THEHONESTHUNTER. 253 
people. It was a pious and philosophic devotion of time, worthy as well 
of Christian nations as of those believing in the necessary care of their 
worthless bodies, until the period of their ultimate reunion with the spirit. 
I have thus hastily gathered together some sketches of the remains that 
cover our Continent from the remote north of our own possessions to near 
the region of Mr. Stephens's discoveries. 
If they fail to identify the Southern nations with the Northern tribes, or 
to prove that the rude mound of the savage was but the precursor of 
the stone pyramid of the civilized southern, they will at least serve to 
show that at the north, as well as in more genial climates, there have 
been races who worshipped the Great Spirit, buried their dead, defended 
themselves from their foes, and possessed, at least, a partial taste for the 
refinements of life. At all events, it is not probable that the remains so 
plentifully sprinkled over the Mexican territory, from the Rio Gila to the 
limits of Oaxaca, were untenanted and unused at the period of the con- 
quest, while it is known that the cities of Mexico and of Cholula contained 
within their limits magnificent edifices, devoted to the domestic comfort 
and public worship of a refined and numerous population. 
HOME. 
14:th October. Returned to Mexico. The last person who bade us fare- 
well in Tezcoco, was the worthy Tio Ignacio — of whose hunting-bull, 
deer-call, rough honesty, and wild adventures, I shall long retain a pleas- 
ing recollection. 
"I am poor, Caballero," said he, with a grasp of his hard hand, "I am 
poor, and have led a dog's life of it from the age of five years — fighting, 
bull-catching, beef-selling, hunting and living with the Indians up in the 
mountains for weeks, with, no covering but my blanket and a pine tree ; — 
but I have managed, nevertheless, to raise a large family of boys, all 
of whom can ride better than I; can catch a bull at full gallop; know 
how to read and write ; tell the truth ; obey their father without question- 
ing, and hit the mark at eighty varas! I owe no man a claco. I love 
my horse, my gun, my pulqui, — and, better than all, I love my old wife, 
who, with all my wildness, passion, and temper, has never quarrelled 
with me in a casamiento of twenty years ! Who says as much in Mexico ? 
Vaya ! 
" Come to Tezcoco once more, Caballero, and we will go up to Tlaloe 
together with my people, the Indians, and I'll make that old demonio give 
UD some of the bones of his ancestors— ^z'caro .' Adios!" 
