Further similarities are adduced in matters relating to the system of chronology--that used by the Aztecs having analogy to that of the Mongol family, and to some extent of the Persians and Egyptians. Indeed, in the architecture of these prehistoric American ruins resemblance is traced to Egypt, as well as similarity in other matters; and this more strongly perhaps in Peru than in Mexico. In general terms it may be said that many points of prehistoric Mexican civilisation suggest analogy with Egypt and with Hindustan, and it has been said that, from his head-dress to his sandalled feet, the native Mexican is Hispano-Egyptian. But be it as it may, their civilisation seems to have come from the West, not from the East. These aboriginal people and their attributes have nothing in common with Europeans or negroes, whilst they are not unlike Asiatics. I have often been surprised by the strong "Japanese" or Mongol character in the Mexican face. How and when such prehistoric immigrants came, whether by the approaching shores of Behring Straits, whether in that geological time when land connection between North America and Asia was intact, is buried in oblivion. Beyond these theories there still remains that of an autochthonous origin; and who shall yet affirm that both the people and their civilisation may not have sprung and evolved upon the soil of the world which we call new? Time and advancing knowledge may yet reveal these secrets. CHAPTER III THE STRANGE CITIES OF EARLY MEXICO Principal prehistoric monuments--Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan-- Pyramids of Teotihuacan--Toltec sun-god--Pyramid of Cholula--Pyramids of Monte Alban--Ruins of Mitla--Remarkable monoliths and sculpture-- Beautiful prehistoric stone-masonry--Ruins of Palenque--Temple of the Sun, and others--Stone vault construction--Tropical vegetation--Ruins of Yucatan--Maya temples--Architectural skill--Temples of Chichen-Ytza--Barbaric sculpture--Effect of geology on building--The Aztec civilisation--Land and social laws--Slavery--Taxes, products, roads, couriers--Analogy with Peru--Aztec homes and industries--War, human sacrifice, cannibalism--History, hieroglyphics, picture-writing-- Irrigation, agriculture, products--Mining, sculpture, pottery--Currency and commerce--Social system--Advent of the white man. The most remarkable of the remaining monuments in stone of the peoples who successively or contemporaneously inhabited Mexico, are those well-defined and fairly well-known groups of ruins scattered at wide distances apart in the southern and south-eastern part of Mexican territory. The principal of these are: Teotihuacan, at Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico; Cholula, in the State of Puebla; Monte Alban and Mitla, in the State of Oaxaca; Palenque, in the State of Chiapas; Uxmal and Chichen-Ytza, in the peninsula of Yucatan.