from Chapala to Patzcuaro, and thence to Tula, the
old Toltec capital. Once more dispersed, they wandered on, and, guided
by their oracle, reached their final resting-place at Tenochtitlan.
This name, by which they designated their capital, was derived either
from that of Tenoch, their venerated high priest, or from the Aztec
words meaning "stone-serpent," in reference to the emblem they had
followed.

The first work of the people was to raise a great temple to their
god--the bloodthirsty Huitzilopochtli--who had led them on. It was
begun at once, and around it grew the habitations of the people, the
huts made of reeds and mud called _xacali_, such as indeed to-day form
the habitations of a large part of Mexican people under the name of
_jacales_.[5] This great Teocalli, or "house of god," at the time of
the arrival of the Spaniards, was a structure pyramidal in form, built
of earth and pebbles and faced with cut stone, square at base, its
sides--300 to 400 feet long--facing the cardinal points of the heavens.
Flights of steps on the outside, winding round the truncated pyramid,
gave access to the summit. Here in the sanctuary was the colossal image
of the Aztec war-god--the abominable conception of a barbaric
people--and the stone of sacrifice upon which the sacrificial captives
were laid. Upon its convex surface the unhappy wretches were
successively bound, their breasts cut open with obsidian knives, and
the still beating hearts, torn forth by the hand of the priest, were
flung smoking before the deity!

[Footnote 5: _X_ and _j_ are often interchangeable in Spanish.]

Upon the marshy borders of this lake, set in the beautiful and fertile
valley of Anahuac, the city rose to elegance and splendour. The
_jacales_ gave place to buildings of brick and stone, founded in many
cases upon piles, and between them were streets and canals, giving
access to the city from the lake. Centre of all was the great Teocalli.

The position of the city was peculiar. It was founded upon an island,
and was subject to inundations from the salt waters of the lake; for
the Valley of Mexico had at that time no outlet for its streams. It
formed a hydrographic entity; and in this connection it reminds the
traveller of the birthplace of that other strange, prehistoric American
civilisation, three thousand miles away to the south-east--Lake
Titicaca and the cradle of the Incas. To protect the city from these
inundations embankments were made,