CHAPTER II

THE DAWN OF MEXICO: TOLTECS AND AZTECS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Lake Texcoco--Valley of Anahuac--Seat of the Aztec civilisation-- Snow-capped peaks--Pyramids of Teotihuacan--Toltecs--The first Aztecs--The eagle, cactus, and serpent--Aztec oracle and wanderings-- Tenochtitlan--Prehistoric American civilisations--Maya, Incas--Quito and Peru--The dawn of history--The Toltec empire--Rise, _regime_, fall--Quetzalcoatl--Otomies--Chichemecas--Nezahualcoyotl--Astlan--The seven tribes and their wanderings--Mexican war-god--The Teocallis-- Human sacrifices--Prehistoric City of Mexico--The Causeways--Aztec arts, kings, and civilisation--Montezuma--Guatemoc--Impressions of the Spaniards--The golden age of Texcoco--Vandalism of Spanish archbishop--The poet-king and his religion--Temple to the Unknown God--Aztecs and Incas compared--The Tlascalans--The Otomies--Cholula-- Mexican tribes--Aztec buildings--Prehistoric art--Origin of American prehistoric civilisation--Biblical analogies--Supposed Asiatic and Egyptian origins--Aboriginal theory.