LAS PLAYAS AND PALENQUE.
From S. Juan to Jonuta—S. Carlos—Indians and Alligators—Las
Playas and Catasaja—Stone Cross—Rancho at Pulente—Palenque—The
Two Slabs in the Temple of the Cross—First Engravings—Acala
and Palenque from Cortez—Letter to the King—Palenque and
Ocosingo mentioned by Juarros—Explorations—The Palace—Façade
and Pyramids—Ornamentation on the Eastern Façade—An Old
Relief Brought to Light—Palenque Artists and their Mode
of Working—Medallions and Inner Passage—Reliefs in the
Main Court—Apartments and Decorations—Inner Wing and
Restoration—Western Façade—Palace Tower.
The land route from S. Juan to Palenque is some thirty or thirty-five
leagues; but we were obliged to go by water, which takes about a week,
on account of our heavy luggage, consisting of seventy packages!
Seventy packages may seem disproportionately large; but it should be
recollected that we had to take impressions, photographs, plans, and
last, not least, provide for two months’ living amidst ruins. A small
steamer was secured, which was to convey us as far as Jonuta, where we
should leave it for canoes.
Jonuta was once a populous centre, as the pyramids which occupy part
of the village site amply testify. Here antiquities of all kinds
have been unearthed, and an enthusiastic archæologist, Mr. Nattes,
possesses a fine collection, which he was kind enough to show me. In
it I found many objects very like, sometimes identical with, those on
the plateaux. Mr. Nattes is of opinion that the Toltecs occupied the
country throughout, and that all the monuments we see were left by
them. I need not say that I am delighted to find my theory shared by so
distinguished a person.
On the 20th December we at last take possession of our canoes. We row
up the Usumacinta, and the next evening are at Potrerillo—a miserable
rancho, where the only accommodation is a low, filthy hut, our evening
meal a monkey—rather a pleasant change after our salt provisions.
After Potrerillo we scud for some hours along El Chico; then by canal,
“rumpido,” as far as Catasaja, leaving on our right S. Carlos lagoons,
inhabited by Indians who live partly on crocodiles and alligators—a
diet which seems to agree with them, for they are accounted the
hardiest men in the State.
I had visited these parts in my first expedition, when I noticed live
tailless crocodiles in most huts I went into, lying on their backs,
their claws and jaws nailed to the ground.
“The tail is cut off,” said mine host, “lest in moving it they should
break the legs of the person near.”
“But how do you capture these horrible creatures?”
“In two ways: with a stout hook, or with the hand.”
“Here,” I said, “is a piastra for the man who will procure me such a
sight.”
Mine host looked round, called to a young Indian who was outside, and
informed him of my wish.
“All right, Señor, nothing easier; come in a boat to the stream on the
other side of the village.”
In a few minutes we were at the place of rendezvous, where we found the
Indian ready awaiting us, a dagger in his hand, cautioning us to follow
without making a noise, as he walked along the high grass which grew on
the banks. Suddenly two alligators plunged into the water, and Cyrilo
was after them almost at the same time.
After a few minutes, which seemed hours, we spied the tail of the
monster violently beating the surface of the water, then the whole
body emerged with Cyrilo adhering to the alligator’s belly, then both
disappeared again, leaving behind a long bloody streak.
“Well done, Cyrilo, well done!” cried Don Juan.
Yet all that could be seen was the commotion of the water where the
struggle was going on; a few minutes more and Cyrilo came up, this
time alone, breathing hard, covered with mud, and swimming towards us.
I stretched out my hand to help him in, but he leaped into the boat
without assistance and sat down quite still for one minute.
“_Este can me cortò el dedo_—this dog broke my finger,” he said,
holding up his hand, of which the first joint of the forefinger was
hanging down. “_Però me lo pagò_—but I paid him out, and I reckon we’ll
soon see his ugly mug. But if not I’ll be after him again.”
Don Juan winked at me. The man was preparing to plunge once more into
the murky water when Don Juan exclaimed:
“There he is belly upmost, his breast seamed by four thrusts.”
We secured and towed him to the village. He measured 14 feet 4 inches.
I gave the man two piastras instead of one, and twenty francs for his
dagger, in commemoration of his feat.
