Chapter IV: Part 4

We made up our minds to visit Aké, the place where the Spaniards
escaping from Chichen took refuge in the first days of the
conquest. The land where these ruins stand forms a part of the
hacienda of Aké. It belongs to Don Bernardo Peon, one of the
wealthiest men of the country, but on account of the insalubrity of
the climate it is to-day well nigh abandoned. Only a few Indian
servants, living in a constant dread of the paludean fevers that
decimate their families, remained to take care of the scanty herds
of cattle and horses which form now the whole wealth of the farm.
In the first days of March we arrived at the gate of the
farm-house. The Majordomo had received orders to put himself and
his men at our disposal. The ruined farm-house lies at the foot of
a cyclopean structure. From the veranda, rising majestically in
bold relief against the sky, is to be seen the most interesting and
best preserved monument of Aké, composed of three platforms
superposed. They terminate in an immense esplanade crowned by three
rows of 12 columns each. These columns, formed of huge square
stones roughly hewn, and piled one above the other to a height of 4
meters, are the _Katuns_ that served to record certain epochs in
the history of the nation, and indicate in this case an antiquity
of at least 5760 years. The monuments of Aké are peculiar, and the
only specimens of their kind to be found among these ruined cities.
They are evidently the handiwork of a herculean and uncouth
race--the enormous height of each step in the staircase proves
it--of that race of giants whose great bones and large skulls are
now and then disinterred, and whose towering forms, surmounted by
heads disproportionately small, we have seen pictured on the walls
of Chichen-Itza. They recalled forcibly to our minds the antique
_Guanches_, the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands, whose
gigantic mummies are yet found in the sepulchral caverns of
Teneriffe, and whose peculiar sandals with red straps so closely
resemble those seen on the feet of Chaacmol. The edifices of Aké
are composed of large blocks of stone, generally square, often
oblong in shape, superposed, and held together merely by their
enormous weight, without the aid of mortar or cement of any sort.
We did not tarry in this strange city more than eight days. The
malaria of the place very seriously affected the health of my wife,
and obliged us to hasten back to Tixkokob. We brought with us the
photograph views, and plans of the principal buildings, regretting
not to perfect our work by a complete survey of the whole of them,
scattered as they are over a large extent of ground.

Our investigations in Uxmal revealed to our minds some interesting
facts in the lives of the three brothers of the tradition. In
Chichen we discovered the place of concealment of the two brothers
_Huuncay_ and _Chaacmol_. That of the third brother, _Aac_, was not
to be found. Yet I was certain it must exist somewhere. Many
persons who are not acquainted with the customs and religious
beliefs of those ancient people have questioned me on the strange
idea of burying such beautiful objects of art at so great a depth,
yet the reason is very simple. The nations that inhabited the whole
of Central America--the Mayas, the Nahuas, the Caras or
Carians--had, with the Siamese even of to-day, and the Egyptians of
old, many notions in common concerning the immortality of the soul,
and its existence after its earthly mission was accomplished. They
believed that the sentient and intelligent principle, _pixan_,
which inhabits the body, survived the death of that body, and was
bound to return to earth, and live other and many mundane
existences; but that between each separate existence that _pixan_
went to a place of delight, _Caan_, where it enjoyed all sorts of
bliss for a proportionate time, and as a reward for the good
actions it had done while on earth. Passing to a place of
punishment, _Metnal_, it suffered all kinds of evils during also a
certain time in atonement for its sins. Then it was to return and
live again among men. But as the material body was perishable, they
made effigies in perfect resemblance to it. These were sometimes of
wood, sometimes of clay, and sometimes of stone, according to the
wealth or social position of the individual; and after burning the
body, the ashes were enclosed in the statue or in urns that they
placed near by. Around and beside these were arranged the weapons
and the ornaments used by the deceased, if a warrior; the tools of
his trade; if a mechanic; and books, if a priest or learned man, in
order that they should find them at hand when the _pixan_ should
come back and animate the statue or image.

To return to our investigations at Uxmal. On examining the
ornaments on the cornice of the Eastern front of the monument known
as "The House of the Governor," I was struck with their similarity
to those which adorn the most ancient edifice of Chichen and whose
construction, I judge, dates back 12,000 years. But what most
particularly called my attention were the hieroglyphics that
surrounded a sitting figure placed over the main entrance in the
centre of the building. There were plainly to me the names of
_Huuncay_ and _Chaacmol_, and on both sides of the figure, now
headless, the name of the individual it was intended to represent,
_Aac_, the younger brother and murderer. And on the North-west
corner of the second terrace was his private residence, a very
elegant structure of a most simple and graceful architecture,
ornamented with his totem. I afterwards found a pillar written with
his name in hieroglyphics and a bust of marble very much defaced.
Around the neck is a collar or necklace sustaining a medallion with
his name. In the figure that adorns the façade of the palace he is
represented sitting, and under his feet are to be seen the bodies
of three personages, two men and one woman, flayed. Unhappily these
also have been mutilated by the hand of time or of iconoclasts.
They are headless, but I entertain no doubt as to whom they were
intended to represent, _Huuncay_, _Chaacmol_ and the queen, his
wife. It is worthy of notice that while the phallic emblems are to
be seen in great profusion in every other building at Uxmal, there
is not a single trace of them in or on the "House of the Governor,"
or its appurtenances.

