188 XOCHICALCO. 



After leaving this interesting locality, we made a wide 

 circuit of the mount to visit certain subterraneous exca- 

 vations, entering deep into a shoulder of the hill, which, 

 to judge by appearances, has been almost entirely cased 

 over by the hand of man. 



How far these caverns run under ground, none can 

 pretend to say ; our circumstances compelled us to rest 

 satisfied with ascertaining the fact of their existence, and 

 that there was every sign of their being wholly artificial. 



The hill of Xochicalco may still be considered un- 

 broken ground for the antiquarian ; and there is every 

 probability of its rewarding a really careful and atten- 

 tive survey. The details of the group of hills and the 

 surrounding country should not be neglected. Our ex- 

 perience may be so far useful to our successors, whoever 

 they may be, as to show, that here, plenty of time, and 

 the means of shelter and refreshment, are absolutely requi- 

 site for the excursion. Situated as we were, and little 

 as we positively effected, I wonder that we did so much. 

 By the route we had come, we agreed that it must be 

 seven leagues from Cuernavaca. 



I need not tell you that there is neither the shadow of 

 a tradition as to the people whose hands reared this sin- 

 gular monument, nor of the purposes to which it was 

 devoted. I hazard no opinion either as to one or the 

 other. 



The general traveller will of course point to the Tol- 

 tecs ; the more learned or pedantic may suggest that it 

 is referable to the Zapotecs, and the probability is that 

 they are the work of neither one nor the other. 



Whether the " House of Flowers" was made subser- 

 vient to self-defence, and formed a stronghold ; or was 

 a hill of delight set apart for the habitation of a monarch; 

 or a high place, where the religious mysteries of a people 

 were performed ; or a spot chosen for a union of all these 

 objects, it is still one of the most extraordinary localities 

 in New Spain, and deserves much more attention than it 

 has hitherto received. 



