spent several months in an examination of Yucatan ruins, confining his
attention to Chichen Itza and Uxmal. He had with him a daguerreotype
apparatus, and with its aid prepared many careful drawings. As to the
date of his visit it probably preceded those of Norman and Stephens,
since a letter by him, written while on his return to Europe, is dated
April 21, 1841. This letter is printed in the _Registro Yucateco_,
tom. ii., pp. 437-43, and in the _Dicc. Univ._, tom. x., pp. 290-3. It
contains a very slight general account of the ruins, which are spoken
of as 'hasta hoy desconocidas,' with much rambling speculation on
their origin. On his arrival in Europe Friederichsthal was introduced
by Humboldt to the Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres,
before which society he read a paper on his discoveries on October 1,
1841, which paper was furnished by the author for the _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 297-314, where it was
published under the title of _Les Monuments de l'Yucatan_. The author
proceeded to Vienna where he intended to publish a large work with his
drawings, a work that so far as I know has never seen the light. 'M.
de Friederichsthal a souvent été inquiété dans ses recherches; les
ignorants, les superstitieux, les niais les regardaient comme
dangereuses au pays.' _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii.,
p. 304.
In 1858 M. Désiré Charnay visited Izamal, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal,
taking with him a photographic apparatus. He succeeded in obtaining
perfect views of many of the buildings, which were published under the
title _Cités et Ruines Américaines_, Paris, 1863, in large folio. The
text of the work is in octavo form and includes a long introduction by
M. Viollet-le-Duc, French Government Architect, occupied chiefly with
speculation and theories rather than descriptions. Charnay's part of
the text, although a most interesting journal of travels, is very
brief in its descriptions, the author wisely referring the reader to
the photographs, which are invaluable as tests of the correctness of
drawings made by other artists both in Yucatan and elsewhere.
See also a general notice of the ruins in _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._,
pp. 176-7, and in _Gottfriedt_, _Newe Welt_, p. 611; full account in
_Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 125-50, from Stephens; and brief accounts,
made up from the modern explorers, in _Mayer's Mex. Aztec, etc._, vol.
ii., pp. 171-3, with cut of an idol from Catherwood; _Prichard's
Researches_, vol. v., pp. 346-8; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp.
147, 191-5, 269-72; _Dally_, _Races Indig._, pp. 14-15; _Warden_,
_Recherches_, pp. 68-9; _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom.
xcvii., pp. 36-50, from old Spanish authorities; _Müller_,
_Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 460, 462; _Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_,
tom. ii., pt. i., p. 12; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 267; _Wappäus_,
_Geog. u. Stat._, pp. 144, 247; _Baril_, _Mexique_, pp. 128-30;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 20-31;
_Davis' Antiq. Amer._, pp. 512-30; _Id._, Ed. 1847, p. 31;
_Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pp. 320-8; _Mex. in 1842_, p. 75;
_Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, pp. 227, 242-7, 303-4.
[V-3] The best map of Yucatan, showing not only the country's
geographical features, but the location of all its ruins, is the
_Carte du Yucatan et des régions voisines_, compiled by M. Malte-Brun
from the works of Owen, Barnett, Lawrence, Kiepert, García y Cubas,
Stephens, and Waldeck, and published in _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Palenqué_, Paris, 1866, pl. i., ii.
[V-4] Fray Diego Lopez Cogolludo visited Uxmal at some time before the
middle of the seventeenth century, and describes the ruins to some
extent in his _Historia de Yucathan_, Mad., 1688, pp. 176-7, 193-4,
197-8. Padre Thomas de Soza, about 1786, reported to Antonio del Rio
stone edifices covered with stucco ornaments, known by the natives as
Oxmutal, with statues of men beating drums and dancing with palms in
their hands, which he had seen in his travels in Yucatan, and which
are thought to be perhaps identical with Uxmal, although the monuments
are reported as being located twenty leagues south of Mérida and may
be quite as reasonably identified with some other group. _Rio's
Description_, pp. 6-7. Zavala's visit to Uxmal at some date previous
to 1834 has already been spoken of in note 2. His account is called
_Notice sur les Monuments d'Ushmal_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div.
ii., pp. 33-5. M. de Waldeck left Mérida for Uxmal on May 6, 1835,
arrived at the ruins on May 12, where he spent some eight days, and
was interrupted in his work by the rainy season. _Waldeck_, _Voy.
Pitt._, pp. 67-74, 93-104, and plates. Mr Stephens had Waldeck's work
with him at the time of his second visit. He says, _Yucatan_, vol. i.,
p. 297, 'It will be found that our plans and drawings differ
materially from his, but Mr Waldeck was not an architectural
draughtsman;' yet the difference is only to be noted in a few plates,
and is not so material as Mr Stephens' words would imply. Still, where
differences exist, I give Mr Stephens the preference, because, having
his predecessor's drawings, his attention would naturally be called to
all the points of Waldeck's survey. Mr Stephens says further, 'It is
proper to say, moreover, that Mr Waldeck had much greater difficulties
to encounter than we, ... besides, he is justly entitled to the full
credit of being the first stranger who visited these ruins and brought
them to the notice of the public.' Mr Stephens' first visit was in
June, 1840, during which he visited the ruins from the hacienda three
times, on June 20, 21, and 22, while Mr Catherwood spent one day, the
21st, in making sketches. It was unfortunate that he was forced by Mr
Catherwood's illness to leave Uxmal, for at this time the ground had
been cleared of the forest and was planted with corn; the occasion was
therefore most favorable for a thorough examination. _Stephens' Cent.
Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 413-35, with 3 plates. Mr Norman, according to
his journal, reached the ruins, where he took up his abode, on
February 25, 1842, and remained until March 4, devoting thus seven
days or thereabouts to his survey. His account is accompanied by
several lithographic illustrations. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp.
154-67. Messrs Stephens and Catherwood arrived on their second visit
on November 15, 1841, and remained until January 1, 1842, Mr Stephens
meanwhile making two short trips away, one in search of ruins, the
other to get rid of fever and ague. It is remarkable that they found
no traces of Mr Friederichsthal's visit, (_Nouvelles Annales des
Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 306-9,) which was probably in the same
year. _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 163-325, vol. ii., pp. 264-73,
with many plates and cuts. Padre Carrillo, cura of Ticul, with D.
Vicente García Rejon, and D. José María Fajardo, visited the ruins in
March, 1845, and an account of the visit, embodying but little
information, was published by _L. G._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i.,
pp. 275-9. Another account of a visit in the same year was published
by _M. F. P._, in _Id._, pp. 361-70. Mr Carl Bartholomaeus Heller
spent two or three days at Uxmal, April 6 to 9, 1847. His account is
found in _Heller_, _Reisen_, pp. 256-65. M. Charnay's visit was in
1858, and his efforts to obtain photographic negatives and to fight
the insects which finally drove him away, lasted eight days.
_Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 362-80, pl. xxxv-xlix. M. Brasseur de
Bourbourg was at Uxmal in 1865, and made a report, accompanied by a
plan, which was published in the _Archives de la Com. Scien. du Mex._,
tom. ii., pp. 234, 254, as the author states in his _Palenqué_,
Introd., p. 24. See further on Uxmal: Description quoted from Stephens
with unlimited criticisms, italics, capitals, and exclamation points,
in _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, pp. 86-105, 120; description from
Waldeck and Stephens, with remarks on the city's original state, in
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 21-3, 585;
and also slight accounts made up from one or more of the authorities
already cited as follows: _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp.
462, 483; _Bradford's Amer. Antiq._, pp. 99-103, from Waldeck;
_Baril_, _Mexique_, pp. 129-30, from Del Rio; _Sivers_,
_Mittelamerika_, pp. 237-41; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 149-50,
193; _Frost's Great Cities_, pp. 268-81; _Id._, _Pict. Hist. Mex._, p.
80; _Album_, _Mex._, tom. i., pp. 203-4, the last three including a
moonlight view of the ruins, from Norman; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et
Guat._, pp. 321-8, with plates from Waldeck; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._,
pp. 131-7, with cuts, from Stephens; _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, pp.
208, 212-13, 302, 330, 398-9, from Stephens; _Willson's Amer. Hist._,
pp. 82-6, with cuts, from Stephens; _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, pp.
91-6, with cuts, from Stephens; _Id._, _Das Alte Mex._, p. 97;
_Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom.
ii., pt. i., p. 12; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 51; _Hermosa_,
_Enciclopedia_, Paris, 1857, pp. 176-7; _Prescott's Mex._, vol. iii.,
pp. 412-13; _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 36-7,
44.
[V-5] Pronounced _ooshmahl_.
[V-6] Cogolludo sometimes writes the name Uxumual. 'Il nous a été
impossible de trouver une étymologie raisonnable à ce nom.' _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 21. 'Le nom d'_Uxmal_
signifie _du temps passé_. Il ne s'applique aux ruines que parce que
celles-ci sont situées sur le terrain de la hacienda d'Uxmal.'
_Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 68; _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 237.
Possibly derived from _ox_ and _mal_, meaning 'three passages' in
Maya. _Heller_, _Reisen_, p. 255. 'It was an existing inhabited
aboriginal town' in 1556. _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 272.
Called _Oxmutal_ by Soza, in _Rio's Description_, p. 7.
[V-7] Lat. 30° 22´ 86´´ (!), Long. 4´ 33´´ west of Mérida. 'Une couche
très mince d'une terre ferrugineuse recouvre le sol, mais disparaît
dans les environs où l'on n'aperçoit que du sable.' _Friederichsthal_,
in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 306. 2 miles
(German) west of Jalacho, which lies near Maxcanú, on the road from
Mérida to Campeche. _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. 20 leagues
from Mérida, occupying an extent of several leagues. _Mühlenpfordt_,
_Mejico_, tom. ii., pt. i., p. 12. 'A huit lieues de Mayapan ... dans
une plaine légèrement ondulée.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat.
Civ._, tom. ii., p. 21. 'Le terrain d'Uxmal est plat dans toute
l'étendue du plateau.' 'Sur le plateau d'une haute montagne.'
_Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 68, 70.
[V-8] 'Sur un diamètre d'une lieue, le sol est couvert de débris, dont
quelques-uns recouvrent des intérieurs fort bien conservés.'
_Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 363.
[V-9] In the plan I have followed Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., p.
