Perplexities.--Household Wants.--Indian Mode of boiling
Eggs.--Clearings.--A valuable Addition.--Description of the
Ruins.--Casa del Gobernador.--Hieroglyphics.--Ornaments over the
Doorways.--Ground Plan.--Doorways.--Apartments.--Great Thickness
of the back Wall.--A Breach made in the Wall.--Prints of a Red
Hand.--Sculptured Beam of Hieroglyphics.--Wooden Lintels.--Loss
of Antiquities by the Burning of Mr. Catherwood's
Panorama.--Terraces.--A curious Stone.--Circular Mound.--Discovery
of a Sculptured Monument.--Square Stone Structure.--Sculptured
Heads.--Staircase.--House of the Turtles.
Morning brought with it other perplexities. We had no servant, and
wanted breakfast, and altogether our prospects were not good. We did
not expect to find the hacienda so entirely destitute of persons with
whom we could communicate. The mayoral was the only one who spoke a
word of Spanish, and he had the business of the hacienda to attend to.
He had received special orders from his master to do everything in his
power to serve us, but the power of his master had limits. He could not
make the Indians, who knew only the Maya, speak Spanish. Besides this,
the power of the master was otherwise restricted. In fact, except as
regards certain obligations which they owed, the Indians were their own
masters, and, what was worse for us, their own mistresses, for one of
our greatest wants was a woman to cook, make tortillas, and perform
those numerous domestic offices without which no household can go on
well. The mayoral had given us no hope of being able to procure one;
but in the midst of our anxieties, and while we were preparing
breakfast for ourselves, we perceived him coming across the terrace,
followed by a train of Indians, and closing the procession was a woman,
at that time really a welcome visiter. The mayoral said that the
evening before, on his return to the hacienda, he had gone round to all
the huts, and proposed to woman after woman, promising liberal pay and
good treatment, but they all refused until he came to this one, and
with her he had been obliged to stipulate that she should not remain at
the ruins in the night, but should return home every evening. This was
a great drawback, as we wanted to breakfast early, but we had no
choice, and were glad to get her upon her own terms.
She was taller than most of the Indian women, and her complexion was
somewhat darker. Her dress fitted more closely to her body, and she had
more of it. Her character was unimpeached, her bearing would have kept
presumption at a distance, and, as an additional safeguard, she had
with her a little grandson, named Jose, whose complexion indicated that
the descending line of her house had no antipathies to the white race.
Her age might be a little over fifty, and her name was Chaipa Chi.
The preliminaries being settled, we immediately installed her as _chef
de cuisine_, without assistants, and sent off the mayoral to direct the
Indians in some clearings which we wished made immediately. The first
essay of Chaipa Chi was in boiling eggs, which, according to the custom
of the country, she boiled para beber, or to drink; that is, by
breaking a small hole in the shell, into which a stick is inserted to
mix together the white and yolk; the egg is to be disposed of through
this hole in the primitive way which nature indicates to the new-born
babe. This did not suit us, and we wished the process of cooking to be
continued a little longer, but Chaipa Chi was impenetrable to hints or
signs. We were obliged to stand over her, and, but for the name of the
thing, we might as well have cooked them ourselves. This over, we gave
up, and left our dinner to the mercies of our chef.
Before we were in a condition to begin an examination and exploration
of the ruins, we had a serious business before us in making the
necessary clearings. These were not required for picturesque effect;
indeed, overgrown as the ruins were, they addressed themselves more
powerfully to the imagination than if the whole field and every stone
lay bare; but facilities of moving from place to place were
indispensable, and for this purpose we determined first to clear the
terrace of the Casa del Gobernador, and cut roads from ruin to ruin,
until we had a complete line of communication; and that we might know
exactly our whereabout, Mr. Catherwood took an observation, by which he
found the latitude of Uxmal to be 20 deg. 27' 30" N.
Our Indians made a good beginning, and by the afternoon we had the
upper terrace cleared. Toward evening they all left us, including
Chaipa Chi, and at night, while the moon was glimmering mournfully over
the ruins, we had a stroll along the whole front of the Casa del
Gobernador.
