AND THE CASAS GRANDES. ‘283 
I have been unable to learn from what source the 
prevailing idea has arisen of the migration of the 
Aztecs, or ancient Mexicans, from the north into the 
valley of Mexico, and of the three halts they made in 
their journey thither. This is another idea which has 
been so widely promulgated that it has settled down 
into an acknowledged fact, although I confess I have 
Seen no satisfactory evidence of its truth. People 
have got too much in the way of ascribing all ancient 
remains to the Aztecs. We hear of them on the 
shores of Lake Michigan, where some have located the 
famous city of Aztlan. Other remains are spoken of 
in the Navajo country, south of the Great Salt Lake, 
where the Aztecs are said to have tarried a while. 
Again they are placed at the “Casas Grandes,” on 
the Gila; whence they. are supposed to have gone 
to a place north of the city of Chihuahua, where 
extensive remains are said to exist. The traditions 
Which gave rise to this notion are extremely vague, 
and were not seriously entertained until Torquemada, 
Boturini, and Clavigero gave them currency, but they 
must now give way to the more reliable results from 
linguistic comparisons. No analogy has yet been 
traced between the language of the old Mexicans: and 
any tribe at the north in the district from which they 
are supposed to have come; nor in any of the relics, 
Ornaments,.or works of art, do we observe a* resem- 
blance between them. The explorations and investi- 
gations recently made, and others now in progress, 
may throw further light on this subject, which I shall 
now dismiss, 
After three hours spent at the ruins, the hottest, I 
