SOME RUINS ALONG THE TAPASITA. 57 
or panther, that came trotting along the 
valley until it saw us, when it turned 
back into the mountains. Truly the 
wild beasts were wandering over the 
Toltec Babylon. 
It is impossible for an artist to convey 
in plain black and white any idea of the 
beauty of this country ; it is a land 
requiring the painter to exhibit its beau¬ 
ties. 
One of the interesting peculiarities 
of the numerous ruins found throughout 
this portion of the country, and that indi¬ 
cates a once dense population living off 
the soil, is the way in which most of 
them seem to have met their fate. 
When a ruined house is dug into all the 
skeletons of its occupants are found in 
what may be termed the combined 
kitchen and eating room,—these two 