We were in no hurry to retire, and when we did so it was with some
misgivings. Besides a little general attention to what was going on out
of doors, the principal business of the day had been to prepare our
moscheto-nets, and for this we grudged no time, labour, or ingenuity;
but our success was complete. Throughout the whole long apartment there
was a continued singing and whizzing, lower or louder as the musicians
came near or retired, furious at being defrauded of their prey, but
they could not touch us. Our satisfaction went beyond that of the mere
prospect for the night, for we felt sure of rest after labour, and of
being able to maintain our ground.
The next day we made a valuable addition to our household. Among the
Indians who came out to work was a lad who spoke Spanish. He was the
puniest, lankest, and leanest of any we had seen on the hacienda, and
his single garment was the dirtiest. His name was Bernaldo. He was but
fifteen, and he was already experiencing the vicissitudes of fortune.
His education had been neglected; and for confounding some technical
distinctions in the laws of property, he was banished from a hacienda
near Merida to the deserts of Uxmal. We were in such straits for want
of an interpreter, and, except during the short visit of the mayoral,
so entirely destitute, that we overlooked entirely Bernaldo's moral
weakness, withdrew him from the workmen, and led him to the sala of the
palace, where, in the course of conveying some instructions to Chaipa
Chi, he showed such an interest in the subject that Doctor Cabot
immediately undertook to give him a lesson in cookery. In his first
essay he was so apt that we forthwith inducted him as ruler over the
three stones that composed our kitchen fireplace, with all the
privileges and emoluments of sipping and tasting, and left Chaipa Chi
to bestow all her energies upon the business that her soul loved, the
making of tortillas.
[Engraving 8: Plan of Uxmal]
[Transcriber's Note: Text included above in Engraving.
General Plan of the Ruins at Uxmal.
1842
A. _Collection of Buildings called Casa de Las MONJAS or House of
the NUNS_.
B. _House of the DWARF also called CASA de ADIVINO_.
C. _Casa del GOBERNADOR or House of the GOVERNOR_.
D. _High and nameless MOUND_.
E. _Casa de PALOMAS or PIGEON HOUSE_.
F. _High Mound and Building without name_.
G. _Casa de la VIEJA or House of the OLD WOMAN_.
H. _Casa de las Tortugas or House of the Tortoises_.]
Being now domesticated, I shall introduce the reader without preface to
the ruins of Uxmal. In the account of my former visit I endeavoured to
give a brief description of these ruins. Hurried away, however, without
plans or drawings, it was impossible to present any definite idea of
their character. The plate opposite represents the plan of this ancient
city, as indicated by the remaining edifices. The ranges were all taken
with the compass, and the distances measured, and the dimensions of the
buildings and their distances from each other can be ascertained by
means of the scale at the foot of the plate.
The first ruin which I shall present is that in which we lived, called
the Casa del Gobernador. The engraving which forms the frontispiece of
this volume represents its front, with the three great terraces on
which it stands. This front is three hundred and twenty-two feet long.
Large as the engraving is, it can serve only to give some idea of the
general effect; the detail of ornament cannot be shown.
The edifice is represented as it exists now, without any attempt at
restoration, and the reader will perceive that over two of the doorways
the facade has fallen. Don Simon Peon told us that in the year 1825
this fallen part was still in its place, and the whole front almost
entire. The fragments now lie as they fell, forming, as appears in the
engraving, a great mass of mortar, rude and sculptured stones, all
imbedded together, which had never been disturbed until we dug into it
for the purpose of disinterring and bringing to light some of the
fallen ornaments.
This building was constructed entirely of stone. Up to the cornice,
which runs round it the whole length and on all four of its sides, the
facade presents a smooth surface; above is one solid mass of rich,
complicated, and elaborately sculptured ornaments forming a sort of
arabesque.
The grandest ornament, which imparts a richness to the whole facade, is
over the centre doorway. Around the head of the principal figure are
rows of characters, which, in our first hurried visit, we did not
notice as essentially different from the other incomprehensible
subjects sculptured on the facade; but we now discovered that these
characters were hieroglyphics. We had ladders made, by means of which
Mr. Catherwood climbed up and made accurate drawings of them. They
differ somewhat from the hieroglyphics before presented, and are more
rich, elaborate, and complicated, but the general character is the
same. From their conspicuous position, they no doubt contain some
important meaning; probably they were intended as a record of the
construction of the building, the time when and the people by whom it
was built.
