The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-05-02
A LOST CITY.
Remarkable Discovery in Mexico.
The COrdoVa Rebel Exiles Find a
Ruined and Abandoned City
of the Ancients.
Christian Churches and Crosses
Among the Ruins.
.orrsspondence New York Herald.

Correspondence New York Herald.
CORDoYA, MExICo, March q, 1866
No little excitement prevails among
the Americans in Mexico in regard tc
an unexplored district of country,
hitherto unknown to the authorities
| lying about three hundred miles north
vest from Jalapa, and which General
R. Lyon, late of the Confederate army,
is now engaged in surveying. In near.
ly every department in the Empire are
to be found immense bodies of land
which the foot of the Spaniard never
trod; many of them impenetrable for
ests, inhabited only by beasts of prey,
and whose shades the imagination of the
native Indian had peopled with demons
and evil spirits, upon whose domain 1t
was more than death to trespass. Such
is the land which Lyon has gone to ex-
pIore.
HOW THE CITY WAS DISCOVERED.
While the Imperial Commissioners
were investigating Government titles
to lands to be allotted to emigrants,
they learned Of the existence IN the
'Tierra Caliente" of the district in ques-
ton, and early in October last an ex-
ploring party was dispatched to this
'tierra incognita" Upon reaching
Mesa de Mecatepeque, a small village
nearest the borders of the forest, they
were counseled by the Indians to pro-
ceed no further, as no human being
ever passed the confines of their clear
ed lands and returned alive; demons
were said to dwell in every hill, giants
of hideous mien made their abode be-
side every streamlet, while monsters of
every form and guise stood ready at
every footstep to seize and devour the
unwary traveller; all was "mala," and
not one syllable of good could be utter
ed in favor of the land.
Unable to procure sufficient assist
ance from the natives, the party pro-
ceeded to make their explorations as
best they could The forest was pecu-
liarly dark and dense, and the jungle
almost impenetrable. With difficulty
they cut their way through the under
growth, and, being unacqusinted with
the Yankee method of "blaEing" trees,
they marked their way tying hide
ropes to trees and bushes to mark their
trail. At the distance of several
leagues in the interior they discovered
the ruins of an ancient city of great ex-
tent, and of whose existence not the
slightest tradition prevails. Becoming
exhausted by their labors, the party,
without prosecuting their discoveries
any further, returned home, reaching
the Capital late in December. The
Emperor expressed great interest in
the result of the exploration, and at
once endeaVored to send a stronger
and more efficient party to prosecute it,
selecting General Lyon, of Kentucky,
as commander of the expedition. The
General is admirably adapted to the
post He was Lieutenant Colonel of
the ID (rebel) Kentucky Infantry, and
was captured by General Grant at Fort
Donelson. Subsequently exchanged
he was promoted Colonel, and after
ward commanded cavalry brigade in
the rebel army, serving with Forrest.
Since his residence in Mexico he has
been Surveyor General of the Imperial
Colonization Association. General
Lyon was unable to perfect his plans
for the work until the 9th of February,
upon which date his party, consisting
of Americans, started from the city of
Mexico. They travelled in stages and
carts about two hundred and fifty miles;
the balance of their journey was COM
pleted upon the backs of donkeys, ar
irving at their journeys end about the
first week in March. The country is
called Metaltaloyuca, and is situated
some one hundred miles west of Tux
pau, in the State of Vera Cruz.