126 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. 



been the capital of the Otomi nation before the arrival of the Toltecs on the 

 Anahuac plateau ; it was on the plains of Oturaba that Cortes by a decisive 

 victory repaired the disaster of the " Sorrowful Night." Otumba and its eastern 

 neighbours, IroJo and Apam, surrounded by the most productive maguey planta- 

 tions in the republic, are important strategical points guarding the entrance to 

 the plains north of the snowy Ixtaccihuatl range. The migrations of conquering 

 or vanquished peoples must for the most part have passed through this gateway, 

 the possession of which was in former times frequently contested. But it was 

 avoided by Cortes, who boldly ventured to cross the great range directly by the 

 Ahualco pass between Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl. Practicable tracks may 

 also be found by rounding the southern flanks of this mountain through the 

 village of Amccameca, which encircles the old eruptive cone of Sacro Monte, now 

 overgrown with oak-trees. Near the gorge of Apam, or between Texcoco and 

 Otumba, there still stand two temples which are supposed to have been erected 

 by the Totonacs ; these are the two pyramids of Teotihuacan {TeiitUhnacan), ov 

 "Abode of the Gods," which are known as the "House of the Sun" and "House 

 of the Moon." Peduced to the condition of mere mounds overgrown with agave 

 and thorny scrub, they are now difiicult to recognise as human structures. Never- 

 theless the explorations made on the spot leave no doubt as to their artificial 

 character. The first or southern pyramid is the broadest and highest, forming 

 a square of 700 feet and 180 feet high ; the second, that of the Moon, is both 

 much smaller and 36 feet lower, and both face the cardinal points, though not 

 with mathematical accuracy. 



Farther south other mounds are scattered over the plain, in some places 

 numerous enough to form avenues, such as the "AVay of the Dead," so named 

 either because these knolls are really old burial-places, or because it indicates the 

 route formerly followed by the processions of human victims on their way to the 

 sacred slaughter-houses. East of Apam the plateau rolls away to the southern 

 foot of a border range inhabited by a population of Totonac miners, who are 

 chiefly grouped round the towns of Zaadlan and Tctela del Oro. On this plateau 

 stands the town of Tlaxco, and farther south in a narrow glen is seen Tlaxcala, 

 formerly capital of the brave republic which espoused the cause of Cortes against 

 Montezuma. At present it is the chief -town of a small state, which about coin- 

 cides with the limits of the old republic, and which is dominated eastwards by 

 the .Malinche volcano. But Tlaxcala is no longer the great city which could at 

 one time marshal 100,000 warriors against the invader. Another decayed 

 Mexican city is Iluexotzingo, which was founded by the Olraecs, and which is 

 constantly mentioned in the reports of the conquerors. 



In this district the most important place at present is Puchia do los Angeles, 

 " Angel Town," which was built by the Spaniards on an uninhabited plain in the 

 year 15-J50 as a residence for those whites who had been left unprovided for in the 

 distribution of offices after the conquest. This flourishing city, capital of a thickly 

 peopled state on the plateau and the first slopes facing the Pacific and Atlantic; 

 is sometimes called the " second capital of the republic." Under the ephemeral 



