' -^ /asn-Ju xJ\f>, ^'^RSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL illinium 00022226878 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/knockaboutclubinober RUINED TOWER IN THE PALACE OF PALENQUE, THE PAINTED CITY. THE Knockabout Club in SEARCH OF TREASURE BY FRED A. OBER, Author of "Travels in Mexico," Etc. [ FULLY ILLUSTRATED BOSTON DANA ESTES AND COMPANY PUBLISHERS •■W H Copyright, 1892, By Estes and Lauriat. SEttibftsttg Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. CONTENTS. Chapter Page I. We meet in Mexico , u II. A Man-hunt in the Aztec Capital 32 III. An American Hero and some Mexican Gods 46 IV. The Treasure Symbols of the Aztec King . . . 66 V. AZTLAN TO ZAPOTLAN . . 76 VI. Mexican Mountains and Mountaineers S7 VII. How we became Millionaires 103 VIII. That Golden Butterfly , 116 IX. An Intimate Acquaintance with a Mule 129 X. A Ride in the Rainy Season 143 XI. The Treasure- c ayes of Coatlan 160 XII. In Peril Underground 172 XIII. Palenque, the Painted City 1S3 XIV. The Great Red Hand in the Ruined Palace 19S XV. Something about a Strange Country 216 XVI. The Island of Tiziminchak ... 233 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Ruined Tower in the Palace of Pa- lenque, the Painted City . Frontispiece The Great Cathedral 12 Popocatepetl 13 Huitzilopochtli, God of War .... 15 Top of Sacrificial Stone 16 The Sacrificial Stone 17 Sculpture on the Side of the Sacrificial Stone 19 A Pueblo 20 Pueblo-dwellers 21 Prairie-dog Villages 22 On the Summit 24 A Pueblo Plaza 27 Popocatepetl from Amecameca ... 33 Monterey, — Main Plaza and Bishop's Palace 37 Battle of Monterey, Mexican War . . 40 Gen. Zachary Taylor 41 Santa Anna 41 The Plaza and La Mitra Monterey . . 42 The Cathedral, Monterey 44 The Alameda, Mexico 47 Gen. Winfield Scott 49 A Mexican Fountain 50 Convent of La Merced, City of Mexico . 51 Street Scene in Mexico 54 Statue of Columbus, Mexico .... 55 Page Castle of Chapultepec 59 The Court of the Museum 61 Cortez 64 The Cave Period (Aztec Picture-Writing) 67 Montezuma 69 Aztec Calendar and Cycle 71 Peak and Crater of Orizaba 77 Governor's Palace, Oaxaca 79 Obtaining Pulque from the Maguay Plant 83 The Spaniards in Mexico 8S Juarez 90 In the Mines of the Montezuma ... 93 Cortez received by Montezuma ... 97 La Tortillera 104 Indians at Work in the Silver Region . 109 In the Mines 117 A Mestiza Girl 123 One Way of Catching a Mule .... 130 Grand Hall, Mitla 132 Mexican Child 136 The Grand Palace of Mitla, Province of Oaxaca 139 One of the Pack-animals 141 Vera Cruz 145 President Diaz 148 In the Interior of Mexico 150 Mexican Rainy Day Costume . . . . 151 IO I L LUSTRA TIONS. Vera Cruz and Fort of San Juan de Ulloa 1 57 The Valley of Mexico 163 Mexican Bit, Bridle, and Spurs . . . 165 Floating Gardens of Mexico .... 169 Mexican Garden 173 M ay ar Types of Indian 178 Uxmal 184 Ruins of Papantla 184 Governor's Palace, Uxmal 185 Court of the Palace of Palenque . . . 186 Interior of a Gallery in the Palace of Palenque 1S7 Statue from Palenque 188 First Temple of Lorillard City .... 191 Stucco Ornament, Palenque 193 Half-breed Women and Water-carrier, Merida 199 Page The Volan-coche 201 The Custom House, Progreso .... 202 Ja'ina, near Campeche 203 Market-woman of Merida 205 Casa Municipal, Merida 20^ Facade of Casa de las Monjas .... 207 North Facade of Nuns' House, Uxmal . 208 Governor's Palace at Uxmal .... 209 Colossal Head at the Base of One of the Pyramids at Izamai ..... 211 Street of Valladolid .....,,. 213 Grand Gallery at Ake „ 217 The Castle at Chichen-Itza 219 Ornamentation of the Palace of the Nuns, Chichen-Itza ...... 220 Municipal Palace of Valladolid , . 223 Temple at Tuloom ........ 229 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. CHAPTER I. WE MEET IN MEXICO. Glance at Aztlan. — The Snow-covered Mountains. — Pyramids and Tem- ples.— Where our Story begins. — How we got to Mexico. — The Pre- arranged Meeting. — The Historian's Adventure by the Way. — Dog or Cayote ? — The Prairie-dog Village. — Seven Cities of Cibola. — Acoma. — The Enchanted Mesa. — Alone among Indians. — My Bed upon the Roof- top. — My Ride with an Indian Maiden. — Her Face was rainbow-hued, painted like the sky of morning. HE city of Mexico, capital of the Republic of the same name, is known to everybody, and we are not going to attempt to describe it ; but there are a few prominent features that one who has seen it loves to dwell upon in memory. Situated as it is, the centre of a vast valley, enclosed within a wall of mountains two hundred miles in circumference, it occupies a position commanding and magnificent. Fifty miles away glisten the silver summits of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, those great volcanoes cov- ered with perpetual snow. Who can forget the glorious spectacle presented of a morning when the rising sun illumines those shining snow-fields, and of an evening when its last rays gild their distant crests ? 