The ancient cities of the New World : being travels and explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857-1882 . g tiger with a human head and retreating forehead, lessexaggerated than those at Palenque, beautifully moulded, andreminding us of the orders of knighthood in which the tigerhad the pre-eminence; nor could a better device be imaginedfor the house of the commander-in-chief at Izamal. To conclude,these documents, which would be a dead letter to one who hadnot followed the various migrations from north to south, enableus to reconstruct here also a Toltec centre. It may be notedthat
The ancient cities of the New World : being travels and explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857-1882 . g tiger with a human head and retreating forehead, lessexaggerated than those at Palenque, beautifully moulded, andreminding us of the orders of knighthood in which the tigerhad the pre-eminence; nor could a better device be imaginedfor the house of the commander-in-chief at Izamal. To conclude,these documents, which would be a dead letter to one who hadnot followed the various migrations from north to south, enableus to reconstruct here also a Toltec centre. It may be notedthat if numerous monuments are still found in Yucatan, theirexistence is due to the small number of Spaniards settled in theseregions at the time of the Conquest, and more especially to theirbeing at a distance from the centres occupied by the conquerors. Stephens, Incidents of Travels in Yucatan, tome 11. p. 434. IZAMAL EN ROUTE FOR ClIICIIEN. 311 Through the whole length and breadth of Anahuac bothmonuments and cities have entirely disappeared; for theSpaniards were not satisfied with destroying all that reminded. COLOSSAL HEAD FORMING BASEMENT OF PYRAMID AT IZ\MAL. them of a former polity, they were also careful to infuseinto their young disciples a profound horror for their formerreligion, while they trained children to report any word ordeed they observed in their parents or priests which savouredof their ancient customs. Thanks to these measures, every- 12 The Ancient Cities of the New World. thing that could recall the past to the rising generation wassoon blotted out from the Indian mind. But however dilapi-dated the monuments we observe at Izamal, they prove thatthere was here a great population at the time of the Con-quest ; and this being admitted, it follows that their destructionis comparatively recent, due mainly to civil wars, dating afew years before the arrival of the Spaniards. As for the Perez manuscript, which was written by anative from memory long after the Con
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