Sir:
I, AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON, Doctor in Medicine, member of the Academy
of Sciences of the State of California, of the Microscopical
Society of San Francisco, of the Philological Society of New York,
corresponding member of the Geographical and Statistical Society of
Mexico; and of various other scientific societies of Europe, of the
United States of America, and of South America; citizen of the
United States of America; resident at present in Mérida, Capital of
the State of Yucatan, to you, with due respect, say: Since the year
1861 I am dedicated to the iconology of American antiquities, with
the object of publishing a work that may make known to the world
the precious archæological treasures that the regions of the
so-called new world enclose, nearly unknown to the wise men of
Europe, and even to those of America itself, and thus follow the
perigrinations of the human race upon the planet that we inhabit.
With so important an object, I visited the different countries of
the American Continent, where I could gather the necessary
information to carry through my work, already commenced, and in
part published, "The Vestiges of the human race in the American
Continent since the most remote times."
The New York Tribune published part of my discourse before the
Geographical Society of New York, on the "Vestiges of Antiquity,"
in its Lecture Sheet No. 8 of 1873.
After traversing the Peruvian Andes, the Glaciers of Bolivia, and
the Deserts of the North and North-East part of the Mexican
Republic, in search of the dwellings of their primitive
inhabitants, I resolved to visit Yucatan, in order to examine at
leisure the imposing ruins that cover its soil, and whose imperfect
descriptions I had read in Stephens, Waldeck, Charnay, Brasseur de
Bourbourg, and others.
The atmospheric action, the inclemencies of the weather, and more
than all, the exuberant vegetation, aided by the impious and
destructive hand of ignorant iconoclasts, have destroyed and
destroy incessantly these _opera magna_ of an enlightened and
civilized generation that passed from the theatre of the world some
twelve thousand years ago, if the stones, in their eloquent
muteness, do not deceive. And unless the few treasures that yet
remain, in a state of more or less perfect preservation, be
gathered and saved, they will before long disappear completely, and
with them the last traces of the high civilization, the artistic
and scientific culture attained by the architects and other artists
that worked and raised them, under the protection of enlightened
potentates, lovers of all that was grand, and of everything that
could glorify their country.
The results of my investigations, although made in territories
forbidden to the whites, and even to pacific Indians obedient to
Mexican authority; surrounded by constant dangers, amid forests,
where, besides the wild beasts, the fierce Indians of
Chan-Santa-Cruz lay in ambush for me; suffering the pangs of
hunger, in company with my young wife Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, have
surpassed my most flattering hopes. To-day I can assert, without
boasting, that the discoveries of my wife and myself place us in
advance of the travellers and archæologists who have occupied
themselves with American antiquities.
Returning however to civilization with the hope of making known to
the scientific world the fruit of our labors, I am sorry to find
myself detained by prohibitive laws that I was ignorant of, and
which prevent me from presenting the unmistakable proofs of the
high civilization and the grandeur, of ancient America; of this old
Continent of Professor Agassiz and other modern geologists and
archæologists.
These laws, sanctioned by an exclusive and retrogressive
government, have not been revoked up to the present time by the
enlightened, progressive and wise government that rules the
destinies of the Mexican Republic, and they are a barrier that
henceforth will impede the investigation of scientific men, among
the ruins of Yucatan and Mexico. It is in effect a strange fact,
that while autocratic governments, like those of Turkey, Greece,
and Persia, do not interpose difficulties--that of Turkey to Dr.
Henry Schliemann, after discovering the site of the celebrated Troy
and the treasures of King Priam, to his carrying his _findings_ and
presenting them to the civilized world; that of Greece to General
Cesnola's disposing in New York of his collection of Phoenician
antiquities (the only one in the world), found in the tombs of the
Island of Cyprus. Nor did even that of Persia think of preventing
Mr. George Smith, after he had disinterred from among the ruins of
Nineveh, the year before last, the libraries of the kings of
Assyria, from carrying the precious volumes to the British Museum,
where they are to be found to-day. I alone, a free citizen of a
Republic, the friend of Mexico, after spending my fortune and time,
see myself obliged to abandon, in the midst of the forests, the
best and most perfect works of art of the sculptor, up to the
present time known in America, because the government of this
Nation reclaims as its own, objects found in the midst of forests,
at great depths below the surface of the earth, and of whose
existence it was not only ignorant, but was even unsuspicious.