12 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. Although surrounded with the most magnificent of Nature's works, having in view an ever-changing panorama of her grandest produc- tions, the city itself is well worthy its splendid environment. In the centre of the city rises the great cathedral, the grandest on this continent, over four hundred feet in length, two hundred in breadth, and with towers two hundred feet high. It was nearly a fi . Iffl i " ' ili j = 1 1 . , ill, 1 § ... &MmfaM££P* . ! ' ... %Mm ■ JJ'JtiirJ.r i- i,, ,'iLfc •--■ , A MAN-HUNT IN THE AZTEC CAPITAL. 39 '"Look here, Jake; this ere 's "Travellers' Rest," beds at low figgers, an' drinks fer them that pays fer 'em. Ef it 's ag'in this gen'leman's principles to drink, thar' ain't nobody goin' ter fo'ce him to. Nor he ain't goin' ter set up for the crowd, either, 'less he wants ter do it.' " ' I \*e no objection to treating,' said I, looking the red-eyed man square in the face ; ' but I don't believe in intoxicants, and I won't help their sale. But if the gentlemen present will take a good warm supper with me, with tea or coffee, I invite them all.' " ' Wall, now, thet 's the talk. He 's a brick ; I 11 fight the man thet says he ain't. He s got principles, an' he sticks to 'em,' were some of the exclamations that greeted me. They all came up and shook hands with me, and after a" while we sat down to a good square meal. I tell you, my boy, I did enjoy that supper ; not only because I was hungry myself, but because I felt I was doing good temperance work at the same time. All those men were hungry ; they had half starved themselves to buy drink, and they enjoyed the meal as much as I did. It 's the true way, I believe, to put an end to the rum- shops ; to furnish the drunkards with good food and light drinks at night, when they are seeking stimulants, which half the time are craved because their bodies are weak. The saying that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach is more nearly true than most people believe ; and when the temperance people have elevated this into an axiom, they will have accomplished half their work. Those men were my friends, all of them ; and as soon as I had crawled up the ladder to my quarters they all 'turned in' themselves, and so far as they were concerned the night was quiet. " But, unfortunately, these were n't the only ruffians in Piedras. In the room with me was a drunken man who seemed suffering from tremens, who flapped his arms wildly about, knocking the bottle that served as a candlestick off the table, and who was cursing and singing all night long. I lay down on the board called my bed, with my clothes on, and tried to sleep. 40 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. " Soon I heard the report of a pistol ; then another and another, in rapid succession; and a bullet came through the side of the house, between me and the drunken man, and lodged in a beam. I realized then that my surroundings were n't very pleasant, I assure you ; but I could n't get away from them, so I pulled my revolver out of my satchel, placed it under my head, and tried to sleep. More pistol- BATTLE OF MONTEREY. MEXICAN WAR. shots, shouting, swearing, and a great commotion outside, kept up for two hours or more ; then all was quiet, and finally I fell asleep. When I went down in the morning, I almost dreaded to go outside the door, fully expecting to see at least a dozen corpses on the ground. I ventured to ask the landlord what the row was about, at last ; and he said, — A MAN-HUNT IN THE AZTEC CAPITAL. 41 " ' What row ? Oh, yes ; the little poppin' after you turned in. Why, a couple of bull-punchers came in from the ranch, filled up, an' then jest locked arms an' went araound shootin' at ev- erybody an' everything gen- erally. There they be now, sleepin' peacefully under that fence.' " ' And nobody hurt ? ' '"Hurt! of course there ain't. Thet kind of cattle can't hit anything when they 're drunk.' " I kept my own coun- sel, but made up my mind not to tax the hospitality of the ' Travellers' Rest ' any more that night. When the train rattled out again, at midnight, your friend the Doctor was one of the passengers, bound for the city of Monterey." " Were there no other adventures by the way ? " " No, hardly ; but I visited some historic places. Monterey itself, as you know, was an important strategic point during the Mexican war ; and I j visited Buena Vista, where Gen. Zach. Taylor 7^> gave Santa Anna such a tremendous thrashing. But I suppose the place that interested me most was the ancient mining district of Catorce. It was discovered as a mining district a little over a hundred years ago. Among the settlers attracted by the fame of its riches was a poor priest, the Padre Flores, who purchased for $700 a mine then GEN ZACHAKY TAYLOR. 