Quetzalcoatl directed his journey, at first, to the southeast, and then easterly, though we are not informed of the locality of the territory of Tlapallan. In passing through the country of Cholula, he was solicited by the inhabitants to remain among them, and he became their ruler. He stayed twenty years in this quarter, taught the people various arts, among others that of casting metals, instituted fasts, and regulated the intercalations of the Toltec year. He preached peace to man, and permitted no other offerings to the Deity than the first fruits of the harvest. After leaving Cholula he passed on to the mouth of the river Goasacoalco, in the bay of Campeachy, where he disappeared, having promised the Cholulans that he would return in a short time and confirm their happiness. Quetzalcoatl was afterwards deified, and the great pyramid of Cholula had an altar on its summit dedicated to him as god of the air.

The name Quetzalcoatl signifies, in the Mexican language, "Feathered Serpent." The Mexican pictures and statues represent him as tall and stout, with a fair complexion, open forehead, large eyes, long black hair, and thick beard. His dress is commonly a long robe. As in the history of the demigods and heroes of Greece, the facts of his life are overlaid by mythological fictions; yet there is no good reason to doubt his real existence. A Spanish writer has maintained that he was no other than the apostle St. Thomas, who preached Christianity in India, and from thence might have passed to America. It is remarkable that the image of the cross is plainly discernible in the sculptures of Palenque; and persons,

apparently priests, are represented as making offerings to this symbol of Christianity. Yet the mission of St. Thomas to America must be regarded as the mere suggestion of an enthusiastic fancy.

XOLOTL.

XOLOTL, king of the Chechemecans, flourished in the twelfth century. The Chechemecans inhabited originally the country north of Mexico. Their manners blended a certain degree of civilization with many traits of barbarism. They had distinctions of rank and settled habitations, but were not an agricultural people. Their religion was the simple worship of the sun.

By the death of his father, the government of the kingdom was bequeathed to Xolotl, jointly with his brother Achcantli. But the former, being dissatisfied

a divided authority, determined to seek for another territory, where he might reign without a rival. He despatched emissaries in different directions, to explore the country, and learnt from them that a desirable situation offered itself in the south. He accordingly collected a large number of people, and set out on his expedition. Proceeding gradually to the south, in about a year and a half they reached the land of Anahuac, where the empire of Mexico was afterwards founded. This territory had been previously peopled by the Toltecs, a nation which, like the Chechemecans, had migrated from the north. The Toltecs had become a great people, and built numerous large cities, but a terrible pestilence swept away the greater part of the inhabitants, and the re

mainder dispersed themselves among the neighboring nations.

When Xolotl and his attendants reached this country, it had been solitary and waste for nearly a century. They halted about forty miles north of the lake of Mexico. From this place Xolotl sent the prince Nopaltzin, his son, to survey the neighborhood. He visited the lake, and traversed the heights which surround the beautiful vale of Mexico. He was so charmed with the delightful appearance of the country, that he took formal possession of the whole region, in the name of his father, by going to the top of a lofty mountain, and shooting four arrows toward the four quarters of the sky. Xolotl determined to remain here and form a permanent settlement. At Tenayuca, six miles north of Mexico, he ordered an enumeration of the people to be made, by each man throwing a stone into a heap. Twelve piles of the stones remain there to this day.

Xolotl built a city at Tenayuca and established his court there. He sent explorers to discover the sources of the rivers which traversed the country. These persons found, scattered about in different parts, a few Toltec families, from whom they learnt the cause of the desolation of the country. The new community was soon augmented by the arrival of other emigrants from the north, and before long it became a flourishing kingdom. At the marriage of one of the sons of Xolotl, an entertainment was given at Tenayuca, which lasted for sixty days; it consisted of shows of wrestling, racing, combats of wild beasts, and other rude sports characteristic of a barbarous

people. The civilization of the Chechemecans, however, advanced much more rapidly than that of the surrounding nations, and the kingdom of Xolotl became celebrated to such a degree as to gain constant accessions of inhabitants from the neighboring states.

The reign of Xolotl was mild and equitable. Although he possessed enterprise, decision and energy of character sufficient to enable him to found a powerful kingdom, he governed his subjects with a clemency which at last degenerated to a fault. The latter part of his reign was disturbed by the insubordination and turbulence of a portion of his people. He was harassed by obstructions thrown in the way of his authority, and at length a plot was laid to take his life. An opportunity soon offered. The king had been making preparations to increase the waters of his garden, where he was accustomed to sleep and recreate himself in the afternoon, in the cool shades of the trees. Taking advantage of this circumstance, the conspirators secretly dammed up the river that crossed the city, and, aided by the works prepared by the king, let the water at once into the garden, and overflowed it. Xolotl, however, had secret intelligence of the conspiracy. On the day appointed for the act, he went as usual into the garden, and the conspirators, being on the watch, imagined that they had secured their victim; but the king, instead of lying down to rest in the arbor where he had been accustomed to repose, betook himself to a lofty mound, where he was in no danger. On a sudden the inundation burst in and flooded the garden. "Ah!” exclaimed he, "what liberal subjects have I! I