The full drawing of this rich and curious ornament cannot be presented
with any effect on the scale adapted to these pages. All the other
doorways have over them striking, imposing, and even elegant
decorations, varying sometimes in the details, but corresponding in
general character and effect with that represented in the accompanying
engravings.
[Engraving 9: Ornament over a doorway]
The first engraving represents the part immediately over the doorway.
It shows the remaining portion of a figure seated on a kind of throne.
This throne was formerly supported by a rich ornament, still forming
part of similar designs over other doorways in this building. The
head-dress is lofty, and from it proceed enormous plumes of feathers,
dividing at the top, and falling symmetrically on each side, until they
touch the ornament on which the feet of the statue rest. Each figure
was perhaps the portrait of some cacique, warrior, prophet, or priest,
distinguished in the history of this unknown people.
[Engraving 10: Ornament called the Elephant's Trunk]
[Engraving 11: Elephant's Trunk in Profile]
The engraving opposite represents that part of the ornament immediately
above the preceding; it occupies the whole portion of the wall from the
top of the head-dress to the cornice along the top of the building.
This ornament or combination appears on all parts of the edifice, and
throughout the ruins is more frequently seen than any other. In the
engraving the centre presents a long, flat, smooth surface. This
indicates a projecting ornament, which cannot be exhibited in a front
view; but, as seen in profile, consists of a stone projecting from the
face of the wall, as shown in the following cut; and the reader must
suppose this stone projecting in order clearly to understand the
character of the ornament last presented. It measures one foot seven
inches in length from the stem by which it is fixed in the wall to the
end of the curve, and resembles somewhat an elephant's trunk, which
name has, perhaps not inaptly, been given to it by Waldeck, though it
is not probable that as such the sculptor intended it, for the elephant
was unknown on the Continent of America. This projecting stone appears
with this combination all over the facade and at the corners; and
throughout all the buildings it is met with, sometimes in a reversed
position, oftener than any other design in Uxmal. It is a singular
fact, that though entirely out of reach, the ends of nearly all of them
have been broken off; and among the many remains in every part of the
walls throughout the whole ruins, there are but three that now exist
entire. Perhaps they were wantonly broken by the Spaniards; though at
this day the Indians believe these old buildings are haunted, and that
all the monefatos or ornaments are animated, and walk at night In the
daytime, it is believed, they can do no harm, and for ages the Indians
have been in the habit of breaking and disfiguring them with the
machete, believing that by so doing they quiet their wandering spirits.
The combination of the last two engravings is probably intended to
represent a hideous human face; the eyes and teeth appear in the first,
and the projecting stone is perhaps intended for the nose or snout. It
occupies a space in breadth equal to about five feet of the wall. To
present the whole facade on the same scale would require an engraving
sixty-four times as long as this. The reader will perceive how utterly
unprofitable it would be to attempt a verbal description of such a
facade, and the lines in the engraving show that, as I remarked in my
former account, there is no tablet or single stone representing
separately and by itself an entire subject, but every ornament or
combination is made up of separate stones, each of which had carved on
it part of the subject, and was then set in its place in the wall. Each
stone by itself is an unmeaning fractional portion, but, placed by the
side of others, makes part of a whole, which without it would be
incomplete. 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.
The rear elevation of the Casa del Gobernador is a solid wall, without
any doorways or openings of any kind. Like the front, above the cornice
it was ornamented throughout its whole length with sculptured stone.
The subjects, however, were less complicated, and the sculpture less
gorgeous and elaborate; and on this side, too, a part of the facade has
fallen.
The two ends are thirty-nine feet each. The following engraving
represents the southern end. It has but one doorway, and of this, too,
the sculptured subjects were more simple.
The roof is flat, and had been covered with cement; but the whole is
now overgrown with grass and bushes.