42 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. recently ' denounced ' near the town, and began to work it. After following some little hilitos, or threads of silver, at about sixty feet \ beneath the surface, he ran into a small boreda, or natural chamber, full of loose metalliferous earth, so completely im- H pregnated with particles of silver that it p was bought up on the spot at the price of one dollar for a pound of ore. Neither powder nor the usual implements of min- ing were required for the extraction of the THE PLAZA AND LA MITRA, MONTEREY. earth, which was, in fact, nothing less than silver mush, which the Padre and his miners scooped out by the bucketful. " But about sixty feet farther still they found a second borcda, full of the same metalliferous mush in yet greater quantity, and A MAN-HUNT IN THE AZTEC CAPITAL. 43 which the miners scooped out with great horn spoons, carrying it to the surface in their cos tales, or miner's sacks. The Padre's bonanza commenced in 17S1, and lasted two years, during which period he received for his share of the profits $3,500,000. This was besides the shares of the miners and speculators, which probably raised the total amount to over $6,000,000. " Yes, there have been some big bonanzas in the Mexican mines, but they all occurred a hundred years ago and more. You remember the stories told us of the silver-mines of Batopilas, where the ore was dug out almost pure, with picks and bars ; and of the rich yields of Pachuca, or Regla, where a poor muleteer made so many millions that he became Count of Regla, and when his children were baptized the whole procession marched from house to church over a pathway of silver bars." The flowery days of Mexico's mines are past, and there are more fortunes lost than made in the working of them now. They tell you stories that remind one of the tales they tell, or are said to, in our Western country. Something api'opos I found in a paper, the other day, which aptly hits off the traits of some of our English visitors, — their gullibility, especially. It is from a California paper. As last Thursday's west-bound train passed Cape Horn, a large party of Englishmen, of the " direct-from-Lunnon " variety, crowded out on the platform and loudly expressed their dissatisfaction at the scenery, which was " not at all up to the guide-books, you know, by Jove ! " As they returned to their seats to enjoy a jolly good British all-around grum- ble, entirely oblivious of the indignant glances of the native passengers, a meek- looking, gentle-voiced journalist from 'Frisco approached from the other end of the car, and volunteered to give the tourists some valuable facts concerning the country. In an ingenuous and plausible way he answered their questions in a manner that reduced our critics from over the pond to a condition of profound amazement, not to say awe. The next morning the journalist was informed by the reporter that a com- mittee of gentlemen wished to see him in the baggage-car. As he entered the 44 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. latter, he found a dozen travellers, all natives and to the manner born, waiting to receive him, hat in hand. The spokesman advanced and said, — "You are the party who was giving those Englishmen in the rear sleeper some points about the coast, I believe ? " " I am, sir," said the quill-driver, modestly. THE CATHEDRAL, MONTEREY. " You told them, I understand," continued the chairman, " that Mount Shasta was seventy-six thousand feet high ? " " The same." "You divulged the well-known fact that trains on this road were often de- tained four days by herds of buffalo, that they frequently have to use a Gatling gun on the cow-catcher to prevent the locomotive being pushed off the track by the grizzly bears ? " " Yes, sir." " You further acquainted them with the circumstance that the Digger A MAX-HUNT IN THE AZTEC CAPITAL. 