Note 122 — PART I. ETHNOLOGIC AND ARCHÆOLOGIC. (continued 2)

Father Duran relates, “Even to this day, when I ask the Indians, ‘Who created this pass in the mountains? Who opened this spring? Who discovered this cave? or, Who built this edifice?’ they reply, ‘The Toltecs, the disciples of Papa.’” Historia de las Indias de Nueva España, cap. 79. Papa, from papachtic, the bushy-haired was one of the names of Quetzalcoatl. But the earlier missionary, Father Motilinia, distinctly states that the Mexica invented their own arts, and owed nothing to any imaginary teachers, Toltecs or others. “Hay entre todos los Indios muchos oficios, y de todos dicen que fueron inventores los Mexicanos.” Historia de los Indios de la Nueva España, Tratado iii, cap. viii.