165, who determined the position of all the structures by actual
measurement, cutting roads through the undergrowth for this express
purpose, and the accuracy of whose survey cannot be called in
question. His plan is reproduced on a reduced scale in _Willson's
Amer. Hist._, p. 83. Plans are also given in _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._,
pl. viii.; _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 155; and _Charnay_, _Ruines
Amér._, introd. by Viollet-le-Duc, p. 62. These all differ very
materially both from that of Stephens, and from each other; they are
moreover very incomplete, and bear marks of having been carelessly or
hastily prepared. 'Disposée en échiquier, où se déployaient, à la
suite les uns des autres, les palais et les temples.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 21. Besides the plans,
general views of the ruins from nearly the same point (_q_ on the plan
looking southward) are given by Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 305,
and by Charnay, _Ruines Amér._, phot. 49. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._,
frontispiece, gives a general view of the ruins by moonlight from a
point and in a direction impossible to fix, which is copied in the
_Album Mex._, tom. i., p. 203, in _Frost's Great Cities_, p. 269, and
in _Id._, _Pict. Hist. Mex._, p. 80. It makes a very pretty
frontispiece, which is about all that can be said in its favor, except
that it might serve equally well to illustrate any other group of
American or old-world antiquities.
[V-10] _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, phot. 49.
[V-11] 'No habiendo tradicion alguna que testifique los nombres
propios, que en un principio tuvieron los diferentes edificios que
denuncian estas ruinas, es preciso creer que los que hoy llevan, son
enteramente gratuitos.' _L. G._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 275.
Mr Jones is positive this must have been a temple rather than a
palace. 'Mr Stephens appears to be so strict a Spartan Republican,
that every large, or magnificent building in the Ruined Cities, he
considers to be a _Palace_,--he seems to have thought less of mind,
than of matter.' _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 96; Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, p.
97, calls it the Temple of Fire.
[V-12] In stating the dimensions of this mound, as I shall generally
do in describing Uxmal, I have followed Stephens' text. His plan and
both plans and text of all the other visitors vary more or less
respecting each dimension. I had prepared tables of dimensions for
each building from all the authorities, but upon reflection have
thought it not worth while to insert them. Such tables would not
enable the reader to ascertain the exact measurements, and moreover
differences of a few feet cannot be considered practically important
in this and similar cases. All the authorities agree on the general
form and extent of this pyramidal mound. Most of them, however, refer
only to the eastern front, and no one but Stephens notes the western
irregularities. In giving the dimensions of the respective terraces
some also refer to their bases, and others probably to their summits.
Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 156-7, states that the second and third
terraces are each thirty feet high, while Charnay, _Ruines Amér._, pp.
372-3, makes the same fifteen and ten feet respectively. Waldeck's
plan makes the summit platform about 240 feet long.
[V-13] Jones, _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 120, says there was a stairway in
the centre of each side.
[V-14] Norman's dimensions are 36×272 feet; Heller's, 40×320 feet;
Friederichsthal's, 38×407 feet; and Waldeck's, about 65×195 feet.
[V-15] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 175, reproduced in _Baldwin's
Anc. Amer._, p. 132, and _Willson's Amer. Hist._, p. 84. The author
speaks of the number of rooms as being 18, although the plan shows 24.
He probably does not count the four small rooms corresponding with the
recesses on the front and rear, as he also does not include their
doors in his count. How he gets rid of the other two does not appear.
Norman says 24 rooms, Charnay 21, and Stephens indicates 22 in the
plan in _Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 428.
[V-16] Friederichsthal, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom.
xcii., p. 309, speaking of the Uxmal structures in general, says the
blocks are usually 5×12 inches; Zavala, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i.,
div. ii., p. 34, pronounces them from 25 to 28 centimètres in length,
width, and thickness.
[V-17] This beam was taken to N. Y., where it shared the fate of
Stephens' other relics.
[V-18] Stephens favors the former theory, Waldeck and Charnay the
latter, insisting that the hammock is consequently an American
invention. Norman goes so far as to say that the grooves worn by the
hammock-ropes are still to be seen on some of these timbers.
[V-19] Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 97, speaks of real or false doors
made of a single stone in connection with this building, but his
examination of it was very slight. Cogolludo, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 177,
speaks of interior decorations as follows: 'Ay vn lienço en lo
interior de la fabrica, que (aunque es muy dilatado) à poco mas de
medio estado de vn hombre, corre por todo èl vna cornisa de piedra muy
tersa, que haze vna esquina delicadissima, igual, y muy perfecta,
donde (me acuerdo) avia sacado de la misma piedra, y quedado en ella
vn anillo tan delgado, y vistoso, como puede ser vno de oro obrado con
todo primor.'
[V-20] From _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 174; also in _Baldwin's
Anc. Amer._, p. 132. Charnay's photograph 48 shows the opposite or
northern end in connection with another building.
[V-21] From Stephens; one of them also in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._
[V-22] A cut of this hook is also given by Norman, and by Waldeck,
who, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 74, attempts to prove its identity with an
elephant's trunk, and that it was not molded from a tapir's snout.
[V-23] Charnay, _Ruines Amér._, phot. 46, shows the whole eastern
façade. Photograph 47 gives a view on a larger scale of the portion
over the principal doorway. Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i.,
frontispiece, represents the same front in a large plate, and in his
_Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 434, is a plate showing a part of the
same. Norman gives a lithograph of the front. _Rambles in Yuc._, p.
158. His enlarged portion of the front from Waldeck does not belong to
the Governor's House at all. 'Couvert de bas-reliefs, exécutés avec
une rare perfection, formant une suite de méandres et arabesques d'un
travail non moins capricieux que bizarre.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 23. Decorated with 'gros serpents
entrelacés et d'anneaux en pierre.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 308. 'Chiefly the meander, or
the Grecian square border, used in the embroidery of the mantles and
robes of Attica.' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 98. 'The length of the
upper platform (in English feet!!) is seen to correspond nearly with
the number of days in the year, and the mysterious emblem of eternity,
the serpent, is found extending its portentous length around the
building.' _Frost's Great Cities_, p. 271. 'Du haut de ses trois
étages de pyramides, il se dresse comme un roi, dans un isolement
plein de majestueuse grandeur.' 'L'ornementation se compose d'une
guirlande en forme de trapèzes réguliers, de ces énormes têtes déjà
décrites, courant du haut en bas de la façade, et servant de ligne
enveloppante à des grecques d'un relief très-saillant, reliées entre
elles par une ligne de petites pierres en carré diversement sculptées;
le tout sur un fond plat de treillis de pierre. Le dessus des
ouvertures était enrichi de pièces importantes, que divers voyageurs
ont eu le soin d'enlever. Quatre niches, placées régulièrement,
contenaient des statues, absentes aujourd'hui.' _Charnay_, _Ruines
Amér._, pp. 372-3. 'One solid mass of rich, complicated elaborately
sculptured ornaments forming a sort of arabesque.' 'Perhaps it may
with propriety be called a species of sculptured mosaic; and I have no
doubt that all these ornaments have a symbolical meaning; that each
stone is part of a history, allegory, or fable.' _Stephens' Yucatan_,
vol. i., pp. 166, 173. 'The ornaments were composed of small square
pieces of stone, shaped with infinite skill, and inserted between the
mortar and stone with the greatest care and precision. About
two-thirds of the ornaments are still remaining upon the façade....
The ground-work of the ornaments is chiefly composed of raised lines,
running diagonally, forming diamond or lattice-work, over which are
rosettes and stars; and, in bold relief, the beautiful Chinese
border.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 158-9. 'A travers ces grands
méandres formés par l'appareil se montrent, ici encore, la tradition
des constructions de bois par empilages, en encorbellement et le
treillis. Cette construction est une des plus soignées parmi celles
d'Uxmal.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 70.
[V-23] 'La décoration du parement de cet édifice ne consiste
qu'en une imitation de palissade formée de rondins de bois. Sur la
frise supérieure, des tortues saillantes rompent seules les lignes
horizontales.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 69.
Photograph 48 shows the north front of the Casa de Tortugas. Stephens,
_Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 184, gives a plate showing the southern front.
Waldeck's plan would make this building's dimensions about 60×185
feet. The column structure will be illustrated by engravings in
connection with the ruins of Zayi and others.
[V-24] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 181; _Norman's Rambles in
Yuc._, p. 156. From this rather meagre information Mr Jones proves, in
a manner entirely satisfactory to himself, that the whole platform was
surrounded in its original condition by a double row of columns, 230
in number, placed 10 feet apart, each 18 inches in diameter and 12
feet high, with a grand central column, 6 feet in diameter, and 60
feet high. _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 119.
[V-25] 'A shaft of gray limestone in an inclined position, measuring
twelve feet in circumference and eight in height; bearing upon its
surface no marks of form or ornament by which it might be
distinguished from a natural piece.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p.
156. 'Une espèce de colonne dite _pierre du châtiment_, où les
coupables devaient recevoir la punition de leurs fautes.' _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, p. 372. 'Una enorme columna de piedra, cuya forma
semicónica le da el aire de un obelisco, aunque de base circular y sin
adornos.' _M. F. P._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 364.
[V-26] 'Double-headed cat or lynx,' cut from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol.
i., p. 183; and _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, p. 133. 'Un autel, au centre,
soutenait un tigre à deux têtes, dont les corps reliés au ventre
figurent une double chimère.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 372. 'Rude
carving of a tiger with two heads.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p.
156. 'En un mismo cuerpo contiene dos cabezas de tigre de tamaño
regular, vueltas hácia fuera: su actitud es la misma que la en que
generalmente se representa la esfinge de la fábula; y si su excavacion
no fuera tan reciente, probablemente habria corrido la suerte de otras
estátuas y objetos preciosos, que à nuestra vista y paciencia han sido
sacados del pais para figurar en los museos extranjeros.' _M. F. P._,
in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 364-5. Mr Heller, _Reisen_, p. 259,
confounds this monument with the picote.
[V-27] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i. pp. 229-32. Sr Peon, proprietor of
Uxmal, believed that these excavations were originally used as
granaries, not deeming the plaster sufficiently hard to resist water.
'Excavations ... with level curbings and smoothly finished inside.'
_Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 156.
[V-28] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 253-6, with a view in the
frontispiece. Although Stephens says the pyramid is only sixty-five
feet high, it is noticeable that in Catherwood's drawing it towers
high above the roof of the Casa del Gobernador, which is at least
sixty-eight feet in height. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 157, calls
this a pile of loose stones, about two hundred feet square at the
base, and one hundred feet high, and covered on the sides and top with
débris of edifices. Friederichsthal, _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1841, tom. xcii., p. 308, says the summit platform is seventy-seven
feet square.
[V-29] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 319. A distant view of this
pyramid is included in Stephens' general view, p. 305, and in
Charnay's photograph 49. Norman, in both plan and text, unites this
pyramid at the base with that at E, and makes its height eighty feet.
_Rambles in Yuc._, p. 157.
[V-30] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 318-19, with view of the Casa
de Palomas; cut also in _Id._, _Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 426. 'Une
muraille dentelée de pignons assez élevés, percés d'une multitude de
petites ouvertures, qui donnent à chacun la physionomie d'un
colombier.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 371-2, phot. 49. 'A wall of
two hundred feet remains standing upon a foundation of ten feet. Its
width is twenty-five feet; having ranges of rooms in both sides, only
parts of which remain. This wall has an acute-angled arch doorway
through the centre.... The top of this wall has numerous square
apertures through it, which give it the appearance of pigeon-holes;
and its edge is formed like the gable-end of a house, uniformly
notched.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 165, with plate showing one
of the peaks of the wall.
