The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-13

| Tan cross OF nahogaily,. erected III re-
cent years
The cross is imbedded in cement a
foot thick On top OF it there has been
! nailed part of a weather yane. includ-
| ing the brass arrow and the brass let
/, tiers n and s, all rigidly held together.
The arrow and letters were taken
from the city hall Of the Mexican city
| of Ixhuatlan eight years ago when the
real significance of the articles, the
| them that they, could.
| Al each corner of the paved area over
the tomb stands sculptured stone.
| One of these stones is needle shaped
and over eight feet high, having many
| categorical figures, inscriptions and
| hieroglyphics. Another represents a
] prince. third a wise man and the
fourth lady of high degree minus her
head.
So far there is nothing to indicate
that the ancient Otomites were as
lavish as the Aztecs in the sacrifice of
human beings to the gods. That hui
man sacrifices We're made there is no
doubt, as many an underground cham
Der filed with the skeletons of victims
will attest.
| In one way the Otomites Of old differ
ed from the Mayas and Aztecs The
conclusion of their sacrif1cial ceremonies
consisted in casting the bodies of the
victims into the hole which penetra ted
the tower from top to bottom and con-
nected with the subterranean passa gee
ways. great part of this hole is still
| in perfect condition, and the proximity
| of its mouth to the saerificial altar in
| dicates what its purpose was. AT the
| bottom of the hole attendants of the
priests disposed of the remains of the
| sacrificed.
| The sculptures show that the Oto-
! mites of antiquity pertained more near
~ to the white race than to the Indian,
/ or chocolate colored. The faces have
| features great deal less Indian in
] type than those of statues found in the
Maya ruins of Yueatan. All the fig
ures show eraniums rounded and full,
indicating ample brain development.
While the foreheads do not manifest
| by height any very lofty thinking, by
breadth, in conjunction with the width
of the temples, they impress one with
| the quickness of perception and the
i siowness of judgment of the race. In
shape the eyes resemble those of eau
casians more than of the Hindoos. in
! this particular differing radically from
those of the Aztecs and relatively from
| those of the Mayas
! The cheekbones do not bulge promi-
nently. 1t is, however, the nose which
| proclaims, more than any other feature
of the sculptured Otomite faces, the
| racial superiority of this people over
/ contemporary Aztecs and Mayas
| The Otomite nose was straight, like
that of the Romans, to the point. from
| which the nostrils, of little less than
ordinary thickness, sloped upward
slightly, but plainly. If the point had
| been brought forward and upward a
little the nose would have been per-
! fectly Roman.
| The mouths of the ancient Otomites
We're smaller and better formed than
those of the Aztecs and Mayas. It is
| only in the jaws, whose excessive de-
! velopn1ent indicates that brutal deter
| mination which characterized the two
| other dominant races of Mexico, that
any trait of inferiority is to be noted,
! and it is very much less remarkable
than that evidenced by the rulers of
Anahuac and Yucatan.
There are many reasons for believing
that the Otomites We're allied to the
| white race. Their descendants living
to-day in Teayo are among the fairest
of Mexican natives. The Yaquis and
/! Mayas of the State of Sonora alone are
! of lighter complexion, and the Mayas
of Yucatan form no more than link
between the living Otomites and the
Mexicans, being only few shades
| lighter than the latter.
! Otomites as dark as Mexicans are
very exceptional, indeed. Moreover it
| is almost certain that the Otonlites of
modern times have been losing their
/ lightness of skin because of contact
i with neighboring Mexicans.
Modern Otomites have many COM
mendable qualities. They are lovers of
work, cultivating the land assiduously,
working at wood and making many
useful articles for the household and
the person. Although there are less
than 200 of them living in Teayo, they
keep the place in better sanitary con-
dition than most Mexican towns of O.
600 inhabitants.
| On the other hand, they have for
centuries carried on a savage warfare
with the Mexicans, which has ceased
now only on account of their approach
IIIS SAliilCllOH lnGy nave DGSn guilty
of the worst atrocities.
In 1896 they swooped down upon
towns at dead of night and murdered
the inhabitants indiscriminately. Such
was the terror which they inspired that
the Mexicans abandoned many villa ges
near their settlements.
Captives taken by Otomites to Teayo
were tortured to death. They We're
burned, fayed and mutilated. No cap
tives ever returned to tell the tale of
their treatment.
The dwindling and disappearing Tea
yo which now has scarcely enough in
habitants to defend it against the
] Mexicans is bound to be the resort of
the archaeologists and ethnologists of
Mexico in the next few years. AS it is
said to have had a population OF 100000
in the days of it's glory, being as large
as the City of Mexico, it may yield up
sculptures and other relics Of the past
f1 great Numbers The discovery of