“Thus, for example, treating of archæology he says: ‘in Manuel Payno’s boyhood’--when he refers to preadamite man; of men like Guillermo Prieto, he says ‘they are of the geological horizon of Guillermo Valle’; soldiers, like Corona, he calls ‘volcanic formations’; the customs’ house receipts he names ‘marine sediments’; ‘the stone age,’ in his nomenclature, signifies the time before he was elected Deputy;--when he says ‘before the creation,’ it is understood that he refers to days when he had not yet been Governor of the Federal District; and if he says ‘after Christ,’ he must be supposed to speak of an epoch posterior to his connection with the State Department; and it is claimed, that he is so skilled in understanding hieroglyphs, that he has deciphered the whole history of Xochimilco, in the pittings left by small-pox, on the face of a son of that pueblo.” * * * * * “Suppose, dear reader, you encounter one of those stones, so often found in excavating in Mexico, a fragment on which are to be seen, coarsely cut, some engravings, or horrible reliefs, or shapeless figures--have it washed, and present it to Chavero. “Alfredo will wrinkle his forehead, take a pinch of snuff, join his hands behind him, and displaying so much of his paunch as possible, will spit out for your benefit, a veritable discourse: “‘The passage which this stone represents is well known; it figures in an episode in the great war between the Atepocates,[5] warlike population of southern Anahuac, and the Escuimiles, their rivals, in which the latter were finally conquered. The person standing is Chilpocle XI, of the dynasty of the Chacualoles, who, by the death of his father Chichicuilote III, inherited the throne, being in his infancy, and his mother, the famous Queen Apipisca II, the Semiramis of Tepachichilco, was regent during his youth. The person kneeling is Chayote V, unfortunate monarch of the vanquished, who owed the loss of his kingdom to the treachery of his councillor, Chincual, who is behind him. The two persons near the victor are his son, who was afterward the celebrated conqueror Cacahuatl II, and his councillor, the illustrious historian and philosopher Guajalote, nicknamed Chicuase, for the reason that he had six fingers on his left hand, and who was the chronicler of the revolt and destruction of the tribes of the Mestlapiques. The two-pointed star-symbols, which are seen above, are the arms of the founder of the dynasty, Chahiustl the Great, and this stone was sculptured during the golden age of the arts of the Atepotecas, when, among their sculptors figured the noted Ajoloth, among their painters the most famous Tlacuil, and among their architects the celebrated Huasontl.’” JULIO ZÁRATE. [Illustration]