where the storms of thousands of years have told most strongly, they seem to have disappeared, and I thought I could recognize the original formation of the hill beneath.
A little way off from the main pyramid is a smaller one, less regular in its outline, which is supposed by many—without any good reason that I can discover—to have been originally a part of the greatest structure; and a little farther away, an oblong pile of earth, with perfectly precipitous sides, resembling in shape a wagon load of hay or straw. Both these are evidently artificial. There are no excavations in any direction for many miles around the great pyramid, from whence the vast amount of material for building it could have been taken, and the finely cultivated fields which, cut by regular streets, radiate from the pyramid in all directions, indicate that the soil and surface of the ground in the vicinity, have never been disturbed. May it not be that the Cholulans, simply cut away the sides of the original hill as I have suggested, and with the earth thus removed, formed the smaller pyramid and lesser irregular pile near by? I do not care enough for any theory on any subject, to defend this one if it is ever attacked; but it seems to me to be a rational one under all the circumstances.
Members of the Ayuntamento accompanied us to the pyramid, a servant carrying before them the silver-headed canes which serve as badges of their office. After seeing all there was to be seen on the pyramid we descended, and returning to the Prefect's house partook of an elegant collation. Toasts were given and responded to freely, and in the midst of the festivities, in marched a band, of the ancient Aztec class.
