ANTIQUITIES OF SALVADOR AND HONDURAS. RUINS OF COPAN.
SALVADOR -- OPICO REMAINS -- MOUNDS OF JIBOA -- RELICS OF
LAKE GUIJAR -- HONDURAS -- GUANAJA -- WALL -- STONE CHAIRS
-- ROATAN -- POTTERY -- OLANCHO RELICS -- MOUNDS OF AGALTA
AND ABAJO -- HACIENDA OF LABRANZA -- COMAYAGUA -- STONE
DOG-IDOL -- TERRACED MOUNDS OF CALAMULLA -- TUMULI ON RIO
CHIQUINQUARE -- EARTHEN VASES OF YARUMELA -- FORTIFIED
PLATEAU OF TENAMPUA -- PYRAMIDS, ENCLOSURES, AND
EXCAVATIONS -- STONE WALLS -- PARALLEL MOUNDS --
CLIFF-CARVINGS AT ARAMACINA -- COPAN -- HISTORY AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY -- PALACIO, FUENTES, GALINDO, STEPHENS, DALY,
ELLERY, HARDCASTLE, BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG -- PLAN OF RUINS
RESTORED -- QUARRY AND CAVE -- OUTSIDE MONUMENTS --
ENCLOSING WALLS -- THE TEMPLE -- COURTS -- VAULTS --
PYRAMID -- IDOLS -- ALTARS -- MISCELLANEOUS RELICS --
HUMAN REMAINS -- LIME -- COLOSSAL HEADS -- REMARKABLE
ALTARS -- GENERAL REMARKS.
[Sidenote: ANTIQUITIES OF SALVADOR.]
Following the continent westward from Nicaragua, we have the state of
Salvador on the Pacific side, stretching some one hundred and eighty
miles from the gulf of Fonseca to the Rio de Paza, the Guatemalan
boundary, and extending inland about eighty miles. Here, in the
central province of San Vicente, a few miles southward from the
capital city of the same name, I find the first well-authenticated
instance in our progress northward of the occurrence of ruined
edifices. But of these ruins we only know that they are the most
imposing monuments in the state, covering nearly two square miles at
the foot of the volcano of Opico, and that they consist of "vast
terraces, ruins of edifices, and circular and square towers, and
subterranean galleries, all built of cut stones. A single carving has
been found here, on a block of stone eight feet long by four broad. It
is in the true Mexican style, representing probably a prince or great
warrior."[III-1] Several mounds, considerable in size and regular in
outline, were noted on the plain of Jiboa west of San Vicente; also
similar ones near Sonsonato in the south-western portion of the state.
In the north-west on the Guatemalan boundary, aboriginal relics are
vaguely reported on the islands of Lake Guijar, but of them nothing is
known.[III-2] And concerning Salvador monuments nothing further is to
be said, although Mr Squier heard of ruins in that state rivaling in
extent and interest the famous Copan.[III-3]
* * * * *
On the other side of the continent, reaching also across to the
Pacific at the gulf of Fonseca, north of Nicaragua, the Mosquito
coast, and Salvador, is the state of Honduras. It extends over three
hundred and fifty miles westward along the Atlantic shore, from Cape
Gracias á Dios nearly to the narrowest point of the isthmus where
America is a second time so nearly cut in twain by the gulfs of
Honduras and Dulce. The mountain chains which skirt the valley of the
Motagua on the south, known as the sierras of Grita, Espíritu Santo,
Merendon, Copan, etc., form the boundary line between Honduras and
Guatemala. The northern coast, closely resembling in its general
character the Mosquito shore, has preserved along its marshy lagoons,
so far as they have been explored, no traces of its early occupants.
Yet on the coast islands some relics appear. On that of Guanaja,
whence in 1502 Columbus first beheld the continent of North America,
is reported a wall of considerable extent, only a few feet high, with
three-legged stone chairs fixed at intervals in rude niches or
fissures along its sides. Chair-shaped excavations in solid rock occur
at several other points on the island, together with rudely molded but
fantastically decorated vessels of earthen ware. The Guanaja remains
are chiefly found in the vicinity of the Savanna Bight Kay.[III-4] On
the neighboring island of Roatan fragments of aboriginal pottery and
small stone idols are found scattered through the forest.[III-5]
The eastern interior of Honduras, by reason of its gold mines, has
been more extensively explored than the Mosquito region farther south;
yet with respect to the departments of Olancho and Tegucigalpa I only
find the statement by Mr Wells that "mounds containing specimens of
ancient pottery are often met with by the _vaqueros_ while exploring
the gloomy depths of the forest, but these seldom survive the
destructive curiosity of the natives;" this chiefly in the valleys of
Agalta and Abajo, and on the hacienda of Labranza. The pottery takes
the form of pans and jars to the number of ten to thirty in each
mound; no idols or human remains having been reported.[III-6]
[Sidenote: COMAYAGUA RELICS.]
Still farther west, in the valley of Comayagua, midway between the
oceans, about the head-waters of the rivers, to which the names Ulua,
Goascoran, and Choluteca are applied as often as any others on the
maps, there are abundant works of the former natives, made known, but
unfortunately only described in part, by Mr Squier. These works
chiefly occur on the terraces of the small branch valleys which
radiate from that of Comayagua as a centre, in localities named as
follows: Chapulistagua, Jamalteca, Guasistagua, Chapuluca, Tenampua,
Maniani, Tambla, Yarumela, Calamulla, Lajamini, and Cururu. The ruins
are spoken of in general terms as consisting of "large pyramidal,
terraced structures, often faced with stones, conical mounds of earth,
and walls of stone. In these, and in their vicinity, are found
carvings in stone, and painted vases of great beauty." Concerning most
of the localities mentioned we have no further details, and must form
an idea of their nature from the few that are partially described,
since a similarity is apparent between all the monuments of the
region.
[Illustration: Mastodon's Tooth.]
[Illustration: Earthen Vase of Yarumela.]
About Comayagua, or Nueva Valladolid, we are informed that "hardly a
step can be taken in any direction without encountering evidences of
aboriginal occupation," the only relic specified, however, being a
stone idol of canine form now occupying a position in the walls of the
church of Our Lady of Dolores. At Tambla, some leagues south-east of
Comayagua, was found the fossil skeleton of a mastodon, whose tooth is
shown in the cut, imbedded in a sandstone formation.[III-7] One of the
stratified sandstone terraces of the sierra south-west of Comayagua
forms a fertile table over three thousand feet above the level of the
sea; and on its surface, in an area of ten or twelve acres inclosed by
a spring-fed mountain stream, are the ruins of Calamulla, consisting
simply of mounds. Of these, two are large, one about one hundred feet
long, with two stages, having a flight of steps on the western slope.
It shows clear traces of having been originally faced with flat
stones, now for the most part removed. Most of the mounds are of earth
in terraces, and some of rectangular outline have a small conical
mound raised a few feet above the surface of their upper platform.
Stone-heaps of irregular form also occur; perhaps places of sepulture;
at least differing in their use from the tumuli of more regular
outlines which may readily be imagined once to have supported
superimposed structures of more perishable materials. The natives have
traditions, probably unfounded, of subterranean chambers and galleries
beneath this spot. In the same vicinity, near the banks of the Rio
Chiquinguare, and about a league from the pueblo of Yarumela, is
another group of mounds, lying partly in the forest and partly in
lands now under native cultivation. These remains, although in a more
advanced state of ruin, are very similar to those of the Calamulla
group. It is noted, however, that the tumuli are carefully oriented,
and that some have stone steps in the centre of each side. In one or
two cases there even remained standing portions of cut-stone walls.
Local tradition, which as a rule amounts to nothing in such cases,
seems to indicate that these structures were already in a ruined state
before the Spanish conquest. At the town of Yarumela, and presumably
taken from the group described, were seen, besides a few curiously
carved stones, six earthen vases of superior workmanship and design,
one of which is represented in the cut, together with separate and
enlarged portions of its ornamentation, which is both carved and
painted. The flying deity painted in outline on one of its faces is
pronounced by Mr Squier identical with one of the characters of the
Dresden Codex.[III-8]
[Sidenote: RUINS OF TENAMPUA.]