45 Indians live to the average age of two hundred and one, and that the rarefaction of the air on the plains is such that an ordinary pin looks like a telegraph-pole at the distance of forty-two miles ? " " I think I wedged that in," responded the newspaper man. " And we are informed that they all made a memorandum of your state- ment that at the Palace Hotel on an average two waiters per clay were shot by the guests for bringing cold soup, — eh ? " " They did." " And, finally, we believe you are the originator of that beautiful — that b-e-a-u-tiful-er — fact regarding that fallen redwood-tree up at Mariposa, — I mean the hollow one into which the six-horse stage drives, and comes out of a knot-hole one hundred and sixty-five feet farther along." " I told them all about it." " Just so ! just so ! " said the committeeman, grasping the patron's hand, and producing a well-filled buckskin bag ; " and I am instructed by this committee of your fellow-countrymen to present you with this slight token of our apprecia- tion of the noble manner in which you have vindicated the honor of our noble land." "Gentlemen," said the true Californian, much affected, "I understand your feelings ; and although I blush to be rewarded for simply doing my duty, I ac- cept the gift as a sacred trust to be devoted to the further exaltation of our common country." " In what way? " asked the chairman, earnestly. " Why, I am going back to rope those fellows into a game of studhorse poker." And as he left the car they gave him a cheer that nearly shook the train off the rails. CHAPTER III. AN AMERICAN HERO AND SOME MEXICAN GODS. General Grant's Visit to Mexico. —Our First Glimpse of the General. —A Banquet to Notables. — A Railway never built. — Rambles in a Museum. — Little Gods and Big Ones. — Aztec Picture-writing. — How the Indians kept their Records. — Some Aboriginal Artists. — We make a Great Discovery. — The Man in the Corner. HIS was not our first visit to Mexico, for we had been here ten years previously. I had the good fortune to be in Mexico during the third visit of General Grant, in 1 88 1, and the additional good luck to attend a ban- quet given in his honor. General Grant's first visit to Mexico was in 1846 or 1847, wnen he was plain Lieutenant Grant, of the American army of invasion, and before he had climbed the heights of fame; his second, just after his famous tour round the world ; and his third, in the interests of some railroad affairs. It is not my ambition to shine by reflected light, nor to shelter myself in the shadow of a great man ; but although it may seem a work of supererogation to add to the fast accumulating reminiscences of General Grant, the few that I now recall seem to me not to have been alreadv given. For Mexico our great chieftain seemed ever to have a peculiar liking, even affection. This may have been owing to the fact that he there won his first brevet and fought his first campaign, or it may have been owing to the reception accorded the AN AMERICAN HERO AND SOME MEXICAN GODS. 49 American soldier by the common people of Mexico, who welcomed him as a savior rather than as a foe. For at the time of the American invasion (" el invasion Norte-Americano ") Mexico was dis- tracted by the sanguinary feuds of its own children, its various political leaders issuing pronunciamentos in every direction, and each party hesitated not to plunder the non-combatants. . The ar- rival of the foreign foe generally put a stop to plunder and guerilla warfare, individuals and property were respected, and the Mexican citizens looked forward with apprehension to the time when the pro- tecting arm of Winfield Scott should be withdrawn. Respect and admiration followed the American officer, of what- ever rank, wherever he went, and the first families of the towns in which they were quartered united to do them honor. The Mexican women, whose hearts were ever on the side of justice, and could not but distinguish between Yankee valor and fairness and the pusillanimity of their own countrymen, were fairly captivated by los grin- gos, and showed them every attention the cus- toms of their country would permit. To one gen. winfield scott. acquainted with the Mexicans — the sehors and sefioritas, gentle of speech and nature, mild and loving — Whittier's eulogy in " The Angels of Buena Vista" will not seem unmerited: — " But the noble Mexic women still their holy task pursued, Through that long dark night of sorrow, worn and faint and lacking food ; Over weak and suffering brothers, with a tender care thev hung, And the dying freemen blessed them in a strange and Northern tongue." My first glimpse of Grant was in 1S74. On my way home from Florida I stopped off at Washington. I had been for months hunt- ing in the swamps of South Florida ; and my hair, which I had allowed to grow long to protect my neck from