The photographs of these objects, and of the places where they were
found, are all that, with plans, and tracings of most interesting
mural paintings, I can now present: and that after so many
expenses, cares, and dangers, unless you, Mr. President,
considering the historical importance of my discoveries and works,
as an illustrious man, a lover of progress, and the glory of his
country, in the name of the nation authorize me to carry my
_findings_ and photographs, plans and tracings, to that great
concourse of all nations to which America has just invited every
people of the earth, and which will be opened shortly in
Philadelphia; and with them the material proofs of my assertion
that America is the cradle of the actual civilization of the world.
Leaving New York on the 29th of July, 1873, we, Mrs. Le Plongeon
and myself, arrived, on the 6th of August, at Progreso. We remained
in Mérida from that date, studying the customs of the country,
acquiring friends, and preparing to fulfil the mission that had
brought us to Yucatan, (viz: the study of its ruins), until the 6th
of November, 1874. At that epoch the epidemic of small-pox, that
has made such ravages in Mérida, and is yet active in the interior
villages of the Peninsula, began to develop itself. Senor D.
Liborio Irigoyen, then Governor, knowing that I was about to visit
the towns of the east, to seek among their inhabitants the
traditions of the past, if they yet existed, or at least among
their customs some of those of the primitive dwellers of those
lands, begged me to scatter among them the vaccine, to ward off, as
much as possible, the terrible scourge that threatened them. I
accepted the commission, and to the best of my power I have
complied with it, without any remuneration whatever. After
examining the principal cities of the east of the State--Tunkas,
Cenotillo, Espita and Tizimin--gathering notes upon their commerce,
the occupations of their inhabitants, the productions of the
places, etc., etc., remaining in them more or less time, we finally
arrived at Valladolid on the 20th of May, 1875. This city, that
was at one time among the most important of the State, is seen
to-day almost reduced to ruins by the invasions of the Indians of
Chan-Santa-Cruz. It is situated on the frontier of the enemy's
country, some twelve leagues from the celebrated ruins of
Chichen-Itza--the objective point of my journey to these regions.
During my perigrinations through the east, I had, more than once,
opportunity to observe the profound terror that the inhabitants, as
well _meztizos_ and Indians as the whites, have, not without
reason, of their fierce neighbors.
In view of the dangers that awaited us, I thought proper to write
to my good friend, General Don Guillermo Palomino, sub-inspector of
the military posts of Yucatan; so that, without prejudice to the
service, he should give orders to the commander of the post of
Pisté, distant one league from the ruins of Chichen, to succor us
in case we should need his aid.
General Palomino, understanding the importance of my undertaking,
interested himself in the result. He wrote to Don Filipe Diaz,
chief of the military line of the east, so that he should give
orders to his subaltern, the commander of the advance-post of
Pisté, that in case of necessity he should furnish my wife and
myself the protection we might need while in Chichen.
After many delays, owing now to one thing, now to another, but more
particularly to the alarming reports that the Indians, or at least
their emissaries and spies, prowled about the neighborhood, we at
last started on the march in the direction of Pisté on the 21st of
September, 1875.
Colonel Diaz was about to visit the posts under his command. This
gentleman, as much to respect the orders of his superior as to give
me a proof of his appreciation of my person, resolved to accompany
us to Chichen with part of his forces. He did so, leaving
Valladolid protected by a company of his battalion, and another of
the 18th regiment of the line which at the time was stationed in
that city. Arrived at the village of [C]itas, we learned that the
old footpath, the only one that had ever existed between this point
and Pisté, four leagues distant, was entirely closed up,
impassable, consequently, for horsemen.
Colonel Don José Coronado, who, from esteem, had also wished to
accompany us, offered to go forward with a part of the company, and
some Indians, to re-open the road, and make it ready. His offer
accepted, he departed, and a few days later we were able to
continue our march to Pisté, not meeting in the transit other
annoyance than the roughness of the road, the roots and tree trunks
that had obstructed it having been removed.
So, on the 27th of September, after a tedious march of six hours in
the thicket, we reached the advance-post of Pisté.
Pisté, ten years ago, was a pretty village, built amid forests,
around a senote of thermal waters, surrounded by most fertile
lands, which the industrious dwellers cultivated. Suddenly, on a
certain Sunday (election day), when they were entertained at the
polls, the ominous war-cry of the Indians of Chan-Santa-Cruz fell
upon their ears. Few were the villagers that, taking refuge in the
bush, escaped the terrible _machete_ of their enemies. Of this
village only the name remains. Its houses roofless, their walls
crumbled, are scarcely seen beneath the thick green carpet of
convolvulus, and cowage (mecuna). These overspread them with their
leaves and beautiful petals, as if to hide the blood that once
stained them, and cause to be forgotten the scenes of butchery they
witnessed. The church alone, sad and melancholy, without doors, its
sanctuaries silent, its floor paved with the burial slabs of the
victims, surrounded by parapets, yet stands in the midst of the
ruined abodes of those who used to gather under its roof; it is
to-day converted into a fortress. The few soldiers of the post are
the only human beings that inhabit these deserts for many leagues
around; its old walls, its belfry, widowed of its bells, are all
that indicates to the traveller that Pisté once was there.
