustrade, leads up the western front. On the summit platform stands a building in three stories, with walls about eight feet thick, which, at least on the exterior, are not perpendicular but slope inward. The lower story has but one doorway, that at the head of the stairway; it forms a single hall, in the centre of which are three pillars, which sustained the beams of the floor above, pieces of the beams being yet visible. The two upper stories seem to have had no doors or windows. Dupaix says that on the summit was a platform three feet thick, yet as the roof was fallen, he probably had little or no authority for the statement. The interior of the whole structure was a rubble of stone and mortar, and the facing of hewn blocks regularly laid. The whole exterior surface, at least of the superimposed structure, was covered with a polished coating of plaster, and a peculiar ornament is seen in each side of the second story, in the form of a large panel, containing regular rows of round stones imbedded in the wall. El Castillo, if we may credit Dupaix's account of it, must be regarded as a very important monument of Nahua antiquity, by reason of the edifice, in a tolerable state of preservation, found on the summit of the pyramid. These upper structures with interior apartments have in most instances entirely disappeared. In connection with these ruins Dupaix found a coiled serpent carved from hard stone; a fragment of terra-cotta with decorations in relief; and a fancifully modeled skull, the material of which is not stated.[VIII-24]
FORTRESS OF TLACOTEPEC.
Sartorius mentions a 'castle,' with towers and teocallis, situated on a frightful cliff between two barrancas, three leagues from Huatusco, distinct from Centla, and some leagues further southward.[VIII-25] Clavigero says that in his time the ancient fortress of Quauhtochco, or Guatusco, was still standing, surrounded with lofty walls of solid stone, which could only be entered by means of many high and narrow steps.[VIII-26] Sr Iberri applies the name El Castillo to the ruins visited by him in 1826, but it is evident from his slight description that he refers to Centla.[VIII-27] It is clear that at least two and probably more groups of remains are indicated by the different authorities cited.
The following are mentioned as the localities of undescribed ruins, several of them belonging to what seems to be a line of ancient fortifications extending northward from the vicinity of Huatusco: Cotastla, Matlaluca, Capulapa, Tlapala, Poxtla, Xicuintla, and Chistla.[VIII-28] The fortress of Tlacotepec is located four leagues east of Jolutla, between the Rio de la Antigua and Paso de Ovejas, six thousand varas west of and a quarter of a league above the houses of the hacienda of Mirador, separated by a deep ravine from San Martin on the south—a location which might possibly be clear enough with the aid of a good map, or to a person perfectly familiar with the topography of the country. The position of the fortified plateau is similar to that of Centla, and a ditch, generally fourteen feet deep and from sixteen to eighteen feet wide, leads over the hills for several leagues to the entrance of the plateau. This ditch, however, seems only to be excavated in the earth, and disappears in several places where the solid rock is encountered.[VIII-29] At the terminus, towards the fortifications, the ditch widens into a rectangular excavation, one hundred and eight by two hundred and seventy-six feet, surrounded with an embankment formed of the earth thrown out. The defensive works which guard the passage between the ravines, and the extensive ruins of temples and dwellings on the plateau beyond, are described only by Sartorius, and his text, plan, and sketch, all fail to convey any clear notion respecting the arrangement and details of these remains. The following, however, are the principal features noted:—A wall twenty-eight feet high across the entrance to the plateau; two small towers in pyramidal form on the narrow pass; a building called the castle, apparently somewhat similar to the fortifications at Centla; a line of pyramids, serving as a second line of defense; a ditch excavated in the solid rock; another group of pyramids protected by a semicircular wall; an excavation apparently intended as a reservoir for water, covering two thousand square yards, the bottom of which is literally covered with fragments of pottery, and on the banks of which are the foundations of many dwellings; a number of temple pyramids, like the type at Centla shown in a preceding cut, one of them having the so-called blood-canal; an earthen receptacle at the foot of the altar, filled with earth, in which were found two human skulls; the foundations of an edifice two hundred yards long, having along its whole length "a corridor of cement with hewn stone at its sides, forming one or two steps;" a small pyramid formed from the living rock of the cliff, at the very edge of the precipice where the ravines meet; and finally, arrow-heads, lance-heads, and knives of obsidian, which are found at every step, and are even dug up from under the roots of large trees.[VIII-30]
Rock Inscription at Atliaca.
REMAINS ABOUT MIRADOR.
A few leagues eastward from Tlacotepec on the same barranca, are two forts known as Palmillas, separated by a deep ravine. One of them was used by the Mexican forces under General Victoria in the war of independence; the other has the remains of an aqueduct which brought water from a point over a league distant.[VIII-31] At Zacuapan, near Mirador, and five leagues from Huatusco, according to Heller, are remains of the ordinary type, including terraced walls, parapets with loopholes, a plaza with plastered pavement in the centre of which stands a pyramid, a cubical structure or altar on the very verge of the precipice, and the usual scattered pottery and implements. Six miles south of Mirador the same traveler mentions some baths, on a rock near which is the inscription shown in the cut.[VIII-32] Also in the vicinity of Mirador, at the junction of two tributaries of the Santa María, is the fortress of Consoquitla, similar to the others. A line of plastered pyramidal structures is mentioned, in one of the smallest of which was a tomb three by six feet lying north and south and covered with large stone flags. Within the tomb was a skeleton, together with earthen boxes filled with arrow-heads and bird-bones. Some large idols are also said to have been found here, and on the summit platform of some of the pyramids were the marks of upright beams, which seem to have supported wooden buildings.[VIII-33] Calcahualco, 'ruined houses,' is also on one of the tributaries of the Santa María. A parapeted wall fifty-five feet long protects the entrance, and could only be crossed by the aid of ropes or ladders. The wall seems to stand in an excavation, so that its top is about on a level with the original surface of the plateau. Within the fortifications is a large pyramid surrounded by smaller ones and by the foundations of houses; and another excavation, a hundred yards long and twenty-five in width, is vaguely mentioned as of unknown use. A mile and a half further south-east are some ruins in the bottom of a ravine. A wall nine feet high rises from the water's edge, and on it stand a row of round monolithic columns, which seem to have supported a stone architrave.[VIII-34] Mr Tylor noticed some remains by the roadside, at the eastern foot of Orizava, as he was traveling towards San Antonio de Abajo.[VIII-35]