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APPENDIX.

[Part I.

death”; “ by whom sin came into the world.” Suchwas the remarkable language applied by the Aztecs to this venerated deity. She was usually repre-sented with a serpent near her; and her name sig-nified the “serpent-woman.” In all this we seemuch to remind us of the mother of the humanfamily, the Eve of the Hebrew and Syrian nations . 19

But none of the deities of the country suggestedsuch astonishing analogies with Scripture, as Quet-zalcoatl, with whom the reader has already beenmade acquainted . 20 He was the white man, wearinga long beard, who came from the East; and who,after presiding over the golden age of Ajiahuac,disappeared as mysteriously as he had come, on thegreat Atlantic Ocean . As he promised to return atsome future day, his reappearance was looked forwith confidence by each succeeding generation.There is little in these circumstances to remind oneof Christianity . But the curious antiquaries of

19 Sahagun, Hist, de Nueva Es-paña, lib. 1, cap. 6 ; lib. 6, cap.28, 33.

Torquemada , not content withthe honest record of his predeces-sor, whose MS. lay before him,tells us, that the Mexican Eve hadtwo sons, Cain and Abel . (Mon-arch. Ind., lib. 6, cap. 31.) Theancient interpreters of the Vatican and Tellerian Codices add the fur-ther tradition, of her bringing sinand sorrow into the world by pluck-ing the forbidden rose ; (Antiq. ofMexico , vol. VI., explan, of PI. 7,

20;) and Veytia remembers to haveseen a Toltec or Aztec map, rep-resenting a garden with a singletree in it, round which was coiledthe serpent with a human face !(Hist. Antig.,lib. l,cap. 1.) Afterthis we may be prepared for Lord Kingsborough ’s deliberate convic-tion, that the “ Aztecs had a clearknowledge of the Old Testament ,and, most probably, of the New,though somewhat corrupted bytime, and hieroglyphics ”! Antiq.of Mexico , vol. VI. p. 409.

20 Ante, Vol. I. pp. 59, 60.