. In the province of Oaxaca we shall find
several groups of ruins. In all probability those known and described
are not more numerous than those unknown. The class of ruins represented
by Quemada, Tezcocingo, and Xochicalco (that is, a hill strongly
fortified, with traces of a settlement on the summit, mounds,
foundations of communal houses, and pyramidal structures) are also to
be found here. At Quiotepec we have very meager accounts of such a ruin.
The hill is over two miles in circumference and a thousand feet high.
A running stream has rendered one side of the hill very steep and
precipitous, but the other sides are terraced.

One of the terrace-walls at the summit is about three hundred and twenty
feet long, sixty feet high, and five and a half feet thick.<41> On the
summit of the hill are found great numbers of mounds, foundations of
small buildings, as well as ruins of statelier buildings, called by some
palaces, but which were probably regular communal structures; also the
pyramid base of a temple. At different points near the summit of the
hill are three tanks or reservoirs, one of which is sixty feet long,
twenty-four feet wide, and six feet deep, with traces of steps leading
down into it.

Still further south, near the center of the state at Monte Alban, is a
more extensive group of ruins on the same general plan as the one just
described. In this case, from the banks of a stream, there rises a range
of high hills with precipitous sides. At their summit is an irregular
plateau half a mile long by nearly a quarter of a mile wide. M. Charney
states that a portion of this plateau is artificial. He represents
the whole surface as literally covered with blocks of stone--some
sculptured--the ruined foundations of buildings, terraces, and so forth.
He regards it as one of the most precious remains of aboriginal work,
and this is the view of Mr. Bandelier also. It is to be regretted that
we have not more details of such interesting ruins. We, however, would
learn but little new from them. One ruin is spoken of as an immense
square court, inclosed by four long mounds, having a slight space
between them at the ends. It is extremely probable that these mounds
once supported buildings.

The most celebrated ruin in Oaxaca is Mitla. These are the first
ruins we have met that, by their strange architecture and peculiar
ornamentation, suggest some different race as their builders. The
present surroundings are of the gloom