Note D. (Vol. II. p. 110.) I must add to the materials which have enabled me to draw up the history of the hydraulical works of the valley of Mexico, two manuscript memoirs, the one entitled, Relacion de la visita del desague real hecha en 1764; and the other, Auto formado en San Christobal, en el mes de Enero de 1764, por mando del illustrissimo Señor Don Domingo de Trespalacios, del supremo consejo y camara de Indias. According to these memoirs, the engineer Ildefonso Yniesta, found 65,250 varas from the banks of the Lake of Tezcuco, to the cascade of Tula, while the result of the trigonometrical operations and measurements under the direction of Professor Velasquez, makes the distance only 62,363 varas. This last result which has been taken in the map of the valley of Mexico, must be regarded as the most accurate, not only on account of the perfection of the instruments employed in 1774, but also on account of the agreement between the distances of Velasquez and those determined by Martinez in 1611, who computed the distance from the Lake of Tezcuco to Vertideros at 35,421 varas, Velasquez fixed it at 35,168; and the measurement of Yniesta makes it 38,740 varas. Note E. (Vol. II. p. 194.) I have discussed in another place the striking analogy between the Temple of Jupiter Belus, and the pyramids of Sakharah with the teocallis, or houses of the Mexican gods, which were both temples and tombs. See my Vues des Cordilleres, et Monumens des peuples Indigenes de l'Amerique, p. 24-40. Note F*. (Vol. II. p. 342.) The following Table indicates the state of the missions in New California in 1802. In the enumeration of the Indians, the sexes are distinguished by initial letters m. and f Under the head of horses, both those which are tame and those which run wild in the Savannahs are included: the number of the former only amounts to 2187. These details respecting the state of agriculture and civilization of the north west coast of America, become particularly interesting, since the Congress of Washington have resolved to found a colony at the mouth of the river Columbia. (See Vol. I. p. 20. Vol. II. p. 382, 397). The navigation from Monterey to the mouth of the Columbia is eight or ten days, and the new colonists may procure cows and mules from the missions of New California. * By mistake this note is referred to page 342, under the letter D. |