H4 Harshberger. — Maize ; 



on the top. Prescott says : " Fairy islands of flowers over- 

 shadowed occasionally by trees of considerable size." "That 

 archipelago of wandering islands." 1 The Nahua nation 

 were probably no more cultured than their relatives the Utes 

 and Comanches, until they came in contact with the Kere- 

 sans in the north, or the Mayas and other cultured tribes, 

 the Totonacos, Zapotecs and Chinantecs, in the south. The 

 Aztecs did little more than copy the works left by their pre- 

 decessors. 2 A general ethnic rule, applicable in many cases, 

 may be laid down, that less civilized tribes coming into con- 

 tact with more civilized nations imitate the customs of the 

 more successful race, and a struggle ensues, in which the 

 more cultured race, if a stronger one physically, has the advan- 

 tage, and its culture obtains the ascendency. The fact that 

 the Nahuas preferred the highlands of Mexico to all other 

 districts as a dwelling-place, is accounted for by the surround- 

 ings, which were attractive and wholesome. Maize grew 

 well, and on the plateaus, in addition to this cereal, grew the 

 maguey {Agave Americana) ; in the neighborhood lower down 

 the coast grew a great variety of tropical fruits, amongst 

 others the cacao and the vanilla. 3 They were in an already 

 long-settled country ; the fields were cleared, and the country 

 inviting, with its ancient buildings and arts. With the first 

 germs of civilization instilled into them, it is no wonder that 

 they developed into a great and powerful nation. The same 

 conditions determined the location of the ancient civilizations 

 in the rich and fertile river valleys of the Euphrates, Nile, 

 Ganges and Yang-tse-Kiang. 



The Mayas were the oldest in civilization of any race on 

 the North American continent. 4 Copan, Palenque, Uxmal, 

 were built by them, and these ancient architectural remains 

 were of a high order and indicate a long process of evolution 

 from more primitive forms. They excelled in architecture, 



1 Prescott, Conquest Mexico, n, 70, 107-8; Cortes, Cartas, 79; Sarmiento. Heredia, 

 95, 96; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., 11, 483; Carli, Cartas, 1, 38,39; Bancroft, Native 

 Races, n, 344. 



- Tylor. E. B., Anahuac, London, 1861, 188. 



3 Peschel, O., Races of Man, New York, 1876, 449. 



4 Nadaillac, Prehistoric America, 262; Contributions N. A. Ethnology, 75; Short, 

 John T., North Americans of Antiquity, 203; Standard Natural History, vi, 219. 



