FOUND AFTER 300 YEARS' SEARCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12740, 17 December 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

FOUND AFTER 300 YEARS' SEARCH.

The lost city of Teayo, ancient capital of the Otomite kingdom, has been found. Tradition has described it as an archteological treasury, and had located it somewhere amid the. wild lands and savage tribes of Eastern" Mexico. Men versed in the fustory and landmarks of the ancient Aztec empire and its' kindred principalities have sought in vain for the ruins of .this once great city. • Teayo, it is known, once rivalled Choluca as a mystic religious Mecca, and equalled even the Aztec Mexico in commercial and military importance. The discovery of the ruins of the ancient Otomite capital, in the State -of Vera Crux, was made little over a month ago, says the World Magazine. . FOl three hundred years it bad been hidden from the eyes of civilised man. Strangely enough, Teayo has never been without inhabitants. The dread Otomite Indians, who have caused the Mexican nation anxiety decade after decade, and still resist the authorities successfully, never abandoned the seat of power of their ancestors. This race, commendable.for its love of labour and industry, and yet terrible because of ito sanguinary character, has kept all civilised people out. of Teayo until this late day. But at- last- the Otomite capital stands •clear of the dark past, and offers to science .some extraordinary subjects , for study. Some months ago an American mining engineer sent a party into Vera Cruz to prospect , the mountains for minerals. After the arrival in the State the party decided to investigate deposits of coal, which appeared to be abundant, and promised rich results. Guides were engaged for different districts. Among these was an Otomite, .who had been captured by the Mexicans during the last war. and 'forced into the army, but who had escaped and returned to his country. This Indian was one of "the* fen ■ who had learned Spanish while in the army. He informed the Americans that there was a vein of coal near Teayo. and volunteered to guide the party to the locality. The Americans undertook the journey. For fourteen days they travelled through mountains almost unknown even to the Mexicans, at times cutting their way through the jungle with machetes. While the distance was not great- the obstacles made the journey one of hardships. Dangers were many.

Tin: region abouxds with tigers, lioxs, and. serpents. If the party had not been accompanied by the Otomite it would have fallen victim, if not to wild animals, to the natives, who exclude strangers from the country. Having overcome all difficulties that lay in their path, the prospectors arrived near Teayo, and inspected the carboniferous deposits. The Otomite guide went to the ruined city, and obtained the permission of the inhabitants to bring the strangers there. Under these circumstances the Americans entered the place, being the first representatives of modern civilisation to do iso free from constraint. The most interesting of the ruins of the ancient Otomite city is the Sacrificial Tower, which now rises 65 feet above the ground. This truncated pyramid formerly bad an altitude of over IUO feet. It was robbed. of 40 feet of its height through the erosion of the country, and ir> being slowly buried under- alluvium. The Sacrificial Tower stands forth one of the most impressive remnants, if not the most important monument, of Mexican antiquity. Considering its size and age, it is. the best-preserved prehistoric structure on the continent. At. the ground the north and south fides extend sixty-live feet from corner to corner, and the east and west seventy-five feet. The width of. the stairs on the cast side is thirty feet at the ground, and is twenty-five at the summit. If, in time past, they continued upward without change of incline, they wouid have terminated in the west side at a point where that side Mould have a width of fifty-live feet, the upper stair being twenty feel wide. This would be at a height of 130 feet from the ground. As the ancient Mexicans terminated such stairs at margins of outer walls, it may be safely inferred that the summit of the structure, counting .the forty feet under alluvium, was 165 feet above ground, sft being allowed for breadth of wall. Approximately, 40,000 tons of "material" were used in its construction. There remains erect above ground 18.0C0 tons, 'buried 10.000 tons, and overthrown 11,000' tons. It was, therefore, a monument of exceptional magnitude. For years the Otomites have taker! stone from the .Sacrificial Tower to build houses. The king of the tribe draws on the ruin for the large stock I which he has on hand for sale. Subsidences in the tower were caused chiefly by caving of subterranean chambers through' action of water. An- , cient Otomites constructed underground thoroughfares, abodes and vaults labyrinthine in intricacy and resembling the Catacombs in magnitude. The tower was the key to the,system. Underground chambers with "sculptured walls are numerous in the newly-discovered ruins of Teayo. Some corridors have been filled with skeletons, probably of victims of religious rites. of Aztecs taken captive and executed, of Spaniards and» Mexicans sacrificed on the summit of the tower, If traditions of the survivors 'of the Otomite nation are true —and -some of them are the subterranean features of Teayo will prove of more interest than any other relics of Mexico whatsoever. .Seven miles from Teayo there is an opening in a precipice. •Fori,decades no human being has entered it. The foundation stones of the Sacrificial Tower are notable examples of ancient Otomite ait. One of Teayo's curiosities is the tomb of Tlachimoc,

