of buildings which have fallen into decay. True foundation-mounds are rarely found north of a line drawn, roughly, from La Quemada in Zacatecas to the Gulf of Mexico in the region of the Panuco valley; but south of it, right down to Honduras, they are a characteristic feature of architecture. There was a large number of temple pyramids, of varied dimensions, in Tenochtitlan (Sahagun gives a long list), but two were of outstanding importance, one in Tenochtitlan proper, the other in the suburb of Tlaltelolco. Both were so utterly destroyed by the Spaniards that it is not easy at the present time to fix their exact position. The most recent, and most successful, attempt to work out the details of the great Mexican temple from all sources, literary and archæological, is that of Maudslay, to which reference can be made by those wishing for more minute particulars (see also Fig. 12; p. 87). The pyramid, or teocalli, stood at the eastern end of a large court, about 300 by 350 yards, surrounded by a wall on which were carved snakes. It was built in five tiers, of earth and stones faced with masonry; the base measured something over 100 yards, and the upper surface over 70 yards square. A flight of more than 100 steps on the west side gave access to the summit, and on the eastern edge of the latter were two shrines, each of two storeys, built, as seems most probable, chiefly of wood. These two shrines were dedicated respectively to Uitzilopochtli (towards the south) and Tlaloc (towards the north), and faced west, but the priests and worshippers would face east, the direction of the rising sun, and there is reason to believe that the equinox was calculated by observing the rising of the sun between the two shrines. In front of the latter was the sacrificial stone, and below, in the court, a number of other temples, priestly residences, and other ceremonial buildings, including a tlaxtli-court and the tzompantli, or frame upon which were erected the
