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THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

Of Literature, Art, and Science.

Vol. V.--NEW-YORK, MARCH 1, 1852--No. III.




[Illustration]

THE AZTECS AT THE SOCIETY LIBRARY.


For several weeks the attention of the curious has been more and more
attracted to a remarkable ethnological exhibition at the Society
Library. Two persons, scarcely larger than the fabled gentlemen of
Lilliput, (though one is twelve or thirteen and the other eighteen years
of age), of just and even elegant proportions, and physiognomies
striking and peculiar, but not deficient in intellect or refinement,
have been visited by throngs of idlers in quest of amusement,
wonder-seekers, and the profoundest inquirers into human history. Until
very recently, Mexico was properly described as _Terra Incognita_. The
remains of nations are there shrouded in oblivion, and cities, in their
time surpassing Tadmor and Thebes, untrodden except by the jaguar and
the ocelot. A few persons, indeed, attracted by uncertain rumors of
ancient grandeur in Palenque, have visited her temples and tombs--

                       There to track
    Fallen states and empires o'er a land
    Which was the mightiest in her high command,
    And is the loveliest--

but no one has been found to read the hieroglyphics of Tolteca, to
disclose the history of the dwellers in Anahuac, to make known the
annals of the rise and fall of Tlascala, Otumba, Copan, or Papantla. In
the great work of Lord Kingsborough are collected many important remains
of Mexican and Aztec art and learning; Mr. Prescott has combined with a
masterly hand the traditions of the country; and Mr. Stevens and Mr.
Squier have done much in the last few years to render us familiar with
the more accessible and probably most significant ruins which illustrate
the civilization of the race subdued by the Spaniards; but still Central
America is unexplored. In the second volume of the work of Mr. Stevens,
he mentions that a Roman Catholic priest of Santa Cruz del Quiche told
him marvellous stories of a "large city, with turrets white and
glittering in the sun," beyond the Cordilleras, where a people still
existed in the condition of the subjects of Montezuma. He proceeds:

     "The interest awakened in us, was the most thrilling I ever
     experienced. One look at that city, was worth ten years of an
     every-day life. If he is right, a place is left where Indians
     and a city exist, as Cortez and Alvarado found them; there are
     living men who can solve the mystery that hangs over the ruined
     cities of America; who can, perhaps, go to Copan and read the
     inscription on its monuments. No subject more exciting and
     attractive presents itself to any mind, and the deep impression
     in my mind will never be effaced. Can it be true? Being now in
     my sober senses, I do verily believe there is much ground to
     suppose that what the Padre told us is authentic. That the
     region referred to does not acknowledge the government of
     Gautamala, and has never been explored, and that no white man
     has ever pretended to have entered it; I am satisfied. From
     other sources we heard that a large _ruined_ city was visible;
     and we were told of another person who had climbed to the top
     of the sierra, but on account of the dense clouds rising upon
     it, he had not been able to see any thing. At all events, the
     belief at the village of Chajul is general, and a curiosity is
     aroused that burns to be satisfied. We had a craving desire to
     reach the mysterious city. No man if so willing to peril his
     life, could undertake the enterprise, with any hope of success,
     without hovering for one or two years on the borders of the
     country, studying the language and character of the adjoining
     Indians, and making acquaintance with some of the natives. Five
     hundred men could probably march directly to the city, and the
     invasion would be more justifiable than any made by Spaniards;
     but the government is too much occupied with its own wars, and
     the knowledge could not be procured except at the price of
     blood. Two young men of good constitution, and who could afford
     to spend five years, might succeed. If the object of search
     prove a phantom, in the wild scenes of a new and unexplored
     country, there