SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 149 



coat of red cement eight or ten inches thick , 

 composed of small pebble-stones and lime. In 

 many places, as you ascend, the nopal trees 

 have destroyed the regularity of the steps, 

 but no where injured the general figure of the 

 square, which is as perfect in this respect as 

 the great pyramid of Egypt. We every 

 where observed broken pieces of instruments 

 like knives, arrow and spear-heads, &c, com- 

 posed of obsidian, the same as those found on 

 the small hills of Chollula; and, on reaching 

 the summit, we found a flat surface of consi- 

 derable size, but which has been much broken 

 and disturbed. On it was probably a temple or 

 other building, — and report says, a statue co- 

 vered with gold. We rested some time on the 

 summit, enjoying one of the finest prospects 

 imaginable, in which the city of Mexico is in- 

 cluded. Here I found fragments of small 

 statues and earthenware, and, what surprised 

 me more, oyster-shells, the first I had seen in 



