wise painted the geographical extent of their boundaries and possessions, the situation of places, and direction of the coast, and the course of rivers.

Cortés says, in his first letter to Charles 5th, that Montezuma presented him with a painting which represented the whole of the coast, from Vera Cruz to the river Coatzacualco. Their chief school for painting was at Tezueca, and the paintings were "all collected there in such a mass, that it resembled a little mountain," to which, unfortunately for the cause of knowledge, the Spaniards set fire. Had they preserved these records, they would have formed a complete history, since everything was delineated by painting. This was an inexpressible grief to the Indians, and even

to the Spaniards when they knew their error. They afterwards endeavored to collect paintings from every quarter; but it will be readily believed that the Indians concealed their labor of years, and no inducement could tempt them to part with them.

Humboldt furnishes us with a copy of a Mexican painting, which is supposed to represent the story of Adam and Eve,-derived from the traditions of the fathers of the race. The preceding cut is a copy of this curious relic. The serpent is supposed to be tempting Eve; the

figures at the right, to represent Cain and Abel, and those at the left, their two altars. They painted on cloth, made of thread from the aloe or palm, and on sheepskin, as well as on paper made of the leaves of the aloe, steeped like hemp, and afterwards stretched and smoothed. Their colors were very beautiful, being extracted from wood, leaves, flowers, and various animal substances. Their painters knew little of the distribution of light and shade; but the proportions were accurately observed, and as the pictures were generally made in haste, sometimes parts of objects only, but such as might be easily understood, were portrayed.

The Mexicans had arrived at greater perfection in sculpture, casting metals and in mosaics than even in their painting. The aspect of their graven images strongly reminds us of similar antiquities in Egypt. The engraving upon the next page represents one of these.

After their conquest of the country, the Mexicans made idols in honor of the gods who had given them As the arts progressed these were formed of stone and wood; every attitude of which the hu

success.

man body was capable was expressed, and every obstacle was surmounted by these phlegmatic people in working stone by the use of the chisel. Acosta

mentions with praise, two statues, one of Montezuma, the other of his son, cut in basso relievo. They were nearly as large as their idols, and the first church in Mexico had its foundation laid from these statues.

The entrances and angles of the edifices of Mexico, were profusely ornamented with carved images of animals and fantastic deities. Sculptured images were exceedingly numerous, and a cellar can hardly be dug in the present city of Mexico, without turning up some of these relics of barbarian art. Specimens

of these lie scattered about the town, and obtain little respect from civilized man, The two celebrated reliefs of the last Montezuma and his father, cut in the solid rock, in the grove of Chapoltepec, were deliberately destroyed by the order of government, within the last century.

The most remarkable piece of sculpture is the great calendar stone disinterred in the great square of Mexico, in 1790. It consists of dark porphyry, and when taken from the quarry, weighed about fifty tons. It was transported from the mountains, for many leagues over a hilly country, intersected by rivers, lakes and canals. In crossing a bridge it was precipitated into the water, and recovered with difficulty. The transportation of so enormous a fragment, in the face of such obstacles, and without the use of cattle, suggests no mean ideas of the mechanical skill to which these people had arrived.

They excelled, likewise, in metal castings, and also made images of gold and silver, parrots with movable heads, tongues and wings, and movable apes. In short, says one author, the works were so admirably finished, that even the Spaniards, who thirsted for gold, thought more of the workmanship than of the gems and the gold and silver of which they were made. So debased and indolent, however, did the Indians become, after their conquest by the Spaniards, that it would now be easier to find some specimens of their ancient art in the cabinets of Europe, than in Mexico.

But of all their works of art, the most curious were their mosaics in feathers. On this art they highly

valued themselves; and for this purpose they reared great numbers of birds of fine plumage. The execution of this species of mosaic is thus described.

"In undertaking a work of this kind, several artists assembled, and after agreeing upon the design, they fix upon the proportions, and each artist has some particular part of the image assigned to him, and so diligently did he exert himself, that frequently a whole day would be spent in the adjustment of a single feather, first trying one and then another, viewing it sometimes in one way and then another, until one was found that gave his part the ideal perfection proposed. When each artist had completed his part, they assembled to form the entire image, and if any part happened to be deranged, it was wrought again, till perfectly finished. They laid hold of the feathers with small pincers, which did not injure them in the least; they were pasted on cloth by some glutinous matter, and united at all points upon plate or copper; the feathers were then flattened gently, until the surface was so equal and smooth that it appeared to be the work of a pencil. It was wonderful indeed to see feathers producing the effect of the pencil, and far surpassing it in colors; a side appearance was so beautiful, so lively, and so animated, that it gave delight to the sight, and rivalled the best paintings of Spain." This art lingered after the conquest, and persons could still be found, who could copy a painting in feathers with wonderful exactness. The last celebrated artist in this way, was Payanam, but he died in 1800, and the art has perished with him.

There was also, a kind of mosaic in shells, which