After resting, we continued our march to Chichen, whose grand
pyramid of 22 meters 50 centimeters high, with its nine _andenes_,
could be seen from afar amidst the sea of vegetation that
surrounded it, as a solitary lighthouse in the midst of the ocean.
Night had already fallen when we reached the _Casa principal_ of
the _hacienda of Chichen_, that Colonel Coronado had had cleaned to
receive us.
At dawn on the following day, 28th, Colonel Diaz caused parapets to
be raised and the house to be fortified. He placed his advance
sentinels and made all necessary arrangements to avoid a surprise
from the Indians, and to resist them in case of attack. For my part
I immediately commenced work. From the descriptions made by the
travellers who had preceded me and that I had read, I believed
fifteen days or three weeks would be sufficient for me to
investigate all the ruins. But on the 12th of October, Colonel Diaz
having received notice that the Indians were probably preparing an
attack, sent to bring me from the ruins, to communicate to me the
news that he had to march immediately. I had really scarcely
commenced my studies, notwithstanding I had worked every day from
sunrise to sunset, so many and so important were the monuments
that, very superficially, my predecessors had visited.
I resolved to remain with my wife, and continue our investigations
until they should be completed, in spite of the dangers that
surrounded us. I made known my unalterable resolution to Colonel
Diaz, asking him only to arm a few of the Indians that remained
with me, for I did not wish even a single soldier of the post of
Pisté to accompany me. Leaving my instruments of geodesy and
photography at the ruins, I made the church of Pisté my
head-quarters, where we went every night to sleep, returning always
at daylight to Chichen, one league distant.
It would be too long to give here the details of my work and
investigations. Enough to say, that from the 28th of September,
1875, when I began to study the monuments, up to the 5th of
January, 1876, when, learning of the prohibitive laws I have
already mentioned, and that on account of the better requirements
of the service I was to disarm my men, I interrupted my works; that
is to say, in one hundred days I have made scrupulously exact plans
of the principal edifices, discovering that their architects made
use, in those remote times, of the metrical measure with its
divisions. I have made five hundred stereoscopic views, from which
I have selected eighty, equal to those that accompany this writing;
I have discovered hieroglyphics which I have caused to reappear
intact, and taken photographs of some that are said to be a
prophecy of the establishment of the electric telegraph between
_Saci_ (Valladolid of to-day), and _Ho_ (Mérida); I have restored
mural paintings of great merit for the drawing, and for the history
they reveal; I have taken exact tracings of the same which form a
collection of twenty plates, some nearly one meter long; I have
discovered bas-reliefs which have nothing to envy in the
bas-reliefs of Assyria and Babylon; and, guided by my
interpretations of the ornaments, paintings, &c., &c., of the most
interesting building in Chichen (historically speaking), I have
found amidst the forest, eight meters under the soil, a statue of
Chaacmol, of calcareous stone, one meter, fifty-five centimeters
long, one meter, fifteen centimeters in height, and eighty
centimeters wide, weighing fifty kilos, or more; and this I
extracted without other machine than that invented by me, and
manufactured from trunks of trees with the _machete_ of my Indians.
I have opened two leagues of carriage road to carry my findings to
civilization; and finally I have built a rustic cart in which to
bring the statue to the high road that leads from [C]itas to
Mérida. This statue, Mr. President, the only one of its kind in the
world, shows positively that the ancient inhabitants of America
have made, in the arts of drawing and sculpture, advances, equal at
least to those made by the Assyrian, Chaldean and Egyptian artists.
I will pause a moment to give you an idea of my works that concern
said statue, and soon bring to an end this writing. Guided, as I
have just said, by my interpretations of the mural paintings,
bas-reliefs, and other signs that I found in the monument raised to
the memory of the Chief Chaacmol, by his wife, the Queen of
Chichen, by which the stones speak to those who can understand
them, I directed my steps, inspired perhaps also by the instinct of
the archæologist, to a dense part of the thicket. Only one Indian,
Desiderio Kansal, from the neighborhood of Sisal-Valladolid,
accompanied me. With his _machete_ he opened a path among the
weeds, vines and bushes, and I reached the place I sought. It was a
shapeless heap of rough stones. Around it were sculptured pieces
and bas-reliefs delicately executed. After cutting down the bush,
and clearing the spot, it presented the aspect which the plates No.