But to return. We plough along the swollen canal, we lose our way,
and in a short time find ourselves among shrubs and towering trees;
with some difficulty we get back to the lagoon and reach Las Playas de
Catasaja late in the evening, when we take possession of an empty house
in which to dispose of our party and our numerous packages.
Our next destination is S. Domingo, eight miles distant, but no
carriers to convey our luggage are to be found for love or money;
our plight might have been awkward had not the mayor offered to send
to Palenque to procure as many men as can be had. Meanwhile, we
find enough to engage our attention in the place. Don Rodriguez, a
Government Inspector of Mines, has lately had the central stone cross
which stood in the temple bearing the same name at Palenque, brought
here. This tablet, now so well known, has had a chequered existence.
Some thirty years ago, it was taken from its place, and left lying in
a forest adjoining the town by the thief, who was unable to carry it
further. It was unbroken in 1858, when I found it covered with moss,
and took a rather good photograph. A squeeze of the entire monument,
composed of three pieces, is to be seen in the Trocadéro. Curiously
enough, these pieces are scattered in different countries: one is
still _in situ_, the second at Las Playas, whilst the third is in
the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. We give a drawing of this
interesting cross, crowned by a symbolic bird, to which a man standing
presents an offering. Since the cross was a symbol of Tlaloc, the
temple in which it stood must have been dedicated to him, and perhaps
Quetzalcoatl also, and it is clear that it was of the same origin as
the sepulchral cross at Teotihuacan; but contrary to some writers,
who make the latter proceed from the former, we make the first proceed
from the second, for in everything we must go from the simple to the
complex, and the primitive style, the simplicity, the archaic aspect of
the cross at Teotihuacan, make it an ascendant and not a descendant of
the imaged cross at Palenque, covered with ornamentation denoting an
advanced period.
[Illustration: MOULDINGS IN THE TEMPLE OF THE CROSS NO. 1.]
Meanwhile, the men from Palenque have arrived, and our freight is
transported in three days to S. Domingo, whither we follow by the
last train. After Las Playas, the landscape opens out into a noble
perspective of fields and shady groves; now the eye wanders over the
rich flora of the savanna, now it plunges into the unfathomable depths
of the forest, through which the road is a succession of triumphal
arches, sometimes so closed in as to seem impassable from a short
distance. We start hares and peccaries innumerable; we hear the shrill
cries of aras, mingled with the howling of _zaraguatos_, gravely
regarding us from their leafy bowers, whilst on the outskirts of the
wood, a timid deer gives an astonished look as we approach, ere he
betakes himself to green and deeper retreats. To crown the enjoyment of
this charming ride, we found a plentiful luncheon awaiting us at the
Pulente rancho; bananas and oranges, which we plucked ourselves from
the trees, composed our dessert.
The evening found us at S. Domingo, where we took up our quarters with
one of two European families settled here. Again the delay caused by
the carriers gave us time to take an impression of two slabs, which
were formerly inlaid in the pillars supporting the altar in the Temple
of the Cross No. 1. In 1840 Stephens found them in the house of two
elderly spinsters, who refused to part with them; but after their death
the Municipality declared them public property, and had them put up in
the church façade, where they are now to be seen; one of them, however,
is broken into three pieces. Their dimensions are 6 feet by about 3
feet. The left slab represents a young man magnificently arrayed; he
wears a richly-embroidered cape, a collar and medallion round his neck,
a beautiful girdle to his waist; the ends of the maxtli are hanging
down front and back, cothurni cover his feet and legs up to the knee.
On the upper end of his head-dress is the head of a stork, having a
fish in his bill, whilst others are ranged below it.
[Illustration:
Left Pillar. Right Pillar.
SCULPTURED STONES, TEMPLE OF THE CROSS NO. 1.]
