107 



weight of the whole mass. Mr. Zoega * erro- 

 neously imagined, that the teocalli of Cholula 

 was a real choma, a mound of earth, cased exter- 

 nally with a layer of bricks. Gemelii, whom 

 Robertson and other historians of the first rank 

 accuse of inaccuracy more than he deserves, 

 describes this pyramid under the name of a 

 pyramid of earth -j-. 



The construction of the teocalli, as we have 

 already observed, reminds us of the most ancient 

 monuments, that are recorded in the history of 

 the civilization of mankind. The temple of 

 Jupiter Belus, which seems to be recognized in 

 the ancient mythology of the Hindoos under the 

 name of Bali J, the pyramids of Meidoum and 

 Dahchour, and several of the group of Sakhara, 

 in Egypt, are also composed of immense heaps of 

 bricks, the remains of which, after a lapse of 

 thirty ages, are still in good preservation. 



* De Obeliscis, page 380. 

 + Giro del Modo, torn, vi, p. 380. 



X Fra Paolino Di S. Bartholomeo, Viaggio alle Indie 

 Orientali. p. 241. 