[V-31] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 320; Norman, _Rambles in
Yuc._, p. 165, speaks of this part of the ruin as 'an immense court or
square, enclosed by stone walls, leading to the Nun's House,' C of the
plan. He says, also, that some of the scattered mounds in this
direction have been excavated and seem to have been intended
originally for sepulchres.
[V-32] Mr Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 320, refers to his appendix
for a mention of some of the relics found in this group. The reference
is probably to a note on vestiges of the phallic worship on p. 434,
which from motives of modesty the author gives in Latin.
[V-33] Mr Norman's statements, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 166, differ
materially from those of Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 298-9. He
states that the walls are only twelve feet apart, that the eastern
façade only has the entwined serpents, that the western is covered
with hieroglyphics, that the structure contains rooms on a level with
the ground, and implies that the western ring was still perfect at the
time of his visit. This building is called by Charnay the Cárcel, or
Prison.
[V-34] In these dimensions I have followed Mr Stephens' text, as usual
in Uxmal, as far as possible. Although the Casa de Monjas has received
more attention than any of the other structures, yet, strangely
enough, no visitor gives all the dimensions of the buildings and
terraces; hardly any two authors agree on any one dimension; and no
author's text agrees exactly with his plans. Yet the figures of my
text may be considered approximately correct. I append, however, in
this instance a table of variations as a curiosity.
Respecting the height of the buildings, except the northern, we have
no figures from any reliable authority; but we know that both eastern
and western are lower than the northern building and higher than the
southern, whose rooms are 17 feet high on the inside, and moreover
that the eastern is higher than the western.
[V-35] M. Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xii., presents a drawing of four
of these turtles. 'Covered with square blocks of stone.' _Norman's
Rambles in Yuc._, p. 163. '_Each tortoise_ is in a square, and in the
two external angles of each square is an _Egg_. The _tortoise_ and the
_egg_, are both National emblems.' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 94.
[V-36] _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 364, 368; _Stephens' Yucatan_,
vol. i., pp. 301, 308.
[V-37] Plan in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 301; reproduced in
_Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, p. 136. Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xii., also
gives a ground plan, which, so far as the arrangement of rooms and
doorways is concerned, differs very widely from that of Stephens, and
must be regarded as very incorrect. M. Waldeck, during his short stay
in Yucatan, seems to have devoted his chief attention to sketching the
sculptured façades, a work which he accomplished accurately, but to
have constructed his plans from memory and imagination after leaving
the country. In the preparation of the present plan he had, to aid his
fancy, the supposed occupation of these buildings in former times by
nuns, and he has arranged the rooms with an eye to the convenience of
the priests in keeping a proper watch and guard over the movements of
those erratic demoiselles.
[V-38] Cut from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 309. For some reason
the sculpture is not shown. Waldeck's pl. xii. contains also a section
showing the form of the arches and ceilings.
[V-39] 'Les linteux des portes sont en bois, comme partout à Uxmal.'
'Les intérieurs, de dimensions variées suivant la grandeur des
édifices ... deux murailles parallèles, puis obliquant, pour se relier
par une dalle.' 'Les salles étaient enduites d'une couche de plâtre
fin qui existe encore.' 'On remarque de chaque côté de l'ouverture, à
égale distance du sol et du linteau de la porte, plantés dans la
muraille de chaque côté des supports, quatre crochets en pierre.'
_Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 364-6. M. Waldeck speaks of the
door-tops of the western building as being composed of nine pieces of
stone, perpendicular on the outside, or visible, portions, but beveled
and secured by a keystone within. 'Fait de neuf pierres à coupe
perpendiculaire, et point du tout à clef: je parle ici de l'aspect de
cette partie du monument à l'extérieur; mais à l'intérieur, ces neuf
pierres sont à clef, ce que l'absence d'enduit m'a permis de
constater.' _Voy. Pitt._, p. 100. 'The height of the ceiling is
uniform throughout.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 161. Heller,
_Reisen_, p. 257, gives the botanical name of the zapote-wood used for
lintels as _cavanilla_, _achras sapota_. Waldeck calls the wood
_jovillo_. _Voy. Pitt._, p. 97. Norman spells it _zuporte_.
[V-40] 'J'ai parlé, dans le texte du présent ouvrage, des prétendues
colonnes trouvées dans l'Yucatan. Les trois balustres qu'on voit dans
cette planche peuvent, déplacés comme ils l'étaient, avoir donné lieu
à cette erreur. En effet, en divisant ces ornements en plusieurs
morceaux, on y trouvera un fût droit et une espèce de chapiteau que,
d'après des idées relatives assurément fort naturelles, on place
volontiers à l'extrémité supérieure du fût, au lieu de le mettre au
milieu.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 103. 'C'est un ensemble de
colonnettes nouées dans le milieu trois par trois, séparées par des
parties de pierres plates et les treillis qu'on rencontre si souvent;
ce bâtiment est d'une simplicité relative, comparé à la richesse des
trois autres.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 368.
[V-41] My engravings are taken from _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xv.,
xvii. They are reproduced in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 323,
pl. 3, 6. The perfect accuracy of the engravings--except the seated
statues--is proved by Charnay's photographs 42, 49, which show the
same front, as does the view in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 305.
The southern front of this building is only shown in general views in
_Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 420; repeated in _Armin_, _Das
Heutige Mex._, p. 92; and in _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 160, which
give no details.
[V-42] 'La décoration se compose d'une espèce de trophée en forme
d'éventail, qui part du bas de la frise en s'élargissant jusqu'au
sommet du bâtiment. Ce trophée est un ensemble de barres parallèles
terminées par des têtes de monstres. Au milieu de la partie
supérieure, et touchant à la corniche, se trouve une énorme tête
humaine, encadrée à l'égyptienne, avec une corne de chaque côté. Ces
trophées sont séparés par des treillis de pierre qui donnent à
l'édifice une grande richesse d'effet. Les coins ont toujours cette
ornementation bizarre, composée de grandes figures d'idoles
superposées, avec un nez disproportionné, tordu et relevé, qui fait
songer à la manière chinoise.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 366-7.
The first of my engravings I take from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i.,
p. 306; the same front being shown also in Charnay's photograph 38, in
Waldeck's pl. xv., and in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl. 3. The
second engraving is from Waldeck's pl. xvi., given also in
_Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl. 5, in _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._,
p. 156--where it is incorrectly stated to represent a portion of the
Casa del Gobernador,--and corresponding with Charnay's photograph 39.
The third cut is from _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._,
p. 65. M. Viollet-le-Duc explains the cut as follows: 'Supposons des
piles ou murs de refend A; si l'on pose à la tête des piles les
premiers patins B, sur lesquels, à angle droit, on embrévera les
traverses C, puis les secondes pièces B', les deuxièmes traverses C'
en encorbellement égalemente embérvées, et ainsi de suite, on obtient,
au droit des têtes de piles ou murs de refend, des parois verticales,
et, dans le sens des ouvertures, des parois inclinées arrivant à
porter les filières D avec potelets intercalés. Si, d'une pile à
l'autre, on pose les linteaux E en arrière du nu des pièces BB', et
que sur ces linteaux on établisse des treillis, on obtiendra une
construction de bois primitive, qui est évidemment le principe de la
décoration de la façade de pierre du bâtiment.' This façade is 'the
most chaste and simple in design and ornament, and it was always
refreshing to turn from the gorgeous and elaborate masses on the other
façades to this curious and pleasing combination.' _Stephens'
Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 306. 'The eastern façade is filled with
elaborate ornaments, differing entirely from the others, and better
finished.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 161-2. 'Les huit échelons
dont la série forme un cône renversé, sont ornés, à chacune de leurs
extrémités, d'une tête symbolique de serpent ou de dragon. La tête du
Soleil qui touche à la corniche et repose sur le troisième échelon,
offre deux rayons ascendants, indépendemment de ceux qui flamboient
autour du masque, dont je n'ai pu deviner la signification. Les trois
rayons qui se voient au dessus de la tête ont peut-être quelques
rapports avec le méridien, celui du milieu indiquant le parfait
équilibre.' 'Des sept masques solaires, un seul était intact.'
'L'ensemble de cette façade offre à l'heure de midi un caractère de
grandeur dont il serait difficile de donner une idée.' _Waldeck_,
_Voy. Pitt._, pp. 102-3.
[V-43] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 307, with plate; _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, phot. 43.
[V-44] The illustrations of the Serpent front are in _Waldeck_, _Voy.
Pitt._, pl. xiii., xviii., which latter shows some of the detached
faces, or masks; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, phot. 40, 41, 44; and
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 302-3. Rattlesnakes are common in
this region. The proprietor proposed to build this serpent's head into
a house in Mérida as a memorial of Uxmal. 'Toward the south end the
head and tail of the serpents corresponded in design and position with
the portion still existing at the other.' _Id._, vol. i., pp. 302-3.
'The remains of two great serpents, however, are still quite perfect;
their heads turned back, and entwining each other, they extend the
whole length of the façade, through a chaste ground-work of ornamental
lines, interspersed with various rosettes. They are put together by
small blocks of stone, exquisitely worked, and arranged with the
nicest skill and precision. The heads of the serpents are adorned with
pluming feathers and tassels.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 162.
'Son nom lui vient d'un immense serpent à sonnettes courant sur toute
la façade, dont le corps, se roulant en entrelacs, va servir de cadre
à des panneaux divers. Il n'existe plus qu'un seul de ces panneaux:
c'est une grecque, que surmontent six croisillons, avec rosace à
l'intérieur; une statue d'Indien s'avance en relief de la façade, il
tient à la main un sceptre; on remarque au-dessus de sa tête un
ornement figurant une couronne.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 367.
'Un ornement, imité d'une sorte de pompon en passementerie terminé par
une frange, se voit au-dessus de la queue du reptile. On découvre
également dans la frise ces rosettes frangées comme celles signalées
dans le bâtiment de l'est.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, p. 69. 'En
voyant pour la première fois ce superbe édifice, je ne pus retenir un
cri de surprise et d'admiration, tant les choses originales et
nouvelles émeuvent l'imagination et les sens de l'artiste. J'ai
cherché à rendre, dans ce qu'on vient de lire, mes premières
impressions. Pourquoi n'avouerais-je pas qu'il s'y mêle un peu de
vanité? Un pareil sentiment n'est-il pas excusable chez le voyageur
qui révèle au monde civilisé des trésors archéologiques si longtemps
ignorés, un style nouveau d'architecture, et une source abondante où
d'autres, plus savants que lui, iront puiser un jour?' _Waldeck_,
_Voy. Pitt._, p. 100.