The cross on the altar justifies our seeing in this gorgeously-attired
young man another personification of the god of rain, of spring, of
verdure and water, symbolised by the fishes and the stork’s head,
attributes which are found also on the basement of the Tlaloc of
Tacubaya. The other slab represents an old man, clothed in a tiger’s
skin, blowing out air, with a serpent round his waist, whose tail
curls up behind and coils in front, the well-ascertained attributes of
Quetzalcoatl, god of wisdom. Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl are often seen
side by side; and we shall meet them in the Temple of the Cross, when
we shall be in a position to advance with some show of truth that the
same was dedicated to both deities.[91]
After much disagreeable and unavoidable delay, we found ourselves
at Palenque, some six and a half miles east of S. Domingo; we start
immediately for the ruins, which are made accessible by a path through
the woods opened by Don Rodriguez. El Rio Michol, to the north, seems
the limit of the ancient city on that side; to the right and left,
starting from the Rio, mounds, hillocks, and vestiges of ruins are
noticeable. To the south, the Rio Chacamas washes the base of lofty
peaks, which, on this side, encompass the last traces of habitations;
the path winds up broad rising ground, seemingly artificial. At a turn
of the road, the men carrying our baggage admonish us to look at the
palace, which we should never have spied out owing to the luxuriant
vegetation which completely hides it. But before we describe the ruins,
we will say a few words respecting Cortez’ march through Acala and
Honduras. Some writers, thinking the former a city, have attempted to
identify it with Palenque, an error which we hope to be able to dispel.
In this ill-advised expedition, his personal retinue consisted of two
pages, several musicians, dancers, jugglers, and buffoons, showing more
of the effeminacy of an Oriental than the valour of a hardy commander.
The Spanish force, amongst whom was Guatemozin, the cacique of Tacuba,
and a number of Indians as carriers and attendants, was swelled by
3,000 Mexicans.[92] Two ships with supplies were to sail along the
coast under the command of Simon de Cuenca. From Goatzacoalco, Cortez
followed the coast, halted at Tonala, at Ayagualulco, and seven
leagues further crossed a river over a bridge 3,250 feet long; next
came Mazapa, whose course runs from Chiapas to Los Dos Brazos. After
this point the names mentioned by Diaz are not known; but the march
must have been continued along the coast, since inland caciques, some
even from distant Teapa, sent Cortez fifty transports with supplies;
now the only way for canoes was by El Blanquillo and modern Tabasco.
The force must have passed near Frontera or east of it, skirting El
Chilapa, an affluent of El Tabasco, and halting at Tepetitan at the
head of Chilapa, called next at Iztapan and Acala Mayor, where Cortez
was informed by the natives that they would have three large streams
and three smaller ones to cross; probably the Usumacinta and its
tributaries. That this was the line of march is certain, for had Cortez
passed Palenque, he would have had no rivers to cross, and could have
marched south without obstacles; whereas the _compass_ and the map
furnished the only clue to extricate them from the gloomy labyrinth in
which they were involved, and Cortez and his officers, with their chart
on the ground, anxiously studied the probable direction of their route,
which they decided was to be in _an eastern direction_.
With the aid of the map furnished by the Indians, and such guides as
they could pick up, they continued their march through other villages,
and must have passed Ziguatepec, sixteen leagues further, when Cortez
inquired of the caciques where the _deep and large river_ he saw
discharged itself, and whether they had observed vessels sailing on
the sea. He was told that the river discharged itself at Xicalango,
situated on one of the tributaries of the Usumacinta, some twenty
or twenty-five leagues from Palenque as a bird flies—a considerable
distance in these wooded regions.
From Ziguatepec Cortez sent two of his followers to look for the ships,
which had orders to wait at Xicalango; but when they reached the place
they found the crews had been massacred and the ships destroyed by the
Indians.
The Spaniards next halted at Acalan, a _district composed of some
twenty villages_; very unlike the approaches to Palenque, which is
situated on the first rising ground of the Cordillera. Cogolludo,[93]
who follows Herrera, says that the capital of the great province of
Acalan was Izancanac, whose king, Apoxpalon, had a palace sufficiently
large to accommodate all the Spaniards without displacing the inmates,
and that the multitudes of Indian auxiliaries were quartered in the
town. This does not tally with what is known of Palenque, where, save
the palace, all the houses and temples were too small ever to have made
it possible to accommodate large numbers, unless they were distributed
all over the town.
All the various indications we can glean with regard to Izancanac,
lead us to assume that it was situated somewhere on the banks of S.
Pedro, a confluent of the Usumacinta, an assumption which becomes
almost a certainty, since that was the direct road to Honduras, and
still more so when we find that they held on their toilsome way in the
direction of Peten, reaching Chaltuna and Tayasal after three or four
days’ march, to do which, had they come from Palenque, they must have
employed at least twenty days.
