﻿122 
  DR 
  TRAILL 
  ON 
  A 
  PERUVIAN 
  MUSICAL 
  INSTRUMENT 
  

  

  gonies, 
  the 
  monuments, 
  the 
  hieroglyphics, 
  and 
  institutions 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  Ame- 
  

   rica 
  and 
  Asia." 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  Mexican 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  Serpent-woman, 
  To- 
  

   nacacihua, 
  or 
  " 
  Woman 
  of 
  our 
  Flesh," 
  the 
  parent 
  of 
  mankind, 
  with 
  her 
  fall 
  from 
  

   her 
  state 
  of 
  pristine 
  innocence 
  and 
  happiness 
  ; 
  their 
  traditions 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  inunda- 
  

   tion, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  human 
  race 
  perished, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  family 
  that 
  

   escaped 
  on 
  a 
  raft 
  ; 
  their 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  a 
  vast 
  pyramid, 
  which 
  was 
  

   intended 
  to 
  reach 
  to 
  the 
  sky, 
  and 
  consequent 
  dispersion 
  of 
  the 
  sons 
  of 
  men, 
  and 
  

   the 
  origin 
  of 
  different 
  languages, 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  anger 
  of 
  the 
  gods, 
  when 
  they 
  

   overthrew 
  this 
  monument 
  of 
  human 
  presumption 
  ; 
  without 
  perceiving 
  the 
  proto- 
  

   types 
  of 
  these 
  traditions 
  in 
  the 
  sacred 
  writings 
  of 
  the 
  Hebrews. 
  

  

  The 
  Mexican 
  cosmogony 
  notes 
  Jive 
  epochs 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  ; 
  like 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  

   Thibet, 
  and 
  the 
  Tatar 
  tribes 
  who 
  have 
  retained 
  the 
  ancient 
  religion 
  of 
  the 
  Llama. 
  

   The 
  first 
  is 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  earth 
  ; 
  the 
  second 
  that 
  of 
  fire 
  ; 
  the 
  third 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  wind 
  or 
  

   air 
  ; 
  the 
  fourth 
  that 
  of 
  water 
  ; 
  we 
  live 
  in 
  the 
  fifth 
  epoch. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   the 
  fourth 
  age 
  that 
  the 
  deluge 
  took 
  place, 
  and 
  that 
  a 
  single 
  family 
  was 
  preserved 
  

   to 
  repeople 
  the 
  earth. 
  As 
  might 
  be 
  expected, 
  Cooccooc 
  (the 
  Mexican 
  Noah) 
  is 
  

   represented 
  as 
  the 
  immediate 
  ancestor 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  that 
  country. 
  In 
  the 
  

   first 
  four 
  epochs 
  we 
  may 
  trace 
  the 
  four 
  ages 
  of 
  classical 
  antiquity, 
  with 
  the 
  Tatar 
  

   addition 
  of 
  a 
  fifth. 
  Like 
  the 
  Chinese 
  and 
  Indians, 
  the 
  Mexicans 
  supposed 
  an 
  

   enormous 
  duration 
  to 
  our 
  earth 
  in 
  all 
  its 
  cataclysms. 
  The 
  Mexican 
  legends 
  ex- 
  

   tended 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  to 
  upwards 
  of 
  20,000 
  years. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  astronomical 
  cycles 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  nations, 
  we 
  find 
  strong 
  

   analogies 
  with 
  the 
  systems 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  Thibet, 
  and 
  the 
  various 
  tribes 
  of 
  

   the 
  Mantscheou 
  Tatars. 
  The 
  Mexican 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  into 
  365 
  days, 
  distri- 
  

   buted 
  into 
  18 
  months, 
  of 
  20 
  days 
  each; 
  the 
  annual 
  intercalation 
  of 
  five 
  days 
  to 
  

   complete 
  the 
  year, 
  and 
  still 
  more 
  their 
  curious 
  cycle 
  of 
  52 
  years, 
  and 
  great 
  cycle 
  

   of 
  104 
  years, 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  intercalated 
  25 
  days, 
  to 
  bring 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  

   the 
  next 
  cycle 
  again 
  to 
  correspond 
  with 
  the 
  winter 
  solstice, 
  shew 
  so 
  exact 
  a 
  deter- 
  

   mination 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  that 
  the 
  celebrated 
  Laplace 
  is 
  of 
  opinion 
  

   it 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  originated 
  among 
  a 
  people 
  in 
  so 
  rude 
  a 
  state 
  of 
  society 
  as 
  the 
  

   Mexicans 
  at 
  their 
  discovery 
  by 
  the 
  Spaniards. 
  The 
  intercalation 
  " 
  of 
  25 
  days 
  in 
  

   104 
  years," 
  says 
  he, 
  " 
  supposes 
  a 
  more 
  exact 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  tropical 
  year 
  than 
  

   that 
  of 
  Hipparchus, 
  and, 
  what 
  is 
  very 
  remarkable, 
  almost 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  year 
  of 
  

   the 
  astronomers 
  of 
  Al-Mamon. 
  When 
  we 
  consider 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  attaining 
  so 
  

   exact 
  a 
  determination, 
  we 
  are 
  led 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  Mexi- 
  

   cans, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  reached 
  them 
  from 
  the 
  Old 
  Continent." 
  

  

  The 
  vast 
  pyramidal 
  temples, 
  accurately 
  placed 
  to 
  the 
  cardinal 
  points, 
  and 
  

   constructed, 
  as 
  at 
  Cholula, 
  of 
  sun-dried 
  bricks, 
  with 
  interposed 
  layers 
  of 
  clay; 
  

   and 
  occasionally, 
  as 
  at 
  Papantla, 
  with 
  their 
  successive 
  stages 
  neatly 
  covered 
  with 
  

   hewn 
  stone, 
  sculptured 
  with 
  hieroglyphics, 
  reminded 
  us 
  of 
  the 
  structures 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  