472 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



+ ■ 



These people cannot have associated much with- the Mexicans, 

 f«r they scarce know a word of the language. This may be owing 

 to an old Spanish law, referred to by Mr, Murray, the geographer; 

 which lawj confined the Indians to their villageSj not allowing the 

 whiles to visit them, nor were they admitted into any place in- 

 habited by whites. They however seem to possess a smattering of 

 the Roman Catholic religon, their dwellings are often crowned with 

 the symbol of the cross; and, as I have already mentioned, one of 

 the first objects that strikes the eye is a large chapel with its towers 

 and bells. . 



We now returned to our camp in the valley belowj although we 

 had ridden up, yet we did not feel inclined to run the risk of 

 descending the spiral stairway, on other feet than those of our 

 propria persona. 



At one place, just after passing the narrow defile, near the tower 

 rock, a wall has been raised by the Indians to prevent accidents 

 from persons falling over the precipice. I took a sketch of this 

 portion of the ascent. 



When we reached the plain we saw large flocks of sheep, herds 

 of cattle, and droves of horses. We had encamped by the side of 

 some holes that the Indians had dug; these, they said, yielded a 

 constant supply of water; and between our camp and the city, there 

 was some water that ran aloi^g over the bed of a stream for a few 

 yards, when it disappeared beneath the sand. This furnished the 

 inhabitants with drinking water; I was obliged to scoop a hollow 

 in the sand before I could get my tin cup full. This running water 

 is three-fourths of a mile from the foot of the rock. 



To look from our camp upon this town, as it sits qn the flat top 

 of the rock, which rises so abruptly from the plain, and catch sight 

 of the little windows, surrounded with white washed squares, one 

 is struck with the resemblance of the buildings to a fort. The mind 

 recalls the images it has formed of those fortresses that were obser- 

 ved by the army of Cortez; such as the village of "Capistlan," in 

 the mountains of Guastepeque, described by Solis, as "a town 



strong by nature, seated on the top of a great rock, diificult of 

 access, the way so steep that the Spaniards could not use their 

 harfls for fear of their feet slipping.'' In a second place, he de- 

 scribes the attack of another fortress: "a considerable fortress, on 

 the highest eminence," in the same mountain, thus; "the Indians 

 feigned to be in some disorder, that they might entice the Spaniards 

 to the most dangerous part of the precipice; which they had no 

 sooner effected, than they returned with most horrible cries, letting 

 fall from the top such a shower of stones, and entire rocks, as 

 fearred up the way, after having borne down every thing it met 

 with." Bernal Diaz, the doughty captain, is obliged to retire to a 

 hollow rock, and advise tie rest to halt and leave the paths, it 

 being impossible to go on without falling into danger.* 



-- -^.^.^.^. -liJ^-' 



• And Cortez h'mself, the great general, seeing 

 thai wav. and fearbsr all wouU havp T^arJchori ^i^ni 



same 



