158 



In the environs of Mitla are the remains of a 

 great pyramid, and some other buildings very 

 much resembling those which we have just de- 

 scribed. More to the south, near Guatimala, in 

 a plain called El Palenque, the ruins of a whole 

 town are evidences of the taste of the Tolteck 

 and Azteck race for the ornaments of architec- 

 ture. We are absolutely ignorant of the anti- 

 quity of these edifices, but it is scarcely pro- 

 bable, that it goes back farther than the thir- 

 teenth or fourteenth century of our era. 



The Greek ornaments of the palace of Mitla 

 offer, no doubt, a striking analogy with those of 

 the vases of lower Italy, and with others which 

 we find spread over the surface of almost the 

 whole of the old continent : but I have already 

 observed in another place, that analogies of this 

 kind are very limited proofs of the ancient 

 communications of nations ; and that, under 

 every zone, men are pleased with a rythmic 

 repetition of the same forms, a repetition which 

 constitutes the principal character of what we 

 vaguely call grecqaes, meanders, and arabes- 

 ques. Still more, the perfection of these or- 

 naments is no indication of any great progress 

 in civilization among the people where they 

 are in use. Mr. Krusenstern * gives a de- 



* Krusenstern, Reise um die Welt, Petersburg, 1810, 

 torn, i, page 168, Atlas, Tafel 8, 10, and 16. 