[Engraving 12: Southern End of Casa del Gobernador]
Such is the exterior of the Casa del Gobernador. To go into any
description of details would extend these pages to an indefinite
length. Its distinguishing features are, that it was long, low, and
narrow; below the cornice plain, and above ornamented with sculpture
all around. Mr. Catherwood made minute architectural drawings of the
whole, and has in his possession the materials for erecting a building
exactly like it; and I would remark that, as on our former expedition,
he made all his drawings with the camera lucida, for the purpose of
obtaining the utmost accuracy of proportion and detail. Besides which,
we had with us a Daguerreotype apparatus, the best that could be
procured in New-York, with which, immediately on our arrival at Uxmal,
Mr. Catherwood began taking views; but the results were not
sufficiently perfect to suit his ideas. At times the projecting
cornices and ornaments threw parts of the subject in shade, while
others were in broad sunshine; so that, while parts were brought out
well, other parts required pencil drawings to supply their defects.
They gave a general idea of the character of the buildings, but would
not do to put into the hands of the engraver without copying the views
on paper, and introducing the defective parts, which would require more
labour than that of making at once complete original drawings. He
therefore completed everything with his pencil and camera lucida while
Doctor Cabot and myself took up the Daguerreotype; and, in order to
ensure the utmost accuracy, the Daguerreotype views were placed with
the drawings in the hands of the engravers for their guidance.
[Engraving 13: Ground Plan of the Casa del Gobernador]
The ground plan of the Casa del Gobernador is represented in the
engraving below. It has eleven doorways in front and one at each end.
The doors are all gone, and the wooden lintels over them have fallen.
The interior is divided longitudinally by a wall into two corridors,
and these again, by cross walls or partitions, into oblong rooms. Every
pair of these rooms, the front and back, communicate by a doorway
exactly opposite a corresponding doorway in front.
The principal apartments in the centre, with three doorways opening
upon the terrace, are sixty feet long. The one in front is eleven feet
six inches wide, and the inner one thirteen feet The former is
twenty-three feet high to the top of the arch, and the other twenty-two
feet. The latter has but one door of entrance from the front room, and
except this it has no door or aperture of any kind, so that at the ends
it is dark and damp, as is the case with all the inner rooms. In these
two apartments we took up our abode.
The walls are constructed of square, smooth blocks of stone, and on
each side of the doorway are the remains of stone rings fixed in the
walls with shafts, which no doubt had some connexion, with the support
of the doors. The floors were of cement, in some places hard, but, by
long exposure, broken, and now crumbling under the feet.
The ceiling forms a triangular arch, as at Palenque, without the
keystone. The support is made by stones overlapping, and bevilled so as
to present a smooth surface, and within about a foot of the point of
contact covered by a layer of flat stones. Across the arch were beams
of wood, the ends built in the wall on each side, which had probably
been used for the support of the arch while the building was in
progress.
For the rest, I refer to the plan, mentioning only one circumstance. In
working out the plan on the spot, it was found that the back wall,
throughout its whole length of two hundred and seventy feet, was nine
feet thick, which was nearly equal to the width of the front apartment.
Such thickness was not necessary for the support of the building, and,
supposing it might contain some hidden passages, we determined to make
a breach through the wall and to do this in the centre apartment.
1 must confess that I felt some repugnance to this work of demolition,
but one stone had already been picked out by an Indian to serve for
mashing maize upon; and as this was likely to be done at any time; when
another might be wanted, I got over my scruples.
Over the cavity left in the mortar by the removal of the stone were two
conspicuous marks, which afterward stared us in the face in all the
ruined buildings of the country. They were the prints of a red hand
with the thumb and fingers extended, not drawn or painted, but stamped
by the living hand, the pressure of the palm upon the stone. He who
made it had stood before it alive as we did, and pressed his hand,
moistened with red paint, hard against the stone. The seams and creases
of the palm were clear and distinct in the impression. There was
something lifelike about it that waked exciting thoughts, and almost
presented the images of the departed inhabitants hovering about the
building. And there was one striking feature about these hands; they
were exceedingly small. Either of our own spread over and completely
hid them; and this was interesting from the fact that we had ourselves
remarked, and heard remarked by others, the smallness of the hands and
feet as a striking feature in the physical conformation of the Indians
at the present day.
The stones with this red hand upon them were the first that fell as we
commenced our breach into the wall. There were two crowbars on the
hacienda, and working nearly two days, the Indians made a hole between
six and seven feet deep, but throughout the wall was solid, and
consisted of large stones imbedded in mortar, almost as hard as rock.
