pressions of the
Spaniards--The golden age of Texcoco--Vandalism of Spanish
archbishop--The poet-king and his religion--Temple to the Unknown
God--Aztecs and Incas compared--The Tlascalans--The Otomies--Cholula--
Mexican tribes--Aztec buildings--Prehistoric art--Origin of American
prehistoric civilisation--Biblical analogies--Supposed Asiatic and
Egyptian origins--Aboriginal theory.

Like the misty cloud-streaks of the early dawn, the beginning of the
story of the strange empire of prehistoric Mexico unfolds from fable
and fact as we look back upon it. We are to imagine ourselves upon the
shores of Lake Texcoco, in the high valley-plateau of Anahuac, "the
land amid the waters." It is the year 1300, or a little later, of the
Christian era. The borders of the lake are marshy and sedgy, the
surrounding plain is bare and open, and there is no vestige of man and
his habitation. Far away, east, west, and north, faint mountain ranges
rise, shimmering to the view in the sun's rays through the clear upland
air, whilst to the south two beautiful gleaming snow-capped peaks are
seen,[3] and over all is the deep blue vault of the tropic highland
sky.

[Footnote 3: Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl.]

We have said that there are no vestiges of man or his structures to be
seen, yet upon gazing penetratingly towards the north-east there might
be observed the tops of two high ruined pyramids,[4] the vestiges of
the civilisation of the shadowy Toltecs. But we are not for the moment
concerned with these ruined structures, for, as we watch, a band of
dusky warriors, strangely clad, comes over the plain. They come like
men on some set purpose, glancing about them, at the shores of the
lake, at the horizon, expectantly, yet with a certain vague wistfulness
as of deferred hope. Suddenly their leader halts and utters an
ejaculation; and with one hand shading the sun's rays from his eyes he
points with outstretched arm towards the water's edge. His companions
gaze intently in the direction indicated, and then run forward with
joyous shouts and gesticulations. What is it that has aroused their
emotions? Near the lake-shore a rock arises, overgrown with a thorny
_nopal_, or prickly-pear cactus, and perched upon this is an eagle with
a serpent in its beak.

[Footnote 4: Teotihuacan: pyramids of the sun and moon.]

Who are these men and whence have they come? They are the first Aztecs,
and they have come "from the north"; and for centuries they