figures of animals covered with a similar coating of mortar or plaster, thus imitating sculptured stone and retaining traces of having been painted in various colors.

Fig. 1.—Map of the Ruins of Cintla.

“The reason for this singular use of cement probably is that in the alluvial soil of this coast, no stones occur within a distance of fifty miles and more from the sea shore; stone implements, such as axes, chisels, grinding stones, obsidian flakes, etc., which are occasionally found, can have been introduced solely by trade. The pottery and the idols made of terra cotta show a high degree of perfection.

“Regarding the period down to which such earthenware was made, a broken vase disinterred from one of the mounds in my presence may give a clue. Its two handles represent Spaniards, with their European features, beard, Catalonian cap, and polainas, or gaiters.”

There is also among his papers the commencement of an address or essay upon these ruins, written in Spanish, and this, when completed, may have been printed in some Mexican periodical. I translate from it the following passage, the remainder having been lost:

“Having learned that in the forests of the coast between the barras of Chiltepec and Grijalva various mounds, idols and other remains of an earlier population had been discovered, I proceeded to that part of the country called Del Cajete, and devoted six weeks to its exploration. I soon found numerous mounds and embankments from which the present inhabitants had gathered fragments of idols and milling stones of a form unknown now in the vicinity.

“It very soon became apparent that these mounds were not such as those isolated ones which are found in various parts of this country, but were arranged in groups surrounding open spaces, plazas, and forming streets, extending over an area three leagues in length by one in breadth.

Fig. 2.—The Great Temple.

Fig. 3.—Cross Section of Fig. 2, B.

“Not a single tradition, not a single native name survives to cast any light upon these ruins. The whole of this coast was depopulated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries owing to the slave-hunting incursions of the filibusters and man-hunters. The Indians who are now found in the neighborhood have removed there from the interior since the beginning of the present century, and are absolutely ignorant of the origin or builders of this city, hidden in the tropical forest.”

The locality referred to as Del Cajete was a settlement (rancheria) of Indians, now better known as San José de la Bellota, on a large pond into which drains the Río de la Bellota. It was founded in 1815 by a cura who brought the Indians there from the other side of the river, back of Frontera.

The general position of the ruins will be seen from the above map. It is drawn to the scale of the Mexican league, which contains 5000 yards (varas) each 838 mm. One league is therefore approximately two and three quarters of our miles. No ruins or mounds were located immediately on or near