established, confirms his testimony. In a note to page 31, of the New York edition of Black's Translation of the Essay on New Spain, this passage occurs : " The largest and finest construction of the Indians in this way, is the aqueduct of the city of Tezcuco. We still perceive the traces of a great mound, constructed to heighten the level of the water. How must we admire the industry and activity displayed by the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, in the irrigation of arid lands. In the maritime parts of Peru, I have seen the remains of walls, along which water was conducted for a space of from 5 to 6000 metres, from the foot of the Cordilleras to the coast. The conquerors of the 16th century destroyed these aqueducts, and that part of Peru has become, like Persia, a desert, destitute of vegetation. Such is the civilization carried by the Europeans among a peo- ple whom they are pleased to call barbarous."* In a very clever and elaborate volume on " American Antiquities," by Alexander W. Bradford, Esq., of New York, we find this brief but explanatory statement concerning the extent and structure of the Peruvian aqueducts : — "'I have had various opportunities,' says a recent traveller, 'of closely examining one of these canals, which is formed at the source of the river Sana, on the right bank, and extends along a distance of 15 leagues, without reckoning sinuosities, and which con- sequently supplied a large population, particularly one city, whose ruins still remain in the vicinity of a farm named Cojal.' " These aqueducts were often of great magnitude, executed with much skill, patience, and ingenuity, and were boldly carried along the most precipitous mountains, frequently, according to Ulloa, to the distance of 15 or 20 leagues. Many of them consisted of two conduits, a short distance apart ; the larger of these was for general use ; the other and smaller to supply the inhabitants and water the fields, while the first was cleansing, a * New Spain, vol. ii., p. 46. PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 73 circumstance in which they bear a striking resemblance to those of Mexico. They also conveyed water to the most distant places, by subterranean conduits. Garcilasso describes five fountains that existed in the Temple of the Sun, at Cuczo, and which were used for sacred purposes, one of which he saw flowing-, the others having become dry. " It is probably one of these fountains that now supplies the Hospital de Naturales ; its pipes are buried under the earth, and cannot be traced, and, as in the time of the Peru- vian historian, its sources are unknown. At Lanasca, there is also a fountain supplied through subterranean conduits, the source of which has never been traced. Many of these great works became useless after the conquest, from their very magnificence, for their pipes being made of gold, excited the cupidity of the avaricious Spaniards, and others were destroyed from mere wantonness." * In the same volume we find these additional notices of the Mexican aqueducts, and of the Vandal destruction of them by the Spaniards. " The aqueduct of Chapoltepec, consisted of two conduits, formed of solid mason- work, each five feet high and two paces broad, by which the water was introduced into the city for the supply of various fountains. Olid and Alvarado commenced the siege of Mexico, by attempting to cut off this supply of water, an enterprise which the Mexi- cans endeavored to prevent. " There appeared on that side," says De Solis, " two or three rows of pipes, made of trees hollowed, supported by an aqueduct of lime and stone, and the enemy had cast up some trenches to cover the avenue to it. But the two Cap- tains marched out of Tacuba with most of their troops, and though they met with a very obstinate resistance, they drove the enemy from their post, and broke the pipes and aque- duct in two or three places, and the water took its natural course into the lake." t One cannot but recall here the like destruction by Vitlges and his Gothic hordes, of the noble aqueducts of Rome ; nor restrain the indignation with which such acts of barbarism, perpetrated by Christians and civilized men, against those whom they de- nounced as pagans and savages, should be regarded and recorded. The following farther description of the aqueducts of ancient Mexico^ is given by Cortes, (the conqueror) in a long despatch, addressed to the Emperor Charles V., dated at Segura, in Mexico, October 30th, 1520, and soon after printed at Seville, (Spain.) " Along one of the causeways that lead into the city, are laid two pipes, constructed of masonry, each of which is two feet