ter the repeated destruction by water,
obscurity reigned for twenty-five years. This cataclysm is also described
in the sacred book of the Quiches as follows: "Then ... the waters became
swollen by the mere will of the Heart of Heaven and there came a great
inundation from above and descended upon the people ... they were deluged
and then a thick resinous substance fell from the sky. The face of the
earth was obscured and a dark rain commenced and fell during the day and
during the night ... there was great sound of fire overhead. Then the
people ran pushing each other and filled with despair: they endeavoured to
mount upon the houses and these, falling in, threw them again to earth.
They wished to climb the trees, but these swayed and cast the people from
them; they tried to enter caves, but these shut themselves before
them...." It was after this universal ruin and destruction that, according
to native tradition, the pyramid of Cholula was erected, as a place of
refuge for the remnant of the native race which had escaped destruction
and returned to the scene of desolation, lured by the richness of the
fertile soil, just as the Italian peasants return to their vineyards on
Vesuvius after each eruption. All things considered there seems to be no
ground for rejecting the native tradition which affirms that the great
pyramid of Cholula was erected as a place of refuge from inundations,
especially as no more plausible explanation of the origin of the pyramid
can be imagined. Any primitive people, inhabiting fertile plains which
abounded in game and fish, and food-plants, but were exposed to frequent
inundations, could not fail to recognize the advantages of an elevated
piece of ground as a place of safety. It is easy to imagine the
intermediate stages in the transition from this simple recognition to the
final determination to build a compact, high and spacious elevation,
within the reach of all inhabitants of a settlement, on which these could
not only find refuge from the dangers of floods and volcanic disturbances,
but also store their harvest, and possibly some form of raft or boat which
they might employ as a last means of escape.

Irrefutable proof that the maize had been cultivated from remote antiquity
in this region, and had even become identified with it, is furnished by
the fact that the name of the small republic of Tlaxcalla, which lies in
the neighboring foot-hills, signifies bread, and that its hieroglyphic
s