At Tenampua, or Pueblo Viejo, twenty miles south-east of Comayagua,
near Flores, is a hill of white stratified sandstone, whose sides rise
precipitously to a height of sixteen hundred feet above the level of
the surrounding plain. The summit forms a level plateau one half a
mile wide and one mile and a half long from east to west. On the
eastern half chiefly, but also spreading over the whole surface of
this lofty plateau, is the most extensive group of ancient works in
the whole region, and in fact the only one of which we have a
description at all in detail. As in the other localities of this part
of the state, the group is made up for the most part of rectangular
oriented mounds, some of stone, but most of earth, with a stone
facing. The smaller mounds are apparently arranged in groups according
to some system; they vary in size from twenty to thirty feet in
height, having from two to four stages. The larger pyramidal tumuli
are from sixty to one hundred feet long and of proportionate width and
altitude, with in many cases a flight of steps in the centre of the
side facing the west.
[Illustration: Enclosure at Tenampua.]
[Sidenote: RUINS OF TENAMPUA.]
The structures that have been described are as follows, it being
understood that they are but a part of the whole: A mound located on
the very edge of the southern precipice commands a broad view over the
whole plain of Comayagua, and its position suggests its possible
aboriginal use as a station for fire-signals. Just north of this is an
excavation, or perhaps a small natural valley, whose sides are faced
with stone in steps leading up the slope on all four sides. In the
centre of the eastern half of the plain, and consequently in the
midst of the principal ruins, is what may be regarded as the chief
structure of the group, commanding a view of all the rest. The annexed
cut, made up from the description, will aid in giving a clear idea of
the work. Two stone walls, an outer and an inner, about ten feet
apart, each two feet thick, of which only a few feet in height remain
standing, enclose a rectangular area of one hundred and eighty by
three hundred feet. Cross-walls at regular intervals divide the space
between the two into rectangular apartments now filled with earth to a
depth of two feet. The walls terminate on the western side in two
oblong terraced mounds between which is the only entrance to the
enclosure; while on the opposite side in a corresponding position on
the eastern wall is a mound equal in bulk to both the western ones
combined. Within the inclosure is a large pyramidal mound in three
stages, with a flight of steps on the west, situated just south of a
central east and west line. From its south-west corner a line of
imbedded stones runs to the southern wall; and between the pyramid and
the gateway is a small square of stones. A similar mound, also
provided with a stairway, is found in the north-east corner of the
enclosure. The stones of which the walls and facings are made, indeed
of all the stone work at Tenampua, are not hewn, but very carefully
laid, no mention being made of mortar. All the structures are
carefully oriented. At the south-east corner of the plateau is a
second enclosure which has a gateway in the centre of each of its four
equal sides, but whose dimensions are not given. This has in its area
two mounds, each with a stairway. Elsewhere, its location on the
plateau not being stated, is a raised terrace, or platform, three
hundred and sixty feet long, containing one of the most remarkable
features of the place, in the form of two parallel mounds one hundred
and forty feet long, thirty-six feet wide at the base, ten feet high,
and forty feet apart at their inner and lower edges. The outer sides
have double walls like those of the chief enclosure, divided into
three compartments, and having served apparently as the foundations of
three separate buildings. The inner side of each mound slopes in three
terraces, the lower ones being faced with large flat stones set
upright. In a line with the centre between these parallels and at a
distance of one hundred and twenty paces is a mound with a stairway on
its southern slope, and at a distance of twenty-four paces on the same
line, but in a direction not stated, are two large stones carefully
placed with a space of one foot between them. The conjectural use of
these parallels, like that of somewhat similar ones which we shall
meet elsewhere, is for the accommodation of the ancient nobility or
priesthood in their games or processions. On the west end of the
plateau are two perpendicular excavations in the rock, twenty feet
square and twelve feet deep, with a gallery three feet square leading
northward from the bottom of each. The natives have an idea that these
passages lead to the ruins of Chapulistagua, but they are probably of
natural formation with artificial improvements, and of no great
extent. The remains of a pyramid are found in the vicinity of the
holes. Near the centre of the plateau, in a spot naturally low and
marshy, are two large square excavations which may have been
reservoirs. In addition to the works described are over three hundred
mounds or truncated pyramids of different sizes, scattered over the
surface of the plateau, to the location and arrangement of which, in
the absence of a plan, we have no guide. They are covered with a heavy
growth of timber, some of them supporting pine-trees two feet in
diameter. Only one was opened and its interior found to consist simply
of earth, except the upper terrace which was ashes and burned matter,
containing fragments of pottery and of obsidian knives. The pottery is
chiefly in the form of small flat pans and vases, all decorated with
simple painted figures; and one small gourd-shaped vase, nearly
entire, was filled with some black indurated matter so hard as not to
be removable. As to the original purposes to which the structures of
Tenampua were devoted, speculation points with much plausibility to
religious ceremonies and temples in the case of the enclosures and
larger pyramids; to sepulchral rites in that of the smaller mounds;
while the strong natural position of the works on a plateau with high,
precipitous, and at nearly every point inaccessible sides, indicates
that defense was an important consideration with the builders. The
supposed reservoirs favor this theory, which is rendered a certainty
by the fortifications which protect the approach to the plateau at the
only accessible points, on three narrow ridges connecting this hill
with others of the range. These fortifications are walls of rough
stone, from six to fifteen feet high and ten to twenty feet thick at
the base, according to the weakness or strength of the location.
Gullies on the slopes which might afford a cover for approaching foes
are carefully filled with stones; and the walls themselves, which also
have traces of towers at intervals, while presenting a perpendicular
exterior, are terraced on the inside for the convenience of the
defenders. Yet the poor thin soil, incapable of supporting a large
number of people, indicates that it was not probably a fortified town,
but that it must be regarded as a place sacred to the gods, to be
defended to the last, and possibly a refuge for the people of the
towns below in cases of extreme danger.[III-9]
[Sidenote: CLIFF-CARVINGS OF ARAMACINA.]
Southward from Comayagua, toward the Pacific shore, we find relics of
former times near Aramacina, in the Goascoran region. Here the smooth
vertical face of a sandstone ledge forms one side of a natural
amphitheatre, and is covered, for a space of one hundred by fifteen
feet, with engraved figures cut to a depth of two and a half inches,
the incisions serving as convenient steps by which to mount the cliff.
Some of the engravings have been destroyed by modern quarry-men; of
those remaining some seem to be ornamental and arbitrary, while in
others the forms of men and animals may be distinguished. They are
pronounced by the observer identical in style with the inscriptions of
Nicaragua and Salvador, of whose existence in the latter state we have
no other intimation.[III-10]
* * * * *
But one group of antiquities in Honduras remains to be
described,--Copan, the most wonderful of all, and one of the most
famous of American ruins. The location is in a most fertile
tobacco-producing region near the Guatemalan boundary, on the eastern
bank of the Rio Copan, which flows northward to join the Motagua some
fifty miles below the ruins, at a point something more than one
hundred miles above its mouth in the bay of Honduras.[III-11]
Some rapids occur in the Copan River below the ruins, but in the
season of high water it is navigable for canoes for a greater part of
its course. The name Copan, so far as can be known, was applied to the
ruins simply from their vicinity to an adjacent hamlet or Indian
pueblo so named, which is located at the mouth of a small stream,
called Sesesmil by Col. Galindo, which empties into the Copan a little
higher up. This pueblo has greatly deteriorated in later times;
formerly both town and province were rich and prosperous. Indeed, in
the sixteenth century, in the revolt which broke out soon after the
first conquest, the cacique of Copan resisted the Spanish forces long
after the neighboring provinces had been subdued. Driven eventually to
his chief town, he opposed barricades and ditches to the advancing
foe, but was at last forced after a desperate struggle to yield to
Hernando de Chaves in 1530. It was formerly supposed that the place
where he made his brave stand against Chaves was identical with the
ancient city since called Copan, its ruin dating from its fall in
1530. It is now believed, however, that there was no connection
whatever between the two, and that, so far as the ruined city of
antiquity is concerned, history is absolutely silent. This conclusion
is based on the facts that Cortés in his famous march through Honduras
in 1524, although passing within a few leagues of this place, heard
nothing of so wonderful a city, as he could hardly have failed to do
had it been inhabited at the time; that there is not the slightest
resemblance between the ruined structures to be described in these
pages and the town besieged by Chaves as reported in the chronicles of
the period; and above all that the ruins are described by Palacio as
being very nearly in their present state, with nothing but the vaguest
traditions respecting their origin, only about forty years after the
fall of the brave cacique, the latter fact, however, not having been
known to those authors who have stated that Copan was inhabited at the
conquest.[III-12]
[Sidenote: EXPLORATION OF THE RUINS.]