[V-45] Cut of one of these projecting curves in _Norman's Rambles in
Yuc._, p. 162.
[V-46] 'The whole, loaded as it is with ornament, conveys the idea of
vastness and magnificence rather than that of taste and refinement.'
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 304. 'The northern front, no doubt,
was the principal one, as I judge from the remains, as well as from
the fact, that it is more elevated than the others.' _Norman's Rambles
in Yuc._, p. 161. Norman's general view of the Nunnery includes a view
of this northern front, but the decorations are omitted and the
turrets also. 'Chaque porte, de deux en deux, est surmontée d'une
niche merveilleusement ouvragée que devaient occuper des statues
diverses. Quant à la frise elle-même, c'est un ensemble extraordinaire
de pavillons, où de curieuses figures d'idoles superposées ressortent
comme par hasard de l'arrangement des pierres, et rappellent les têtes
énormes sculptées sur les palais de Chichen-Itza. Des méandres de
pierres finement travaillées leur servent de cadre et donnent une
vague idée de caractères hiéroglyphiques: puis viennent une succession
de grecques de grande dimension, alternées, aux angles, de carrés et
de petites rosaces d'un fini admirable. Le caprice de l'architecte
avait jeté çà et là, comme des démentis à la parfaite régularité du
dessin, des statues dans les positions les plus diverses. La plupart
ont disparu, et les têtes ont été enlevées à celles qui restent
encore.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 364-5, phot. 36-7. 'Les
grosses têtes forment la principale décoration des dessus de portes;
les treillis sont historiés, les encorbellements empilés supprimés.'
_Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, p. 67.
[V-47] I append a few general quotations concerning the Nunnery: The
court façades 'ornamented from one end to the other with the richest
and most intricate carving known in the art of the builders of Uxmal;
presenting a scene of strange magnificence, surpassing any that is now
to be seen among its ruins.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 300.
'All these façades were painted; the traces of the colour are still
visible, and the reader may imagine what the effect must have been
when all this building was entire, and according to its supposed
design, in its now desolate doorways stood noble Maya maidens, like
the vestal virgins of the Romans, to cherish and keep alive the sacred
fire burning in the temples.' _Id._, p. 307. The bottoms of the
caissons of the diamond lattice-work are painted red. The paint is
believed to be a mixture in equal parts of carmine and vermilion,
probably vegetable colors. _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 200-1; Zavala,
in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., pp. 33-4, describes a building
supposed to be the Nunnery on account of the serpent ornament, which,
however, is stated to be on the exterior front of the building.
Cogolludo, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 177, describes the court and surrounding
edifices, stating that the serpent surrounds all four sides. 'Vn gran
patio con muchos aposentos separados en forma de claustro donde viuian
estas doncellas. Es fabrica digna de admiracion, porque lo exterior de
las paredes es todo de piedra labrada, donde estàn sacadas de medio
relieue figuras de hombres armados, diuersidad de animales, pajaros, y
otras cosas.' 'Todos los quatro lienços de aquel gran patio (que se
puede llamar plaça) los ciñe vna culebra labrada en la misma piedra de
las paredes, que termina la cola por debaxo de la cabeça, y tiene toda
ella en circuito quatrocientos pies.' Jones, _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p.
93, accounts for the superiority of the sculpture on the court façades
by supposing that it was executed at a later date; its protection from
the weather would also tend to its better preservation.
[V-48] Although Zavala says, speaking of the Uxmal ruins in general:
'Celles qui forment l'arête à partir de laquelle les plans des murs
convergent pour déterminer la voûte prismatique dont j'ai déjà parlé,
sont taillées en forme de coude dont l'angle est obtus.' _Antiq.
Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 34. 'In the rear of, and within a few
feet of the eastern range, are the remains of a similar range, which
is now almost in total ruins. There appear to have been connecting
walls, or walks, from this range to the Pyramid near by, as I judged
from the rubbish and stones that can be traced from one to the other.'
_Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 162. Cuts from _Stephens' Yucatan_,
vol. i., pp. 311, 430; one of them reproduced in _Baldwin's Anc.
Amer._
[V-49] So say Stephens' text and plan, Viollet-le-Duc, and Charnay's
plan; but Stephens' views, except that in _Cent. Amer._, Charnay's
photographs, and Waldeck's plan and drawings, do not indicate an oval
form. I am inclined to believe that the corners are simply rounded
somewhat more than in the other Uxmal structures, and that the oval
form indicated in the plan is not correct.
[V-50] M. Viollet-le-Duc says it is 'entièrement composé d'un blocage
de maçonnerie revêtu de gros moellons parementés,' in _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, p. 70.
[V-51] _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 193. 'La subida principal está á
la parte del oriente y se practica por medio de una grada, que á la
altura referida, guarda, segun mi cálculo, el muy escaso declive de
treinta pies á lo mas: esta circunstancia, como se deja entender, la
hace en extremo pendiente y peligrosa. Si no me engaño, la grada á que
me refiero, tiene de 95 á 100 escaloncitos de piedra labrada, pero tan
angostos, que apénas pueden recibir la mitad del pié: la cubren muchos
troncos de árboles, espinos, y, lo que es peor, una multitud de yerba,
resbaladiza.' The author, however, climbed the stairway barefooted.
_L. G._, in _Registro de Yuc._, tom. i., p. 278. 'Les côtés de la
pyramide sont tellement lisses qu'on ne peut y monter même à l'aide
des arbres et des broussailles qui poussent dans les interstices des
pierres.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 95. The eastern slope 70°, and
the western 80°. _Heller_, _Reisen_, p. 256. Stairway has 180 steps,
each 12 to 15 centimetres wide and high. _Zavala_, in _Antiq. Mex._,
tom. i., div. ii., p. 33. 100 steps, each 5 inches wide. _Waldeck_,
_Voy. Pitt._, p. 71. 100 steps, each 6 inches wide. _Norman's Rambles
in Yuc._, p. 163. About 130 steps, 8 or 9 inches high. _Stephens'
Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 421.
[V-52] 'Une espèce de petite chapelle en contre-bas tournée à l'ouest;
ce petit morceau est fouillé comme un bijou; une inscription parait
avoir été gravée, formant ceinture au-dessus de la porte.' _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, p. 368. 'Loaded with ornaments more rich, elaborate,
and carefully executed, than those of any other edifice in Uxmal.'
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 313.
[V-53] In the matter of dimensions, the Casa del Adivino presents the
same variations as the other structures--Stephens, _Yucatan_, being
the authority followed. Waldeck makes the platform 45 by 91 feet 8
inches, and the building 81 feet 8 inches by 14 feet 8 inches. Zavala
calls the building 8 metres square. According to Norman the pyramid
measures 500 feet at the base, and is 100 feet high, the platform
being 21 by 72 feet, and the building 12 by 60, and 20 feet high.
Charnay pronounces the pyramid 75 to 80 feet high. Stephens, _Cent.
Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 421-2, gives the dimensions as follows: Pyramid,
120 by 240 feet at base; platform, 4½ feet wide outside the building;
building, 68 feet long; rooms, 9 feet wide, 18, 18, and 34 feet long.
Friederichsthal's dimensions: Pyramid, 120 by 192 feet and 25½ feet
high; platform, 23⅓ by 89 feet; building, 12 by 73 feet, and 19¼
feet high. _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 307.
Heller's dimensions: Pyramid, 135 by 225 feet, and 105 feet high;
platform, 20 by 70 feet; building, 12 by 60 feet, and 20 feet high.
[V-54] 'Il est à remarquer que le pénis des statues était en érection,
et que toutes ces figures étaient plus particulièrement mutilées dans
cette partie du corps.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 95-6. Plate xi.
shows the statue and accompanying portion of the wall. 'The emblems of
life and death appear on the wall in close juxtaposition, confirming
the belief in the existence of that worship practiced by the
Egyptians, and all other eastern nations, and before referred to as
prevalent among the people of Uxmal.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p.
314. 'The western façade is ornamented with human figures similar to
_caryatides_, finely sculptured in stone with great art.' _Norman's
Rambles in Yuc._, p. 164. It is astonishing how easy the meaning of
these sculptures may be deciphered when the right person undertakes
the task. For instance: 'The translation of the above Sculpture seems
as easy as if a DANIEL had already read the handwriting on the wall!
as thus--The human figure, in full life and maturity, together with
the sex, presents mortality; over the figure the _cross-bones_ are
placed, portraying the figure's earthly death; while the skull
supported by expanding wings (and this Sculpture being placed above
those of life and death,) presents the immortal Soul ascending on the
wings of Time, above all earthly life, or the corruption of the
grave!' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 103.
[V-55] Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 312, 316, gives views of the
east and west fronts, the former of which I have inserted in my
description; and in _Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 420, a view from the
south, which is copied in _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, p. 92, which
last authority also gives what seems to be a restoration of the
pyramid from Waldeck. Waldeck's plates, ix., x., xi., relate to this
structure; plate ix. is a view from a point above the whole and
directly over the centre, including a ground plan of the summit
building; plate x. is the western elevation of the pyramid and
building with the eastern elevation of the latter; and plate xi. is a
view of one of the statues as already mentioned. Charnay's photograph
35 gives a western view of the whole, which is also included in
photograph 38; it is to be noted that his plan places the Casa del
Adivino considerably south of the Nunnery. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._,
p. 162, gives an altogether imaginary view of the pyramid and
building, perhaps intended for the western front. 'La base de la
colline factice est revêtue d'un parement vertical avec une frise dans
laquelle on retrouve l'imitation des rondins de bois, surmontés d'une
sorte de balustrade presque entièrement détruite.' _Viollet-le-Duc_,
in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 70. On the east front of the building
are 'deux portes carrées et deux petits pavillons couverts d'une
espèce de toit reposant sur des pilastres.' 'Tel est ce monument,
chef-d'œuvre d'art et d'élégance. Si j'étais arrivé un an plus tard
à Uxmal, je n'aurais pas pu en donner un dessin complet; le centre
avait été dégradé par suite de l'extraction de quelques pierres
nécessaires à la solidité de cette partie de l'édifice.' _Waldeck_,
_Voy. Pitt._, p. 96. Yet if the structure was as perfect and his
examination as complete as he claims, it is very strange, to say the
least, that he did not discover the apartments in the western
projections. Zavala, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 33, says
that the interior walls of this building are plastered. Stephens,
Charnay, and Brasseur, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 578-88, give
the tradition of the Dwarf, which gives this temple one of its names.
'The construction of these ornaments is not less peculiar and striking
than the general effect. There were no tablets or single stones, each
representing separately and by itself an entire subject; but every
ornament or combination is made up of separate stones, on each of
which part of the subject was carved, and which was then set in its
place in the wall.' 'Perhaps it may, with propriety, be called a
species of sculptured mosaic.' _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p.
