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Show I If.. \"Ill. ( ( ) ,,; ',I ( ff / ,1 Jlfll'rflli'f ' / (/II' • /fti.H'dftl/1 /1/1' /'l'titl l 'l;',) . H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. ch'olhln, we know that it was fortified hy a !hong il:one wall, about twcnty·-feet high, anJ twelve feet in thicknefs (i). The conquerors, who . defcribe to us the forti.ficL'ttions of this city, make mention likewifc of fever,ll othet•s, amo.ng which is the celebrated wall which the 1lafcalans built on the ea1l:ern boundaries of the republic, to defend th mlelvcs from the'' invalion ·of the Mexican troops, which were g-1rrifoned in Iztacmaxtitlan, Xocotlan, and other pbces. This wall, which !l:retchcd from one mo~ntain to another, was fix miles in length, eight feet in height, befirles the breafi:-work, and eighteen feet in thicknefs. It was made of ftone, and fhong fine mortar (k). There was but one narrow entrance of about eight feet broad, and forty paces long· this was the fpacc between the two extremities of the wall, the one of which encircled the other, forming' two femicir les, with one common centre. This will be better undedlood from the figure of it which We prefent to our renders.. There are tlill {orne re~. mains of this wall to be feen •. There are alfo , to· be feen frill the remains of an ancient.fortrefs built: upon the top of a mountain, at a little diftance from the village of Molcnxac, furrounded by four walls, placed at fome diftance fi·om eachr other, from the bafc of the mountain unto the top. In the neighboLll ·hood appear many fmall rlmp:uts of ftone and lime, and upon a hill, two miles difiant from thaf mount.1in, arc the remains of fon:e ancient :ll1d populous city, of which, however, there is no memory among hiftorians. About twenty-.fi ve miles from Cordova, towards the north, is likewife the ancient fortrefs of §(yauhtocho, (now Guatufco), furrounded by high walls of extremely hard ftone, to which , there is no entrance but by afcending a number of very high and narrow fieps; for in thjs manner the entrance to their fortrefies was . formed. From among the ruins of this ancient building, whi<.:h is now over-run with bullies, through the I;legligence of thofe people, a Cordovan gentleman lately dug out .feveral well-finifhed fi:atues .of ftone, (i) In the nin:h book we {hall give a defcription of the fortifications of ~nuhqucch o llan, (k) Bernal J)ias fiLys, that the Tlafcalan \Yall was built of fione and llme, and with a ulcumen fo Jlrong it w;Ls n ccc lfury to ufe pick-axes to undo ir. ortcs, on the other ~and atlinm, thnt it was built of dry ilones. We arc difpofed rather to give credit tQ Bernal DuiS; becaufe be ail'em, he· had aw:ntiv ly examined this wall, although like nn illlt.erate pcrfon, he give~ the name of bitumen to the mortar. or cement made ufe of by thofe nat1ons. fo.~; 373 |