LAST Of THE KMYEEORS OF THE OTOiItTKS, who was the fust of them to be' buried outside the ancient tower. ■Upci the .raised cover of the tomb two sphinx-like figures stand like guards over the remains of the pagan ruler. At each corner of the paved area over the tomb stands a sculptured stone taken from some ancient lodging place to do honour to the memory of Tlachimoc. One of the stones is -a needle-shaped affair over eight feet high, ■ and covered with allegorical figures, inscriptions, and hieroglyphics. •Another represents a prince; a third the ■wise man, and the fourth a lady of high degree, minus the head. The tomb is a (Strange mixture of Christianity and paganism, ' and hints that the Otomites nave had ho fixed religious beliefs for a long '.time. Spanish missionaries never came within convening distance of them. Sacrifices of a dread character were made, as many an underground chamber rilled with skeletons of victims attest. But there is nothing to show that such barbarities as tha , ■- - -..'..'••'

'cacsmxq op victims under hcce stoxes suspended so as to slowly press upon the abdomen until the condemned was squeezed in two. were committed. , Only one sculpture representing the application of nature has been discovered, and this is almost worn away. It shows six victims, war captives, bound together, being hurled from. the summit of the lower. The sacrificial ceremonies were concluded by casting the bodies of victims into the hole which penetrated the tower from top to bottom, and connected with subterranean passageways. Part of this hole is in perfect condition. Its proximity to the sacrificial altar indicates its purpose. At its bottom attendants of the priests disposed of the mangled remains of victims. The sculptures show the Otomites of antiquity were well advanced in civilisation. The features of the faces are less pronounced even than those of statues found in the Maya ruins of Yucatan. , ' .. lii the evolution of prehistoric Mexicans Otomites were favoured more than Aztecs and Mayas, attaining a much higher standard . of civilisation than either of the latter. Yaquis and Mayas of Sonora alone among Mexican natives are of lighter complexion than the living Otomites. Otomites as dark as Mexicans are exceptional, although they may be growing darker because of contact, however slight, with Mexicans. Living Otomites have some commendable qualities. They love work, cultivate land, and make articles for the household and the" person, They ate better dressed than Mexicans. Although less than 200 of them live in Teayo, they keep the place more sanitary than do Mexicans in towns of 2000 inhabitants. Street lamps carried of! as booty from Mexican towns eight years ago illuminate the thoroughfares. But while civilisation among them shines in their industry, barbarism

shows gloomy in their social character.Strangers, whose interest they engage from the start, are not 4 tolerated by them. Although more progressive than Mexicans in many ways, they are utterly inhospitable. Strangers who go among them without their "permission are likely to meet with unpleasant receptions. DEATH BY TORTURE is one of the events to-be looked forward to. Racial degeneration is strong in the survivors of the once flourishing Otomite nation. Within very recent years they committed the most horrible massacres, monstrous outrages and fiendish atrocities known to Mexico. Barbaric acts of Aztecs, Mayas, and Mexicans appear tame for them. In 1896, swooping down upon towns at dead of night, they murdered indiscriminately. The Mexicans, terrorised, abandoned settlements in plains, valleys, and mountain fastnesses, and camped on hilltops and table lands. Captives taken to Teayo were tortured in true diabolical fashion, being burned, flayed, and mutilated after forms most approved by savagery. This strange Teayo. almost unpopulated, had in the days of its glory 500,000 inhabitants. Pertaining to a civilisation different from any other ever existent in Mexico, it will afford a source of study to scientists' for a long time to come. It will yield up relics in great numbers, and open a new realm of speculation which must bring forth developments of interest. For the next few years it will be the- Mecca of ethnologists and archaeologists.