The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-02

take refuge in it should they be- in danger II
another such catastrophe"
. And accordiu G to the Aztec dissertations OF
the ancient abode: I'm this place there is n
great mountain in the midst OF the water.
which Is called CIihulrnn. because It has the
point somewhat turned over toward the bot
tom. and FOR this reason 1t IS called Culhuaran.
which means crooked mountain In this
moutain were some openings. or hollows or
caves. in which our fathers and ancestors
dwelt for man. years
In another rart Of the Aztec legend IL is re-
lated that ouce every year. while III Az;lan. the
people crossed a great river pr body ot water
TO the mountain T"o-Cu!huacan. where they
offered su"ritlces To- their god. This incident
Of the prc-M"xican history is illustrated On tho
Aztec migration MAPS BY the figure OF a man
IN acanoe padding toward a very exaggerated
picture Of a crooked mountain.
Now. it is remarkable that tho site OF the
Cortah hill and stonework shows traces OF Just
such a history as these parts OF the legend
seem 10 recall. The summit OF the huge eIe-
walton seems 20 be the highest point within
the forty miles over which the supposed cause
way extends toward the Mississippi. One side
ri the hill slopes down naturally. or is graded
down a:tifcially. so rs to meet the stonework.
forming an easy and convenient ascent. The
broad "Nranse Of level country over which the
wall courses is even vet subject to the floods
u the Mississippi in ease OF a breach in the
levee. as during the past centuries. whose sue
cessiye freshets have buried the structure be-
meath their sediment.
These are very striking evidences. II credi-
Die. Of the ancient use OF the hill as a place Of
refuge. like that cOmmemorated in the Toltec
chronicle. and they are equally suggestive OF
T-u-Cu!huacaR the Divine Mountain OF the
Aztecs. IL the fOretathers IT the Mexicans or
any other iaroarNus and superstit!ous people.
living IN such i locality. had been accustomed
for several generations TO take refuge from the
rising waters upon such an isolated hill. they
would inevitably come to regard that peculiar
elevation as placed there especially for their
safety by the divine favor. and its summit
would be the natural and appropriate spot
from which they would offer up grateful Sacri-
fees To the protecting mower after each Iellv-
erance.
These suggestions are derived from tradi-
tons which az the time Of the discovery OF
America had permeated the Mexican and
Central American histories for 30 many CEN
turtles that the real date OF their origin is I'M
certain. Through all that time. as is evident
from the Olmec and Aztec illusions. the Mexi-
cans never quite forgot the northern Gull
country as the land OF their ancestry. Less
than a hundred years before the time OF Cor
tez. Mpnt"zuma /. sent an expedition in
search ot Azt;an. for the purposc Of ascertain
ing whether any Of the ancient race still lived
there. The legend relates that these ethnhlo-
gists reached the locality OF Culhuacan. the
lofty Hill. ant th-re found inhabitants who
spoke their Language. and whose traditions
recalled the migration OF the Aztec fore
fathers 50 many centuries before. What
ever the real meaning of this story.
it is certain that the MexIcans q Montezumas
time regarded the southern Mississippi tribes
as their relatives, and that not very long after
this reported expedition the most MeXicanlike
OF all the Florida ~ Indians. the Chata-Nus-
kokiS. were found by Europeans iuhablt,rg
the very district in which the Cop!ah hill and
its connected s~tonewo-k are situated. 1t = A
matter OF singular interest. therefore. that the
Chata- Muskoki tribes should have retained an
origin-iegend ssentiaily similar 70 that OF the
Me1icans. except that it contains no aIlus!on TO
the migration which vas the beginning Of
Mexican and Central American history.
The passage here quoted is from DR.. n G
Brintou 5 Myths Of the New World:
All those tribes. the Creeks. Seminoles.
Choctaws. Chickasaws and Natchez. who. ac-
cording 70 tradition. were in remote times
| banded together in one common confederacy
under the headship OF the last mentioned.
located their ancient ancestry
near an artificial eninance in the valley Of the
| Big Black River. in the Na:chez country.
whence they pretended - hav. emerged.
" = " This was the Nun-ne-e-ha-ha. the
High Hill. or the Bending Hill. famous
in Chcc,aw stories. aud which Capt. Gregg
found they have not yet forgotten in their
Western home. The legend was that in its
centre was a cave. the hous" Of the Master OF
Breath. Here he made the irst men from the
clay around him. and as at that tim" III" waters
covered the earth he raised the wall 70 dry
them on. When the soft mud had hardened
into elastic flesh and firm bone he banished
the waters to their channels and beds and gave
the dry land 10 his creatures
The same author shows in a note that the
Natchez had but one word tor hill and God.
The Holy Hill Of this Appalachian legend.
then. corresponds exactly 10 the Divine Noun
tain IL the Aztec story. a. " Bending Hill is a
repetition OF its other Aztec name. the Crooked
Mountain" In the Aztec legend the hill Is
said 70 have contained caves, IN which the Az
tao igrcfathsrs lived for many years. in the
Chata legend the hill contained a cave from
which the first created man emerged. The
creation Of the first men from clay or mud
corresponds eHactlv to the Ouiche creation
myth. while the Chata al.usi"n 70 d food cor
resr on Is TO a feature %: all the Mexican as well
a. the Guatcnla!an stories.
-, far As this particular subject is concerned
Ins IEd'tl'd4 question - N1lFNAlFl VI nv lIlr
lo.ty Copiah hill can BE- satisfactorily Identified
a. the real nbI""t rom which these ancient
tales originated. A. the elevation has been
| described 20 the writer. il has Just such Il con-
formation as would obviously give rise to the
names by which the mythical mountain is DIS
~tingu.sheI In the historical fables. Its easy.
gradual slope on the side adjoining the cause
way and It's perpendicular upriGhtness on the
other might be very readily exaggerated into
q leani.C appearance. from which legendary
fancy could still more easily evolve " the s!op-
ting hill. the bending hill and the crooked
mountain even to the extent OF the gro
tesuue hooked point represented in the Aztec
Photographs. The perpendicular side overhanGs
a deep valley four miles wide. which Col.
Dupra and DR.. Birdsong hav" regarded as a
former channel Of the Mississippi or an
ancient estuary OF the Gulf. II We imagine
either u river or tho sea filing this valley on
one side Of the hill and the narrow line OF