But what has become of Izancanac? Where are the great buildings which
could accommodate hundreds of people? The very site is unknown,
whilst Palenque is still to be seen.[94] Although it is so difficult
to determine the route held by Cortez, it affords, nevertheless, the
best account we have relating to the organisation of the regions he
traversed. He observed throughout independent caciques, a country
divided into more or less important provinces, making it probable that
the civilising and powerful influence which had knit these peoples
into a mighty empire, had long ceased to be felt among these restless
populations which, left to their warlike instincts, lived in constant
warfare, as, for instance, in Yucatan after the fall of the dominant
Cocomes and Tutulxius.
But to return. That Palenque was standing at that time, or at any rate
had not been long abandoned, is placed beyond a doubt by Jose Antonio
Calderon,[95] in his letter dated 15th December, 1774, in which he
mentions having discovered eighteen palaces, twenty great buildings,
and a hundred and sixty-eight houses, in one week, clearly proving that
the forest which has grown since over the structures had not assumed
such vast proportions, and that some idea could still be formed of
the city; and if such was the case at that date, are we not justified
in our assumption that this city was standing and inhabited at the
Conquest in 1520?
Before Calderon, Garcia in 1729 had already mentioned the ruins of
Palenque, but unfortunately his work has not been found; and Juarros,
in his account of Chiapas,[96] says: “There is no doubt that this
region has been inhabited by a cultured and mighty nation, shown in
the imposing piles of buildings at Culhuacan and Tollan, traces of
which are noticeable near Ocosingo and Palenque.” _Tollan_ (Palenque),
Culhuacan (Ocosingo), bespeak that these names were still remembered
by the Indians as late as the seventeenth century, that they owed
their origin to the Toltecs, since the same appellations occur on the
plateaux, and were carried by the emigrants to their later settlements
in remembrance of their older ones—a constant practice among the
Indians; and their wanderings from north to south were marked by cities
and colonies having appellations which are found both on the plateaux
and in Chiapas. The same thing happens now in every new colony, for
which instances might be given _ad infinitum_.
Fray Tello tells us that the Spaniards found in Jalisco localities
and cities whose names existed already in the Mexican Valley, such
as Ameca, Culhuacan, Tequicistlan, Juchitan, etc.;[97] and Diaz, in
his account of Rangre’s expedition, writes: “They set out to subdue
the provinces of Cematan and Tulapan in the south.” Unfortunately the
narrative stops at Cematan, and we have to be satisfied with the bare
mention of Tulapan, which is, however, sufficient for our purpose.
Taking the palace as a starting-point, it may be said that the city
is built in the form of an amphitheatre, on the lowest slopes of the
lofty Cordillera beyond; its high position afforded a magnificent
view over the forest-covered plain below stretching as far as the
sea. Some travellers have fancied they saw the sea from the summits
of the temples, but it is more likely to have been Catasaja lagoon,
some ten leagues to the north, for it is doubtful if at this height
(650 feet), the ocean is visible even on the clearest day. We find
ourselves on the pyramid, we are in the palace, and my impressions, as
a mature man, are very different to what they were seven-and-twenty
years ago, when my appreciation of the structure was very indifferent,
while now my admiration for this massive palace, these ruined temples,
these pyramids, is profound, nay, almost overpowering. In all these
structures, the builder levelled out the ground in narrow terraces, on
which artificial elevations of pyramidal form were reared, which on
the hillside were faced with hewn stones, and divided into storeys, as
we have seen at Teotihuacan. I notice many changes since I was here
before; portions of walls, the whole front of the Temple of the Cross
(No. 1) have given way, and in the Lion’s Temple the fine bas-relief
over the altar has disappeared. It is sad to calculate how much more
havoc another fifty years will make; there will be nothing, probably,
but a mass of mouldering ruins, such as are met with in the woods, on
the low hills, and the plain around.
[Illustration: OUR KITCHEN AT PALENQUE, IN ONE OF THE CORRIDORS.]