mosquitoes, hung upon my shoulders ; while the tan of a six months' residence in the " land of 5o THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. flowers" gave me nearly the color of an Indian. In Jacksonville I had purchased a palmetto hat, then first being manufactured, and known as " palfneeters.'' This I wore on my first visit to the White House, which I entered with the free and independent air of a backwoods- man who was not to be trammelled by the conventionalities of city life. I had previously been admonished to " shoot that hat, 11 by various citi- zens of the capital, as I meandered toward the White House, but had disregarded their gratuitous advice, and entered its sacred portal, " pal- meeter " in hand. The door- keeper inquired my business, and I told him 1 merely wished to see General Grant ; and he, with ill- disguised suspicion writ- ten on his countenance, o-ave me a seat, with the information that the Pres- ident would soon pass through the room. It was not long before he appeared, in company with Mrs. Grant and his A MEXICAN FOUNTAIN. daughter Nellie, then a very pretty and graceful girl. Seeing me sitting by the window, with my long hair and bronzed face, giving me somewhat the appearance of an unpacificated rebel, the President beckoned to an attendant, and, with a glance in my direction, whispered in his ear. I, of course, did not know what he said, but with the consciousness of one who yet had the moss of the woods still on his shoulders, I felt that his AN AMERICAN HERO AND SOME MEXICAN GODS. 53 whispering referred to me. The person addressed nodded, and then fell back near me ; while the Grant family proceeded to their carriage, in waiting at the door. I was impressed with the firm bearing and self-contained presence of the President; but a little incident at the carriage door left an indelible impression. Mrs. Grant had entered, and Nellie was about to follow, when the President touched her gently on the arm. She drew back apologetically, and gave way to a young lady with them, who, from her plain dress, I assumed to be a seam- stress or some one employed by them, whom they were taking to her home. The unconscious performance of this lesson in politeness was with such quiet dignity that it seemed characteristic, and gave to the long-haired stranger sitting in the window an elevated opinion of the hero of Appomattox. To return to Mexico. It was seven years later, in 1SS1, that I next saw the General's face. It was his third visit, and last. In the previous visit he had, unfortunately for himself, become inter- ested in the development of Mexico, and had enlisted his name in behalf of a railroad to be projected into Southern Mexico, in ex- tension of the lines from the North, which terminated at the capital. Senor Romero, an ardent, patriotic son of Mexico, was the chief pro- moter of the scheme. At least, he it was who seemed to have secured the confidence of Grant, and, on whose recommendation, probably, the General had embarked. It was currently reported about town that a great expedition was to be fitted out to explore the line of the proposed railway, and unusual facilities were to be afforded the General for an examination of the country. As this region was almost a terra incognita to Americans, I, for one, was wildly anxious to ac- company the expedition, and hence sought an introduction to the great man, whose name figured so prominently as promoter of the scheme. This was accomplished through the kindness of my good friend, General Strother, Consul-General at Mexico, whose literary and artistic nom de guerre of " Porte Crayon " made him so famous a 54 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. quarter of a century ago. With this genial and venerable man, who had fought under Grant in the Union army, I sought his apartments at the hotel. The General was not in when we called, but we lingered for a few minutes' chat with Mrs. Grant and her sprightly niece, — whose charms had turned the heads of all the young Mexi- cans of the city, — and before we left the ^ hero appeared. It was Pg^ ^^!