184 MEXICO. 
the base of the southwest corner is two feet seven inches high, five feet 
long, and four feet seven inches broad. 
When it is recollected that these materials were not found in the neigh- 
borhood, but were brought from a great distance, and borne up a hill, 
(more than three hundred feet high,) we cannot fail to be struck with the 
industry, toil and ingenuity of the builders, especially as the use of beasts 
of burden was at that time unknown in Mexico, Nor was this edifice on 
the summit the only portion of the architect's labor. Huge rocks were 
brought to form the walls supporting the terraces that surrounded the hill 
a league in circumference, and the whole of that immense mass loas 
cased in stone. Beyond these terraces again, there was still another 
immense task in the ditch, of even greater extent, which had to be dug 
and regularly embanked ! When you combine all these difficulties and 
all their labors, I think you will agree with me, that there are but few 
works, not of essential utility, undertaken in the present age by civilized 
nations, that do not sink into insignificance when contrasted with the hill 
of Xochicalco, from whose summit towered its lofty pyramid of sculptured 
porphyry. 
There appears to be no doubt that a flight of steps rose on the western 
front from the commencement of the terrace, and terminated before three 
portals, the remains of which Nebel alleges he discovered ; but since 
his visit, the edifice has been so much injured, and the vegetation has 
sprung up so vigorously, that I was unable to perceive any indications of 
the apertures. It is probable that these led to the interior of the Temple, 
whence there was a communication with the subterranean vaults that 
have been explored within a few years by persons acting under orders 
of the Government. I endeavored to examine tliese underground apart- 
ments as soon as I found the opening to them, at the foot of the first 
terrace on the northern side of the hill ; but the guide professed igno- 
rance of the interior, and the Indian he had engaged to pilot me failed in 
attending. Indeed, such is the superstition of these simple-minded people, 
that you find it difficult to investigate anything in which their services 
are required, among the relics of their ancient race. They believe that 
the mounds and caverns are haunted by the spirits of their ancestors — 
that they were places of sepulture or holiness — and few have the hardi- 
hood to assist in revealing their secrets. 
In examining various works on the subject of these ruins, the best notice 
I have found of them is the account of a visit of certain gentlemen in 
March, 183.5, by order of the Supreme Government.* In making a com- 
plete examination, both of the pyramid and the hill, this party explored 
the caverns and vaults. 
After describing their course through various dark and narrow pas- 
sages, the walls of which were covered with a hard and varnished gray 
cement, that preserved its lustre in a remarkable degree, they came to 
* Published in the Kevista Mejicana of 1835. 
