176 



of the Mexican eagle, cozcaquauhtli. At the 

 period when this calendar was composed, Chris- 

 tianity was confounded with the Mexican my- 

 thology. The missionaries not only tolerated, 

 they even favoured to a certain point this mix- 

 ture of ideas, symbols, and worships. They 

 persuaded the natives, that the Gospel had al- 

 ready been preached in America at a very re- 

 mote period ; they sought its traces in the Az- 

 teck rites with the same ardor, as in our days 

 the learned, who addict themselves to the study 

 of Sanscrit, feel in discussing the analogy of the 

 Greek mythology with that of the banks of the 

 Ganges, and of the Boorampooter*. 



* Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, vol. 1, p. 95. 



