276 CERTAIN ANTIQUITIES OF EASTERN MEXICO [eth. ann. 25 



Ruins near Altamira 



The ruins on the banks of the Champaj'an and other lagoons north 

 of Tampico, probablj' the remains of the settlements visited by Cortes, 

 have been described and tigured by Prieto." Among these maj' be 

 mentioned the mounds at the San Francisco ranch and the pyramid at 

 La Palma. Easy trips maj' he made to the former from a railroad 

 station (Cervantes); for La Palma one must alight from the train at 

 Estero; the ruin near Aldama ma}' be visited from the station, Gon- 

 zales. There is a line collection of potter}' and other anticiuities from 

 the San Francisco mounds, in Altamira, at the house of Sefior Don 

 Antonio Parras, owner of the ranch. Efforts to visit the ancient city 

 Cliila were not successful, although enough was learned of its situation 

 to impress the author with the desirabilit}' of future exploration. 

 Those who said that they had been at the ruin claimed that it lies in a 

 thick forest and that the hill where it is situated is visible from Tamos. 

 A peon who has been there informed the author that it would be neces- 

 sary to cut a pathway through the jungle for a considerable distance 

 but that once there, the visit would be rewarded bj- views of plastered 

 walls, many mounds, and other evidences of former inhabitants. The 

 most convenient station on the I'ailroad from which to visit Chila is 

 Ochoa, about halfwa}' between Tamos and Chila. Possiblj' this is the 

 ruin on the Cerro de Chila mentioned by Doctor Seler, but his account 

 is not complete enough to identify Old Chila. The author is under the 

 impression that no archeologist has j^et visited Chila, the city that 

 figures so prominently in the early campaigns into the Huaxtec coun- 

 try by Cortes and his lieutenants. The most northern I'uin of which 

 the author received information, but did not visit, is a mound said to 

 be covered with carved stones, situated near Aldama (formerly called 

 Presas), about 10 leagues from the station Gonzales on the Victoria 

 and Tampico railroad. According to information received this ruin 

 has faced stones, and was probably not unlike the temple mound at 

 Palma. Either this or one of neighboring ruins may be that men- 

 tioned by Prieto as situated about a league north of Chocoy. He saj's 

 that it is near the banks of an arroj'o which passes the Tancuayave 

 ranch and uniting with other arroyos from Aldama, later flows into 

 the lagoon San Andres. Northward from the ruin near Aldama 

 sti-etches to the Rio Grande a vast territor}- the archeology of which 

 is wholly unknown. What mounds may be here hidden can be ascer- 

 tained only by later studies and field work.* 



a Hist6ria Geogr&fica y Estadistica del Estado de Tamaulipas, p. 43-57, Mexico, 1873. 



bWild or partially savage tribes were encountered in this region by Escandron and others. Many 

 name.s have been applied to lhe.se tribes, but as yet no one has been able satisfactorily to determine 

 their synonym-s. See Orozco y Berra and various other authors. 