Whilst our men are clearing the palace, we penetrate the thick forest
through which some of our Indians open out a passage. We recognise the
buildings that have been described, but throughout our progress we see
nothing but heaps of unformed ruins. We take up our quarters in the
palace itself; our kitchen and dining-room are in the outward gallery
of the eastern entrance, whilst our sleeping apartments are in the
eastern gallery of the inner wing. From our dining-room we look out
on the forest, and our bedrooms open on the courtyard of the palace.
Although Indians as a rule are apathetic, they are brisk and energetic
enough with the _machete_, with which they open out a path so rapidly
that one can walk after them a normal pace without stopping, and they
fell enormous trees as easily as Europeans would shrubs.
We will begin with the palace, giving the plan of the north portion
of the corridors and the tower; we can vouch for the accuracy of our
plan, although it differs entirely from those which have been hitherto
published.
The palace consisted of two distinct parts (this has not been
understood by any of my predecessors, not even Waldeck); a double
gallery ran along the east, north, and west sides, surrounding an
inner structure, likewise with a double gallery and two courtyards
of different dimensions; it was a kind of covered walk or cloister
quite separate from the remaining edifice, which to the south must
have constituted the dwelling proper. The entire pile of building was
reared on the same platform, forming an irregular quadrilateral, and
if we except the galleries, nothing seems to have been constructed
systematically or on a given plan: the various parts are of different
dimensions or different heights, and the courts enclosed within the
galleries form trapezes instead of rectangles, one measuring 6 feet
7 inches more to the north than to the south, so that the structures
are not parallel. To the south, which it is agreed to consider as
forming the dwelling apartments, this confusion is more apparent and
complete, for here they seem to have dispensed with any plan at all;
buildings large and small reared on different levels are found, in
juxtaposition, or at some distance from each other; the roof is sloping
or perpendicular, the decorations copious or scanty according to the
whim of the artist; some of the apartments, as compared to others, are
underground and entered by gloomy steps which receive a dim light from
the south side of the pyramid, here only a few feet from the ground.
In these subterraneous apartments are three large stone tables with
sculptured edges; they are called altars, beds, sacrificial and dining
tables, by different writers, the latter appellation seems the most
probable. The independent position of the cloister is very clear in our
cut; the left pillar is seen supporting the extremity of the frieze and
the end of the roof, which terminated here as it did on the west side.
[Illustration: PLAN OF PALACE AT PALENQUE (NORTH SIDE).]
All travellers before us have surrounded the entire palace with this
gallery, as they have surrounded the great pyramid on which the palace
stands with a continuous stairway, but quite erroneously, as is clearly
shown in our photograph, which cannot be wrong, and which presents a
perpendicular wall throughout its length. The pyramid was divided on
the east, north, and west sides, which were higher, into three or four
platforms of which we found traces in the north portion.
[Illustration: BASEMENT OF PYRAMID IN THE PALACE OF PALENQUE.]
We have mentioned in a former chapter that similar sections or
platforms are found in all the pyramids of a certain height discovered
by us at Palenque, which, according to tradition, had their prototypes
in the Uplands; and this is particularly noticeable on the north side
of the pyramid, where the palace façade is completely destroyed. Here,
and not on the east side, as some have supposed, was the entrance,
sufficiently proved by the wealth of ornamentation displayed on this
portion of the pyramid, and not observable anywhere else. The base was
incrusted with fine slabs some 4 feet 8 inches high, with intervening
pillars in relief some 6 feet apart, topped by a cornice of some 6
inches. Above this stood the wall of the second platform, indicated
by traces of a stairway which occupied the centre and led to the
gallery. This pyramid was the basement on which the palace was reared;
it is irregular on all its sides, contrary to the drawings of some
explorers, who have given it a symmetrical shape and equal elevation.
It is not easy to see how the mistake could arise, for its irregularity
is very apparent. The highest elevation is found on the north side,
measuring over 22 feet; the east and west sides slope down, ending
at the south-east angle with a perpendicular corner of 6 feet 6
inches; whilst at the south-west corner they are level with the ground.
It is the arrangement of all pyramids which were raised on platforms
imperfectly levelled out; they are always found higher on the north
side facing the plain, than on the south side towards the sierra. This
was observable in the pyramids supporting the four buildings to the
north of the palace, in the Temple of Inscriptions, the Temple of the
Cross No. 1, that of the Cross No. 2, and in the mound known as Cerro
Alto, over 487 feet high on the north side, and nearly on a level with
the crest of the low hills to the south, and many more.