^M% soon explained that I wished to accompany his party into the South, in order to obtain an accu- rate description of the country to be traversed by his road ; but he, in a few well-chosen words, informed us that it was doubtful if he went on such an expedition at all. We later learned that this projected explora- tion had originated in the minds of the rail- way speculators merely, and was wholly gratuitous, so far as General Grant was concerned. In fact, he never viewed a single mile of that road, or of the region which it was to pass through, except such por- tion as might have been seen at o^ near the city of Puebla, which it was to enter. After a pleasant chat we left the apartment. I had then but just returned from an ascent of the volcano Popocatepetl, which was considered by my fellow-Americans something of a feat, and our conversation naturally turned upon that subject. The General re- marked that he in 1S47 had climbed the volcano; but Mrs. Grant STREET SCENE IN MEXICO. AN AMERICAN HERO AND SOME MEXICAN GODS. 57 laughingly remarked that he did not reach the summit, as the air had been too thin for him. The General did not insist that he had accomplished the undertaking, but turned the conversation by re- marking that the best view of the volcano, as he remembered it was to be obtained from the crest of the Sacro Monte, a hill in Amecameca, dedicated to sacred uses, adorned with chapels and shrines. It was not long after this meeting that I again met the General at a banquet given him by the projectors of a railroad across Mexico called the " Topolobampo-Pacifico-Transcontinental Railway," which at that time had not laid rails enough to cover the length of its name. And I might, remark, in passing, that it has not more than doubled that distance yet, even at this date, ten years subsequent to the ban- quet, which took place in the Tivoli de San Cosme, in the city's sub- urb. The Tivoli is a sort of Mexican beer garden, but with a dining- hall attached, in which parties can dine or lunch other than al fresco. In the large hall, which was tastefully decorated for the occasion, tables were spread for a large party. Besides the General and his party, — which included his wife and niece, and one of his sons and his wife, — there were invited all of the prominent Americans of the city, as well as the leading Mexicans. The menu was a mixture of French and Spanish, both in names and dishes, and which I still retain as a souvenir of that occasion, comprised nearly everything desirable to be obtained in Mexico, with the choicest liquors of two continents. The after-dinner speeches were excellent, and took their tenor from the few remarks of the General, who, having been introduced by the mas- ter of ceremonies, a young and enterprising Corko-Bostonian, who regulated the municipal affairs of Boston, but was now absent on sick- leave, said that he had no doubt the enterprise was one likely to prove beneficial to Mexico and the world at large, etc., and sat down amid great applause. As he concluded his speech, he nodded to the rail- road man at the other end of the table, signifying that he had (as he 58 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. looked at it) done all that was expected of him ; and that man immedi- ately arose and spoke. Carried away by the prospective success of the scheme, this particular railroad-man had been conjuring with the bedidos nacionales — or, in other words, mixed drinks — of Mexico, and had gazed frequently at the wine when it was red in the cup. As a consequence, he got mixed up on the topography and geographical names of the country ; and when he came to speak of the title of the particular enterprise he was concerned in, he forgot it entirely. After mentioning that the name of Grant was already pretty bright, through the achievements of its illustrious owner, he said that it would derive additional lustre from its connection with this ' " The original of the pictographs collected by Don ' -j|i| Lorenzo Boturini were printed in colors. The mili- W iS tar y 01 "d ers were distinguished by their different dress; W^9 the highest (the prince) wore plumes of eagle feath- ( 6 ) (3) ers ; another a lion (puma) skin ; another an ocelot (tiger) skin, etc. " It seems quite incredible, — the great number of mantles, gar- ments, etc., contributed annually by the Pueblos to adorn the depend- ants at the palace of Montezuma. "The principal towns and cities shown in this map are as follows: I. Tlatelulco, a suburb of Mexico, in which was a great temple. II. Tepetlatlalco, which contributed corn, cotton cloth, and garments. III. Acolman, maize, mantles, and also garments. IV. Cuernavaca, maize, cotton, paper, gourd cups, etc. V. Huastepec, the same. VI. Quaulitiltan, palm-mats, cotton, and maize. VII. Huipuxtla, maize and cotton cloth. VIII. Atotonilco, the same. IX. Xilotepec, cotton, mantles, frijoles or Mexican beans. X. Ouahuacan, maize, fine woods, cotton, etc. XI. Toluca, the same. XII. Ocuila, salt, maize, and cotton. XIII. Malinalco, cotton and maize. XIV. Tlachco, virgin honey and aromatic gums. XV. Tepequaquilco, copal and precious stones (!). AZTEC CALENDAR AND