ing where Atazatlan now stands. There were few such clearings in those remote times, for the trees were of enormous size, and the country was covered with dark forests, in the gloomy recesses of which huge and unwieldy animals, very fierce and strong, luxuriated in the dense vegetation or preyed upon one another, without fear of being molested by man.
"The tribes were few and scattered, holding little intercourse with each other, and subsisted upon the animals, fruits, and fishes that the land and water offered them in abundance. There was little change in their condition, and for ages they dozed away an existence as dreary as their surroundings. The Reni lived a long time on the clearing, and made their camp or village there. It was during this period that Molopozi appeared among them. Whence he came, and whither he departed, no one knew. He was not their chief, for he refused to rule; yet he remained with them a long time, was loved by the tribe, and by his utterances and counsels gave that turn to thought from which the people of Neuroomia have never wavered. He eventually gave them a code of rules for their guidance. This code has been the basis of all law in Neuroomia up to the present time. He taught them how to heal the sick, build better
