“The Teocalli or temple is composed of alternate layers of clay and sun-burnt brick, forming an immense pyramid, divided into regular stages, or platforms; but time, and the growth of the prickly pear, the tuna, or nopal, and other vegetables, have left but little of its original form visible, and it now resembles a natural hill; the high road from Puebla is cut through a part of it, which serves to show its internal structure.
“We ascended by a steep winding road, partly cut into steps, to a level area of 140 (one hundred and forty) feet long, on which stands a very neat church, ninety feet in length, with two towers and a dome; from this exalted platform the spectator enjoys a most lovely landscape. We descended with reluctance the side of this pyramid, whose base is more extensive than that of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. It is covered with trees of great variety, some species of which I had never before seen; but they had evidently been planted there.
“On our descent to the plains we visited two detached masses, constructed, like the great pyramid, of unburnt brick and clay. The one to the north-east had been cut or taken away; its broken sides were so perpendicular as to prevent access to its summit. The other detached piece has been engraved by Humbolt, whose figure of the great pyramid conveys an idea of its ancient rather than its present state, nor is the church on its summit like the original.
“The corner-stone of the building now occupied by the lottery-office, and fronting the market for shoes, is the head of the serpent-idol, of great magnitude, which I should judge was not, when entire, less than seventy-feet in length. Under the gateway of the house, nearly opposite the entrance to the mint, is a fine statue, in a recumbent posture, of a deity, bearing the human form, and ornamented with various symbols; it is about the size of life, and was found a few years since in digging a well.
“The house at the corner of a street at the south-east of the great square is built upon and in part supported by a fine circular altar of black basalt, ornamented with the tail and claws of a gigantic reptile. In the cloisters behind the Dominican Convent is a noble specimen of the great serpent idol, almost perfect, and of fine workmanship; this monstrous divinity is represented in the act of swallowing a human victim, which is seen crushed and struggling in its horrid jaws.
“The only works of art of the inhabitants of the city of Mexico before the conquest, then called Tenochtitlan, now publicly seen, are the great Calendar Stone, popularly called Montezuma’s watch, and the Sacrificial Stone, or the grand altar, once standing in the great temple before the principal idol. The former measures twelve feet in diameter, and is cut from one large block of porous basaltic stone. It is supposed to have been placed in the roof of the great temple in the same manner as the Zodiac was in the temple of Tentyra in Upper Egypt.[[65]] It now stands against the north-west wall of the cathedral, and is an attractive object of antiquarian research, and a striking proof of the perfection the nation to which it belonged had attained in some of the sciences; few persons, even of the most enlightened cities of Europe, of the present day, would be capable of executing such a work.
“From the first moment I beheld it I determined, if possible, to convey to Europe a fac-simile of so fine a specimen of Aztec skill. Through the influence of Don Lucas Alarman, the prime minister, I obtained permission of the clergy to erect a scaffold against the cathedral, and took an impression of it in plaster, which was afterwards carefully packed up, and with some difficulty conveyed to Vera Cruz. It has fortunately arrived safely in England, and now forms one of the subjects of the exhibition of Ancient Mexico to be seen in the Egyptian Hall.
“The Sacrificial Stone, or altar, is buried in the square of the cathedral, within a hundred yards of the Calendar Stone. The upper surface only is exposed to view, which seems to have been done designedly. As I had been informed that the sides were covered with historical sculpture, I applied to the clergy for the further permission of having the earth removed from around it, which they not only granted, but moreover had it performed for me at their own expense.
“I then took casts of the whole. It is twenty-five feet in circumference, and consists of fifteen groups of figures, representing the conquests of the warriors of Mexico over different cities, the names of which are written over them.
“After a pleasant ride over a country not very fertile, we reached the gates of Tescuco. Some time before approaching the immediate vicinity of the city, you are apprised that you are near a place of great antiquity. You pass the large aqueduct for the supply of the town, which is still in use, and you also pass the ruins of several stone buildings of great strength.