4<^ 



Brinton.] ^^ [Jan. 5, 



mummied or exsiccated body of some former distinguished 

 priest or cliieftain. One such is recorded bj'' Bartholome de 

 Pisa, which was found among the Zapotecs of Coatlan. It bore 

 a name talven from the calendar, that of the tenth day, and was 

 alleged to be the preserved cadaver of a celebrated ruler.* An- 

 other interesting example is narrated by Villa Seiior y Sanchez, f 

 who describes it as an eye-witness. It was discovered in a spa- 

 cious cave located some distance to the west of the city of 

 Mexico, in Nahuatl territorj'^, on the side of what was known as 

 " the Sun mountain " — la Mesa de Tonati. He speaks of it as 

 remarkably well pi-eserved, " both the muscles and the bones." 



"It was seated in an armchair which served for a throne, and was 

 clothed in a mantle, which fell from the shoulders to the feet, Tliis was 

 richly adorned with precious stones, which, according to the native cus- 

 tom, were sewed into the texture of the cloth. . The figure also wore 

 shoulder straps, collars, bracelets and fastenings of silver. From its 

 forehead rose a crown of beautiful feathers of different colors, arranged 

 so that one color should alternate with another. The left hand was rest- 

 ing on the arm of the chair, while in the right was a sharp cutlass with 

 silver mountings. At its feet were several vases of fine stone, as marble 

 and alabaster, in which were offerings of blood and meat, obtained from 

 the sacrifices." 



The same writer refers to other examples of these sacred 

 caves which he had seen in his journeys. One was near the 

 town of Teremendo, where the sides and roof had been artifi- 

 cially dressed into the shape of huge arches. A natural altar had 

 been provided in a similar manner, and on it, at the time of his 

 visit, were numerous idols in the figures of men and animals, 

 and before them fresh oflferings of copal and food. Elsewhere 

 he refers to many such caverns still in use as places resorted to 

 by the natives in la gran Sierra de Tlascala.'^ 



These extracts prove the extent of this peculiar worship and 

 the number of these subterranean temples in recent generations. 

 The fame of some of the greater ones of the past still survives, 

 as the vast grotto of Chalcatongo, near Achiutla, which was the 

 sepulchral vault of its ancient kings ; that of Totomachiapa, a 



* Jlcrrera, Ilintoria tie las Indian Occidentalcs, Dec. iii, Lilx iii, cap. \4. 



t Villa Senor, Tcalru Americano, Lib. v, cap. 38 (Mexico, 1747). Father Cavo adds that 

 there were signs of human sacrilices pre'5eut, but of this I can find no evidence in the 

 earlier reports. Comp. Cavo, Los Tns Siylos dc Mexico durante el Gobierno Eyjianal, Tom. 

 ii, p. 12S. 



i Teatro Americano, Lib. ii, cap. 11 ; Lib. iii, cap. 13. 