This region has never been really explored with a view to the
discovery of ancient relics. The few visitors, of whose explorations I
give the history and bibliography in full in the annexed note,[III-13]
have found enough of the wonderful in the monuments known to exist
since the sixteenth century, without pushing their investigations back
into the dense and almost impenetrable forest away from the immediate
banks of the river. The difficulty attending antiquarian research in a
country where the whole surface is covered with so dense a growth that
progress in any direction is possible only foot by foot with the aid
of the native machete, may be imagined. A hot climate, a moist and
malarious atmosphere, venomous serpents and reptiles, myriads of
diminutive demons in the form of insects, all do most vigorous battle
against the advances of the foreign explorer, while the apathetic
natives, whether of American or Spanish blood, feel not the slightest
enthusiasm to unveil the mysterious works of the antiguos.
For what is known of Copan the world is indebted almost entirely to
the works of the American traveler, Mr John L. Stephens, and of his
most skilful artist-companion, Mr F. Catherwood;[III-14] and from the
works of these gentlemen, with the slight notes to be gleaned from
other sources, I proceed to give all that is known of what is commonly
termed the oldest city on the American continent. I will begin by
giving Juarros' description in full, since few or none of the objects
mentioned by him can be identified with any of those met in the
following pages. "In the year 1700, the Great Circus of Copan, still
remained entire. This was a circular space, surrounded by stone
pyramids about six yards high, and very well constructed; at the bases
of these pyramids were figures, both male and female, of very
excellent sculpture, which then retained the colours they had been
enamelled with; and, what was not less remarkable, the whole of them
were habited in the Castilian costume. In the middle of this area,
elevated above a flight of steps, was the place of sacrifice. The same
author (Fuentes) relates that, at a short distance from the Circus,
there was a portal constructed of stone, on the columns of which were
the figures of men, likewise represented in Spanish habits, with hose,
ruff round the neck, sword, cap, and short cloak. On entering the
gateway there are two fine stone pyramids, moderately large and lofty,
from which is suspended a hammock that contains two human figures, one
of each sex, clothed in the Indian style. Astonishment is forcibly
excited on viewing this structure, because, large as it is, there is
no appearance of the component parts being joined together; and,
although entirely of stone, and of an enormous weight, it may be put
in motion by the slightest impulse of the hand. Not far from this
hammock is the cave of Tibulca; this appears like a temple of great
size, hollowed out of the base of a hill, and adorned with columns
having bases, pedestals, capitals and crowns, all accurately adjusted
according to architectural principles; at the sides are numerous
windows faced with stone exquisitely wrought. All these circumstances
lead to a belief that there must have been some intercourse between
the inhabitants of the old and new world at very remote
periods."[III-15]
[Sidenote: EXTENT OF THE RUINS.]
The ruins are always spoken of as extending two miles along the bank
of the river; yet all the structures described or definitely located
by any visitor, are included in the much smaller area shown on Mr
Stephens' plan, with, however, the following exceptions: "A stone wall
with a circular building and a pit, apparently for a reservoir," is
found about a mile up the river; the quarry which supplied material
for all the structures and statues,--a soft grit interspersed with
hard flinty lumps,--is in a range of hills two miles north of the
river, where are scattered many blocks rejected by the ancient
workers, one being seen on the very top of the range, and another, the
largest noted, half-way between the quarry and its destination at the
ruins; Fuentes' wonderful cave of Tibulca is in the same range of
hills, and may be identical with the quarry, or, as Col. Galindo
thinks, with a natural cave in a mountain two leagues distant; one
monument is mentioned at a distance of a mile across the river on the
summit of a mountain two thousand feet high, but this does not appear
to have been visited; and finally, the natives reported to Mr
Hardcastle a causeway in the forest, several leagues in length. Yet
although so very little is known of outside monuments, there can be no
doubt that such exist, not improbably of great extent and interest;
since, although heaps of ruins and fragments are vaguely reported in
every direction, no attempt at a thorough examination has ever been
made or indeed could be, except by removing the whole forest by a
conflagration during the dry season.[III-16]
[Illustration: Temple of Copan.]
[Illustration: RUINS OF COPAN RESTORED]
The plan on the opposite page shows the ruins in their actual state,
according to Mr Stephens' survey, together with a restoration to what
seems to have been something like their original condition. The union
of the two effects in one plate is, I believe, a sufficient reason for
indulging to this extent in a fancy for restoration, justly condemned
by antiquarians as a rule.[III-17]
Returning then to the limits of the plan, we find portions of a wall,
_a_, _a_, _a_, which when entire, as indicated by the dotted lines,
seems to have enclosed a nearly rectangular area, measuring in general
terms 900 by 1600 feet. Whatever treasures of antiquity may be hid in
the depths of the forest, there can be but little doubt that this
enclosure embraced the leading structures or sacred edifices of the
ancient town. These walls would seem at least twenty-five feet thick
at the base, and are built, like all the Copan structures, of large
blocks of cut stone, of varying but not expressly stated dimensions.
They are built, in parts at least, in terraces or steps, and
painted. Only one authority speaks of the use of mortar.[III-18]
[Sidenote: THE GREAT TEMPLE.]
In the north-west corner of the enclosure, nearly filling its northern
half, is the chief structure which has been called the Temple. Its
dimensions are 624 feet north and south by 809 feet east and
west.[III-19] From the remains the Temple in its original state is
seen to have been an immense terrace, with sides sloped toward the
land but perpendicular on the river, on the platform of which were
both pyramidal elevations and sunken courts of regular rectangular
outlines. The river wall, _b_, _c_, rises perpendicularly to a
height, in its present ruined state, of from sixty to ninety feet, and
the annexed cut gives its appearance from the opposite side of the
river; but the original elevation of the terrace overlooking the
river, judging from portions still intact, was about a hundred feet,
some twenty-five or thirty feet of this elevation, at least at the
northern end, being, however, the height of the original bank above
the water; so that the terrace-platform of the whole Temple, _d_, _d_,
_d_, must have been about seventy feet above the surface of the
ground. The whole is built of cut stone in blocks a foot and a half
wide by three to six feet long, and, without taking into account the
excess of superimposed pyramids over sunken courts, must have required
in round numbers over twenty-six million cubic feet of stone in its
construction.[III-20]
The land sides on the north, east, and south, slope by steps of about
eighteen inches each to a height of from thirty to 140 feet according
as they are more or less fallen, extending also in some parts to the
general level of the terrace-platform, and in others reaching in one
incline to the top of the upper pyramids, E, E.[III-21] On the main
platform are two sunken rectangular courts, marked on the plan A and
B, whose floors or pavements seem to be about forty feet above the
surface of the ground, and thirty feet below the level of the terrace.
The court A is ninety by 144 feet, and ascends on all sides in regular
steps like a Roman amphitheatre. The west side ascends in two flights
each of fifteen steps, separated by a terrace twelve feet wide, to the
platform overlooking the river, on which, at _i_, are the ruins of
what were apparently two circular towers. From a point half-way up the
steps a passage or gallery _m_, _n_, just large enough to afford
passage to a crawling man, leads horizontally through to the face of
the river-wall, the opening in which, visible from the opposite bank,
has given to the ruins the name among the natives of Las Ventanas.