[Illustration: THE PALACE, OUTER FAÇADE, PALENQUE.]
At the south-east angle of the great pyramid, is a covered canal which
drained a mountain stream from the south, but has been long since
blocked up, whilst the torrent has found a natural bed some 75 feet
from the pyramid, and falls back into the canal 162 feet beyond. Our
cut of the outer façade of the east gallery will enable the reader to
see the mistake pointed out by us; it shows clearly the extremity of
the gallery, and its outline at the angle of the frieze to the south.
This outline, while restoring the projecting cornice now wanting,
faithfully reproduces the outline of the Toltec calli, given in our
chapter on Tula. The west front, as seen in the plan and subsequent
photographs, has exactly the same arrangement, so that doubt is
impossible. The same writers have given a flight of steps to the
eastern façade, while in our drawing a perpendicular wall replaces it,
and agreeably to what has been stated, we place the stairs on the north
side, where traces were found by us. That this is its proper place is
made probable by four beautiful buildings situated on this side some
487 feet beyond, on the same platform, and apparently part of the
same pile of building. This side of the gallery was supported by six
pillars 6 feet 7 inches wide, by 12 feet high; the corner pillar is
decorated with forty katunes in fairly good preservation; the others
with bas-reliefs of two or three figures and inscriptions in stucco
or hard plaster, partly destroyed. Stephens reproduced the one on
the fifth pillar to the right, which stands alone, the building it
supported having fallen. It was then in good preservation, though now
much defaced; from Stephens’ drawing, however, it would be difficult to
form an idea of the high degree of perfection of these reliefs.
[Illustration: SCULPTURED FIGURE ON PILLAR.]
By a lucky chance, we were able to bring to light one of the figures,
as perfect and as fresh as on the day it left the artist’s hands, and
from it we are able to find out the way the artist did his work. In
our cut this relic is on the centre pillar, which was entirely covered
with a thick calcareous coating, caused by water trickling from the
cornice; under this coating the faint outline of three figures was just
perceptible. My first attempt to uncover the standing figure was not
successful, for the hammer brought both the layer of lime and part of
the head of the figure with it. I was more cautious in attacking the
sitting figure to the left, and fortunate enough to bring it to light
without breaking so much as a bead round his neck, a charming specimen
of an art which was not even suspected. It represents a man seated
Turkish fashion, his head turned in a contemplative attitude towards
the standing figure to the centre of the pillar, the forefinger of
the left hand pointing to him, while the right rests on his knee; his
head-dress is a kind of mitre with a tuft of feathers in strong relief,
a head-dress we shall meet again at Lorillard; a beautiful collar is
round his neck, his cape like that worn by ladies at the present day,
bracelets are round his arms, his dress below the girdle is like the
cape. I immediately had a drawing taken of this _chef-d’œuvre_; but,
having inadvertently broken some beads and the spangles round his arm,
I was surprised to find it perfectly modelled underneath. I undressed
the figure, which was throughout beautifully finished. From this it was
clear that the artist modelled first his figures, and that drapery and
ornaments were added afterwards, which we found was also the case for
the ornamentation on the monuments, as well as for the Toltec idols,
the Tlalocs of our cemetery, and some figures at Teotihuacan.
[Illustration: MEDALLION IN PASSAGE OF EAST WING OF THE PALACE.]
The inside of the gallery where we had our drawing-room and kitchen was
decorated with medallions, personating, in all probability, priests and
priestesses; our cut is of the only one in pretty good preservation. To
judge from the head-dress and delicate features, it portrays a woman of
the same type as our sitting figure; it is a Palenque, a conventional,
a deformed type, of which we shall speak again. The medallion is topped
by four hieroglyphics, “Katunes,” giving the name of the person,
surrounded by curious but elegant ornaments, recalling the rococo
style of Louis XV.; while to the right is seen the outline of a head
deficient of its head-dress. This medallion, although somewhat defaced,
shows as careful modelling as the sitting figure, and seems to us very
remarkable.
[Illustration: HUGE BAS-RELIEFS IN THE PALACE COURT, PALENQUE.]
