FEATHERED SERPENTS VICEROY'S PORTRAITS. 267 



proof is given, in this statue of the genius possessed by the natives 

 for the imitative arts. It was the work of Tolsa, and was first 

 opened to public view on its pedestal in the plaza, in the year 1803, 

 under the viceroyal government of Iturrigaray. 



In a corner of this court yard, on the left of the portal, amid a 

 quantity of ancient lumber and relics, are the sacrificial stone and 

 the gigantic idol statue of Teoyaomiqui, described in the first volume 

 of this work. Here, too, are the huge serpent images, carved from 

 basalt, which are presumed to have been used in the worship of 

 Quetzalcoatl — the "feathered serpent," — the " god of the air." 



After an examination of the massive relics which lie in the court 

 yard of the University, we ascend by a broad stone staircase to the 

 corridor surrounding the quadrangle on the second floor. The 

 lower story of this edifice is occupied by the college chapel and the 

 hall or recitation room, whose lofty ceiling and windows, gloomy 

 walls, and carved oaken seats and pulpit, remind the stranger of the 

 fine old monastic chambers in similar institutions in Europe. 



The apartments of the second floor open upon the broad corridor 

 under a light and tasteful arcade, and several rooms on the northern 

 side are devoted to the national collections, which, at the period of 

 our visit to Mexico in 1841 and 1842 were badly arranged and 

 classified. The salary devoted to the curator was scarcely adequate 

 to support him, and he probably paid more attention to the politics 

 of the present day than to the antiquities of the past. Neverthe- 

 less, we found him to be an intelligent gentleman, fond of the relics, 

 images and legends of the Aztecs. He would, doubtless, have 

 organized the valuable collection had he been suitably aided, 

 recompensed, or enabled to devote the whole of his time to the 

 archaiology of his country. 



The first apartment on this side of the building is a sort of 

 Spanish lumber room, the wall of which is friezed with a series 

 of the viceroys, whilst, in a corner, stand the fragments of a 

 throne, waiting, perhaps, the order for their reconstruction upon 

 the ruins of the presidential chair. Hard by this royal relic, in ap- 

 propriate contrast, is an unfinished bas relief of a trophy of liberty ; 

 and above the sculpture, suspended against the wall in a rough pine 

 coffin, hangs an Indian mummy, which was exhumed in the fields 

 of Tlaltelolco north of the capital. Another side of this saloon is 

 occupied by full length portraits of Ferdinand and Isabella. In the 

 next chamber, west of this, the mass of the smaller Aztec relics has 

 been collected and preserved in cases. A small library, containing 

 some ancient manuscripts, and the splendid work of Lord Kings- 



