It is worth while to examine the whereabouts and character of this marvelous city of Tollan somewhat closely, for it is a place that we hear of in the oldest myths and legends of many and different races.  Not only the Aztecs, but the Mayas of Yucatan and the Kiches and Cakchiquels of Guatemala bewailed, in woful songs, the loss to them of that beautiful land, and counted its destruction as a common starting point in their annals.[1] Well might they regret it, for not again would they find its like.  In that land the crop of maize never failed, and the ears grew as long as a man’s arm; the cotton burst its pods, not white only, but naturally of all beautiful colors, scarlet, green, blue, orange, what you would; the gourds could not be clasped in the arms; birds of beauteous plumage filled the air with melodious song.  There was never any want nor poverty.  All the riches of the world were there, houses built of silver and precious jade, of rosy mother of pearl and of azure turquoises.  The servants of the great king Quetzalcoatl were skilled in all manner of arts; when he sent them forth they flew to any part of the world with infinite speed; and his edicts were proclaimed from the summit of the mountain Tzatzitepec, the Hill of Shouting, by criers of such mighty voice that they could be heard a hundred leagues away.[2] His servants and disciples were called “Sons of the Sun” and “Sons of the Clouds."[3]

[Footnote 1:  The Books of Chilan Balam, of the Mayas, the Record from Tecpan Atitlan, of the Cakchiquels, and the Popol vuh, National Book, of the Kiches, have much to say about Tulan.  These works were all written at a very early date, by natives, and they have all been preserved in the original tongues, though unfortunately only the last mentioned has been published.]

[Footnote 2:  Sahagun, Historia, Lib. iii, cap. iii.]

[Footnote 3:  Duran, Historia de los Indios, in Kingsborough, vol. viii, p. 267.]

Where, then, was this marvelous land and wondrous city?  Where could it be but where the Light-God is on his throne, where the life-giving sun is ever present, where are the mansions of the day, and where all nature rejoices in the splendor of its rays?

But this is more than in one spot.  It may be in the uppermost heavens, where light is born and the fleecy clouds swim easily; or in the west, where the sun descends to his couch in sanguine glory; or in the east, beyond the purple rim of the sea, whence he rises refreshed as a giant to run his course; or in the underworld, where he passes the night.

Therefore, in ancient Cakchiquel legend it is said:  “Where the sun rises, there is one Tulan; another is in the underworld; yet another where the sun sets; and there is still another, and there dwells the God.  Thus, O my children, there are four Tulans, as the ancient men have told us."[1]

[Footnote 1:  Francisco Ernantez Arana Xahila, Memorial de Tecpan Atitlan.  MS. in Cakchiquel, in my possession.]