CYCLE. THE TREASURE SYMBOLS OF THE AZTEC KING. 73 XVI. Huanthla, cacao, fajoles. XVII. Tlalpan, bars of gold (!). XVIII. Tlacozantitlan, arnatto, metal. XIX. Chalco, maize and mantles. XX. Tepeaca, fine stones, aromatic gums, XXI. Cohuaxtaca, or Oaxaca, gold and cochineal. XXII. Coyaltapan, gold, cochineal, etc. XXIII. Zoconusco, cacao, fine stones, birds, tiger-skins, and feathers. XXIV. Ouatochco, cacao. XXV. Cotaxtla, precious stones, cacao. XXVI. Tlapacoya, clothing, mantles. XXVII. Tlanuquitepec, liquid amber. XXVIII. Tuxpa, precious stones. XXIX. Axtla, cotton, breech-clouts, etc. XXX. Cotton, chile and clothing. " This chain, or cordillera, is incomplete ; but it shows the vast amount poured annually into the Aztec capital, as tribute, by Monte- zuma's subjects. Picture, if you can, the long stream of In- dians from every part of Mexico subjugated to the Aztecs, plodding their weary way toward Aztlan. That this tribute-book accurately shows the article contributed is proven by the fact that the provinces herein men- tioned produce the same things to-day, and are still known by their native names. " Now, as to the tribute itself, and the symbols, or totems, of the towns : — (i) Is the pictograph of t( Aztlan [or Atlan] lugar de Agua," or " Place-by- the-water-side ; " Mexico itself. Fire and water are here portrayed, indicating the lakes Texcuco, Xochimilco, etc., near which it lay, and the prox- imity of the great volcano, Popocatepetl, the fire-mountain. Note the name Atlan, and the similarity of those exotic words in our language, Atlantic (ocean), Atlan-tis (the traditional country said to lie beneath the waves of the ocean). A whole volume of specu- lation is here suggested, as to the connection of the people who founded Aztlan with those semi-mvthical Atlantides! . 74 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. (2) Is the token of Ouaulititlan, the district that contributed palm-mats and cotton. To this day its products are similar ! (3) Tepequaquilco, which gave its stores of copal and fine stones. (4) Xilotepec, bearing the same name to-day. (5) Zoconusco, with its figure of the cactus. (6) Is a pot of honey, contributed from a place famous for its honey-pots and Xicaras. The flag indicates the number of pots sent as tribute, always standing for the number forty. (7) Is a string of chalchiuitls , or jade stones, resembling emerald, and highly prized by the Mexicans as one of their most precious products. ' XI ' (8) Represents pieces of wood, eight hundred in number, as we know by the feather, that being the symbol for eight hundred. (9) Here we have two figures, — one representing a shell, and the other a flat bar. The shell indicates mother-of pearl, and the feather the number brought in. It is expressed in Aztec as follows : — Ontzontli Tepacktce, in Spanish eight hundred conchas de nacar, or eight hundred shells of mother-of-pearl. The flat bar represents gold ; expressed in Aztec, Teocuitlatl coztic matlactli ; in Spanish, Dies barras de oro, ten bars of gold. (10) Cotton, — a bale of cotton, — -eight hundred algodon (Span- ish) or (Aztec) Ontzontli cargas de tlama-malliyzcatl. (11) Feathers, — Ontzontli quetzalli, eight hundred phnnas ricas verdes, or eight hundred rich green plumes of the quetzal, the royal trogon of Guatemala, probably from Zoconusco. (12) Huypilli, — a kind of garment still worn by the Indians. The Maya Indians of Yucatan still have the huypilli. The feather shows that eight hundred were sent as tribute. (13) Military uniforms, — Vestidos adornos militares (Spanish). This is a good representation of the military uniform of the Aztec war- rior ; the grotesque casque, or helmet, the body-apparel, and a feather-ornamented shield. (14) A measure of maize. Maize, or Indian corn, was doubt- less indigenous in Mexico, and has been used there from time 03) • • 1 immemorial. (15) Ompoali Ocelotl-yeuatl, or forty piclcs de tigres (tiger-skins). The " tiger " of the Mexicans is the ocelot, or leopard-like animal that still prowls the forests of the tierras calientes, or hot lands, of the coast region. THE TREASURE SYMBOLS OF THE AZTEC KING. 75 " Have I not proven my case, — that is, that there were among the Aztecs men who possessed a coherent system of hiero- glyphics, or rather of ideographs ; that Montezuma re- ceived vast tribute from many Indian tribes ; that the record of those contributions is still extant ; that you have had a fragment ; that these tribute-symbols indicate the locales of those Indian treasures ; that one may take them as a guide and go find those treasures for himself ? That is the case I bes;an trying to make