of the Ancient Mexicans, 121 



nificent deity, on his departure from earth, promised faith- 

 fully to return and revisit the people he loved so well, this 

 event is confidently expected to the present day. 



Quetzalcoatl' embarked in his boat of rattlesnake-skins on 

 the Gulf of Mexico, and as he was seen to steer to the east- 

 ward, his arrival is consequently looked for from that quar- 

 ter ; and when the Spaniards arrived from the east, as they 

 resembled the god in the colour of their skin, they were ge- 

 nerally supposed to be messengers from, or descendants of, 

 the god of air. 



This tradition is common to the nations of the far north, 

 and in New Mexico the belief is still clung to by the Pueblo 

 Indians, who have for centuries continued their patient vigils 

 by the undying fire. Its dim light may still be seen by the 

 wandering hunter, glimmering from the deep recesses of a 

 cave in the mountains, when, led by the chase, he passes in 

 the vicinity of this humble and lonely temple. 



Such a striking analogy as that described above almost 

 proves the connection of the two people, and this prominent 

 similarity, nay, identity of religious rite, is at all events suf- 

 ficient evidence to warrant the inference I have drawn, as to 

 the community of origin of the Pueblo Indians and ancient 

 Mexicans. 



From what part of the Old World, or whencesoever these 

 people passed, from Asia or Africa, into the continent of Ame- 

 rica will not be touched upon here ; neither is it necessary to 

 adduce any of the arguments which have been brought for- 

 ward to prove the fact of the Mexicans having sprung from 

 Asiatic origin. Such arguments, based upon alleged analogy 

 of customs and religious rites, having, in the opinion of the 

 writer, but little weight or reason attached to them ; for is 

 it not natural that the expression of that instinctive religious 

 feeling, which exists in the breasts of even the most barbar- 

 ous of mankind, should find a vent in rites and ceremonies 

 which, however primitive, may yet bear some analogy to those 

 practised by civilised people \ The adoration of a Supreme 

 Being, whether invested with the beautiful attributes of the 

 Christian's Deity, or the grotesque or horrible power with 

 which the idolatrous savage clothes his god, may yet take the 



