292 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. -S 



Fig. 66. Tepeyollotl, Mexican deity, from the 

 Borgian codex. 



the voice, when it reechoes in n vnlley from oue uiountain to :\nother. . . . 

 This name " jaguar " is given to the earth, liecause the j.-ignar is the bol<lest 

 animal, and the echo which the voice awakens in the mountains is a sar\ ival 

 of the flood, it is said. 



The above description makes it plain that this ti<rure nuist l)e con- 

 sidered a deity of the earth, of the hoHow interior of the earth and 

 the mountain wilderness, who 

 has nothing to do with the 

 light, pure upper regions. A\'e 

 seek in vain for mention of 

 this deity and for statements 

 concerning his worship in the 

 works of the historians who 

 lived near the capital of Mex- 

 ico in the midst of Mexican - 

 speaking people, and who 

 therefore drew their infor 

 niation chiefly or exclusiveh 

 f r o m Mexican traditions. 

 Neither Sahagun, Duran, ^NIo- 

 tolinia, nor Mendieta men- 

 tion this god. On the other 

 hand, we have reliable information that in the territory with which 

 we are here concerned, and indeed among both the kindred nations of 

 the Mixtecs and Zapotecs, he was known and even received special 

 veneration. 



As Yoopaa, or Mictlan, was the holy city of the Zapotecs, so Nuu- 

 ndecu, or Achiotlan ("the place of the Bixa Orellana"), Avas the 

 holy city of the Mixtecs, where the high priest had his abode and 

 where there was a far-famed oracle, which indeed King Motecuhzoma 

 is said to have consulted when he was disturbed by the news of the 

 landing of Cortes. The chief sancttiary was situated on the highest 

 peak of a mountain. Here, as Father Burgoa relates," there was 

 among other altars one of an idol " which they called the ' heart of 

 the place or of the country (Corazon del Pueblo)', and whicli re- 

 ceived great honor. The material >\ as of marvelous value, for it was 

 an emerald of the size of a thick pepper pod (capsicum), upon which 

 a small bird was engraved with the greatest skill, and, with the same 

 skill, a small serpent coiled ready to strike. The stone was so trans- 

 parent that it shone from its interior with the brightness of a can- 

 dle flame. It was a very old jewel, and there is no tradition extant 

 concerning the origin of its A^eneration and worship "'. The first 

 missionary of Achiotlan, Fray Benito, afterAvard visited this place 



" Work cited, chap. 28. 



