130 



which was tine capital of the country of the 

 Zapotecks. If I might presume to offer my 

 own private opinion, I should observe, that it 

 appears to me more natural to attribute this 

 monument to Americans, who had yet had no 

 communication with the Whites ; than to sup- 

 pose, that some Spanish sculptor, who had fol- 

 lowed the army of Cortez, should have amused 

 himself with a work in the Mexican style in 

 honour of a vanquished people. The natives of 

 the north-west coast of America have never been 

 deemed very civilized ; yet they have executed 

 drawings, the just proportions of which have 

 been admired by English navigators *. 



Whatever be the true state of the question, it 

 seems certain, that the relief of Oaxaca repre- 

 sents a warrior returning from combat, and 

 decked with the spoils of his enemies. Two 

 slaves are placed at the feet of the conqueror. 

 What is most striking in this composition are 

 the noses of an enormous size, in the whole of 

 six heads seen sideways. These noses are the 

 essential characteristics of the monuments of 

 Mexican sculpture. In the hieroglyphical pic- 

 tures preserved at Vienna, Rome, and Veletri, 

 or in the palace of the Viceroy at Mexico, the 

 divinities, heroes, and even priests are all drawn 

 with large aquiline noses, often pierced towards 



* Dixon's Voyage, p. 272. 