1 and 2 represent. A long stone, half interred among the others,
attracted my attention. Scraping away the earth from around it,
with the _machete_ and the hand, the effigy of a reclining tiger
soon appeared; plate No. 3 represents it. But the head was wanting.
This, of human form, I had the happiness to find, some meters
distant, among a pile of other carved stones.
My interpretations had been correct; everything I saw proved it to
me. I at once concentrated all my attention at this spot. Hunting
among the débris, I came across the bas-reliefs seen in plates 4,
2, and 5, which confirmed my conclusions. This pile of stones had
been in times past the pedestal that supported the effigy of the
dying tiger with a human head, which the Toltecs had thrown down
when they invaded Chichen, at the beginning of the Christian era.
With great exertion, aided by levers, my ten men again put these
bas-reliefs in the place they anciently occupied, and which plate
No. 1 shows.
Resolved to make an excavation at this spot, I commenced my work at
the upper part of the heap. I was not long in comprehending the
difficulty of the task. The pedestal, as in all the later monuments
which were raised in Chichen, was of loose stones, without mortar,
without cement of any kind. For one stone that was removed, a
hundred fell. The work was hence extremely dangerous. I possessed
no tools, nor machines of any description. I resorted to the
_machete_ of my Indians, the trees of the forest, and the vines
that entwine their trunks. I formed a frame-work to prevent the
falling of the stones.
This frame-work appears in plates 6, 7 and 8. It is composed of
trunks of trees of two to two-and-a-half inches in diameter,
secured with vines. In this way I was able to make an excavation
two meters, fifty centimeters square, to a depth of seven meters. I
then found a rough sort of urn of calcareous stone; it contained a
little dust, and upon it the cover of a coarse earthen pot, painted
with yellow ochre. (This cover has since been broken). It was
placed near the head of the statue, and the upper part, with the
three feathers that adorn it, appeared among loose stones, placed
around it with great care. Colonel D. Daniel Traconis, who had that
day come to visit, and bring me a few very welcome provisions, was
present when it was discovered. I continued the work with
precaution, and had the satisfaction, after excavating
one-and-a-half meters more, to see the entire statue appear.
Contemplating this admirable specimen of ancient art, seeing the
beauty of the carving of its expressive face, I was filled with
admiration! Henceforth the American artists could enter into
competition with those of Assyria and Egypt! But, on considering
its enormous weight, its colossal form (it is half as large again
as the natural size), I felt myself overwhelmed with dismay. How to
raise it from the profound bed where it had been deposited, five
thousand years ago, by its friends and the artificers, who with
excessive care raised the pedestal around it! I had no machines,
not even ropes. Only ten Indians accompanied me. The enterprise
was difficult; but when man wishes, he conquers difficulties, and
smooths all obstacles.
After some sleepless nights (the idea of being unable to present my
discoveries to the world did not let me rest), I resolved to open
the pedestal on the east side, form an inclined plane, construct a
capstan, make ropes with the bark of the _habin_ (a tree that grows
in these woods), and extract, by these means, my gem from the place
where it lay.
Plate 6 represents the opening made, and the inclined plane, the
lower part of which only reaches to the shoulder of the statue,
which is seen in the bottom of the excavation. Its depth is known
by comparing the height of the Indian standing near the statue, and
the one who is placed at a third part of the inclined plane.
Plate No. 7 represents the statue of Chaacmol at the moment of its
arrival at the upper part of the plane on the surface of the earth;
the cables of the _habin_ bark which served to extract it; the
construction of the capstan; and the profundity of the excavation.
Plate No. 8 represents the capstan that served me to raise the
statue, the size of which you may know, Sr. President, comparing it
with your servant and the Indians who aided at the work. The trunk
of a tree, with two hollowed stones, were the fundamental pieces of
the machine. These rings of stone were secured to the trunk with
vines. Two forked poles, whose extremities rest at each side of the
excavation, and the forked sticks tied up to the superior ring
embracing it, served as _arc-boutant_ in the direction where the
greatest force was to be applied. A tree-trunk, with its fork,
served as a fulcrum around which was wound the cable of bark. A
pole placed in the fork served as lever. It is with the aid of this
rustic capstan that my ten men were able to raise the heavy mass to
the surface in half an hour.
