176 



Silbury. 



about 90 feet in perpendicular height, and 140 feet on the slope. 1 

 Another of nearly equal size exists at Guatemala, 2 and others are 

 to bo seen at Uxmal, Papantla 3 and Palenque : 4 but at Cholula 

 stands by far the largest of all, in perpendicular height 177 feet ; 

 its base 1423 feet long, twice as long as the great pyramid of 

 Cheops ; while it covers no less than 44 acres, and the platform on 

 its truncated summit embraces more than one. 5 At this day it is 

 called " the mountain made by the hands of man ; " and in the 

 interior were found considerable cavities which served for sepulchres : 

 the discovery of which was owing to accident not ten years ago. 0 

 But in addition to those enumerated we can point to many mounds 

 of great size and undoubtedly sepulchral. Thus in the valley of 

 Mexico, eight leagues N.E. from the capital, lies a plain which 

 from the vast group of sepulchral tumuli which it contains, bears 

 the name of " Micoatl " or " the Path of the Dead." 7 Here are 

 two larger tumuli dedicated to the Sun and the Moon, and these 

 are surrounded by several hundreds of smaller mounds, which serve, 

 according to the tradition of the natives, as burial places for the 

 chiefs of the tribes, 8 just as around the larger pyramids of Egypt 



1 Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, by Stevens 

 and Catherwood, p. 81. 



2 Idem, p. 365. 3 Idem, p. 511. 4 Idem, p. 418. 



5 Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, book iii., ch. i. See also vol, ii., p. 5, 6, — 

 67, for the vast mound at Mexico : p. 328—332, for the venerable pyramid of 

 Teotihuacan : p. 123—124 for the teocallis : also 275—276 : also vol. iii., p. 311. 

 Lost Solar System of the Ancients discovered, i., 357. 



6 1 cannot forbear quoting the following passage from Mr. Helps' " Spanish 

 Conquests of America " to show how profound an appreciation of the skill and 

 perseverance of the aborigines in those parts, as displayed by their earthworks 

 and buildings, that talented and very pleasing author entertains : He says, 

 " Those who wish to study the Indians must turn to the ruins of the temples or 

 the tombs at Mitla Palenque and Copan ; must investigate the primeval remains 

 of buildings to be found on the borders of the vast lake of Titicaca and the 

 adjacent plain of Tiahuaco ; must consider well the Pyramids of Papantla and 

 Cholula ; and still further ponder over the clear signs of an early and consider- 

 able civilization, which seems to have existed in a somewhat similar form in 

 places so wide asunder as Canada and the banks of the Orinoco, (vol. i., p. 288 : 

 see also vol. ii., p. 141.) 



7 Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. ii., p. 332. Lost Solar System of the 

 Ancients discovered, vol. i. p. 355. 



8 The Barrow-diggers, note to p. 44. 



