NO EUINS IN SONOEA. 203 



emigration, and states that this was the third stopping-place 

 of that people on their way from the Korth to the city of 

 Mexico. 



I met with no Indian ruins in Sonora, nor have I heard of 

 any other similar ones either there or in Chihuahua. 



Let us now try to discover, from the wi'itings of a few of 

 the earliest Spanish explorers, what kind of people they 

 found on their discovery of the country. I think I have 

 said enough about the small remnant of civilised Indians still 

 remaining, and of their natural enemies, the wild and un- 

 tamable savages, to prove what a striking difference exists 

 between them. I have also probably given a longef catalogue 

 of ruins than the patience of my reader has been able to 

 bear. The question, however, of the greatest interest still 

 remains to be answered — viz., Who were the builders of 

 these ruins, and why have they disappeared? The eai 

 Spaniards throw considerable light upon this question ; and 

 I think, after hearing what they have to say, we may di-aw a 

 lau" conclusion for ourselves. I have neither had time nor 

 opportunity to make researches amongst the long-forgotten 

 archives of Spain or Mexico ; but Lieutenant A. W. Whipple 

 has discovered in Colonel Peter Force's extensive library, at 

 ♦^ ashington, some very interesting matter ; a little more 

 Material has been added from other sources, and I collected 

 °iany additional facts at Santa Fe during my fortnight's visit 

 there. I may also add that the second, third, and fourth 

 letters of Fernando Cortez to the Emperor Charles Y. were 

 translated in America by George Tolson (^^ew York, 1843, 

 8vo.), and that the fifth letter has just appeared in the 

 "Journal of the Hakluyt Society," by Don Pascual de 

 Grayangos (1868). The first letter has not been translated, 

 tiecause its authenticity is still doubted. 



