PYRAMID OF XOCHICALCO. 181 
heaps of loose stones of irregular shape, which seem to have formed por- 
tions of similar mounds or tumuli, or, perhaps, parts of fortifications in 
connection with the wall that is alleged by the old writers to have sur- 
rounded the base of the pyramid, but of which I could discern no traces. 
The stones forming parts of the conical remains, have evidently been 
shaped by the hand of art, and are often found covered with an exterior 
coat of mortar, specimens of which I took away with me as sharp and 
perfect as the day it was laid on centuries ago. 
Near the base of the last terrace, on which the pyramid rises, the es- 
planade is covered with trees and tangled vines, but the body of the plat- 
form is cultivated as a corn-field. We found the Indian owner at work 
in it, and were supplied by him with the long-desired comfort of a gourd 
of water. He pointed out to us the way to the summit of the terrace 
through the thick brambles ; and rearing our horses up the crumbling 
stones of the wall, we stood before the ruins of this interesting pyramid, 
the remains of which, left by the neighboring planters after they had 
borne away enough to build the walls of their haciendas, now lie buried 
in a grove of palmettos, bananas, and forest-trees, apparently the growth 
of many hundred years. 
Indeed, this pyramid seems to have been (like the Forum and Collis- 
eum at Rome,) the quarry for all the builders of the vicinity ; and Alzate, 
who visited it as far back as 1777, relates, that not more than twenty years 
before, the Jive terraces of which it consisted, were still perfect; and that on 
the eastern side of the upper platform there had been a magnificent 
throne carved from porphyry, and covered with hieroglyphics of the most 
graceful sculpture. Soon after this period, however, the work of de- 
struction was begun by a certain Estrada, and it is not more than a couple 
of years since one of the wealthiest planters of the neighborhood ended 
the line of spoilers by carrying off enormous loads of the squared and 
sculptured materials, to build a tank in a barranca to bathe his cattle ! 
All that now remains of the five stories, terraces, or bodies of the pyra- 
mid, are portions of the first, the whole of which is of dressed porphyry tic 
rock, covered with singular figures and hieroglyphics executed in a skil- 
ful manner. The opposite plate presents a general view of the ruins as 
seen from the westward. 
The basement is a rectangular building, and its dimensions on the 
northern front, measured above the plinth, are sixty-four feet in length, 
by fifty-eight in depth on the western front. The height between the 
plinth and frieze is nearly ten feet ; the breadth of the frieze is three feet 
and a half, and of the cornice one foot and five inches. I placed my 
compass on the wall, and found the lines of the edifice to correspond ex- 
actly with the cardinal points. 
The western front is quite clear of bushes and fallen stones, and we 
had an opportunity to examine minutely the sculpture of the northwest- 
ern corner, which is very accurately delineated by Nebel* in the sec- 
ond engraving. 
* Viaje pintoreso y AiqueoloKico ft la Republioa de Mexico. 
