There exist, in the deserts of Yucatan, at about 36 leagues--108
miles--from Mérida, some very notable monumental ruins, known by
the name of Chichen-Itza, whose origin is lost in the night of
time. Their situation, in the hostile section of revolutionary
Indians (_Sublivados_), caused them to be very little visited
until, to the general astonishment, an American traveller, the wise
archæologist and Doctor, Mr. Augustus Le Plongeon, in company with
his young and most intelligent wife, fixed his residence among them
for some months towards the end of 1874. They both gave themselves
up with eagerness to making excellent photographic views of what
was there worthy of notice, to be sent to the ministry of
protection, the depository which the law provides in order to
obtain the rights of ownership. They did not limit themselves to
this work. The illustrious Doctor and his wife, worthy of
admiration on many accounts, supported with patient heroism the
sufferings and risks of that very forlorn neighborhood, and passed
their days in producing exact plans, and transferring to paper the
wall paintings that are still preserved upon some of the edifices,
such as _Akabsib_--(dark writings).
There came a day on which one, endowed like the visitor, had by
abstruse archæological reasoning, and by his meditation, determined
the place, and, striking the spot with his foot, he said, "Here it
is, here it will be found." The language of this man--better said,
of this genius--will appear exaggerated. It can be decided when he
has succeeded in bringing to light the interesting work which he is
writing about his scientific investigations in the ruins of
Yucatan. Let us finish this short preamble, and occupy ourselves
with the excavation of the statue.
Chac-Mool is a Maya word which means tiger. So the discoverer
desired to name it, who reserved to himself the reasons for which
he gave it this name. He discovered a stone base, oblong, somewhat
imperfect, that measured 9 Spanish inches in thickness, by 5 feet
3-1/2 inches in length, and 2 feet 10 inches in width. Above it
reposed in a single piece of stone the colossal image whose weight
amounted to about 3,500 lbs. Its imposing and majestic attitude,
and the insignia which adorned it, leads to the supposition that it
was some notable leader of the time, a king, or perhaps a noble of
those regions. Such deductions were hazarded as suppositions. The
discoverer supposed it buried by its kindred and subjects more than
12,000 years ago. The reasons shall I attempt to give? It was
reached at 8 meters in depth, not far from the manorial castle of
Chichen, to which the approach is by a staircase of 90 steps, which
are visible from the four cardinal points. According to the above
discoverer there existed a kind of mausoleum or monument--erected
to the memory of the ruler, Chac-Mool, by the queen, his
wife--until it was destroyed at the time of the invasion of
Chichen-Itza by the Nahuas or Toltecs, at the end of the second
century of the Christian era. Even now is preserved at a short
distance from the place where was exhumed the statue of Chac-Mool,
a statue of stone representing a tiger, also above a quadrilateral
base, which once had a human head, and which it is presumed
surmounted the monument before the time of its destruction.
Employing a protection of limbs and trunks of trees, and providing
a capstan with ropes made from the bark of the grapevine, by force
of perseverance the learned Le Plongeon was able to land upon the
surface of the soil the most noteworthy archæological treasure
which has been discovered to this day in Yucatan.
Ignorant of the laws of the country, this American traveller
thought that he might at once call himself the proprietor of the
statue, and succeeded in bringing it, in 15 days, as far as the
uninhabited town of Pisté, two miles from the ruins, upon a wagon
constructed for the purpose, hiding it in the neighborhood of the
above town, while he informed himself about his supposed rights.
The indefatigable traveller came to Mérida, where, in the meantime
the Government of the State asserted that the statue was the
general property of the nation and not that of the discoverer.
Leaving for a better opportunity the questions relative to it, Dr.
Le Plongeon occupied himself in visiting other ruins, busying
himself between the Island of Cozumel and that of Mugeres, until
peace should be established in the State, and the Sr. General
Guerra should be nominated Provisional Governor.
At the suggestion of the subscriber the Governor allowed the
transportation of this statue to the Museo Yucateco, and the
Director of the Museo, in compliance with his duty, counting upon
the assistance of an armed force necessary for an expedition of
such a dangerous character, left this capital February 1, 1877, to
the end of securing the preservation of an object so important to
the ancient history of the country. Overcoming the thousand
difficulties that presented themselves in opening a road of 6
leagues that was known to the birds alone, over a surface covered
with mounds and inequalities, he constructed a new wagon on which
the colossal statue was dragged along by more than 150 Indians, in
turn, who, in their fanatical superstition, asserted that, during
the late hours of the night there came from the mouth of the figure
the words "_Conex! Conex!_" which signifies in their language, "Let
us go! Let us go!"
Upon the 26th of the same month and year, the historical and
monumental city of Izamal received with enthusiastic demonstrations
the statue of the king Chac-Mool. Brilliant compositions referring
to it were read, which, in a printed form, will accompany it for
the archives of the Museo National. When it arrived at Mérida it
had a no less lively reception on the morning of the 1st of March,
1877.
A little later it was received into the Museo Yucateco upon the
same rustic wagon on which it had traversed the 6 leagues of almost
inaccessible country from Pisté to [C]itas, from where begins the
broad road. It was intended to surround it with a wooden fence
upon which should be engraved this inscription in golden letters:--
"CHAC-MOOL
The discovery of the wise archæologist, Mr. Le Plongeon, in the
ruins of Chichen-Itza.
General Protasio Guerra being Governor of the State of Yucatan. It
was brought to the Museo Yucateco on the 1st of March, 1877, by
Juan Peon Contreras, Director of the Museum."
Still later, at the decision of the Governor of the State, Sr. D.
Augustin del Rio, its transfer to the National Museum of Mexico was
permitted, where so notable an archæological monument will show to
better advantage, leaving in its place a copy in plaster, made by a
skilful Yucatan artist.
The Director of the Museo Yucateco,
JUAN PEON CONTRERAS.