ous to the foot of man. Flowers
of gorgeous colors bordered these groves, and lofty trees of
foliage, altogether strange to Roger, reared their heads above
them.

The lad was delighted with the extraordinary richness of color, and
the variety of the foliage, but he would have enjoyed it more had
it not been for the intense heat of the sun, and the closeness of
the air.

They crossed several large streams. They cut down the great rushes
which bordered them and, tying these together in bundles, formed
rafts, upon which four or five at a time were ferried over. Roger
learned that the principal road from the coast ran from Cempoalla,
a large town near the sea, but that this lay a long distance to the
north, and that the route they were traveling ran nearly due west
to Tepeaca, and thence northwest to Pueblo, after which the towns
lay thickly, all the way to the lake. As far as Roger could learn
the distance, from the coast which they had lately been following
to Mexico, was by this route about three hundred miles.

On the fifth day after the messenger had been dispatched, a courier
ran into the camp, just as the caravan was about to start, and
handed to the chief merchant what looked to Roger like a portfolio.
This, indeed, was something of its character. It consisted of two
thin boards, within which was a sheet of paper. It contained a
number of paintings and signs, of which Roger could make nothing,
but the merchants informed him that it expressed the satisfaction
of the King of Tezcuco, at the news that had been sent him of the
arrival of a strange white personage in the land; that the priests
would consult the auguries, and decide whether it boded well or ill
for the country; and in the meantime that they were to journey on
to Tepeaca, where they would be met by an envoy, charged to receive
the white stranger and to conduct him to Tezcuco.

The merchants themselves were only able to gather the general
contents of this picture dispatch, but the slave who had drawn the
one sent forward interpreted every sign and color; for Roger found
that colors, as well as signs, had their meaning. He learned from
the merchants that this picture writing was a science in itself,
and that it needed years of instruction and labor to acquire it. In
every town and village there were certain persons skilled in the
art, so that messages of all kinds could be sent to the capital,
and orders and instructions received. The national archives