out." The Professor paused, took off his spectacles and polished them carefully, and waited for his remarks to be approved. The Doctor and I accorded our hearty approval. The secret had been a long while unfolding, and we were not even now sure we understood it. But we did understand that the Professor knew, or thought he knew, where Montezuma kept his treasure, and that he had asked us to join him in Mexico with the object in view of finding it. And did we get this ancient treasure-trove ? That is something that will be revealed in due time ; and if you will join us you shall share in our adventures, even though you do not in the treasures. CIS) CHAPTER V. ZTLAN TO ZAPOTLAN. Don Santos, the Guide. — Ancient Fortifications. — Seat of the Zapotec Kings. The Cura of Cuilapan. — Deserted Convent. — Grave of Malinche, Mistress of Cortez. — Guerrero, a Mexican Patriot. — A Mound of Skulls. — Vale of Ejutla. — Where Alvarado fought. jjj EftM T last we were off. The Doctor and I did n't mind much where we were going, for we sniffed a good time in prospective, — weeks in the saddle ; camp- fires in unexpected forests ; and a misty lure of gold and silver mines, when other things should fail. Three days' travel due south from the line of the Mexican railway at a point where the volcano of Orizaba rises nearest it, brought us to the capital city of Oaxaca, the ancient Antequera. Oaxaca was once the seat of that famous tribe of Indians, the Zapo- tecs, whose civilization raised them to be equals of the Aztecs when at the zenith of their power. The Zapotecs comprise the greater portion of the population of the Indian city, and, in a wilder state, of the residents of the country. They dwell now chiefly in the hill- country, and are known as Serranos, or mountaineers, — unconquered freemen, who have never yet felt the yoke of bondage. Our chief the Professor had set out with the determination of wresting from these Serranos a secret, a sacredly kept tradition, which had been guarded by them with jealous care for three centuries and a half. As we went along, he divulged to me further details of his re- searches. One day, at the noonday lunch, he gave me more par- AZTLAN TO ZAPOTLAN. 77 ticulars about the book which had given him the information that mainly guided us. Sitting beneath the pines of that Southern slope, with an ardent sun beating through the pine-needles above and stamping upon the leaf-carpeted soil a varied pattern in nickering shadow, our chief pro- duced his cherished volume. It was truly a treasure of itself, bound in antique vellum, and bore upon its back in faded letters of gold the words "Cartas de Cortes." "These," said the Professor, "are those famous letters from Cortez, fifteen in number, to his sovereign, Carlos V., written in the field and at intervals during the siege of Mexico. In his second letter, written in the year 152 1, you will find PEAK AND CRATER OF ORIZABA. the information which guides me. Herein he relates the story of the capture of Montezuma, and the manner in which, after having taken him prisoner, he proceeded to extort from him information regarding the sources of his wealth. A roomful of treasure was divided among 78 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE. the Spaniards, when they obtained possession of Montezuma, — gold, wrought into beautiful images, hammered into vessels of fanciful shape, and cast in bars. This was chiefly the accumulation of warrior kings who had preceded Montezuma, and particularly of Axayacatl, his royal father, the dreaded ' Water-face,' who had led his armies far south of Tehuantepec, even to Guatemala. All the Aztec treasure was in gold, since they knew not how to extract silver from its hiding in the rock ; and, moreover, it was mainly obtained from the rivers, in grains or in nuggets from placers. " With supreme contempt for the cupidity of Cortez and his band, Montezuma, seeing that the Spaniards valued gold so highly as to be ready to shed blood for its acquisition, offered to show them the localities where it could still be obtained in abundance. Follow- ing the suggestions of the captive monarch, Cortez sent two soldiers with each guide furnished by Montezuma, who went directly to the places indicated by him, and discovered mines rudely worked and streams glistening with golden sands. Four parties went out, in as many different directions ; of two of these but little account is given. One, however, brought back gold from the since famous province of Tasco (now still known, in the State of Guerrero) ; but in the southwest, in the distant province of Malinaltepec, were found rich washings of