bor it must have cost to build the structure in stout
layers of sun-dried brick, so substantially that it has lasted thus
intact for many centuries. It is not at all unreasonable to fix the date
of its completion at a thousand years ago. This peculiar elevation rises
a little over two hundred feet above the plain, and measures about a
thousand feet square at the base, forming one of the most interesting
relics in all Mexico; though its height is less than half that of Cheops
in Egypt, its base is twice as large, covering about as many acres as
Boston Common. In its composition it strongly resembles the pyramids of
Upper Egypt. On its summit is a level space one hundred and sixty feet
square, the view from which is one of vast breadth and beauty, embracing
the entire valley of Puebla. The four sides of the huge mound face the
cardinal points, the whole being composed of alternate strata of adobe
bricks and clay. The sides are mostly overgrown with trees and shrubs;
but a winding road, well paved with stones laid in broad, deep steps,
leads to the top. The constant wear of centuries has thrown the original
shape somewhat out of harmony with the supposed idea; but there is
quite enough extant to establish the original design. One corner has
been excavated to a considerable extent to make room for the railway, an
exposure which has served a double purpose, since it has proven the
whole elevation to be artificial, constructed in layers, and not a
natural hill, as some casual observers have declared it to be. The
material of which the pyramid is composed is earth, sun-dried bricks,
limestone, and lava. It is thought by some that besides having the apex
crowned originally with a temple of worship, the sides were covered by
adobe houses from base to near the summit, accommodating a large
population. That there were once terraces and steps here which would
carry out such an idea is very clear from the portions which have been
laid bare by excavation.

The mounds of our Western and Southwestern States are almost the
counterpart of this grand elevation at Cholula, so far as the idea goes,
except that they are mere pigmies in comparison. The fact is worth
recalling that the same species of domestic implements of stone which
are found from time to time deeply buried in portions of the United
States are also exhumed here. So in the museum of the capital one sees
stone hatchets, pestles, mortars, and arrowheads of the same shapes that