out the positions of the rained teocalli, and take in the whole plan of the great aboriginal temple. Over all now towered immense trees, swathed in long robes of grey moss, which hung in masses from every limb, and swayed solemnly in the wind. I almost fancied them in mourning for the departed glories of the place. In fact, a kind of superstitions feeling, little in consonance with the severity of philosophical investigation, began to creep over me. Upon one side were steep cliffs, against which the waters of the lake chafed with a subdued roar, and upon the other was the deep extinct crater, with its black sides and sulphurous lake; it was in truth a weird place, not unfittingly chosen by the original priesthood as the site of their strange and gloomy rites. While; engaged in these fanciful reveries, I stretched myself, almost unconsciously, upon the stone where I was sitting. My limbs fell into place as if the same had been made to receive them—my head was thrown back, and my breast raised; a second, and the thought aroused my mind with startling force—'the stone of sacrifice!’ Was it the scene, the current of my thoughts?—but I leaped up with a feeling half of alarm. I observed the stone more closely; it was a rude block altered by art, and had beyond question been used as a stone of sacrifice."
A large number of these interesting relics were safely conveyed to the sea-coast, and embarked aboard vessels bound for the United States, in which country they have engaged the attention of the learned, and have materially assisted in adding to the knowledge of the inhabitants of this interesting portion of the American continent in that obscure period when, as yet, no European foot had ever been set upon its shores.
