240 MEXICO, 
Some of the caves discovered by Father Joseph Rotea, are described as 
being thirty feet in length by fifteen in breadth, and are supposed by 
writers to have been, perhaps, the "seven abodes" from which the Mexi- 
can tradition describes their ancestors as having issued when they be- 
gan their emigration. 
QUEMADA. 
North of the city of Mexico, in the department of Zacatecas, (a coun" 
try that is supposed to have been inhabited by the Chicimecas and Otto- 
mies at the period of the conquest,) situated on the level of a hill top, 
which rises out of the plain like another Acropolis, are the extensive re- 
mains of an Indian city, known as the " Ruins of Quebiada."* 
The northern side of the cerro rises with an easy slope from the plain, 
and is guarded by bastions and a double wall, while, on the other sides, 
the steep and precipitous rocks of the hill itself, form natural defences. 
The whole of this elevation is covered with ruins; but on the southern 
side, chiefly, may be traced the remains of temples, pyramids, and edi- 
fices for the priests, cut from the living rock, and rising to the height of 
from two to four hundred feet above the level of the surrounding country. 
These rock-built walls are sometimes joined by mortar of no great te- 
nacity, and the stones (many of which are twenty-two feet in thicJaiess, 
and of a corresponding height,) are retained in their positions mainly by 
their own massiveness. 
The opposite engraving represents the patio, or courtyard of a temple, 
as drawn by M. Nebel. On the back pE^rt of the square is raised the 
pyramid, or teocalli, on which was placed the altar and idol. The stairs 
behind the teocalli conduct to other temples and pyramids beyond, and 
served, perhaps, as seats for the spectators of the bloody rites that were 
celebrated by the priests. 
The most satisfactory account I have seen of these ruins, is given by 
Captain Lyon in a volume of his travels in Mexico. 
" We set out," says he, "on our expedition to the Cerro de los Edifi- 
cios, under the guidance of an old ranchero, and soon arrived at the 
foot of the abrupt and steep rock on which the buildings are situated. 
Here we perceived two ruined heaps of stones, flanking the entrance to 
a causeway ninety-three feet broad, commencing at four hundred feet 
from the cliff. 
" A space of about six acres has been inclosed by a broad wall, of 
which the foundations are still visibla^ running first to the south and after- 
ward to the east. OfT its southwestern angle stands a high mass of 
stones, which flanks the causeway. In outward appearance it is of a 
pyramidal form, owing to the quantities of stones piled against it either 
by design or by its own ruin ; but on closer examination its figure could 
* This name has beea given from that of an adjacent hacieirea. 