The east gallery measures 114 feet in length; the north gallery, which
is broken down, 185 feet; the west gallery 102 feet only; and the
intervening space between the two northern galleries, about 175 feet;
consequently there is a difference of 11 feet in the length of the
north and south galleries, proving once more the confusion mentioned
above. The main court is reached by an arch widening at the top,
shaped like a trefoil, giving access to a broad staircase of seven
steps 16 inches high. On each side are sculptured, in low relief, a
group of human figures, occupying the basement of the gallery formed
by huge stone slabs inclined at the same angle as the stairs, five
to the right, four to the left, representing priests in uncomfortable
attitudes. Mitres cover their heads; collars, bracelets, and maxtlis
are their only covering; the maxtli of the first figure is covered
with hieroglyphs. The court measures upwards of 61 feet to the north
and east, only 55 feet to the south, and 71 feet to the west; in fact,
as irregular as can be well imagined. To the south of this court is
a small structure with three openings, giving some idea of what the
dwellings were like, and the curious medley of these edifices.
[Illustration: SMALL BUILDING TO THE SOUTH OF THE PALACE COURT.]
In effect, we find one sunk about the gallery to the right, with a
lower building to the left, and a frieze or perpendicular entablature
topped by a flat roof, whilst both roof and entablature slope on the
small edifice. In this portion of the palace Stephens found some wooden
fragments, of very rare occurrence at Palenque, on account of its damp
climate; while at Comalcalco, which is older and damper still, none
have been found.
The dilapidated condition of the small edifice robs it of some of its
interest; yet the interior and the frieze furnish valuable details of
ornamentation. First comes a decorative fragment round the niches or
openings in the shape of a Tau, found both in the galleries and the
apartments of the palace; next a portion of a frieze decoration in
the same building, but so defaced that nothing is distinguishable,
save the head of a fantastic dragon, whose neck is framed with
coils, palms, or feathers, emblems of Quetzalcoatl; and lastly the
ornamentation over the entrance of a round, flat-topped edifice, by
far the most interesting because of the head seen in the centre with
nose and forehead straight, contrasting with the retreating foreheads
of the reliefs on both pillars and temples; proving that the latter
are conventional types, exaggerated likenesses of a particular family,
whether warrior or priest, rather than the faithful portraiture of a
race. We shall also find this type at Uxmal.
Torquemada says with regard to these deformations in Mexico: “They
defaced their faces so as to acquire an appearance of ferocity,
enlarging their ears, nostrils, and lips by introducing silver, gold,
or stone jewels. It had the twofold use of acting as a scare against
their enemies and as a personal improvement; and that they might
look fierce in war, chiefs were obliged in some districts to make
their heads long and their foreheads broad; as Hippocrates relates of
microcephales, so did these people practise.”[98] And again: “Some
have pointed heads, square flat foreheads, whilst others are like the
Mexicans and Peruvians, who had and still have heads something like a
_martillo_, hammer, or better still, like a ship (_navio_),” meaning
oblong, probably.[99]
Landa tells nearly the same thing as to these practices in Yucatan,
corroborating Torquemada. These defaced heads have given rise to wild
theories; some saw in these reliefs sun-kings who, in mythical times,
had travelled thither from Europe; it had been more natural to take
them as representations of microcephales worshipped by these people as
monstrosities.
[Illustration: FRAGMENT OF DECORATION SHAPED LIKE A TAU, SURROUNDING
NICHES IN THE CORRIDORS AND APARTMENTS OF THE PALACE.]
[Illustration: FRIEZE DECORATION OF BUILDING SOUTH OF THE COURT.]
[Illustration: FRAGMENT OF DECORATION OVER A DOOR.]
But to return. The east front in the inner wing of the palace is nearly
intact—the richest in ornamentation, and the portion of the palace
where the peculiarities of this architecture are best studied. The
structure intervening between the two courts consists of two roofed
galleries, supported on each side by six pillars, enclosing five large
arches. The entrance is through the central arch, which is somewhat
larger than the others, and is preceded by a flight of steps having
hieroglyphics in relief; on each side of it were two large decorative
figures, one of which is still standing. The base, which is remarkable,
has three small platforms, sustained by sculptured pillars divided
by large retreating slabs, with small squares of hieroglyphics. The
pillars were covered on the outer and lateral sides with reliefs in
cement, vestiges of which are still discernible. The lintels over the
doorways of the gallery have disappeared; they were of red zapoté wood,
and their impress is unmistakable. These ornamental woods cannot all
have long been demolished; for in Palenque, Mr. Kohler showed me a
yard-measure and a stick he had had made out of a lintel found among
the ruins.