Just below the entrance to this gallery, at _o_, is a pit five feet
square, and seventeen feet deep, from the bottom of which a passage
leads into a vault five feet wide, ten feet long, and four feet high,
which, according to Col. Galindo's measurement, is twelve feet below
the pavement of the court; the opening into this pit, at _o_, seems
however to have been made by Galindo by excavation. The entrance to
the court A is by the passage-way, C, C, from the north, the floor of
which is on a level with that of the court. Similar steps lead up to
the river-terrace on the west, while the pyramid D on the east rises
to a height of 122 feet on the slope in steps or stages each six feet
high and nine feet wide. The passage-way is thirty feet wide and over
300 feet long, and it seems probable that a flight of steps originally
led up to the level of its entrance at _p_. The Court B is larger, but
its steps are nearly all fallen, and it is now only remarkable for its
altar, which will be described elsewhere.[III-22]
As I have said, all the steps and sides bear evident traces of having
been originally painted. The whole structure is enveloped in a dense
growth of shrubs and trees, which have been the chief agents in its
ruin, penetrating every crevice with their roots and thus forcing
apart the carefully laid superficial stones. Two immense ceiba-trees
over six feet in diameter, with roots spreading from fifty to one
hundred feet, are found on the summit of the lofty pyramid D.
[Sidenote: PYRAMIDS AT COPAN.]
Besides the temple, there are three small detached pyramids, I, F, G,
the former fifty feet square and thirty feet high, between the last
two of which there seems to have been a gateway, or entrance, to the
enclosure. There are moreover the terraced walls _v_, _v_, of the
plan, which require no additional description, but which extend for an
unknown distance eastward into the forest. There are also shapeless
heaps of fallen ruins scattered in every direction.[III-23]
[Illustration: Sandaled feet at Copan.]
[Sidenote: STATUES OR IDOLS.]
[Sidenote: SCULPTURED OBELISK.]
Next to the ruined Temple in importance, or even before it as an
indication of the artistic skill of its builders, are the carved
obelisks, statues, or idols, which are peculiar to this region, but
remarkably similar to each other. Fourteen of these are more or less
fully described, most of them standing and in good preservation, but
several of this number, and probably many besides, fallen and broken.
Their positions are shown on the plan by the numbers 1 to 14. It will
be noticed that only one is actually within the structure known as the
Temple, three standing at the foot of its outer terrace within the
quadrangle H, and the remainder in a group at the southern part of the
enclosure, two of the latter being at the foot of terraced walls.
These statues are remarkable for their size and for their complicated
and well-executed sculpture. Of the eight whose dimensions are given,
the smallest, No. 13, is eleven feet eight inches high, three feet
four inches wide and thick; and the largest, Nos. 2 and 3, are
thirteen feet high, four feet wide, and three feet thick. The material
is the same soft stone taken from the quarry which furnished the
blocks for building the walls. As to their position, Nos. 3, 11, and
13 face toward the east; Nos. 1, 5, and 9, toward the west; and No. 10
toward the north; the others are either fallen or their position is
not given. No. 1 is smaller at the bottom than at the top, and Col.
Galindo mentions two others, on hills east and west of the city, which
have a similar form; all the rest are of nearly uniform dimensions
throughout their length. Several rest on pedestals from six to seven
feet square, and No. 13 has also a circular stone foundation sixteen
feet in diameter. In each a human face occupies a central position on
the front, having in some instances something that may be intended to
represent a beard and moustache. The faces are remarkably uniform in
the expression of their features, generally calm and pleasant; but in
the case of No. 11 the partially open lips, and eye-balls starting
from their sockets, indicate a design on the part of the artist to
inspire terror in the beholder of his work. The hands rest in nearly
every instance back to back on the breast. The dress and decoration
seem to indicate that some were intended for males, others for
females; this and the presence or absence of beard are the only
indications of sex observable. The feet are mostly dressed in sandals,
as shown clearly in the cut from No. 7. Above and round the head is a
complicated mass of the most elaborate ornamentation, which utterly
defies verbal description. Mr Stephens notes something like an
elephant's trunk among the decorations of No. 8. The sides and usually
the backs are covered with hieroglyphics arranged in square tablets,
which probably contain, as all observers are impelled to believe, the
names, titles, and perhaps history of the beings whose images in stone
they serve to decorate. The backs of several, however, have other
figures in addition to the supposed hieroglyphics, as in No. 8, where
is a human form sitting cross-legged; and in No. 10, in which the
characters seem to be human in a variety of strange contortions,
although arranged in tablets like the rest; and No. 13 has a human
face in the centre of the back as well as front. The sculpture is all
in high relief, and was originally painted red, traces of the color
being well preserved in places protected from the action of the
weather. I give cuts of two of these carved obelisks, Nos. 3, and 6,
to illustrate as fully as possible the general appearance of these
most wonderful creations of American art, the details and full
beauties of which can only be appreciated in the large and finely
engraved plates of Catherwood.
[Illustration: Copan Statues.--No. 3.]
[Illustration: Copan Statues.--No. 6.]
[Illustration: Copan Altar.--No. 10.]
[Sidenote: SACRIFICIAL ALTARS.]
Standing from six to twelve feet in front of nine of the fourteen
statues, and probably of all in their primitive state, are found
blocks of stone which, apparently, can only have been employed for
making offerings or sacrifices in honor of the statues, whose use as
idols is rendered nearly certain by the uniform proximity of the
altars. The altars are six or seven feet square and four feet high,
taking a variety of forms, and being covered with sculpture somewhat
less elaborate than the statues themselves, often buried and much
defaced. Two of them, belonging to Nos. 10 and 7, are shown in the
accompanying cuts. The former is five and a half feet in diameter, and
three feet high, with two grooves in the top; the latter seven feet
square and four feet high, supposed to represent a death's head. The
top of the altar accompanying No. 9 is carved to represent the back of
a tortoise; that of No. 13 consists of three heads strangely grouped.
The grooves cut in the altars' upper surface are strongly suggestive
of flowing blood, and of slaughtered victims.[III-24]
[Illustration: Copan Altar.--No. 7.]
I will next mention the miscellaneous relics found in connection with
the ruins, beginning with the court A. The vault already spoken of,
whose entrance is at _o_, was undoubtedly intended for burial
purposes. Both on the floor of the vault and in two small niches at
its sides were found human bones, chiefly in vessels of red pottery,
which were over fifty in number. Lime was found spread over the floor
and mixed with human remains in the burial vases; also scattered on
the floor were oyster and periwinkle shells, cave stalactites,
sharp-edged and pointed knives of chaya stone, and three heads, one of
them "apparently representing death, its eyes being nearly shut, and
the lower features distorted; the back of the head symmetrically
perforated by holes; the whole of most exquisite workmanship, and cut
out or cast from a fine stone covered with green enamel." Another
head, very likely one of the other two found in this vault, its
locality, not, however, being specified, is two inches high, cut from
green and white jade, hollow behind, and pierced in several places,
probably for the introduction of a cord for its suspension. Its
individual character and artistic workmanship created in Col.
Galindo's mind the impression that it was customary with this people
to wear as ornaments the portraits of deceased friends.[III-25]
[Illustration: Colossal Head.]
Two thirds of the distance up the eastern steps at _u_, is the
colossal head of the cut, which is about six feet high. Two other
immense heads are overturned at the foot of the same slope; another is
half-way up the southern steps at w; while numerous fragments of
sculpture are scattered over the steps and pavement in every
direction. There are no idols or altars here, but six circular stones
from one foot and a half to three feet in diameter, found at the foot
of the western stairway of the passage C, C, may have supported idols
or columns originally.[III-26]
[Illustration: Altar in the Temple of Copan.]
[Sidenote: ALTAR OF THE TEMPLE.]
In the court B, the only relic beside the statue No. 1 is a remarkable
stone monument, generally termed an altar, at _x_. This is a solid
block of stone six feet square and four feet high, resting on four
globular stones, one under each corner. On the sides are carved
sixteen human figures in profile, four on each side. Each figure is
seated cross-legged on a kind of cushion which is apparently a
hieroglyphic, among whose characters in two or three cases the serpent
is observable. Each wears a breastplate, a head-dress like a
turban,--no two being, however, exactly alike--and holds in one hand
some object of unknown significance. The cut shows the north front of
the altar. The two central figures on this side sit facing each other,
with a tablet of hieroglyphics between them, and may readily be
imagined to represent two kings or chiefs engaged in a consultation on
important matters of state. According to Mr Stephens' text the other
fourteen figures are divided into two equal parties, each following
its leader. But the plates represent all those on the east and west
as facing the south, while those on the south look toward the west.
