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entirely destroys the suspicion, that they were 
made after the conquest by the Indians, who 
. attempted to imitate the form of some Spanish 
vase. We know, that the Toltecks, in their pas- 
sage through the province of Oaxaca, penetrated 
even beyond the lake of Nicaragua. We may 
hence conjecture, that these vases, ornamented 
with the heads of birds and tortoises, are the 
work of some tribe of the Tolteck race. If we 
reflect on the form of the vessels in domestic 
use among the Spaniards of the 16th century, 
it is impossible to admit, that the soldiers of 
Cortez carried to Mexico vases similar to those, 
which Mr. Pownal has described. 