But my works were not to end there. True, the statue was on the
surface of the earth, but it was surrounded by débris, by ponderous
stones, and trunks of trees. Its weight was enormous compared with
the strength of my few men. These on the other hand worked by
halves. They always had the ear attentive to catch the least sound
that was perceived in the bush. The people of Crecencio Poot might
fall upon us at any moment, and exterminate us. True, we had
sentinels, but the forest is thick and immense, and those of
Chan-Santa-Cruz make their way through it with great facility.
Open roads there were none, not even to carry the statue of
Chaacmol to civilization if I had the means of transport.
Well, then, I had resolved that, cost what it might, the world
should know my statue--my statue, that was to establish my fame
forever among the scientific circles of the civilized world. I had
to carry it, but, alas! I calculated without the prohibitive
laws.... Sr. President, to-day, with grief I write it, it is buried
in the forests, where my wife and myself have concealed it. Perhaps
the world will only know it by my photographs, for I have yet to
open three long leagues of road to conduct it to [C]itas, and the
moment is already approaching when the doors of the American
Exhibition will open.
With all that, I have faith in the justice, intelligence, and
patriotism of the men who rule the destinies of the Mexican
Republic.
Will the man who, to place his country at the height of other
civilized nations, has known how to improvise, in less than three
months, an astronomical commission, and send it to Japan to observe
the transit of Venus, will he permit, I ask, the greatest discovery
ever made in American archæology, to remain lost and unknown to the
scientific men, to the artists, to the travellers, to the choicest
of the nations that are soon to gather at Philadelphia? No! I do
not believe it! I do not wish to, I cannot believe it!
These difficulties, I had conquered! Plate No. 9 proves how, having
found the means of raising the statue from the depth of its
pedestal, I knew also how to make it pass over the débris that
impeded its progress. My few men armed with levers were able to
carry it where there was a rustic cart made by me with a _machete_.
With rollers and levers I was able to carry it over the sculptured
stones, its companions, that seemed to oppose its departure. But
with rollers and levers alone I could not take it to Pisté, four
kilometers distant, much less to [C]itas, distant from Pisté
sixteen kilometers; it needed a cart and that cart a road.
Sr. President, the cart has been made, the road has been opened
without any expense to the State. In fifteen days the statue
arrived at Pisté, as proved by plate 11. Senor D. Daniel Traconis,
his wife and their young son, who had come to visit us, witnessed
the triumphal entrance of the Itza Chieftain Chaacmol, at Pisté,
the first resting place on the road that leads from Chichen to
Philadelphia. I have opened more than three kilometers of good cart
road of five to six meters in width, from Pisté toward [C]itas; but
for reasons that it is out of place to refer to here, and which I
have not been able up to the present time to alter, for they do not
depend on me, I have seen myself compelled to hurriedly abandon my
works on the 6th of the present month of January.
I have come with all speed to Mérida, from which place I direct to
you the present writing; but until now, having to contend against
inertia, I have obtained nothing.
In view of the preceding relation, and finding myself in
disposition to make, before the scientific world, all the
explanations, amplifications and reports, that may be desired, upon
the grand discoveries that I have made in my investigations in the
ruins of Chichen;--among others, the existence of long-bearded men
among the inhabitants of the Peninsula 12,000 years ago, plate
12;--I conclude, asking you, Sr. President, to be pleased to
concede to me:--
1st. To carry the statues of Chaacmol, and some bas-reliefs that
have relation to the story of that Chieftain, and are represented
in the plates 4 and 5, together with my mural tracings, plans and
photographs, to the approaching Exposition of Philadelphia.
2nd. To name me one of the members of the Mexican Commission to
that Exposition, for I am the only person who can give the
information and explanations that may make known the celebrated
monuments of Chichen-Itza, and the importance that they have in the
prehistoric history of the human race in America.
3rd. To authorize my work and investigations in the ruins of
Yucatan, where I hope to make other discoveries equally and even,
perhaps, more important, than those made by me up to the present
date, ordering that the aid of armed force be afforded me for my
protection and that of my wife, whenever our investigations are
made in places where life is endangered by hostile Indians.
4th. That among the objects which the Mexican nation have to send
to the Exposition of Philadelphia, a place be reserved to me,
sufficient for the statues, bas-reliefs, drawings, photographs and
plans that have caused this petition.
5th. That in consequence of the short time that remains before the
opening of said Exposition, and the amount that yet remains for me
to do, particularly the opening of a cart road of 13 kilometers in
a thick forest in a country where all resources are wanting, you
may have the goodness to consider this petition at your earliest
convenience, which grace I doubt not to obtain from the illustrious
Chief Magistrate of the Nation to whom I have the honor of
subscribing myself.