GRAND HALL AT MITLA.
"The cities at Palenque and Lorillard were of Toltec origin; the Toltecs were in Mexico previous to the Aztecs, as we have already mentioned, and it is fair to presume that these cities now in crumbling ruins were older than the Tenochtitlan which Cortez captured from the Aztecs. In the State of Oajaca are the ruins of Mitla, an Aztec city, and they are extensive enough to show that a powerful people once lived there.
"The ruins at Mitla are in two groups, each consisting of four buildings fronting on a square like the plaza of modern times. There is a hall with six columns of stone in the centre, each column being about twelve feet high, and tapering towards the top like a slender sugar-loaf. It is supposed to have formed a central support for the roof that rested at its edges upon the walls, which are parallel to each other. The walls are built of rough stones laid with cement, and they seem to have been covered originally with stucco.
EXTERIOR OF TEMPLE AT MITLA.
"On the outside the buildings at Mitla were built up with blocks of hewn stone, and covered with a mosaic laid in stucco, and composed of stone of different colors. The doors and windows are square, and have lintels of hewn stone, and altogether the buildings had quite a resemblance to those of the ancient Egyptians.
"There is a tradition at Mitla that vast amounts of treasure are concealed in the temples and surrounding grounds, and the earth has been repeatedly dug over in the search for these things. Under one of the temples is a chamber, in which there is an upright column of stone, called the 'Pillar of Death.' The natives believe that any Indian who clasps his arms around this pillar will die in a short time, but white men are not in any such danger."