The reason of this immense back wall, where everything else had a
certain degree of fitness and conformity, we did not discover, and we
had this huge hole staring us reproachfully in the face during all the
remainder of our residence.
A few words more, and I have done with this building. In the south end
apartment, the facade of which has been presented, we found the
sculptured beam of hieroglyphics which had so much interested us on our
former visit. In some of the inner apartments the lintels were still in
their places over the doorways, and some were lying on the floor sound
and solid, which better condition was no doubt owing to their being
more sheltered than those over the outer doorway. This was the only
sculptured beam in Uxmal, and at that time it was the only piece of
carved wood we had seen. We considered it interesting, as indicating a
degree of proficiency in an art of which, in all our previous
explorations, we had not discovered any evidence, except, perhaps, at
Ocosingo, where we had found a beam, not carved, but which had
evidently been reduced to shape by sharp instruments of metal. This
time I determined not to let the precious beam escape me. It was ten
feet long, one foot nine inches broad, and ten inches thick, of Sapote
wood, enormously heavy and unwieldy. To keep the sculptured side from
being chafed and broken, I had it covered with costal or hemp bagging,
and stuffed with dry grass to the thickness of six inches. It left
Uxmal on the shoulders of ten Indians, after many vicissitudes reached
this city uninjured, and was deposited in Mr. Catherwood's Panorama. I
had referred to it as being in the National Museum at Washington,
whither I intended to send it as soon as a collection of large
sculptured stones, which I was obliged to leave behind, should arrive;
but on the burning of that building, in the general conflagration of
Jerusalem and Thebes, this part of Uxmal was consumed, and with it
other beams afterward discovered, much more curious and interesting; as
also the whole collection of vases, figures idols, and other relics
gathered upon this journey. The collecting, packing, and transporting
of these things had given me more trouble and annoyance than any other
circumstance in our journey, and their loss cannot be replaced; for,
being first on the ground, and having all at my choice, I of course
selected only those objects which were most curious and valuable; and
if I were to go over the whole ground again, I could not find others
equal to them. I had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing their ashes
exactly as the fire had left them. We seemed doomed to be in the midst
of ruins; but in all our explorations there was none so touching as
this.
Next to the great building of the Casa del Gobernador, and hardly less
extraordinary and imposing in character, are the three great terraces
which hold it aloft, and give it its grandeur of position; all of them
artificial, and built up from the level of the plain.
The lowest of these terraces is three feet high, fifteen feet broad,
and five hundred and seventy-five feet long; the second is twenty feet
high, two hundred and fifty feet wide, and five hundred and forty-five
feet in length; and the third, on which the building stands, is
nineteen feet high, thirty feet broad, and three hundred and sixty feet
in front. They were all supported by substantial stone walls; that of
the second terrace is still in a good state of preservation, and at the
corners the stones which support it are still in their places, with
their outer surfaces rounded, instead of presenting sharp angles.
The platform of this terrace is a noble terra plana, five hundred and
forty-five feet long and two hundred and fifty feet wide, and, from the
remains still visible upon it, once contained structures and ornaments
of various kinds, the character of which it is now difficult to make
out. On our first arrival the whole was covered with a rank growth of
bushes and weeds ten or twelve feet high, on clearing which away these
remains were brought to light.
Along the south end there is an oblong structure about three feet high,
two hundred long, and fifteen feet wide, at the foot of which there is
a range of pedestals and fragments of columns about five feet high and
eighteen inches in diameter. There are no remains of a roof or of any
other structure connected with them.
Near the centre of the platform, at a distance of eighty feet from the
foot of the steps, is a square enclosure, consisting of two layers of
stones, in which stands, in an oblique position, as if falling, or,
perhaps, as if an effort had been made to throw it down, a large round
stone, measuring eight feet above the ground and five feet in diameter.
This stone is striking for its uncouth and irregular proportions, and
wants conformity with the regularity and symmetry of all around. From
its conspicuous position, it doubtless had some important use, and, in
connexion with other monuments found at this place, induces the belief
that it was connected with the ceremonial rites of an ancient worship
known to have existed among all Eastern nations. The Indians call this
stone the Picote, or whipping-post.