The top is covered with hieroglyphics in thirty-six squares, as shown
the cut on the preceding page. A peculiarity of this altar is that its
sculpture, unlike that of all the other monuments of Copan, is in low
relief.[III-27]
[Illustration: Hieroglyphics on the Copan Altar.]
[Illustration: Decorated Head at Copan.]
[Illustration: Death's Head at Copan.]
[Sidenote: MISCELLANEOUS RELICS.]
The head shown in the cut is one of the fragments lying on the ground
at the foot of the terraces that inclose the quadrangle H. On the
slopes of these terraces, particularly of the eastern slope of the
pyramid _e_, half-way from top to bottom, are rows of death's heads in
stone. It is suggested that they represent the skulls of apes rather
than of human beings, and that this animal, abundant in the country,
may have been an object of veneration among the ancient people. One of
the skulls is shown in the cut. The next cut pictures the head of an
alligator carved in stone, found among the group of idols towards the
south. Another is mentioned by Col. Galindo, as holding in its open
jaws a figure, half human, half beast. A gigantic toad, standing
erect, with human arms and tiger's claws, was another of the relics
discovered by the same explorer, together with round plain stones
pierced by a hole in the centre. Mr Davis talks of an architrave of
black granite finely cut; and M. Waldeck corrects a statement, in a
work by Balbi, that marble beds are to be found here. The portrait in
the cut is from the fragments found at the north-west corner of the
temple near _b_.[III-28]
[Illustration: Alligator's Head at Copan.]
[Illustration: Copan Portrait.]
[Sidenote: GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.]
Most of the general reflections and speculations on Copan indulged in
by observers and students refer to other ruined cities in connection
with this, and will be noted in a future chapter. It is to be remarked
that besides pyramids and terraced walls, no traces whatever of
buildings, public or private, remain to guide us in determining the
material or style of architecture affected by the former people of
this region. The absence of all traces of private dwellings we shall
find universal throughout America, such structures having evidently
been constructed of perishable materials; but among the more notable
ruins of the Pacific States, Copan stands almost alone in its total
lack of covered edifices. There would seem to be much reason for the
belief that here grand temples of wood once covered these mighty
mounds, which, decaying, have left no trace of their former grandeur.
Col. Galindo states that the method of forming a roof here was by
means of large inclined stones. If this be a fact, it must have been
ascertained from the sepulchral vault in the temple court, concerning
the construction of which both he and Stephens are silent. The top of
the gallery leading through the river-wall would indicate a method of
construction by means of over-lapping blocks, which we shall find
employed exclusively in Yucatan and Chiapas. No article of any metal
whatever has been found; yet as only one burial deposit has been
opened, it is by no means certain that gold or copper ornaments were
not employed. That iron and steel were not used for cutting
implements, is clearly proved by the fact that hard flinty spots in
the soft stone of the statues are left uncut, in some instances where
they interfere with the details of the sculpture. Indeed, the
chay-stone points found among the ruins are sufficiently hard to work
the soft material, and although in some cases they seem to have
required the use of metal in their own making, yet when we consider
the well-known skill of even the most savage tribes in the manufacture
of flint weapons and implements, the difficulty becomes of little
weight. How the immense blocks of stone of which the obelisks were
formed, were transported from the quarry, several miles distant,
without the mechanical aids that would not be likely to exist prior to
the use of iron, can only be conjectured.
The absence of all implements of a warlike nature, extending even to
the sculptured decorations of idol and altar, would seem to indicate a
population quiet and peaceable rather than warlike and aggressive; for
though it has been suggested that implements of war are not found here
simply because it is a place sacred to religion, yet it does not
appear that any ancient people has ever drawn so closely the line
between the gods of war and the other divinities of the
pantheon.[III-29]
Of the great artistic merit of the sculpture, particularly if executed
without tools of metal, there can be no question. Mr Stephens, well
qualified by personal observation to make the comparison, pronounces
some of the specimens "equal to the finest Egyptian sculpture."[III-30]
Mr Foster believes the flattened forehead of the human profile on the
altar-sides to indicate a similar cranial conformation in the builders
of the city.[III-31]
With respect to the hieroglyphics all that can be said is mere
conjecture, since no living person even claims the ability to decipher
their meaning. They have nothing in common with the Aztec
picture-writing, which, consequently, affords no aid in their study.
The characters do, however, appear similar to, if not identical with,
some of those found at Palenque, in Yucatan, in the Dresden Codex, and
in the Manuscript Troano. When the disciples of Brasseur de Bourbourg
shall succeed in realizing his expectations respecting the latter
document, by means of the Landa alphabet, we may expect the mystery to
be partially lifted from Copan. It is hard to resist the belief that
these tablets hold locked up in their mystic characters the history of
the ruined city and its people, or the hope that the key to their
significance may yet be brought to light; still, in the absence of a
contemporary written language, the hope must be allowed to rest on a
very unsubstantial basis.[III-32]
[Sidenote: ORIGIN OF THE RUINS.]
Concerning the age and origin of the Copan monuments, as distinguished
from other American antiquities, there are few or no facts on which to
base an opinion. The growth of trees on the works, and the
accumulation of vegetable material can in this tropical climate yield
but very unsatisfactory results in this direction. Copan is, however,
generally considered the oldest of American cities; but I leave for
the present the matter of comparison with more northern relics.
Palacio claims to have found among the people a tradition of a great
lord who came from Yucatan, built the city of Copan, and after some
years returned and left the newly built town desolate; a tradition
which he inclines to believe, because he says the same language is
understood in both regions, and he had heard of similar monuments in
Yucatan and Tabasco. Among the inhabitants of the region in later
times, there is no difference of opinion whatever with respect to the
origin of the ruins or their builders; they are unanimous in their
adherence to the 'quien sabe' theory.
FOOTNOTES:
[III-1] _Squier's Cent. Amer._, p. 341; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp.
123-4.
[III-2] 'Hier sollen sich gleichfalls noch ununtersuchte interessante
indianische Monumente finden.' _Reichardt_, _Cent. Amer._, p. 83.
'Nothing positive is known concerning them.' _Squier's Cent. Amer._,
p. 341. Hassel says they are the remains of the old Indian town of
Zacualpa. _Mex. Guat._, p. 368.
[III-3] _Squier's Nicaragua_, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 335.
[III-4] _Young's Narrative_, p. 48. Mr Young also saw, but does not
describe, several 'curious things' besides these chairs where once the
antiguos seated, perhaps, their gods of stone.
[III-5] _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 182. 'I understand the adjacent
island, Roatan, exhibits yet more proofs of having been inhabited by
an uncivilized race.' _Young's Narrative_, p. 48. 'Jusqu'à ce jour on
n'y a découvert aucune ruine importante; mais les débris de poterie et
de pierre sculptée qu'on a trouvés ensevelis dans ses forêts,
suffisent pour prouver qu'elle n'était pas plus que les autres régions
environnantes privée des bienfaits de la civilisation.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iv., pp. 612-3.
[III-6] _Wells' Explor. Hond._, p. 553. Sivers, _Mittelamerika_, pp.
166-7, without reference to any particular locality, mentions pottery
as frequently found in graves and among ruins, including pipe-heads,
cigar-holders, drinking-cups, sacrificial vessels, and jugs.
[III-7] _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 132-3; _Scherzer's Trav._, vol.
ii., p. 95; _Id._, _Wanderungen_, p. 371; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._,
p. 310; _Harper's Mag._, vol. xix., p. 610, with a cut of the
mastodon's tooth.
[III-8] _Visit to the Guajiquero Ind._, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xix.,
pp. 608-11. For account of the Dresden _MS._, see vol. ii. of this
work.
[III-9] _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 134-9; _Scherzer's Trav._, vol.
ii., pp. 95; _Id._, _Wanderungen_, p. 371; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u.
Stat._, p. 310.
