THE AZTEC LILLIPUTIANS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 149, 12 November 1853, Page 5

THE AZTEC LILLIPUTIANS.

(From the Times.) The scientific portion of the public has lately been much interested by the arrival of two children, of a race hitherto strange to London, from a mysterious region of Central America. Professor Anderson, by whom the children are accompanied, has arrived at the conclusion that the boy is 17 years of age, and the girl 11 ; but the singularity of the " Lilliputians" by no means depends on the correctness of that surmise. Other peculiarities beyond that of diminutive stature —peculiarities accounted for by the supposition of earlier youth—address themselves distinctly to the attention of the ethnologist. The boy is the type of the pair. His forehead is retreating : and this with the size of his nose, which is a strongly-marked aquiline, gives the face a bird-like appearance. The upper jaw projects, while the lower jaw recedes, so that when the mouth is closed, the under teeth do not touch the upper, but approach the middle of the palate. The countenance produced by "This strange-combination-of-features is_.at the first glance idiotic, but the impression of idiocy is soon removed by the bright intelligence which sparkles in the large eyes, aud a restless curi-

osity, which is visible in every gesture of the little creatures. No sooner does a visitor enter the room than the boy rushes up to him with a piece of paper, in the hope that he will draw something on it with a pencil, and it is said that an equal interest is shewn for music. The hair is black and glossy* and falls in small ringlets. The girl has the same characteristics less strongly marked, and her aspect is more Jewish than that of her companion.

The sight of a new type of humanity only three feet high, without the deformities of ordinary dwarfs, is of itself highly curious, but these children are rendered still more remarkable by an historical theory which is connected with them. The region whence they are brought is said to have been the place of refuge chosen by the Aztecs when driven from Mexico by tke conquering sword of Cortes, and it is supposed that they are among the last surviving relics of that ill-starred race, with, whom we have recently been made familiar by the researches of Mr Prescott and Mr. Stevens. This supposition is founded partly on a statement, which we shall give presently, and partly on certain marks of internal evidence. The children bear the strongest resemblance to sculptured figures which are unquestionably of Aztec origin, and on one occasion, when an ancient Mexican idol was brought to them, they recognised it, and embraced it at once. It seems that while they were at New York (where they created a great sensation) this idol was accidently broken, and that the boy burst into an agony of grief at the calamity. The smallness of the children's stature is accounted for by a well-known cause of degeneracy— namely, a prohibition against marriage with strangers or members of an inferior caste. It is to the sacerdotal caste, which would rank like that of the Brahmins in India, that the children are assigned; and so rare have the individuals of this race become, that it is said they have been advanced from the position of priests to that of gods,— no very difficult advance under a system of theocracy. The fact that when the children sit down they fall into a posture which is general among Mexican idols, and which would be extremely difficult if it were not the result of early training, is in favour of this supposition.

Having given the chief particulars of internal evidence that the children are really Aztecs, we we now subjoin the external evidence in the shape of a statement furnished by the exhibitors :—

In 1848 Mr. Huertis, of Baltimore, and Mr. Hammond, of Canada, attempted to explore Central America. They had read Steeven's account, in his Central America, of a conversation between himself and a priest residing at Santa Cruz del Quiche, relative to an unexplored city on the other side of the great Sierra range, the glittering domes and minarets of which the priests averred having seen from the summit of the Sierra. The people, manners, and customs of the city, were supposed to be precisely the same as in the days ofMontezuma. Messrs. Huertis and Hammond arrived at Belize in the Autumn of 1848, and turningsoutbwest, arrived at Coban on Christmas-day. They were there joined by Pedro Velasquez, of San Salvador, a Spaniard. From Coban they proceeded in search of the mysterious city. From Velasquez alone is any account of their travels to be obtained. Huertis and Hammond have never returned to tell their tale. According to the statement of Velasquez, on the 19th of May they reached the summit of the Sierra, at an altitude of 9500 feet, in latitude 15' 4S. N. and beheld in the distance the domes and the minarets of a large city, apparently of an Egyptian character, and about 25 leagues from Ocosingo, in the same latitude, and in the direct course of the river Logartos. This city they eventually reached. Velasquez describes it to be of vast proportions, with heavy walls and battlements, full of temples, gigantic statues, and pagan paraphernalia; the people having Peruvian manners combined with Assyrian magnificence, and bound to remain within the walls, seeking no intercourse with the world around. The name of the city is Iximaya. The travellers were informed that white men had never returned. Hammond and Huertis were both slain—the former in entering the city, the latter in endeavouring to make his escape.

Velasquez, being more wary, lulled his captors into security, and not only escaped himself, but brought with him two children belonging to the priests —the two now in" England.