morals, of confessional ceremonies and a humane and enlightened system of religion at Cholula, and afterwards disappeared toward the East upon the waters of the Gulf. With the rule of the Cocomes and the annals of that remarkable branch of the Chiapan family, composed of Maya and Nahua elements known as the Tutul Xius, we have nothing to do in this work.[360] Las Casas, in examining the doctrine of Hunab Ku, “the only God” among the Yucatecoes, who is described as the father of Zamna, discovered a most striking Christ myth; one which conforms so closely to the gospel account of Christ’s birth and ministry that we must conclude that either some foreigner must have been cast upon the coast after the Christian era began, bringing the gospel with him, or that one of two views is true, namely, that the Fathers fabricated the story, or that the natives, expecting favor of their conquerors, endeavored to harmonize their belief with that which was being taught them. Las Casas tells us of their belief in a Trinity consisting of Izona, the Father; Bacab, the Son, and Echuah, the Holy Ghost.[361] The Son was born of the Virgin Chibirias, and was rejected of men, was scourged and crucified on a tree with cross-arms; he descended into the regions of the dead, but rose again on the third day, and finally ascended to heaven. In fact the story is the Apostles’ Creed without the “Credo,” and is probably as much the work of the credulous and imaginative Spanish Fathers as of the designing natives. The story ought to be repudiated without question. It only remains for us to submit the question to the reader, whether the Maya peoples are not of transatlantic origin, as we believe the facts in this chapter indicate. CHAPTER VI. TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE NAHUA NATIONS. The Early Inhabitants of Mexico — Quinames — Miztecs and Zapotecs — Totonacs and Huastecs — Olmecs and Xicalancas — The Nahuas — The Cholula Pyramid — Its Origin Explained in the Duran MS. — No Relation to a Flood — Ixtlilxochitl’s Deluge Tradition — The first Toltecs — The Codex Chimalpopoca Account — The Discovery of Maize — Sahagun’s Origin of the Nahuas — They came from Florida — Their Settlement in Tamoanchan — Their Migrations — Hue Hue Tlapalan — Its Location, according to the Sources — Not Identical with Tlapallan de Cortés — Not in Central America — Probably in the Mississippi Valley — Beginning of the Toltec Annals — The Chichimecs not Nahuas — The Nahuatlacas — The Aztecs — Aztlan — As Described by Early Writers — Aztec Migration — Aztec Maps — Señor Ramirez on Migration Maps — The Seven Caves — Three Claims for the Location of Aztlan — The Culture Hero — Quetzalcoatl.