ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TEADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 359 



literally at every step, mixed with morsels of pottery, and here and 

 there a little clay idol."* 



From the centre of the State of Ohio to the country of the Sho- 

 shonees, as well as to the liio Gila, and the just-described mines in 

 Mexico, the straight distances are almost equal, measuring about seven- 

 teen hundred English miles; indeed, the Mexican mines are a trifle 

 nearer to Ohio than the above-mentioned districts. It would be lost 

 labor, therefore, to Indulge in speculations from which of these locali- 

 ties the obsidiau found iu Ohio and Tennessee was derived. The num- 

 ber of articles of this stone that has been met east of the Mississippi 

 is so exceedingly small that its technical significance hardly deserves 

 any consideration. Yet, the sole fact of finding worked obsidian at 

 such great distances from the nearest places where it occurs either in 



* Anahuac, p. 99. The followiug interesting communication was addressed to me by 

 Dr. C. H. Berendt : 



"During one of many excursions "wliicli I made in the years 1853-'56 around the 

 Citlaltepetl, or Pico de Orizaba (in the State of Vera Cruz), I saw an obsidiau mine on 

 the western slope of that mountain. I had heard of it from my friend the late Mr. C. 

 Sartorins ,who had visited the place years ago. I was informed that the ludians of the 

 village of Alpatlahna knew the place, but that they did not like to have it visited. 

 Some say they have treasures hidden in the caves of the neighborhood ; while others 

 believe that they have idols in those lonely places which they still secretly worship. 

 The cura of San Juan Coscomatepec, who was of this latter opinion, gave me the name 

 of a mestizo farmer in the neighborhood who might be induced to show me the place. 

 Our party followed from Coscomatepec the road which leads to the rancho Jacal and the 

 pass of La Cuchilla. We did not find the mestizo at home, but his wife, who directed 

 her boy to show us the cave. Reaching the bridge of the Jamapa river, we took a 

 by-road partiug to the north, which brought us to the village of Alpatlahua, and about 

 fuur miles farther north to a branch of the Jamapa river, which we crossed. We then 

 left the road and proceeded about half a mile up the river through thick woods, when 

 we found ourselves suddenly before the entrance of the cave. It was about fifty feet 

 high and of cousiderable width, but obstructed by fallen rocks and shrubs. Heaps of 

 obsidian chips of more than a man's height filled the bottom of the grotto, which had 

 apparently no cousiderable horizontal depth. To the left the mine was seen, a n excavation 

 of from six to eight square yards, the bottom filled up with rubbish and chips. Obsidian, 

 evidently, had not only been quarried, but also been made into implements at this 

 spot, the latter fact being proved by the occurrence of cores, or nuclei, of all sizes, 

 from which flakes or knives had been detached. We were not prepared for digging, 

 and it was too late for undertaking explorations that day. So we left, with the purpose 

 to return better prepared at another time, hoping to find some relics of the miners 

 and workmen, and, perhaps, other antiquities. But it happened that I never had an 

 opportunity to visit the place again. Mr. Sartorius saw in this cave three entrances 

 walled up with stone aiul mortar, but these I did not discover, having, as stated, no 

 time for a careful examination. Future travelers, I hope, will be more successful. 



"Mr. Sartorious mentioned another place, likewise in the State of Vera Cruz, where 

 obsidian formerly was (juarried. This place is situated in the chain of mountains ex- 

 tending from the Pic© de Orizaba to the Cofre de Perote. One of the intervening 

 mountains, called Xalistac, is distinguished by a white spot that can bo seen at the 

 distance of many miles, even at Vera Cruz. It is produced by an outcropping of i)umice- 

 stone resting on an immense mass of obsidian that has been worked in various places. 

 I know the mountain well, but not the road leading to it, never having traveled in that 

 direction." 