[III-10] _Atlantic Monthly_, vol. vi., p. 49. Las Casas has the
following on the province of Honduras at the time of the conquest:
'Tenia Pueblos innumerables, y una vega de treinta leguas y mas, toda
muy poblada ... la ciudad de Naco que tenia sobre dos cientas mil
animas, y muchos edificios de piedra, en especial los templos en que
adoraban.' _Hist. Apologética_, _MS._, cap. lii.
[III-11] On the north bank of the Copan, in latitude 14° 45´,
longitude 90° 52´, four leagues east of the Guatemalan line, twenty
leagues above the junction of the Motagua, which is sixty-five leagues
from the bay. _Galindo_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii.,
pp. 547-50. Latitude 14° 39´, longitude 91° 13´ west of Paris; six
hundred and forty mètres above the sea level; forty-five leagues from
San Salvador, fifty-eight leagues from Guatemala. _Id._, in _Antiq.
Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 76. 'Thirty miles east of Chiquimula.'
_Cyclopedia._ Three hundred miles from the sea, (perhaps by the
windings of the stream). By reason of accidental injury to the
instruments the latitude and longitude could not be obtained. Situated
on the east bank of the stream according to plan. _Stephens' Cent.
Amer._, vol. i., p. 132. 'Until lately erroneously located in
Guatemala, are many miles within the boundaries of Honduras, and but a
few days' travel from the original landing-place of the Spanish
discoverers.' _Wells' Explor. Hond._, p. 552. Not to be confounded
with Coban, metropolis of Vera Paz, one hundred and fifty miles west
of Copan. _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p.
5.
[III-12] 'Copan was a colony of Tultecos.' 'The Spaniards found Copan
inhabited, and in the summit of its perfection.' _Galindo_, in _Amer.
Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., pp. 546, 549. On the expedition of
Cortés referred to, see _Alaman_, _Disertaciones_, tom. i., pp.
203-25; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yucathan_, pp. 45-58; _Cortés_, _Cartas_,
pp. 396-492; _Gomara_, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 245-74; _Herrera_, _Hist.
Gen._, dec. iii., lib. vii., cap. viii., to lib. viii., cap. vii.;
_Peter Martyr_, dec. viii., lib. x.; _Prescott's Mex._, vol. iii., pp.
278-99; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 588; _Villagutierre_,
_Hist. Conq. Itza_, pp. 39-50; _Helps' Span. Conq._, vol. iii., pp.
33-57. Stephens seems to be in some doubt as to the identity of
ancient and modern Copan, there being 'circumstances which seem to
indicate that the city referred to was inferior in strength and
solidity of construction, and of more modern origin.' _Cent. Amer._,
vol. i., pp. 99-101. 'The ruins of the city of that name and their
position do not at all agree with the localities of the severe battle
which decided the contest.' 'There is every appearance of these places
(Copan and Quirigua) having been abandoned long before the Spanish
conquest.' _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p.
171. 'Whatever doubts may have existed on the Subject, and as regards
the high antiquity of the Ruins of Copan ... they are set at Rest by
this Account of Palacio. They were evidently very nearly in their
present Condition, at the Time he wrote, three hundred Years ago.'
_Squier's Pref._ to _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 9. 'Certain it is that the
latter was a ruin long before the arrival of the Spaniards.' _Squier's
Cent. Amer._, p. 345.
[III-13] The Licenciado Diego García de Palacio, Oidor (Justice, not
Auditor) of the Real Audiencia of Guatemala, in accordance with the
duties of his office, traveled extensively in Guatemala and adjoining
provinces, embodying the results of his observations on countries and
peoples visited in a relation to King Felipe II. of Spain, dated March
8, 1576, which document is preserved in the celebrated Muñoz
collection of MSS. It contains a description of the ruins of Copan
which exists in print as follows; _Palacio_, _Relacion_, in _Pacheco_,
_Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., pp. 37-9; _Palacio_, _Carta dirijida al
Rey_, Albany, 1860, pp. 88-96, including an English translation by E.
G. Squier; _Palacios_, _Description_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Recueil
de Doc._, pp. 42-4, which is a somewhat faulty French translation;
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 38-40; _Squier's
Cent. Amer._, pp. 242-4; and it is mentioned by Señor J. B. Muñoz in a
report on American antiquities, written as early as 1785, of which a
translation is given in _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Palenqué_, pp. 7-8;
Herrera, _Hist. Gen._, quotes, or rather takes from, Palacio's
relation extensively, but omits the portion touching Copan. This first
account of the ruins is by no means the worst that has been written.
Although naturally incomplete, it is evidently a bona-fide description
by an actual visitor, written at a time when the ruins were very
nearly in their present condition, and their origin wrapped in
mystery, although the stirring events of 1530 were yet comparatively
fresh in the memory of the natives. The next account is that in
_Fuentes y Guzman_, _Recopilacion Flórida de la Historia del Reino de
Guatemala_, _MS._, 1689. This work was never printed, although said to
be in preparation for the press in 1856. _Ximenez_, _Hist. Ind.
Guat._, p. vii. Fuentes' description of Copan was, however, given to
the public in 1808, in _Juarros_, _Compendio de la Hist. de la Ciudad
de Guatemala_, a work translated into English in 1823, under the title
of _A Statistical and Commercial Hist. of the Kingdom of Guatemala_.
From Juarros the account is taken by many writers, none, so far as I
know, having quoted Fuentes in the original. Where the latter obtained
his information is not known. His account is brief, and justly termed
by Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Palenqué_, p. 14., 'la description menteuse
de Fuentes,' since nothing like the relics therein mentioned have been
found in later times. Yet it is possible that the original was
mutilated in passing through Juarros' hands. This description, given
in full in my text, is repeated more or less fully in _Stephens' Cent.
Amer._, vol. i., p. 131; _Warden_, _Recherches_, p. 71; _Conder's Mex.
Guat._, vol. ii., pp. 299-300; _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._,
tom. vi., pp. 470-1; _Humboldt_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1827, tom. xxxv., p. 329; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, pp. 385-6; _Cortés_,
_Adventuras_, p. 321, and in many other works mentioned in connection
with matter from later sources. Next we have the exploration of
Colonel Juan Galindo, an officer in the Central American service,
sometime governor of the province of Peten, made in April, 1835. An
account of his observations was forwarded to the Société de Géographie
of Paris, and published in the _Bulletin_ of that Society, and also in
the _Literary Gazette_ of London. A communication on the subject was
also published in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., pp.
545-50; and the information furnished to the French Geographical
Society was published en résumé in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii.,
pp. 73, 76. Ten drawings accompanied Galindo's report, but have never
been published, although the author announced the intention of the
Central American government to publish his report in full with plates.
He says, 'je suis le seul qui ait examiné les ruines de Copan, et qui
en ait fait la relation,' but he knew nothing of Palacio's visit. 'Not
being an artist, his account is necessarily unsatisfactory and
imperfect, but it is not exaggerated.' _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol.
i., p. 132. 'Had an enquiring mind, but a very superficial Education.'
_Squier's Pref._ to _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 8. Most of Galindo's
account is also given with that of Juarros, in _Bradford's Amer.
Antiq._, pp. 96-9; also some information from the same source in
_Brownell's Ind. Races_, p. 52, and in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et
Guat._, p. 267. In 1839 Messrs Stephens and Catherwood visited Copan.
