FEWKES] RUIXS OF XICOCHIMALCO 245 



climbing- the steep trails and entering Xico Viejo had they wished to 

 do so. The inhabitants were ordered by ^loctezuma to receive Cortes 

 in a friendlj- manner and to furnish the strangers with food. 



According to Herrera, Cortes consumed one da}' in marching from 

 Cempoalan to Jalapa. This feat would have required a forced march, 

 and, considering- the size of the army, its impedimenta, and the distance 

 between the two points, would have been almost impossible; more- 

 over the statement of the length of time does not agree with that 

 given by the other authors, Bernal Diaz and Gomara, already quoted. 

 Hen-era does not mention the pueblo Xichochimalco, but says that 

 after leaving Jalapa the conquerors went on to another place, where 

 they were well received on account of the fact that both places be- 

 longed to the Cempoalan confederacy. The other place {otro Jugar) 

 mentioned b}'' Herrera was evident!}- either Xicochimalco or Izhuacan." 



Many other contemporary references to the I'oute of Cortes between 

 Cempoalan and the pass of the Cofre del Pirote might be quoted and 

 will be considered in a more extended report, but the accounts given 

 by the authors above named are sufHcient to establish the site of Sicu- 

 chimatl, from which place the trail went over the mountains to the 

 pueblo Theuhixuacan. the old settlement whose descendants now inhal)ife 

 Izhuacan.'' 



There are three towns not far from Jalapa that bear the name Xico 

 or Xicochimalco, two of which are now in ruins. The two ruined set- 

 tlements are claimed by the present inhabitants of Xico as puel)los of 

 their ancestors, and while legends are very definite concerning one of 

 these they are mcjre vague about the other.'' These may be called the 

 Texolo mounds and Xico Viejo: the former are believed to have been 

 made by a race different from the inhabitants of the latter, who were 

 Aztec. 



Texolo Mounds 



The oldest and largest ruin in the neighborhood of Xico, one of the 

 two above mentioned, is called Texolo, but its true name is unknown. 

 This remarkable group of mounds (plates civ, cv) lies at the base of the 

 volcanic mountain San Marcos (Acatpetl), visible from the plaza of 

 Jalapa. It consists of a series of large mounds, some of which have 

 markedly angular shapes, extending from San Marcos to a short dis- 

 tance from the Xico station on the narrow-gauge railroad from Jalapa 



a Some authors, as Prescott, say that Cortes went from Jalapa to Naolingo, but it is not so stated in 

 Bernal Diaz and Gomara. 



b An old Xico Indian stated that Xico Viejo was on the highway to Mexico from the coast of the 

 Gulf and that it is commonly believed by his people that thisroad was that ased by the couriers who 

 carried to Moetezuma the news of tlie arrival of the Spaniards. If this legend is reliable, it has a 

 distinct corroborative bearing on the probable route of Cortc's, who naturally w^ould have followed 

 this trail. 



cI am much indebted to Mr William Boone, director ni the .lalapa electric light plant, for valuable 

 aid in my .studies about Xico. 



