We
were now approaching the regions made famous in olden times by the
fables of Friar Marcos, and eagerly did we ascend every mound, expecting
to see in the distance what I fear is but the fabulous "Casa
Montezuma." Once, as we turned a sharp hill, the bold outline
of a castle presented itself, with the tops of the walls horizontal, the
corners vertical, and apparently one front bastioned. My companion
agreed with me that we at last beheld this famed building; on we
spurred our unwilling brutes; restless for the show, I drew out my
telescope, when to my disappointment a clay butte, with regular
horizontal seams, stood in the place of our castle; but to the naked eye
the delusion was complete. It is not impossible that this very
butte, which stands on an imposing height in the centre of a vast
amphitheatre of turreted hills, has been taken by the trappers, willing
to see, and more especially to report, marvelous things for the
"Casa Montezuma."