Mr Stephens, as I find by a careful examination of his book, spent
thirteen days in his survey, namely, from November 17 to 30; while Mr
Catherwood spent the larger part of another month in completing his
drawings. The results of their labors appeared in 1841 and 1844 under
the titles:--_Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Central America_, vol.
i., pp. 95-160, with twenty-one plates and seven cuts; _Catherwood's
Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America_, in folio, with large
lithographic plates. Slight descriptions of the ruins, made up chiefly
from Stephens, may be found as follows:--_Helps' Span. Conq._, vol.
iii., pp. 54-5; _Willson's Amer. Hist._, pp. 76-9, with plan and cut;
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 64-74, 57, with
plan and plates; _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, pp. 57-69, 116; _Davis'
Antiq. Amer._, pp. 4-5; _Id._, (Ed. 1847,) p. 30; _Dally_, _Races
Indig._, pp. 12-13; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 111-14, with cut;
_Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 308; _Tiedemann_, _Heidelb. Yahrb._,
1851, p. 85; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl. 9-12, the text being
from Galindo and Juarros; _Reichardt_, _Cent. Amer._, pp. 91-2;
_Amérique Centrale_, _Colonization_, pt. ii., p. 68; _Müller_,
_Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 462-4, 483; _Macgregor's Progress of
Amer._, pp. 877-8; _Frost's Great Cities of the World_, pp. 279-82,
with cut. Dr Scherzer in 1856 started to explore Copan, but, owing to
the political state of the country at the time, was unable to get
nearer than Santa Rosa, where the padre said moreover that recent
land-slides had much injured the effect of the ruins. This author
gives, however, a brief account made up from Stephens, Galindo, and
Juarros. _Scherzer's Trav._, vol. ii., pp. 41, 86-7, 94-5. _Id._,
_Wanderungen_, pp. 332, 366, 371. In September, 1856, the Jesuit Padre
Cornette is said to have visited the ruins; M. César Daly, at a date
not mentioned, prepared on the spot plans and drawings of the
different structures which he intended to publish in the _Revue
Générale de l'Architecture_, but whether or not they have ever
appeared, I know not; the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg made two visits
to Copan in 1863 and 1866; some slight additional information on the
subject was communicated by Mr Center, on authority not given, at a
meeting of the American Ethnological Society in February, 1860; and Mr
Hardcastle, who had spent several weeks in exploring the ruins,
furnished some farther notes at a meeting of the same society in
April, 1862; and, finally, photographs were made of the ruins by M.
Ellerly, director of the Alotepeque silver-mines. But these later
explorations have not as yet afforded the public much information,
except that the photographs mentioned, when compared by Brasseur de
Bourbourg with Catherwood's plates, show the latter as well as
Stephens' descriptions to be strictly accurate. _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 96, tom. ii., p. 493;
_Id._, _Palenqué_, pp. 8, 17; _Hist. Mag._, vol. v., p. 114, vol. vi.,
p. 154.
[III-14] The only unfavorable criticism of Mr Stephens' work within my
knowledge, is that 'the Soul of History is wanting!' 'The Promethean
spark by which the flame of historic truth should illuminate his work,
and be viewed as a gleaming beacon from afar, to direct wanderers
through the dark night of wonders, has found no spot to rest upon and
to vivify!' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 55. And we may thank heaven
for the fault when we consider the effects of the said 'Promethean
spark' in the work of the immortal Jones.
[III-15] _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, pp. 56-7. That any such structure as
the rocking hammock ever existed here is in the highest degree
improbable; yet the padre at Gualan told Stephens that he had seen it,
and an Indian had heard it spoken of by his grandfather. _Stephens'
Cent. Amer._, vol. i., p. 144.
[III-16] 'The extent along the river, ascertained by monuments still
found, is more than two miles.' 'Beyond the wall of enclosure were
walls, terraces, and pyramidal elevations running off into the
forest.' _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 133, 139, 146-7.
'Extended along the bank of its river a length of two miles, as
evidenced by the remains of its fallen edifices.' 'Mounts of stone,
formed by fallen edifices, are found throughout the neighbouring
country.' _Galindo_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., pp.
547, 549-50. 'La carrière ... est à 2000 mètres au nord.' 'Là se
trouve beaucoup de bois de sapin pétrifié.' _Id._, in _Antiq. Mex._,
tom. i., div. ii., p. 76. 'The ground, being covered with ruins for
many square miles, and much overgrown by a rank vegetation, would
require months for a thorough examination.' 'No remains whatever on
the opposite side of the river.' _Hardcastle_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol.
vi., p. 154. 'Les plaines de Chapulco s'étendent entre Copan et le
pied des montagnes de Chiquimula. Elles sont couvertes de magnifiques
ruines.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 105.
[III-17] Plan in _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., p. 133, reproduced
in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 57; and in
_Willson's Amer. Hist._, p. 76. Galindo's drawings also included a
plan. By reason of the disagreement between Stephens' plan and text in
the matter of dimensions, I have omitted the scale as useless. The
southern wall of the enclosure, to accommodate the size of my page, I
have placed some two hundred feet north of its true position. Those
portions of the temple shaded by cross-lines are the portions still
standing according to the survey.
[III-18] The southern wall in one place rises 30 or 40 feet in steps.
_Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., p. 134. 'One wall eighty feet high
and fifty feet thick for half its height, or more, and then sloping
like a roof, was formed of stones often six feet by three or four,
with mortar in the interstices.' _Hardcastle_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol.
vi., p. 154. Mr Center 'mentioned a Cyclopean wall ... undescribed in
any publication, but reported to him by most credible witnesses, about
800 feet long, 40 feet high, ---- feet thick, formed of immense hewn
stone.' _Hist. Mag._, vol. v., p. 114. Stones 'cut into blocks.'
_Galindo_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., p. 549. Before
reaching the ruins 'está señal de paredes gruesas.' _Palacio_, in
_Pacheco_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., p. 37.
[III-19] According to Stephens' text, which states that the river or
west side is 624 feet, and the whole line of survey, which cannot in
this case mean anything but the circumference, is 2866 feet, thus
leaving 809 feet each for the northern and southern sides. His plan,
and consequently my own, makes the dimensions about 790 feet north and
south by 600 east and west, the circuit being thus 2780 feet. 'Not so
large as the base of the great Pyramid of Ghizeh.' _Stephens' Cent.
Amer._, vol. i., pp. 133. Galindo, _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._,
vol. ii., p. 547, makes the dimensions 750 feet east and west (He
calls it north and south, but on the supposition that the ruins are on
the north bank of the river instead of the east) by 600 feet north and
south, a circumference of 2700 feet; or if his measurements be
understood to be Spanish, their English equivalent would be about 690
by 552 feet, circuit 2484 feet. The same author, _Antiq. Mex._, tom.
i., div. ii., p. 76, gives 653 by 524, and 2354 feet; or if French
measure be understood, its equivalent is 696 by 588, and 2568 feet. As
large as Saint Peter's at Rome. _Davis' Antiq. of Amer._, pp. 4-5.
[III-20] 'Broad terrace one hundred feet high, overlooking the river,
and supported by the wall which we had seen from the opposite bank,'
cut showing a view of this wall from across the river. _Stephens'
Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 104, 95-6, 139. Same cut in _Baldwin's Anc.
Amer._, p. 112. 'Built perpendicularly from the bank of the river, to
a height, as it at present exists, of more than forty yards.'
_Galindo_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., p. 547. 'Una
torre ó terrapleno alto, que cae sobre el rio que por allé pasa.' 'Hay
una escalera que baja hasta el rio por muchas gradas.' _Palacio_, in
_Pacheco_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., p. 38. 'The city-wall on the
river-side, with its raised bank, ... must then have ranged from one
hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty feet in height' in
imitation of ancient Tyre, the only city of antiquity with so high a
wall on a river-bank. _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, pp. 63, 161-2.
[III-21] At the south-west corner a recess is mentioned which Mr
Stephens believes to have been occupied by some large monument now
fallen and washed away. _Cent. Amer._, vol. i., p. 134.
[III-22] This court may have been Fuentes' circus, although the latter
is represented as having been circular. The terrace between it and the
river is stated by Stephens to be only 20 feet wide; according to the
plan it is at least 50 feet. _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp.
142-4, 133, 140. The pavement of the court is 20 yards above the
river; the gallery through the terrace is 4 feet high and 2½ feet
wide; the vault below the court is 5½ by 10 by 6 feet, its length
running north and south with 9° variation of the compass. _Galindo_,
in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., p. 547. 'Una plaza muy
bien fecha, con sus gradas á la forma que escriben del Coliseo romano,
y por algunas partes tiene ochenta gradas, enlosada, y labrada por
cierto en partes de muy buena piedra é con harto primor.' The
river-wall 'háse caido y derrumbado un gran pedazo, y en lo caido se
descubrieron dos cuevas debajo del dicho edificio,' a statement that
may possibly refer to the gallery and vault. _Palacio_, in _Pacheco_,
_Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., pp. 37-8.
