which was the capital of the coiintry of the 
Zapotecks. If I might presume to offer my 
own private opinion, I should observe, that it 
appears to me more natural to attribute this 
monument to Americans, who had yet had no 
communication with the Whites ; than to sup- 
pose, that some Spanish sculptor, who had fol- 
lowed the army of Cortez, should have amused 
himself with a work in the Mexican style in 
honour of a vanquished people. The natives of 
the north-west coast of America have never been 
deemed very civilized ; yet they have executed 
drawings, the just proportions of which have 
been admired by English navigators 
Whatever be the true state of the question^ it 
seems certain, that the relief of Oaxaca repre- 
sents a warrior returning from combat, and 
decked with the spoils of his enemies. Two 
slaves are placed at the feet of the conqueror. 
What is most striking in this composition are 
the noses of an enormous size, in the whole of 
six heads seen sideways. These noses are the 
essential characteristics of the monuments of 
Mexican sculpture. In the hieroglyphical pic- 
tures preserved at Vienna, Rome, and Veletri, 
or in the palace of the Viceroy at Mexico, the 
divinities, heroes, and even priests are all drawn 
with large aquiline noses, often pierced towards 
* Dixon’s Voyage, p. *272. 
