The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-13

follow him. and remain at peace. these
matters may wHll D.. left T. the kindly
consideration of those hmcricansts VINO
SO 'n every positive statement the
Chall ngc to the fray.
The author of such % vorh cannot
wholly cvade consideration of tn,
othnology Of the region Of his study.
mr. can W.. pr.tr" loving. refrain from
fulowiu- a. least thus far into drbat-
able ground. Archaeology postulat's
othnographE tn" artifact argues rs cs-
Sential precedent the human hand ~
whose art II - been formed Tn"
boulder protruding from the soil il TN"
themc Of tho studies Of the grologist
who may Identify II n the product :
the glacial drift OF the great ice age.
Of the scu,pturing of the great gcutec-
tonic forces. Oh even as a celestial visit
tor which has ended here It's long n gnt
through the cold Of absolute space In
one last flash Of .n adolescence. But
when upon tho face of that boulder So
much a. a single scratch manifcsts
mans Intelligence il passes from g.ol-
ogy. as in the case of tho richly carved
monolith Of Quirgud, and becomes the
human ACTIVITY Therefore We must
pay at least summary attention 10 the
men and the races Of men whose arti-
facts engage our attention.
II is accepted without cavil that
within tho area covered by this manual
We have t. deal with two races thy
Aztec ana the Mana. the one well ss..,-.d
at the time ot European discovery in
the great plateau valley Of what is now
Mexico. the nj cr seated in Campechc
Yucatan. Honduras and Guatemala.
Clearly underlying the Aztec culture
not So distinctly oricntcd IN reference
to the MAYA base. We shall have 10 con-
s!dor Tn" r ltcCs as a third element in
Mexican historic or prehistoric soci"-
ties Here we approach n theme which
has been a battle ground of Cthnology,
II is not vet by any means safe for the
Grs-c1r byatander. Yet because of IT'S
initial importanC. il needs consdera-
ton. Accordingly We cite the presenia-
tion Of The theme by Mr. J.y gee and
leave the discussion for the specialists
In Mexican lore.
THE early history of these tribes -
very difficult to elucidate from the
tangled mass of migration myths. often
contradictory, which have survived
Rod starts only with the election of tn
FIRST Aztec king, me years after tn"
settlement of the trhc At TenoCHtitlan
,ncNico cityJ. ana this takes NJ back
only to about 1876, or not much NOR"
than a century before the Spanish con-
quest. The Aztec, when they arrived,
found a number Of Nahua speaking
Chchimec in occupation of the valley,
and these Chichimoc had themselves
found he remains of culture far above
tncir oiVn. 10 which they gave the name
of ToltcC. Now tho "TolteC question has
been holly debated from early times;
TO the Mcxlrans the Toltec were tho
t,copie OF the golden age and their state
was the prototype Of peaceful clvliza-
ton. Some writer's have gone so far as
To deny them actual existence at all.
regarding them az a purely mythical
pc1plc to whom the Mexicans conven-
iontlv attributed the invention of all
useful arts of which they could not
readily explain the eN plution otherwise.
Others have exalted their culture To a
pitch far above one might almost say,
the human. and have credited them
with knowledge transcendnG that OF
latter DAY civilization. | do not propose