GARDENS OF ANCIENT MEXICO NUTTALL 461 



The hill is approached by a gentle slope from the south. Its 

 north side ends abruptly in a precipice which resembles a high 

 wall of rose-colored porphyry. On the crest of the hill are the 

 remains of a small palace and of an edifice with flights of steps 

 which may have led to the famous nine-storied tower described 

 by native historians. There are also vestiges of a building with a 

 well-preserved niche and a platform which may have been an out- 

 door theater such as those of Tlatelolco and Cholula, described 

 by Spaniards as being of masonry, 13 feet high and 30 paces 

 square, on which arches made of flowers and feathers were erected 

 when performances took place. As during what has been termed 

 " the Golden Age " of " the Athens of America," the poet king had 

 constituted a council of music whose members held sessions and 

 bestowed prizes on the best songs and poems, it is obvious that some 

 suitable stage for the presentation and audition of these must have 

 been provided. 



Extremely well preserved are a large circular bathing tank near 

 a stone seat with a high sloping back and a small circular fountain 

 on a platform at the base of a flight of steps, all most skillfully 

 hewn out of the solid and extremely hard rock. 



The most remarkable feature of the ruins consists, however, of a 

 circular basin carved in an enormous block of porphyry which pro- 

 jects into space and has been aptly described by the English traveler, 

 W. Bullock, as " standing out like a martin's nest from the side of a 

 house" (see photograph, pi. 3). He also goes on to say: "It is not 

 only an extraordinary bath, but still more extraordinarily placed. 

 It is a beautiful basin about 12 feet long by 8 wide, having a well 



5 feet by 4 deep in the center, surrounded by a parapet or rim 2 feet 



6 inches high with a throne or chair such as is represented in ancient 

 pictures to have been used by kings. There are steps to descend 

 into the basin or bath, the whole cut out of the living porphyry rock 

 with the most mathematical precision and polished in the most beau- 

 tiful manner." From the poet king's throne the view is one of sur- 

 passing loveliness and includes a view of the City of Mexico 30 miles 

 distant on the opposite shore of the lake. A descendant of 

 Nezahualcoyotl tells of a similar reservoir on the hill from which 

 a stream of water was projected into space and, forming a fine spray, 

 descended like rain on a garden at the base of the hill filled with all 

 kinds of fragrant tropical flowers. A steep flight of steps, now 

 partly preserved, led from the projecting rock to the base of the hill 

 which was " surrounded by a garden in which was planted a diver- 

 sity of trees and scented flowers. It also contained a number of 

 different kinds of birds beside those the king had in cages brought 

 from distant places, whose songs were so loud that people could not 

 hear each other talk." 



