a united front against the Spaniards. Such
are the conclusions of Prof. Valentine. He estimates the length of an
Ahau at twenty years, and it does seem that the author of the manuscript
used that number of years.<92>

Of the other branch of the civilized tribes we know but very little.
The historical picture writings of the Mendoza collection, a collection
compiled, remember, after the conquest, and, therefore, representing the
traditions then current among the Mexicans, takes us back to 1325, A.D.,
to the first settlement in the Pueblo of Mexico. Sahagun, a Franciscan
monk, who went to Mexico as early as the year 1529, and remained
there until his death in 1590, wrote a very voluminous account of the
Mexicans, their customs and history, and as he was in Mexico at the time
when their traditions were still fresh in the minds of the natives, his
account is probably as good as any. He obtained his information in
a very credible manner. He gathered together some old Indians, well
acquainted with the traditional history of their country. They are
supposed to have "refreshed" their memory by inspecting a number of
picture writings, which have since disappeared.

It is manifest that this history is valuable, just in proportion as the
traditions are valuable. He makes one statement that Prof. Valentine has
dwelt upon with great ability. He states that numberless years ago the
first settlers came in ships and landed at a northern port, which, from
that cause, was called Pauntla. This is supposed to be the Panuco River.
After they had settled here, a large part of them, including their
leaders and the priests, went off south; Sahagun says as far as
Guatemala. The party left behind organized themselves into an
independent body. They reconstructed from memory the calendar; they
increased and became powerful, until pushing over the mountain,
they built the pyramid of Cholula, and finally reached the city of
Teotihuacan, where they built a central sanctuary. For some reason they
abandoned their homes, all except the Otomies, and wandered off across
the plains, and high, cold, desert places, that they might discover new
lands.<93>

No dates are mentioned for these occurrences, and we are not aware that
this tradition is mentioned by other writers. We recall that from the
mouth of the Panuco River southward, we found evidence of considerable
population in olden times. We also recall that in this section are the
ruined pyramids of T