At a distance of sixty feet in a right line beyond this was a rude
circular mound, about six feet high. We had used it as a position from
which to take a Daguerreotype view of the front of the building, and,
at the instance of the Cura Carillo, who came to pay us a visit, we
determined to open it. It was a mere mass of earth and stones; and, on
digging down to the depth of three or four feet, a sculptured monument
was discovered, which is represented in the engraving that follows. It
was found standing on its feet, in the position represented in the
engraving. It is carved out of a single block of stone, and measures
three feet two inches in length and two feet in height. It seems
intended to represent a double-headed cat or lynx, and is entire with
the exception of one foot, which is a little broken. The sculpture is
rude. It was too heavy to carry away. We had it raised to the side of
the mound for Mr. Catherwood to draw, and probably it remains there
still. The _picote_, or great stone, before referred to, appears in the
engraving in the distance.
[Engraving 14: Double-headed Lynx]
Why this monument had been consigned to the strange place in which it
was discovered we were at a loss to conjecture. This could never have
been its original destination. It had been formally and deliberately
buried. In my opinion, there is but one way of accounting for it. It
had been one of the many idols worshipped by the people of Uxmal; and
the probability is, that when the inhabitants abandoned the city they
buried it, that it might not be desecrated; or else the Spaniards, when
they drove out the inhabitants and depopulated the city, in order to
destroy all the reverential feelings of the Indians toward it, followed
the example of Cortez at Cholula, and threw down and buried the idols.
At a distance of 130 feet from this mound was a square stone structure,
six feet high and twenty feet at the base, in which we made an
excavation, and discovered two sculptured heads, no doubt intended as
portraits.
From the centre of this great platform a grand staircase 130 feet
broad, which once contained 35 steps, rises to the third terrace, on
which the building stands; besides this there is no staircase connected
with either of the three terraces, and the only ascent to the platform
of the second is by an inclined plane 100 feet broad, at the south end
of the building, which makes it necessary for all approaching from the
north to pass the whole length of the lower terrace, and, ascending by
the inclined plane, go back to reach the steps. The probability is,
that the labour of this was not regarded by the ancient inhabitants,
and that all visiters or residents in the building passed in and out on
the shoulders of Indians in coches, as the rich do now.
[Engraving 15: House of the Turtles]
There remains to be noticed one important building on the grand
platform of the second terrace. It stands at the northwest corner, and
is represented in the plate opposite. It is called the Casa de las
Tortugas, or the House of the Turtles, which name was given to it by a
neighbouring cura, from a bead or row of turtles which goes round the
cornice, indicated in the engraving.
This building is 94 feet in front and 34 feet deep, and in size and
ornaments contrasts strikingly with the Casa del Gobernador. It wants
the rich and gorgeous decoration of the former, but is distinguished
for its justness and beauty of proportions, and its chasteness and
simplicity of ornament. Throughout there is nothing that borders on the
unintelligible or grotesque, nothing that can shock a fastidious
architectural taste; but, unhappily, it is fast going to decay. On our
first visit Mr. Catherwood and myself climbed to the roof, and selected
it as a good position from which to make a panoramic sketch of the
whole field of ruins. It was then trembling and tottering, and within
the year the whole of the centre part had fallen in. In front the
centre of the wall is gone, and in the rear the wooden lintel, pressed
down and broken in two, still supports the superincumbent mass, but it
gave us a nervous feeling to pass under it. The interior is filled up
with the ruins of the fallen roof.
This building, too, has the same peculiar feature, want of convenient
access. It has no communication, at least by steps or any visible
means, with the Casa del Gobernador, nor were there any steps leading
to the terrace below. It stands isolated and alone, seeming to mourn
over its own desolate and ruinous condition. With a few more returns of
the rainy season it will be a mass of ruins, and perhaps on the whole
continent of America there will be no such monument of the purity and
simplicity of aboriginal art.
Such is a brief description of the Casa del Gobernador, with its three
great terraces, and the buildings and structures upon the grand
platform of the second. From the place which we had fixed upon as our
residence, and the constant necessity of ascending and descending the
terraces, it was with these that we became the soonest familiar. The
reader will be able to form some idea of the subjects that engaged our
attention, and the strange spectacle that we had constantly before our
eyes.