422.
[V-54] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 248-51, 227-8; _Norman's
Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 166, 157; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 74;
_Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii.,
pp. 307-8; _Zavala_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 35;
_Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 51.
[V-55] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 188, 221-2.
[V-56] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 122, with plate showing front
of one building.
[V-57] On Xcoch and Nohpat see _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp.
348-58, 362-8, with cut of the pyramid, beside those given in the
text. Cut of former ruin reproduced in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp.
144-5. 'Una infinita multitud de edificios enteramente arruinados,
esparcidos sobre toda la extension del terreno que puede abrazar la
vista. Esta como cadena de ruinas que desde Uxmal se prolonga con
direccion al S.E. por mas de 4 millas, induce á creer que es la
continuacion de esa inmensa ciudad.' 'Muchos edificios colosales
enteramente arruinados, que, aunque compartidos casi del mismo modo
que en Uxmal, indican, sin embargo, mayor antigüedad; porque siendo
construidos con iguales materias, y con no menor solidez, las injurias
del tiempo son mas evidentes sobre cuantos objetos se presentan á la
vista. Aún se nota la configuracion y trazo de las rámpas, átrios y
plazas, donde andan, como diseminados en grupos, restos de altares,
multitud de piedras escuadradas talladas en medios relievos
representando calaveras y canillas, trozos de columnas, y cornizas y
estátuas caprichosas ó simbólicas.' This visitor describes most of the
monuments mentioned by Stephens. The picote, or phallus, together with
a sculptured head, he brought away with him. _M. F. P._, in _Registro
Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 365-7.
[V-58] 'The cornice running over the doorways, tried by the severest
rules of art recognised among us, would embellish the architecture of
any known era, and amid a mass of barbarism, of rude and uncouth
conceptions, it stands as an offering by American builders worthy of
the acceptance of a polished people.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i.,
pp. 387-95, with plates of the whole front, an enlarged portion of the
same, and the interior of the room mentioned. Norman, _Rambles in
Yuc._, p. 149, devotes a few lines to this building, but furnishes no
details.
[V-59] The front is as usual decorated with sculpture, but it is much
fallen. Plate showing the front in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p.
397.
[V-60] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 398-400, with cuts of the
Casa de Justicia and of the Arch; the latter being also in _Baldwin's
Anc. Amer._, p. 139.
[V-61] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 386-7, 402-14, with cuts and
plates. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 148-9, thus describes these
sculptured jambs, which he found where Stephens left them placed
against the walls of the room: 'They are about six feet high and two
wide; the front facings of which are deeply cut, representing a
caçique, or other dignitary, in full dress, (apparently a rich Indian
costume,) with a profusion of feathers in his head-dress. He is
represented with his arms uplifted, holding a whip; a boy before him
in a kneeling position, with his hands extended in supplication;
underneath are hieroglyphics. The room is small, with the ceiling
slightly curved.'
[V-62] _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 321; _Baril_, _Mexique_, p.
129; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. 'Autour de cette grande
ville (Uxmal), dans un rayon de plusieurs lieues, l'œil admirait les
cités puissantes de Nohcacab, de Chetulul, de Kabah, de Tanchi, de
Bokal et plus tard de Nohpat, dont les nobles omules se découpaient
dans l'azur foncé du ciel, comme autant de fleurons dans la couronne
d'Uxmal.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 21.
[V-63] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 30-8, 41-6, 124-6.
[V-64] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 16-28, with two plates in
addition to the cuts I have given. _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, pp.
79-80, with two cuts, from Stephens. 'The summits of the neighboring
hills are capped with gray broken walls for many miles around.'
_Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 150-3, with view of front, copied in
_Democratic Review_, vol. xi., pp. 536-7; _Frost's Pict. Hist. Mex._,
pp. 78-9; and _Id._, _Great Cities_, pp. 291-5.
[V-65] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 40-65, with plates. The cut
given in the text is also given by Baldwin, _Anc. Amer._, as a
frontispiece. _Willson's Amer. Hist._, p. 86.
[V-66] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 72-8, with two plates, and
cut of painting. _Willson's Amer. Hist._, pp. 86-7.
[V-67] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 83-4, 87-94.
[V-68] _Id._, vol. ii., pp. 235-43.
[V-69] _Un Curioso_, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 207-8, 351.
[V-70] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 249, 258-61, 130-5, with
four plates illustrating the ruins of Chunhuhu. At Mani 'a pillory of
a conical shape, built of stones, and to the southward rises a very
ancient palace.' _Soza_, in _Rio's Description_, p. 7. 'On voit encore
près de Mani les restes d'un édifice construit sur une colline. On
appelle cette ruine le temple _de las monjas del fuego_.' _Waldeck_,
_Voy. Pitt._, p. 48.
[V-71] Authorities on Chichen Itza. _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp.
340-7,--Landa describing the ruins from personal observation, having
been bishop of Mérida for several years, and died in the country in
1579; _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom.
xcii., pp. 300, 302, 304-6,--this author having visited Chichen in
1840, directed thereto by the advice of Mr Stephens, who had heard
rumors of the existence of extensive remains; _Stephens' Yucatan_,
vol. ii., pp. 282-324,--whose visit was from March 11 to 29, 1842, and
whose description, as usual, is much more complete than that of other
explorers; _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 104-28,--the corresponding
survey having lasted from February 10 to 14, 1842; _Charnay_, _Ruines
Amér._, pp. 339-46, phot. 26-34,--from an exploration in 1858. Thomas
Lopez Medel is also mentioned in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843,
tom. xcvii., pp. 38, 43, as having visited Chichen by authority of the
Guatemalan government. Other authors who publish accounts of Chichen,
made up from the works of the preceding actual explorers, are as
follows: _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, pp. 80-3; _Baldwin's Anc.
Amer._, pp. 140-4; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom.
ii., p. 15; _Frost's Great Cities_, pp. 282-91; _Morelet_, _Voyage_,
tom. i., pp. 186, 193; _Willson's Amer. Hist._, pp. 79-82; _Davis'
Antiq. Amer._, p. 6; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Mayer's
Mex. Aztec, etc._, vol. ii., p. 179, cut; _Democratic Review_, vol.
xi., pp. 534-6; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol.
i., p. 174; _Schott_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1871, pp. 423-4.
[V-72] Plan from Stephens. The only other plan is that given by
Norman, which, in distances and the arrangement of the buildings with
respect to each other, presents not the slightest similarity with the
probably accurate drawings of Stephens and Catherwood. 'The ruins of
Chichen lie on a hacienda, called by the name of the ancient city.'
'The first stranger who ever visited them was a native of New-York,'
Mr John Burke. First brought to the notice of the world by
Friederichsthal. 'The plan is made from bearings taken with the
compass, and the distances were all measured with a line. The
buildings are laid down on the plan according to their exterior form.
All now standing are comprehended, and the whole circumference
occupied by them is about two miles ... though ruined buildings appear
beyond these limits.' 'In all the buildings, from some cause not
easily accounted for, while one varies ten degrees one way, that
immediately adjoining varies twelve or thirteen degrees in another;'
still the plan shows no such arrangement. _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol.
ii., pp. 282-3, 290, 312. The modern church 'entièrement composée de
pierres enlevées aux temples et aux palais dont j'allais étudier les
ruines.' The proprietor 'me proposa la cession de sa propriété et des
ruines pour la somme de deux mille piastres.' _Charnay_, _Ruines
Amér._, pp. 336, 344-5. 'A city which, I hazard little in saying, must
have been one of the largest the world has ever seen. I beheld before
me, for a circuit of many miles in diameter, the walls of palaces and
temples and pyramids, more or less dilapidated.' 'No marks of human
footsteps, no signs of previous visitors, were discernible; nor is
there good reason to believe that any person, whose testimony of the
fact has been given to the world, had ever before broken the silence
which reigns over these sacred tombs of a departed civilization.'
_Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 108-9. Thirty-three leagues from
Valladolid, and twenty-five from Mérida. 'Une grotte offre, à une
profondeur de 52 pieds, un petit étang d'eau douce, auquel on descend
par des degrés taillés dans le roc, et se prolongeant au-dessous de la
surface de l'eau.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1841, tom. xcii., pp. 304-6.
[V-73] 'Le bijou de Chichen pour la richesse des sculptures.'
_Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 342. 'The most strange and
incomprehensible pile of architecture that my eyes ever
beheld--elaborate, elegant, stupendous.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._,
p. 119. Norman calls the building House of the Caciques.
[V-74] 'L'édifice appelé _la casa de las Monjas_ (la maison des
nonnes) est long de 157 pieds, large de 86, haut de 47. Dans la partie
inférieure, il n'y a pas de trace d'ouverture. L'étage supérieur a des
chambres nombreuses; les linteaux des portes sont ornés
d'hiéroglyphes.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1841, tom. xcii., p. 305. 'La porte (east front), surmontée de
l'inscription du palais, possède en outre une ornementation de
clochetons de pierre qui rappellent, comme ceux des coins de plusieurs
édifices, la manière chinoise ou japonaise. Au-dessus, se trouve un
magnifique médaillon représentant un chef la tête ceinte d'un diadème
de plumes; quant à la vaste frise qui entoure le palais, elle est
composée d'une foule de têtes énormes représentant des idoles, dont le
nez est lui-même enrichi d'une figure parfaitement dessinée. Ces têtes
sont séparées par des panneaux de mosaïque en croix, assez communs
dans le Yucatan.' 'Le développement du palais et de la pyramide est
d'environ soixante-quinze mètres.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp.
342-3. Photograph 30 shows the eastern front, and 29 the northern, of
the wing; 26 the north side of the building _a_; 27 the eastern, and
28 the southern front of the Iglesia, _b_. 'La façade (eastern) est
même d'un beau caractère, et la composition de la porte avec le
bas-relief qui la surmonte est pleine d'une grandeur sauvage, d'un
effet saisissant. Mieux traités que dans les exemples précédents,
l'appareil des parements est plus régulier, et il présente cette
particularité très-remarquable, qu'il s'accorde exactement avec la
décoration.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, p. 60. East wing 32 by 50
feet, and 20 feet high. 'Over the door-way ... is a heavy lintel of
stone, containing two double rows of hieroglyphics, with a sculptured
ornament intervening. Above these are the remains of hooks carved in
stone, with raised lines of drapery running through them ... over
which, surrounded by a variety of chaste and beautifully executed
borders, encircled within a wreath, is a female figure in a sitting
posture, in basso-relievo, having a head-dress of feathers, cords, and
tassels, and the neck ornamented.' Building _a_, 10×35×20 feet;
building _b_, 13×22×36 feet. Main platform 75×100 feet. 'On the
eastern end of these rooms (in 1st story over the solid basement) is a
hall running transversely, four feet wide ... one side of which is
filled with a variety of sculptured work, principally rosettes and
borders, with rows of small pilasters; having three square recesses.'
_Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 169-73, with view of eastern front of
wing, and of north front of the whole structure. 'Over the doorway
(eastern front) are twenty small cartouches of hieroglyphics in four
rows, five in a row.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 293, with
plates of eastern front, northern front, and the Iglesia.
[V-75] _Akab-Tzib_ and not _Akatzeeb_, as Stephens spells it.
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 12;
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 291-2, with plate of front and of
the sculptured lintel. 'Those (rooms) fronting the south are the most
remarkable, the inner doorways having each a stone lintel of an
unusually large size, measuring thirty-two inches wide, forty-eight
long, and twelve deep; having on its inner side a sculptured figure of
an Indian in full dress, with cap and feathers, sitting upon a
cushioned seat, finely worked; having before him a vase containing
flowers, with his right hand extended over it, his left resting upon
the side of the cushion--the whole bordered with hieroglyphics. The
front part of this lintel contains two rows of hieroglyphics. 43×150×20
feet, walls 3 feet thick. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 123-4.
'Un énorme bâtiment près des Nonnes, mais totalemente dénué de
sculptures.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 344.
[V-76] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 311-17, with plates of north
front of the castle and its pyramid, and the interior of the room,
besides the cut of the monsters' heads given in my text. Bishop Landa
gives a description probably intended for this edifice and even gives
a plan of it. His account, except in mentioning four stairways, agrees
very well with that of later visitors, and is as follows: 'This
edifice has four stairways facing the four parts of the world; they
are 33 feet wide, each having 91 steps, very difficult of ascent. The
steps have the same height and width as ours. Each stairway has two
low balustrades, two feet wide, of good stonework like all the
building. The edifice is not sharp-cornered, because from the ground
upward between the balustrades the cubic blocks are rounded, ascending
by degrees and elegantly narrowing the building. There was, when I saw
it, at the foot of each balustrade a fierce serpent's mouth very
strangely worked. Above the stairways there is on the summit a small
level platform in which is an edifice of four rooms. Three of them
extend round without interruption, each having a door in the middle
and being covered with an arch. The northern room is of peculiar form,
and has a corridor of great pillars. The middle one, which must have
been a kind of little court between the rooms, has a door which leads
to the northern corridor and is closed with wood at the top, and
served for burning perfumes. In the entrance of this door or corridor
is a kind of coat of arms sculptured in stone, which I could not well
understand.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 342-4. 550 feet in circumference
at the base, its sides facing the cardinal points. 'The angles and
sides were beautifully laid with stones of an immense size, gradually
lessening, as the work approached the summit.' Stairways on north and
east 30 feet wide and narrowing toward the top. The south and west
slopes also mount in steps, each four feet high. Monsters' heads at
foot of eastern stairway. Slope 100 feet; building 42 feet square;
stone door-jambs have holes drilled through their inner angles;
interior walls are plastered and painted with figures now very dim;
roof perfectly flat and covered with soil. This author in his whole
description evidently confounds the north with the east front.
_Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 115-17, with view of pyramid.
Charnay's phot. 32 gives a view of the Chateau. 120 feet high, 159
feet square at base; platform 60 feet square; 80 steps in the
stairway. _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841,
tom. xcii., p. 304.
[V-77] 'Tenia delante la escalera del corte (of the castle) algo
aparte dos teatros de canteria pequeños de a quatro escaleras, y
enlosados por arriba en que dizen representavan las farsas y comedias
para solaz del pueblo.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 344.
[V-78] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 303-11. Plates giving a
general view of the Gymnasium, the front of the building on the
eastern wall, and the painted and sculptured figures. 'Le monument se
composait autrefois de deux pyramides perpendiculaires et parallèles,
d'un développement de cent dix mètres environ, avec plate-forme
disposée pour les spectateurs. Aux extrémités deux petits édifices
semblables, sur une esplanade de six mêtres de hauteur, devaient
servir aux juges, ou d'habitation aux guardiens du gymnase.' Of the
two chambers on the eastern wall, 'la seconde, entière aujourd'hui,
est couverte de peintures. Ce sont des guerriers et des prêtres,
quelques-uns avec barbe noire et drapés dans de vastes tuniques, la
tête ornée de coiffures diverses. Les couleurs employées sont le noir,
le jaune, le rouge, et le blanc.... Dans le bas et en dehors du
monument se trouve la salle dont nous donnons les bas-reliefs, qui
sont certainement ce qu'il y a de plus curieux à Chichen-Itza. Toutes
les figures en bas-relief, sculptées sur les murailles de cette salle,
ont conservé le type de la race indienne existante.' _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, pp. 140-1. Phot. 33 and 34 show the sculptured
procession of tigers and that of human figures, of which I have given
a portion in my text. 'On observera que les joints des pierres ne sont
pas _coupés_ conformément à l'habitude des constructeurs
d'_appareils_, mais que les pierres, ne formant pas _liaison_,
présentent plusieurs joints les uns au-dessus des autres, et ne
tiennent que par l'adhérence des mortiers, qui les réunit au blocage
intérieur. Par le fait, ces parements ne sont autre chose qu'une
décoration, un revêtement collé devant un massif.' _Viollet-le-Duc_,
in _Id._, pp. 48-9. Walls stand on foundations about 16 feet high;
columns two feet in diameter; walls 250×16×26 feet and 130 feet
apart; building of southern wall (eastern, Norman having completely
lost his reckoning at Chichen in the points of the compass) 24 feet
high; rings two feet thick; line of rubbish in form of a curve
connecting main and end walls (_c_ and _d_). General view of the
Temple and cut of the ring. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 111-15.
Walls 262×18×27 feet. _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des
Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 305.
[V-79] Cuts from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 300-1. Terrace 55
by 62 feet; stairway 20 feet wide; building 23 by 43. _Ib._
'Foundations of about twenty feet in height, which were surrounded and
sustained by well-cemented walls of hewn stone with curved angles' 240
feet in circumference. Building 21 by 40 feet. 'Across these halls
were beams of wood, creased as if they had been worn by
hammock-ropes.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 124-5. Foundation only
two mètres high, but photograph 31 shows this to be an error.
_Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 344. 'Deux petits temples (E and D),
ayant leur façade au sud et à l'est; le vestibule du premier est orné
d'hiéroglyphes.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1841, tom. xcii., p. 305.
[V-80] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 298-300, with view of the
building. This author is at fault so far as dimensions are concerned,
since 4 and 5 feet, the width of the corridors, and 3¾ feet, half the
diameter of the solid central mass, exceed 11 feet, half the diameter
of the whole building, to say nothing of the two walls. 'Bâti en
manière de mur à limaçon.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 344. Top of
first terrace, 30 feet high, 125 feet square; second terrace 50 feet
square and 12 feet high; on this terrace is a pyramidical square 50
feet high, divided into rooms; on the centre of this square is the
Dome--'three conic structures, one within the other, a space of six
feet intervening; each cone communicating with the others by doorways,
the inner one forming the shaft. At the height of about ten feet, the
cones are united by means of transoms of zuporte. Around these cones
are evidences of spiral stairs, leading to the summit.' It is clear
that either Stephens' description or that of Norman is very incorrect.
Norman compares this Dome to a 'Greenan Temple' in Donegal, Ireland.
_Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 118-19, with a cut which agrees with Stephens'
cut and text. Tower 50 feet high, 36 feet in diameter; surrounding
wall 756 feet in circumference and twenty-five feet high.
_Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii.,
p. 305.
[V-81] Four hundred and eighty bases of overthrown columns. 'Des
colonnades qui, bien que d'une construction lourde, surprennent par
leur étendue.' _Friederichsthal_, loc. cit., pp. 302, 300; _Stephens'
Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 317-18, and view.
[V-82] 'Had the Spaniards selected this for the site of their city of
Valladolid, a few leagues distant, it is highly probable that not a
vestige of the ancient edifices would now be seen.' _Gallatin_, in
_Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 174. 'Lieu qui offre
beaucoup l'apparence d'une ville sainte.' _Friederichsthal_, loc.
cit., p. 300. Dr Arthur Schott discourses, in the _Smithsonian Rept._,
1871, pp. 423-5, on a face, or mask, of 'semiagatized xyolite, still
bearing the marks of silicified coniferous wood, a fossil probably
foreign to the soil of the peninsula.' It was found at Chichen, and
the Doctor thinks it may have some deep mythologic meaning, which he
generously leaves to some other ethnologist to decipher. Norman,
_Rambles in Yuc._, p. 127, states that the hewn blocks of stone at
Chichen are uniformly 12 by 6 inches. M. Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 47,
speaks of a reported silver collar bearing an inscription in Greek,
Hebrew, and Phœnician letters, found in the 'grottes cristallines
de Chixhen.' But even this enthusiastic antiquarian looks at this
report with much distrust.
[V-83] _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Norman's Rambles in
Yuc._, p. 87; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 340-4.
[V-84] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 272-85; _Norman's Rambles in
Yuc._, pp. 146-7; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 22, 70, 73, 102-3, 111;
_Bradford's Amer. Antiq._, p. 103; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p.
144.
[V-85] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 130-9, with cuts; _Baldwin's
Anc. Amer._, pp. 127-9, with cuts. Near the village of Telchaquillo.
_Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. Surrounded by a ditch that can be
traced for three miles. _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 194-5. 'Se
dice que Mayapan ... estaba murada, pero fué demolida hasta sus
cimientos, y únicamente los grandes montones de piedras indican que
fué una gran poblacion.' _Un Curioso_, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p.
206.
[V-86] 'Los españoles poblaron aqui una ciudad, y llamaronla Mérida,
por la estrañeza y grandeza de los edificios.' As to the size of the
pyramid mentioned it is 'mas de dos carreras de caballo'--that is
twice as far as a horse can run without taking breath--in extent. The
cement is made with the juice of the bark of a certain tree, 'El
primero edificio de los quatro quartos nos dio el adelantado Montejo a
nosotros hecho un monte aspero, limpiamosle y emos hecho en el con su
propria piedra un razonable monesterio todo de piedra y una buena
yglesia que llamamos la Madre de Dios.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp.
330-8, with cut. 'Entre aquel cerro, y otro como èl hecho à mano, que
està à la parte Oriental de la Ciudad; se determinò fuesse fundada, y
eran tan grandes, que con la piedra que auia en el que estaban, se
obraron quantos edificios ay en la Ciudad, con que quedò todo el sitio
llano, que es la Plaça mayor oy, y sus quadras en contorno, y con la
del de la parte Oriental, se edifico nuestro Conuento por caerle
cercano, despues se han hecho muchas casas, y todo el Conuento, y
Iglesia de la Mejorada, que tambien es nuestro, y tiene material para
otros muy muchos.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 138. 'Auia junto
adonde està aora la Plaça entre otros cerros, vno que llamaban el
grande de los Kues, adoratorio que era de Idolos lleno de arboleda.'
