The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-12 00:00:00

THE AZTECS.

We have within the last few years had opportunities
of seeing specimens of at least two races of diminu-
tive people, not above one-half the height or dimen-
-14118 of the ordinary average of the human race.
.111.8 t, the Bushmen, who appeared to have no ar-
ticulate language ; and next, the Earthmen, who are
now partially ,civilised. Both these races were stated
by their introducers to be the degenerated remnants '
cf ancient nations ; but it seemed just as likely that
they were from the first as they are now—pigmy
races, varying, for some inscrutable reason, from the
natural standard of man. But if the Bushmen and
arthmen were curious, the children now being exhibited
;;;k, the Hanover-square Rooms are most marvellous.
e first glance at them utterly astounds the spectator.
They are so small—their heads are so strangely formed
—their little limbs are so meagre—their cries are so
shrill—their pranks so strange, that one in the first
Ilush of astonishment thinks rather of sprites and
hobgoblins than of human beings. A closer
inspection, however, soon removes the impression,
and we begin to try to trace the race of these wonderful
creatures, whose home was undoubtedly in the recesses
of the Cordilleras. But first let us describe them.
They are boy and girl, and from their dental condition,
so it is stated, are believed by medical men to be of
respectively seventeen and eleven years of age. We
conf3ss that we could form no satisfactory judgment on
the p Dint. The appearance of the little creatures is so
utterly anomalous that we gave up the attempt.
Their height, however, is another matter. The boy,
the elder, is certainly under three feet in stature; the
girl measures only two feet six inches. As we have said,
the limbs of the Aztecs are very thin ; but they are
evidently full of life and spirit, and gambol and run,
and look through a lorgnette, and ride a rocking-horse,
and scrape a fiddle with great glee and apparent enjoy-
ment. The head is, of course, the most interesting por-
tion of -their development. It corresponds in size to the
diminutive proportions of the body which bears it, while
the hair is of a glossy black—thick, soft and silky, with
a tendency to curl, stronger in the male, than the female.
The forehead is low, and recedes almost at an animal
angle, but just under the hair there is a sort of ridge
which encircles the brow. The eyes are piercingly bright,
and black, and the nose of exaggerated Hebrew propor-
tions, forming, indeed, the main feature of the face, as
the under jaw recedes from the upper, and the chin again
recedes rapidly from it. This construction of the lower
part of the face gives the whole countenance a peculiar
expression, the reverse of thatth of persons endowed with
mental faculties • but,on
other hand, it is only fair
to say that the children exhibit marked proofs of intelli-
gence, that they are as inquisitive as they are lively, and
that they are beginning to understand the words which
Professor Anderson—our old wizard
fhriend, who has
brought the little creatures from sout
America—ad-
dressesa
to them. As a whole, then, the expression of the
s
face is strongly Jewish. The remarkvfgeneral in the
room, and universally agreed in. The
tiose,
the black lus-
trous eye, and the hair with a tendency to curl, all
cor-
roborated the opinion. But a resemblance more remark-
able still is to be traced in the features of the Aztec to the
drawings of the basso-relievos in Mr. Stephen's volumes
describing the wondrous ruins of the ancient Mexican
• cities. These remains are to the full as remarkable and
interesting as those of Nineveh, to which indeed they bear
no slight resemblance, both in architecture and ornament,
and a figure exhibited upon the wall, copied from Mr.
Stephens' drawings, is a perfect fac-simile of the profiles
of the little Aztecs, particularly of the boy.

ROBBERY ON WATERLOO-BRIDGE IN OPEN DAY.—
Yesterday afternoon about half-past four o'clock, a
valuable gold watch was stolen from the person of Mr.
C. Greene, a gentleman connected with the Morning
Advertiser newspaper, whilst standing on 'Waterloo-
bridge, under the following circumstances :—Mr. Greene
had passed on to the bridge, and on reaching the second
arch on the Middlesex side he stopped to look through
the balustrades at a rowing match, the competitors in
which were just shooting the arch. He had not stood
more than a minute when he heard a clicking noise, as if
something had fallen on the pavement. On looking down
he saw near his feet a ring. On stooping to pick it up he
observed his watch-guard dangling, and on placing his
hand to his waistcoat pocket, discovered his watch, a gold
one ,was gone. The ring he had picked up turned out to
be the ring of the watch by which it was attached to the
guard, and it had been nipped close to the pin which
fastened it to the handle of the watch. There were a
number of people in the immediate vicinity looking at
the match, but the only person Mr. Greene observed
near him on his right side was a youth about 18 or 20,
with a cap with a leather peak, who, when the robbery
'was discovered, was gone. The toll-keeper, on being
applied to, said be had a few minutes before seen three
young fellows in caps run through the road gate in the
direction of the Strand. Information of the robbery
and a description of the watch was immediately given at
Bow-street, but no clue either of that or the thief had,
up to last night, been obtained. The watch, which is
valued at about 20 guineas, was a testimonial presented
to Mr. Greene by a !lumber of ratepayers of Islington,
and bears an inscription to that effect on the inside of
the back case, with the date of presentation, "January,