﻿G-ama on Calendar Stone. 



15 



structed in front of the Royal Palace, inclosed with posts and 

 chains, discovered a sepulchre of from one to two varas in length, 

 and one vara in width, formed of slabs of "tezontle, "* very well 

 dressed ; the interior was filled with white sand, very fine, and 

 here were found the whole bones of some unknown animal, together 

 with various fragments of porringers of clay, similar to those from 

 Quantitlan, but of much better manufacture, which contained some 

 bells of copper, well cast, in the form of pears, and other trinkets 

 of the same metal. The animal, as some inferred, from the large 

 fangs which issued from both jaws, may have been a coyote (wolf 

 or dog) of extraordinary magnitude ; but it is uncertain if this con- 

 jecture is well founded. 



Combined with the finding of this animal in a sepulchre so well 

 constructed, in a place that was included in the limits of the grand 

 temple, with the bells, trinkets, and many other things which were 

 found interred together with it, taken with what has been related 

 by Dr. Hernandez and Padre Torquemada in describing the tem- 

 ples, chapels, and other structures included in the grand temple, 

 we conclude that this animal was one of the gods which the Mexi- 

 cans adored under the name of "Chantico, " which, according to the 

 said Torquemada, signifies "the wolf's head." Having questioned 

 the said Colonel as to its resemblance to a wolf, he answered that 

 the formation of the fangs and their arrangement were similar to 

 those of that animal. We know that among the multitude of ab- 

 surd gods that the Mexicans worshiped there were several animals ; 

 as the tiger, with the name of Tlatoca-ocelotl ; the eagle, with the ap- 

 pearance of the peacock, called Quetzatme-xolo quaulitli; the ser- 

 pent, or cilma cohuatl, and others. 



This wolf-god had a particular temple in the grand square of 

 Mexico, with the name of Tetlanman. In it they celebrated their 

 rites, with sacrifices of captives, during the rule of the sign of Ce 

 Xochitl. 



It had for associate another — a goddess — named Cohiia Xohotl, 

 according to Torquemada, and Quaxolotl, according to Hernandez, 

 in whose honor, also, they celebrated the festival. Various priests 

 were destined to the service of the god "Chantico." They had 



*Stone. 



