Atlantis. 201 



" It is a tropical Switzerland," says a recent writer. ' ' Flanked by two 

 oceans, and rising from both to the rich plateaus of the table lands, 

 Mexico possesses, on both acclivities, all the temperatures of the world, 

 and ranges from the orange and plantain on the sea shore, to eternal 

 ice on the precipices that overhang the higher valleys. Change of 

 climate is attained merely by ascending, and in a region where the 

 country rises steeply, the broad leaved aloe and feathery palm may be 

 seen relieved against the everlasting snow of Popocatapetl. All these 

 delightful climates produce the fruits and flowers of the tropics on the 

 same parallel of latitude that crosses eternal frost ; while over all, a 

 never-ending sprmg bends its cloudless arch. Nor are these the only 

 allurements of this wonderful land ; for Nature, as if unsatisfied with 

 pampering the tastes of man by crowding the surface of the earth 

 with everythmg that might please his appetite or delight his eye, has 

 veined its sterile mountains with precious ores in exhaustless quantity." 



Here, too, we find the radical tl or atl, one of the commonest roots 

 of the spoken language, entering into numerous words of varied signi- 

 fication, and also existing as a separate word, whose meaning is such 

 as would render it the one most likely to be transmitted to foreign 

 nations through maritime intercourse. 



The primary signification of the word in the Nahuatl, or Toltecan, 

 language, was ivater ; from which were derived Atlau, on the border or 

 in the micht of tvater ; Atlaca, to combat, or, to hurl or dart from the ivat^r, 

 with preterit Atlaz, and numerous other words of like form, con- 

 taining the radical in combination. 



But an argument drawn from a single philological coincidence, 

 however strong, is hardly sufiicient to satisfy a critical mind, unless 

 confirmed by other analogies less general than beauty and fertility of 

 the country, or its wealth in flocks or gold ; for we may reasonably 

 assume that an intercourse, however remote, between the primitive 

 inhabitants of Egypt and America would have left some traces in the 

 monuments, traditions and social systems of the latter, which would 

 aftbrd additional evidence of such communication. Besides, the 

 Aztec races, in whose spoken language these words occur, were com- 

 paratively recent invaders of Mexico, and the primafacie presumption 

 would be that their language and customs were also imported, and 

 that such analogies would, therefore, be wholly valueless as circum- 

 stantial proof. But, without digressing to answer this objection in 

 detail, it may be said, generally, that those who have most carefully 

 investigated the subject, including Baron Humboldt, agree that the 

 Aztec civilization was founded upon the more elevated and refined 

 systems of the earlier races whom these invaders supplanted, and that 