_Id._, p. 149. Tihoo was built by the Tutul-Xius, and had a celebrated
temple to Baklum-Chaam, the Maya Priapus. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 8-9. 'En el pátio del convento de S.
Francisco está una cruz.... En la huerta del mismo convento se ven aun
algunas piedras curiosamente labradas con cotas y morreones á la
antigua romana, y púnica.' _Alegre_, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. ii.,
p. 112. The buildings were 'construits en pierres de taille fort
grandes. On ignore qui les a bâtis; il paraît que ce fut avant la
naissance de Jésus-Christ, car il y avait au-dessus des arbres aussi
gros que ceux qui croissaient au pied. Ces bâtiments ont cinq toises
de hauteur, et sont construits en pierres sèches; au sommet de ces
édifices sont quatre appartements divisés en cellules comme celles des
moines; ils ont vingt pieds de long et dix de large; les jambages des
portes sont d'un seul morceau, et le haut est voûté.' _Bienvenida_,
_Lettre_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., pp. 310-11.
'In different parts of the city are the remains of Indian buildings.'
_Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 398. Montanus, _Nieuwe Weereld_,
p. 259, says that Mérida is built on the ruins of Mayapan. Malte-Brun,
_Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 465, confounds Mérida with the
ruins farther south, mentioned by Padre Soza. See mention in _Norman's
Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 45-8; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 23, 55-6;
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 37; _Gallatin_, in
_Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 174; _Sivers_,
_Mittelamerika_, pp. 243-4; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 269;
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 94-8.
[V-87] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 440-4, vol. i., p. 127, with
plate; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. 'Les monuments les plus
anciens, dont les restes sont composés d'énormes blocs de pierres
brutes, posés quelquefois les uns sur les autres, sans aucun ciment
qui les unisse. Tels sont les édifices d'un lieu voisin de l'hacienda
d'Aké, située à 27 milles à l'est-sud-est de Mérida.' _Friederichsthal_,
in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 300.
[V-88] Stephens speaks of the 'sternness and harshness of expression'
of the cara gigantesca. 'A stone one foot six inches long protrudes
from the chin, intended, perhaps, for burning copal on, as a sort of
altar.' _Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 434-6, with plate. 'Les alentours
sont parsemés de pyramides artificielles, et deux, entre autres, sont
les plus considérables de la péninsule.' M. Charnay finds fault with
Catherwood for representing the colossal head as in a desert with a
raging tiger and savages armed with bows and arrows in the foreground.
'A force de vouloir faire de la couleur locale, on fausse l'histoire,
et on déroute la science.' He pronounces the face 'd'un genre
cyclopéen. Ce sont de vastes entailles, espèces de modelages en
ciment.' _Ruines Amér._, pp. 319-22, phot. 23-5. 'C'est une sorte de
gros blocage dont les moellons, posés avec art par le sculpteur au
milieu d'un mortier très-dur, ont formé les joues, la bouche, le nez,
les yeux. Cette tête colossale est réellement une bâtisse enduite.'
'Les traits sont beaux, la bouche est bien faite, les yeux grands sans
être saillants, le front, couvert d'un ornement, ne semble point
fuyant. Cette tête était peinte comme toute l'architecture mexicaine.'
_Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, pp. 46-7. Dr Schott pronounces Mr
Stephens' description unsatisfactory, especially his calling the face
harsh and stern in expression. The features are feminine in their
cast, and of the narrow rather than of the broad type. 'The whole face
exhibits a very remarkable regularity and conforms strictly to the
universally accepted principles of beauty.' 'The head-dress in the
shape of a mitre is encircled just above the forehead by a band, which
is fastened in front by a triple locket or tassel.' This author
identities the face as that of Itzamatul, the semi-divine founder of
Izamal, and explains the signification of each particular feature. His
treatise is perhaps as intelligible and rational as most speculation
on such topics, but it is to be noted that the Dr founds his
conclusions on Clavigero's description of the Toltecs! It would be
hard to prove that the cara gigantesca does not represent this
particular hero, and that the large ears are not emblems of wisdom. Dr
Schott pronounces it 'hazardous' to attempt to connect this face with
any other than Itzamatul, and I prefer to run no risks. _Smithsonian
Rept._, 1869, pp. 389-93. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 79, speaks of
a well on the platform of one of the pyramids. 'Dans ses flancs, la
colline sacrée recélait de vastes appartements, des galeries et un
temple souterrain, destinés, dit-on, aux mystères de la religion et à
servir de nécropole aux cadavres des prêtres et des princes.' The
grave of Zamná was here, and his followers erected the pyramid.
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 79. History of
the pyramids, see _Id._, tom. ii., pp. 47-8. 'On trouva dans un
édifice en démolition une grande urne à trois anses, recouverte
d'ornements argentés extérieurement, au fond duquel il y avait des
cendres provenant d'un corps brûlé, parmi lesquelles nous trouvâmes
des objets d'art en pierre.' 'Statues en demi-bosse, modelées en
ciment que je dis se trouver dans les contreforts, et qui sont
d'hommes de haute taille.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 326-30, with plan.
'Ay en este pueblo de Ytzamal cinco cuyos ó cerros muy altos, todos
levantados de piedra seca, con sus fuerças y reparos, que ayudan á
levantar la piedra en alto, y no se ven edificios enteros oy, mas los
señales y vestigios están patentes en uno dellos de la parte de
mediodia.' One altar was in honor of their king or false god
Ytzmat-ul, and had on it the figure of a hand, being called _Kab-ul_,
or 'working hand.' Another mound and temple in the northern part of
the city, the highest now standing, was called _Kinich-Kakmó_, or 'sun
with fiery rayed face.' Another, on which the convent is founded, is
_Ppapp-Hol-Chac_, 'house of heads and lightnings.' Another in the
south called _Hunpictok_, 'captain with an army of 8000 flints.'
_Lizana_, _Devocionario_, 1663, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 348-64.
[V-89] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 137-232, with plates and
cuts; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp.
101, 146-7; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp.
20-3.
[V-90] On these east coast buildings seen by Córdova, Grijalva, and
Cortés, see _Diaz_, _Itinéraire_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série
i., tom. x., pp. 5-9; and in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i.,
pp. 282-6; _Cortés_, _Vida_, in _Id._, p. 339; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. i., pp. 497, 505-7; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p.
352; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. iii., cap. i.; _Gomara_,
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 22-4; _Id._, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 60; _Peter Martyr_,
dec. iv., lib. iii.; _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 4; _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iv., p. 41; _Morelet_, _Voyage_,
tom. i., p. 181; _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, pp. 241-4; _Folsom_, in
_Cortés_, _Despatches_, p. 20.
[V-91] _Voy. Pitt._, p. 102.
[V-92] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 387-409, with plates and
cuts.
[V-93] 'They founde auncient towers there, and the ruines of such as
hadde beene broken downe and destroyed, seeming very auncient: but one
aboue the rest, whereto they ascended by 18 steppes or staires, as
they ascende to famous, and renowned temples.' _Peter Martyr_, dec.
iv., lib. iii. Grijalva found a tower 'xviii gradi de altura et tutta
massiza al pede et tenia a torno clxxx piedi, et incima de essa era
una torre piccola la quale era de statura de homini doi uno sopra
laltro.' _Diaz_, _Itinerario_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom.
i., pp. 284, 287. See also the authorities referred to in note 89.
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 362-80, with cut; _Larenaudière_,
_Mex. et Guat._, p. 321; _Gondra_, in _Album Mex._, tom. i., p. 239;
_Mayer's Mex., Aztec, etc._, vol. ii., p. 169; _Baril_, _Mexique_, p.
129; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 145.
[V-94] Córdova found here in 1517 'torres de piedra con grados y
capillas cubiertas de madera y paja en que por gentil orden estauan
puestos muchos idolos, que parecian mugeres.' _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._,
fol. 60; _Cortés_, _Vida_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col. de Doc._, tom. i.,
p. 339; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 415-17, with plate.
[V-95] _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 102. 'Une ville entière offre ses
ruines aux investigations des archéologues.' _Baril_, _Mexique_, p.
129; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 321.
[V-96] _Dampier's Voyages_, vol. ii., pt. ii., pp. 10-11; _Stephens'
Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 418.
[V-97] 'Tout près du rio Lagarto se voient deux pyramides, au sommet
desquelles croissent maintenant des arbres élevés et touffus.'
_Baril_, _Mexique_, p. 129; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 102.
[V-98] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 427-30, with plate.
[V-99] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 189, 199-220; _Wappäus_,
_Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144.
[V-100] 'The whole of Campeachy rests upon a subterraneous cavern of
the ancient Mayas. It is now difficult to ascertain whether these
quarries or galleries, which, according to the traditions of the
country, are understood to be immense, served for the abode of the
people who executed the work. Nothing reveals the marks of man's
sojournings here; not even the traces of smoke upon the vaults were
visible. It is more probable that the greater part of this excavation
was used as a depository for their dead. This supposition has been
strengthened by the discovery of many openings of seven feet deep by
twenty inches in breadth, dug horizontally in the walls of the
caverns. These excavations, however, are few; and the galleries have
been but little investigated and less understood.' Mr Norman sent some
of the skeletons discovered here to Dr Morton, who pronounced them to
present many of the characteristics of the natives at the present
time. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 211-18, with plates. Sr Gondra,
in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._ (Mex. 1846) tom. iii., pp. 95-8, pl.
xviii., gives engravings of four of these idols in Norman's
collection, erroneously stating that they are from Stephens' work. 'I
have seen some of his (Norman's) remarkable antiquities, as Penates,
hieroglyphics,' etc. _Davis' Antiq. Amer._, p. 12. The above notice,
given by Mr Norman is an almost literal translation of _Waldeck_,
_Voy. Pitt._, p. 10; as is also the account by _I. R. Gondra_, in
_Album Mex._, tom. i., p. 162. Mention of the Champoton ruins in
_Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 102; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p.
321; _Baril_, _Mexique_, p. 128. Córdova in 1517 saw at Campeche 'vn
torrejoncillo de piedra quadrado y gradado, en lo alto del qual estaua
vn ydolo con dos fieros animales alas hijadas, como que lo comian. Y
vna sierpe de quarenta y siete pies larga, y gorda quanto vn buey,
hecha de piedra como el ydolo.' _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 61. 'On
ne rencontre ni dans l'île de Carmen ni sur les bords de la Lagune
aucun tumulus, aucune ruine, aucun vestige enfin de l'industrie des
temps passés.' Description of the Camacho collection in Campeche,
consisting of 'figurines et des vases d'argile portant encore des
traces de peinture et de vernis, des instruments de musique, de menus
objets de parure, des haches, des fers de lance en silex ou en
obsidienne.' _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 226, 167-8. The Camacho
Museum contains 'Una numerosa colleccion de ídolos de barro y
piedra.... Una urna cineraria que contiene los restos de un hombre....