[III-23] 'There was no entire pyramid, but, at most, two or three
pyramidal sides, and these joined on to terraces or other structures
of the same kind.' _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., p. 139. The
author intends to speak perhaps of the Temple only, but Mr Jones
applies the words to Copan in general, and considers them a flat
contradiction of the statement respecting the three detached pyramids.
_Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 63. 'Les édifices sont tous tombés et ne
montrent plus que des monceaux de pierres.' _Galindo_, in _Antiq.
Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 73. 'Several hills, thirty or forty feet
in height, and supporting ruins, appeared to have been themselves
entirely built of stone.' _Hardcastle_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vi., p.
154. 'Unas ruinas y vestigios de gran poblazon, y de soberbios
edificios.' 'Hay montes que parecen haber sido fechos á manos.'
_Palacio_, in _Pacheco_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., p. 37. The
latter sentence is incorrectly translated by M. Ternaux-Compans, 'il y
a des arbres que paraissent avoir été plantés de main d'homme.'
_Recueil de Doc._, p. 42. Mr Squier makes the same error: 'Trees which
appear to have been planted by the hands of men.' Translation of
_Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 91.
[III-24] See _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 140, 138, 136-7,
134, 149, 158, 157, 156, 155, 153, 152, 150, 151, for description of
the statues in their order from 1 to 14, with plates of all but 4, 6,
and 12, showing the altars of 7, 10, and 13. Plates of 3, 5, 10, and
13 are copied from Stephens in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl.
ix-xi.; and of No. 13, from the same source, in _Nouvelles Annales des
Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 57. We have already seen the idea of
Fuentes respecting these statues, clad in Spanish habits; that of the
Licenciado Palacio is as follows: 'Una estátua grande, de más que
quatro varas de alto, labrada como un obispo vestido de pontificial,
con su mitra bien labrada y anillos en las manos.' In the plaza, which
would seem to be the court A, where no statues were found by Stephens,
were 'seis estátuas grandísimas, las tres de hombres armados á lo
mosáico, con liga gambas, é sembradas muchas labores por las armas; y
las otras dos de mujeres con buen ropaje largo y tocaduras á lo
romano; la otra, es de obispo, que parece tener en las manos un bulto,
como cofrecito; decian ser de idolos, porque delante de cada una
dellas habia una piedra grande, que tenia fecha una pileta con su
sumidero, donde degollaban los sacrificados y corria la sangre.'
_Palacio_, in _Pacheco_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., pp. 37-8.
Galindo says 'there are seven obelisks still standing and entire, in
the temple and its immediate vicinity; and there are numerous others,
fallen and destroyed, throughout the ruins of the city. These stone
columns are ten or eleven feet high, and about three broad, with a
less thickness; on one side were worked, in _basso-relievo_, (Stephens
states, on the contrary, that all are cut in _alto-relievo_) human
figures, standing square to the front, with their hands resting on
their breast; they are dressed with caps on their heads, and sandals
on their feet, and clothed in highly adorned garments, generally
reaching half way down the thigh, but sometimes in long pantaloons.
Opposite this figure, at a distance of three or four yards, was
commonly placed a stone table or altar. The back and sides of the
obelisk generally contain phonetic hieroglyphics in squares. Hard and
fine stones are inserted (naturally?) in many obelisks, as they, as
well as the rest of the works in the ruins, are of a species of soft
stone, which is found in a neighbouring and most extensive quarry.'
_Galindo_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., p. 548; and in
_Bradford's Amer. Antiq._, p. 97. A bust 1m., 68 high, belonging to a
statue fifteen to twenty feet high. _Galindo_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom.
i., div. ii., p. 76. Pillars so loaded with attributes that some
scrutiny is required to discover from the head in the centre that they
represent a human form. An altar not infrequently found beside them
would, if necessary, show their use. They are sun-pillars, such as are
found everywhere in connection with an ancient sun-religion. _Müller_,
_Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 464.
[III-25] _Galindo_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., pp.
547-8; _Id._, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 73,
supplementary pl. vii., fig. 14. This head bears a remarkable
resemblance to one given by Humboldt as coming from New Granada, shown
in fig. 13, of the same plate. Stephens, _Cent. Amer._, vol. i., p.
144, gives the dimensions of the two niches as 1 foot 8 in. by 1 foot
9 in. by 2 feet 5 in.; the relics having been removed before his
visit.
[III-26] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 103-4, 142-3, with cut.
Cut also in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl. x.
[III-27] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 140-2, with plates;
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 57, 67-8. Plate.
Mention of the altar with a comparison of the cross-legged chiefs to
certain ornaments of Xochicalco. _Tylor's Anahuac_, p. 190. The altar
is described by Galindo as a very remarkable stone table in the
temple, 'two feet four inches high, and four feet ten inches square;
its top contains forty-nine square tablets of hieroglyphics; and its
four sides are occupied by sixteen human figures in _basso-relievo_,
sitting cross-legged, on cushions carved in the stone, and bearing
each in their hands something like a fan or flapper.' _Amer. Antiq.
Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., p. 548. To Mr Jones, possessed as that
gentleman is with the 'Soul of History,' this altar is the
'Rosetta-stone' of American antiquity. The four supporting stones are
eggs; serpents occur in the ornaments; the objects held in the hands
of the lesser personages of the sides are spiral shells; the figures
are seated cross-legged, or in the oriental style; one chief holds a
sceptre, the other none. Now these interpretations are important to
the author, since he claims that the _serpent_ was the good demon of
the Tyrians; a serpent entwining an _egg_ is seen on Tyrian coins; the
_spiral shell_ was also put on Tyrian medals in honor of the discovery
of the famous purple; the style of sitting is one practiced in Tyre;
the chief representing Tyre holds no sceptre, because Tyre had ceased
to be a nation at the time of the event designed to commemorate. The
conclusion is clear: the altar was built in commemoration of an act of
friendship between Tyre and Sidon, by which act the people of the
former nation were enabled to migrate to America! _Jones' Hist. Anc.
Amer._, pp. 65-6, 156-62. More of this in a future treatise on origin.
[III-28] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 134-9, 156; _Galindo_,
in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. ii., pp. 548-9; _Id._, in
_Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 76; _Davis' Antiq. Amer._, pp.
4-5; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 68-9. Palacio's miscellaneous relics
are, a large stone in the form of an eagle with a tablet of
hieroglyphics a vara long on its breast; a stone cross three palms
high, with a broken arm; and a supposed baptismal font in the plaza.
_Relacion_, in _Pacheco_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., p. 38.
[III-29] _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 67; _Stephens' Cent. Amer._,
vol. i., p. 142; _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, p. 197.
[III-30] _Cent. Amer._, vol. i., pp. 102-3, 151. 'La sculpture
monumentale des ruines de Copan peut rivaliser avec quelques produits
similaires de l'Orient et de l'Occident européens. Mais la conception
de ces monuments, l'originalité de leur ornementation suffit à plus
d'un esprit pour éloigner toute idée d'origine commune.' _Dally_,
_Races Indig._, p. 13.
[III-31] 'We have this type of skull delineated by artists who had the
skill to portray the features of their race. These artists would not
select the most holy of places as the groundwork of their caricatures.
This form, then, pertained to the most exalted personages.' _Foster's
Pre-Hist. Races_, pp. 302, 338-9.
[III-32] 'The hieroglyphics displayed upon the walls of Copan, in
horizontal or perpendicular rows, would indicate a written language in
which the pictorial significance had largely disappeared, and a kind
of word-writing had become predominant. Intermingled with the
pictorial devices are apparently purely arbitrary characters which may
be alphabetic.' _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, p. 322. They are
conjectured to recount the adventures of Topiltzin-Acxitl, a Toltec
king who came from Anáhuac and founded an empire in Honduras, or
Tlapallan, at the end of the eleventh century. _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 101-2. Like those of
Palenque, and some characters of the Dresden MS. _Squier's Pref._ to
_Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 10. 'No he hallado libros de sus antigüedades,
ni creo que en todo este distrito hay más que uno, que yo tengo.'
_Palacio_, in _Pacheco_, _Col. Doc. Inéd._, tom. vi., p. 39. I have no
idea what this one book spoken of may have been. The characters are
apparently hieroglyphics, 'but to us they are altogether
unintelligible.' _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol.
i., pp. 55-6, 66.