Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: TOLTECS. A SOMEWHAT connected chain of events begins with the traditions of the Toltecs upon the plateau of Anahuac. Their farthest ancestors, they supposed, founded the city of Huehue-Tlapallan far to the north, perhaps on the shores of the Colorado River. There they lived from generation to generation, nobody knows how long, until great civil wars broke out in their nation, and a part, deserting their ancient homes, wandered down towards the south. This was in the year 544 of our era. Guided by their great chief Huemat- zin, the Toltecs wandered over the sandy plains in the north of Mexico till they came to the land " near the water," fertile and promising, and finally settled in a place they called Tollanzinco. Not far off, in the course of time, they founded their great city of Tollan, now Tula, which became the centre of the Toltec nation. These people built so well and so COLUMN FROM TULA. much that the name became the word to mean builders. The few ruins left of their capital attest their skill. They felt themselves to be a superior race to that they found in their new home. The Toltecs were tall, robust, and well-formed, of light- sallow complexion, with but little hail on their face. They were wonderful for running, and could run at the greatest speed for hours. Their manners were gentle and refined, as well as their tastes. Yet they were cruel in war as well as brave. Arrived in their new country, they set themselves to work to till the ground and plant it with all the crops the favorite climate permits. They had Indian corn, chile, frijoles, the beans so beloved to this day by the Mexicans, and other vegetables ; these they cultivated with better processes than the former inhabitants had known. Nevertheless, and although the proud Toltecas must h...