106 Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians, 



the Indians of my own country : happy to assist in forwarding 

 your laudable intentions. • 



One of the few monuments of the first people, which are still 

 preserved in Mexico, is the palace of Mictla, distant twenty 

 miles from the city of Oaxaca, in 17° 20' N. lat. Mictla, in the 

 Mexican tongue, signifies hell ; and the Zapotecas who inhabited 

 that country, called it Liobaa, which means, a place " devoted 

 to repose." The monarchs of Zapoteca, dwelt at Mictla. They 

 were feudatories of the emperors of Mexico, and paid tribute to 

 them in those coloured feathers, of which great use was made 

 for their standards, as well as by the dignitaries of the empire, 

 and their priests. The High Priest of the Zapotecas inhabited 

 the palace of Mictla. Mictla, according to the relation of the 

 few persons who have visited that great catacomb, was an im- 

 mense cave, which the industry of the Zapotecans converted into 

 a subterranean palace. It consists of four compartments, above 

 and below, with an extensive square in the centre. The edifice 

 is supported by means of columns of porphyry of one entire piece, 

 eight feet in diameter, and five Spanish varas (about fifteen feet) 

 in height. They are after the Grecian taste, without pedestals, 

 and perfectly smooth. They support the roof, which consists, of 

 slabs, two varas in length, one in breadth, and one-half in thick- 

 ness. The slabs, which are about equal in dimensions, are not 

 united by any kind of cement. 



The form of the edifice is that of a ducal crown, the superior 

 part having a greater circumference than the inferior. It must 

 be confessed, that in this respect the civil architecture of the 

 Zapotecans is entirely original. In the walls, the cement is as 

 hard as stone. The surface of the walls is covered with mosaics 

 of white stone, derived perhaps from the fine quarries of white 

 marble which are found in the territory of Oaxaca. The pieces 

 of mosaic, are not united by any cement ; they are admirably 

 executed, and form branches. It is remarkable that without the 

 use or knowledge of iron,* the Mexican Indians could quarry, 

 form, and polish marble, flint, and the hardest stones. 



The entrances — very spacious — were made of three stones of 

 equal size, of an entire piece, and of the same thickness as the 

 wall. Each of the compartments or saloons, served as a temple 

 and sepulchre, to the kings and nobility. 



* Mexican tools of copper have been found. 