These facts, taken altogether, seem to indicate that the buildings at
Palenque are not so old as is supposed. The roof in the upper portion
of the palace slopes gently, and the entablature is so marvellously
rich, that I found fresh details every time I visited it. The frieze
was decorated with seven enormous heads; the last one to the right has
still visible the mouth, nose, and eyebrows. These heads were obtained
by means of slabs enclosed in the wall as stays to the cement, which
was modelled by the sculptor whilst in this soft state. The central
figure over the door of the gallery is the largest; each seems to
have had on either side statues life-size in high relief, and traces
of them occur throughout. Sometimes it is the distinct outline of the
fallen relief, sometimes it is a leg, sometimes part of a torso. Near
the central figure to the left, we traced the entire lower portion of
one of the figures, which brings to our mind the fragment we found at
Comalcalco (_vide_ chap. Comalcalco). If this frieze were crowned by a
light cornice, with stucco ornaments lozenge-shaped, if the roof were
likewise enriched with sculpture and reliefs, some idea would be had of
this magnificent and noble edifice. Besides a photograph, we give the
restoration of the palace, as near the truth as could be obtained with
the aid of a plan and details drawn upon the spot.
[Illustration: RESTORATION OF INNER WING OF THE PALACE.]
[Illustration: EASTERN FAÇADE OF INNER WING OF THE PALACE, PALENQUE.]
The gallery inside was decorated with fantastic, terrible, monstrous
figures of Indian deities. Our cut shows the best preserved, if we
except the relief, which recalls the masks on the frieze. It may also
be observed that the north end is a plain wall, which was separated
from the fallen gallery by a narrow passage, while to the south the
double gallery ended with two apertures leading to the yard where
stands the palace tower. The gallery opposite to this is connected
with the west gallery by a narrow doorway, the interior of which is
quite plain; if medallions were here, no trace is left of them on the
polished stucco walls. This gallery opens on a small courtyard, blocked
up by the west wing of the palace to the west, by the main gallery to
the north, and by the tower to the south. This courtyard is likewise
irregular and much narrower than the other, measuring 19 feet 6 inches
to the north, and 22 feet to the south. The basement of the gallery in
this court is as rich as in the main gallery; sculptured pillars are
distributed at a distance of 6 feet, divided by beautiful flags with
katunes, which fit admirably.
[Illustration: TOWER IN THE PALACE.]
The tower is not the least curiosity in this wonderful palace; trees
grow over and about it, whose roots surround the walls like iron
circles; unfortunately every explorer, whether to draw or photograph
it, has had the roots of the trees removed, and this will greatly
accelerate its complete downfall. It is a square tower, which rose by
three storeys over a ground floor, ornamented to the north with pointed
niches; the top storey has disappeared, and the great trees to the
right bend over, ominously threatening it with utter destruction. It
is not unlike the Comalcalco tower; but the decorations were in all
probability less rich, for beyond some stucco coatings still facing
some portions, I saw nothing in the remains which could compare with
the great decorative subjects of that city.
[Illustration: THE PALACE, WESTERN FAÇADE.]
The west wing of the palace is the best preserved, but unlike the
other two, it has no longer a double gallery. The interior has three
long, narrow apartments which open on the courtyard, and communicate
with the exterior by two doorways at each end. The outer gallery is
also the best preserved; the façade is entire, except the centre of
the north-west angle, while all the pillars still bear traces of the
beautiful reliefs with which they were once ornamented.
The south end of this gallery shows clearly that the monument ended
here, and that the cloisters, as we have named them, constituted a
separate pile, which was divided from the group of dwellings. Opposite
to this, some 325 feet distant to the west, rose another pyramid
crowned with a temple, of which nothing but mouldering ruins remain.
[Illustration: MEDALLION IN PASSAGE OF INNER WING.]
[Illustration: TEMPLE OF INSCRIPTIONS, PALENQUE.]