Una coleccion de vasos, jarros, cántaros y fuentes de piedra y barro,
adornados, muchos de ellos, con geroglíficos y con pinturas vivas,
frescas y bien conservadas. Una colleccion de lanzas, flechas, dardos
y demas instrumentos de guerra.... Casi todos estos instrumentos son
de pedernal. Otra coleccion de flautas y otros instrumentos músicos,
de barro. Otra id. de zarcillos, cuentas y adornos de piedra.... Otra
id. de lozas sepulcrales.... Una multitud de fragmentos
arquitectónicos.' _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 373-4. 'Le canton qui
s'étend de la côte de la lagune de Jerm, vers le nord-est, offre
sur-tout une suite presque continue de monticules et de villes,
jusqu'au point où il atteint le sanctuaire de l'île de Cozumel.'
_Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii.,
pp. 299-300. 'Une foule de ruines d'une grande importance.' _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 67.
[V-101] _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 193; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol.
ii., pp. 341, 122, vol. i., p. 415; _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 344, 330;
_Lizana_, in _Id._, p. 358; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 321-2;
_Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 366.
[V-102] 'La piedra _margosa_ de que están formados tales edificios, es
ademas generalmente considerada como un material muy inferior para la
construccion.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Dicc. Univ._, tom. x., p. 292.
The blocks 'ont une transparence troublée comme celle du gypse. Il est
probable ... que c'est du véritable carbonate calcaire.' _Zavala_, in
_Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 34. 'A soft coralline limestone
of a comparatively recent geological formation, probably of the
Tertiary period.' _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, p. 398.
[V-103] 'La poca mezcla que se advierte en ellos, es fina, tersa y tan
compacta por su particular beneficio, que tomada entre los dedos una
pastilla, cuyo grueso es poco mayor que el de un peso fuerte, da sumo
trabajo quebrantarla.' _L. G._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 277.
'Ces mortiers sont faits avec une chaux hydraulique presque pure, et
ont une si complète adhérence, soit dans les massifs, soit même
lorsqu'ils sont appliqués comme enduits, comme à Palenqué, qu'à peine
si le marteau peut les entamer.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, pp. 59-60.
[V-104] Jones says 'The term "triangular _Arch_" cannot be admitted by
the language of Architecture; he (Mr Stephens) might as well have
written _triangular semicircle_, terms distinctly opposed to each
other.' _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 100. 'Los techos, sin variacion alguna
entre sí, representan una figura ojiva, muy conocida de los árabes, y
repetidamente citada por el recomendable Victor Hugo en su obra de
Nuestra Sra. de Paris.' _L. G._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 277.
'On dit en espagnol de _boveda_, qui n'exprime aucunement cette
architecture toute particulière; _boveda_ veut dire voûte, et ces
intérieurs n'y ressemblent nullement; ce sont deux murs parallèles
jusqu'à une hauteur de trois mètres, obliquant alors l'un vers
l'autre, et terminés par une dalle de trente centimètres.' _Charnay_,
_Ruines Amér._, pp. 342-3.
[V-105] Friederichsthal erroneously says the wooden lintels are always
sculptured, and that each room has air-holes above the cornice, both
square and round, from 3 to 5 inches in diameter. _Nouvelles Annales
des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 311.
[V-106] Mr Jones believes that the ornaments on the Maya façades must
have been sculptured after the stones in a rough state had been put in
place, and not before, as Mr Stephens thinks. _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p.
92. The following is Mr Waldeck's not very clear explanation of the
mode of decorating these façades. 'Voulaient-ils couvrir une façade
d'ornements ou de figures symboliques, ils commençaient par peindre la
muraille toute entière de la couleur qu'ils avaient choisie; presque
toujours c'était le rouge qui formait le fond.... Cette première
opération terminée, on posait sur le mur peint la marqueterie en
pierre qui devait servir d'ornement et on la badigeonnait avec plus de
soin que le fond. Le bleu était employé dans ce travail.' _Voy.
Pitt._, pp. 72-3. 'In the Mayan delineations of the human countenance
the contracted facial angle is as remarkable as in the paintings of
the Aztecs.' _Prichard's Researches_, vol. v., p. 346. See _Foster's
Pre-Hist. Races_, p. 302. 'On retrouve chez quelques-uns de ces
Indiens les traits bien accentués de la race au front fuyant et au nez
busqué, qui construisit les palais d'Uxmal, de Palenque, et de
Chichen-Itza. Je fus frappé de cette analogie, quoique la similitude
soit loin d'être parfaite, les artistes nationaux ayant exagéré
vraisemblablement certains caractères qui constituaient alors l'idéal
de la beauté.' _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 147.
[V-107] _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, pp. 212-13.
[V-108] 'Depuis le cap Catoche jusqu'au pied de la Cordillère
centrale, analogie frappante dans le caractère, l'ensemble et les
proportions des diverses parties des ouvrages.' 'Quant à l'impression
que fait éprouver l'examen de l'architecture de tous ces édifices, je
dois ajouter que les idées fines de l'artiste ont évidemment été
exécutées d'une manière qui ne les rend nullement.' 'Toutefois on
rencontre, notamment à Uxmal, des preuves suffisantes qu'ils étaient
parvenus à plus de dextérité dans quelques-unes de leurs sculptures.
On reconnaît leur addresse à représenter les formes humaines, dans les
idoles et les figures en argile.... Ces ouvrages sont supérieurs, sous
tous les rapports de l'art, à tout ce que cette nation a produit.'
_Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii.,
pp. 303, 312. 'Esa bella y elegante arquitectura, esos soberbios é
imponentes adornos, superiores á todo lo que hasta hoy ha podido verse
y concebirse.' 'Ruinas soberbias, que agobian la imaginacion y oprimen
el entendimiento.' _Id._, in _Dicc. Univ._, tom. x., p. 291. 'The
splendid temples and palaces still standing attest the power of the
priests and of the nobles; no trace remains of the huts in which dwelt
the mass of the nation.' _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc.,
Transact._, vol. i., p. 174. Uxmal 'the American Palmyra.' _Wappäus_,
_Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. 'El primer golpe de vista de su conjunto, es
grandioso, es imponente. Examinandolos luego en detall, causa
admiracion el distinto órden de arquitectura que se nota en cada
edificio, la elegancia caprichosa de sus formas, la abundancia y
riqueza del material que interior y exteriormente es todo de piedra de
sillería, el lujo prodigioso de los adornos variados hasta lo infinito
de un modo raro, original y nunca visto, y la perfeccion y maestría
con que todo ha sido ejecutado.' 'Nótase en Uxmal ... la infancia del
arte en punto á estatuaria.' _M. F. P._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i.,
pp. 363, 365. 'En somme, les ruines d'Uxmal nous paraissent être la
dernière expression de la civilisation américaine; nulle part un tel
assemblage de ruines, maisons particulières, temples et palais.'
_Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 374. 'La arquitectura de Uxmal brillante
en su perspectiva, es complicada y simétrica en sus dibujos, robusta
en sus cimientos y terraplenes, simbólica en sus geroglíficos y
figuras humanas ... y bastante delicada en sus cornizas y molduras.'
_L. G._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 277. 'The sculpture at Uxmal
is not only as fine, but distinctly of a Grecian character.' _Jones'
Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 107. 'Plusieurs de ces constructions ne laissent
rien à désirer au point de vue du bon goût et des règles de l'art.'
_Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 193. M. Viollet-le-Duc's conclusions
and speculations are mostly directed to prove that the builders were
of mixed race, white and yellow, Aryan and Turanian. He supports his
theory by a study of the faces among the sculptured decorations, and
by pointing out in the buildings traditions of structures in wood, and
also the use of mortar, the use of wood and mortar being peculiar, as
he claims, to different races. _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, introd.
'These antiquities show that this section of the continent was
anciently occupied by a people admirably skilled in the arts of
masonry, building, and architectural decoration.' _Baldwin's Anc.
Amer._, p. 101. 'The builders of the ruins of the city of Chi-Chen and
Uxmal excelled in the mechanic and fine arts. It is obvious that they
were a cultivated, and doubtless a very numerous people.' _Norman's
Rambles in Yuc._, p. 175. 'Ohne Zweifel zu den herrlichsten Amerikas
gehören.--Welch riesenhafte Bauten für eine Nation, die alles mit
steinernen Instrumenten arbeitete!' _Heller_, _Reisen_, p. 260.
[V-109] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 93-9, 140, 274, 322-5, 413,
vol. ii., pp. 264-73, 306, 343, 406.
[V-110] 'Dilato la fundacion de Uxmal á 150 ó 200 años ántes del de
1535, en que tuvo efecto la conquista del pais por los españoles.' _L.
G._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 276. 'Aunque el mar de conjeturas
que las cubre sea muy ancho, y de libre navegacion para todo el mundo,
creo, sin embargo, que lo ménos ridículo y mas acertado es no
engolfarse en él.' _M. F. P._, in _Id._, p. 363. Cogolludo found in
the Casa del Adivino at Uxmal traces of recent sacrificial offerings.
_Hist. Yuc._, p. 193. 'Fassen wir nun diess alles zusammmen, so haben
wir in den Ruinen Uxmals echte Denkmäler tultekischer Kunst von einem
Alter von ungefähr 800 Jahren.' _Heller_, _Reisen_, p. 264. 'Elles
paraissent, en majeure partie, appartenir à l'architecture toltèque et
dater d'au moins mille ans.' _Baril_, _Mexique_, p. 128,.
Friederichsthal, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. ii., pp. 437-43, and many
others regard the Yucatan and other Central American ruins as the work
of the Toltecs. See vol. ii., cap. ii., and vol. v. of this work on
this point. Uxmal generally regarded as having been founded by
Ahcuitok Tutul-Xiu between 870 and 894 A. D. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 22. Chichen seems older than the other
ruins. The Maya MS. places its discovery between 360 and 432 A. D.
_Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 323. 'Uxmal is placed by us as the
last built of all the Ancient Cities as yet discovered on the Western
Continent.' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, pp. 104, 101. 'Evidently the
city of Chi-Chen was an antiquity when the foundations of the
Parthenon at Athens, and the Cloaca Maxima at Rome, were being laid.'
The ruins of Yucatan 'belong to the remotest antiquity. Their age is
not to be measured by hundreds, but by thousands of years.' _Norman's
Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 177-8. See _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 71,
97-8; _Prescott's Mex._, vol. iii., pp. 412-13; _Foster's Pre-Hist.
Races_, p. 398.