Yucatan being in a state of political effervescence, we determined
to visit the islands of Mugeres and Cozumel, on the East coast of
Yucatan, taking our chance of falling into the hands of the Indians
and being murdered.

Accordingly, on the 20th of October, 1876, we embarked on board the
"Viri," a small coasting sloop, and with the mists of the evening,
the houses of Progreso faded from our view and were lost in the
haze of the horizon. Contrary winds retarded our journey and
obliged us to cast anchor near shore every night. It was not until
after ten tiresome days that we, at last, saw the dim outline of
Mugeres island rise slowly over the waves. As we drew near, the
tall and slender forms of the cocoa trees, gracefully waving their
caps of green foliage with the breeze, while their roots seemed to
spring from the blue waters of the ocean, indicated the spot where
the village houses lay on the shore under their umbrage. Seen at a
distance, the spot presents quite a romantic aspect. The island is
a mere rock, elevated only a few feet above the level of the sea,
six miles long and about one-half a mile wide in its widest parts.
In some places it is scarcely 200 steps across. The population
consists of 500 souls, more or less. Its principal industry is
fishing. For Indian corn and beans--the staple articles of food
throughout Yucatan--they depend altogether on the main land;
vegetables of any kind are an unknown luxury, notwithstanding there
are some patches of good vegetable land in the central part. The
island possesses a beautiful and safe harbor; at one time it was
the haven where the pirates that infested the West Indian seas were
wont to seek rest from their hazardous calling. Their names are to
be seen to-day rudely carved on the _sapote_ beams that form the
lintels of the doorways of the antique shrine whose ruins crown the
southernmost point of the island.

It is to this shrine of the Maya Venus that as far down as the
Spanish conquest, pilgrims repaired yearly to offer their prayers
and votive presents to propitiate that divinity. Cogolludo tells us
that it was on her altar that the priest who accompanied the
adventurers who first landed at the island, after destroying the
effigies of the Goddess and of her companions and replacing them by
a picture of the Virgin Mary, celebrated mass for the first time on
those coasts in presence of a throng of astonished natives. They
gave to the island the name of Mugeres (women). I was told that
formerly many of the votive offerings had been disinterred from the
sand in front of the building. The soil at that place is profusely
strewn with fragments of images wrought in clay, representing
portions of the human body. I was myself so fortunate as to fall in
with the head of a priestess, a beautiful piece of workmanship,
moulded according to the most exact proportions of Grecian art. It
had formed part of a brazier that had served to burn perfumes on
the altar near which I found it. I happened to use part of that
vase to hold some live coals, and notwithstanding the many years
that had elapsed since it had last served, a most sweet odor arose
and filled the small building.

I had read in Cogolludo that in olden times, on the main land,
opposite to the island of Mugeres, was the city of _Ekab_. I was
desirous of visiting its ruins, but no one could indicate their
exact position. They did not even know of the name. They spoke of
Meco, of Nisucté, of Kankun, of extensive ruins of buildings in
that place, where they provide themselves with hewn stones. After
much delay I was able to obtain a boat and men. We set sail for
Meco, the nearest place situated on another island close to the
shores of the main land. There I found a ruined edifice surrounded
by a wall forming an inclosure, adorned with rows of small columns.
In the centre of the inclosure an altar. The edifice, composed of
two rooms, is built on a graduated pyramid composed of seven
_andenes_. This building is without a doubt an ancient temple. We
next visited Nisucté. There we found the same sort of monuments but
built on a large scale. These places have merely been shrines
visited by the pilgrims on their way to and from the altar of
Venus. The main point of importance gained in visiting these ruins
was that this whole coast had been inhabited by a race of dwarfs
and that these edifices were their work. We had seen their
portraits carved on the pillars of the fortress at Chichen-Itza. We
had seen also their pictures among the several paintings. We had
heard of the Indian tradition, very current among the natives, that
many of the monuments of Yucatan had been constructed by the
_Alux-ob_. But not until we visited these places and entered their
houses, did we become satisfied of the fact of their existence that
till then we had considered a myth. Kankun, where the ruins of
numerous houses cover a great extent of ground, must have been the
real site of _Ekab_. The dwarfish inhabitants of these cities must
have been a very tolerant sort of people in religious matters,
since in the same temple, nay on the very same altar, we have found
side by side the phallic emblems with the image of _Kukulcan_.

Our explorations in that part of the country were at an end. We
were beginning to grow tired of our fish diet, and looked with
anxiety for an opportunity to continue our voyage to the island of
Cozumel. This island, called by the ancient Mayas _Cozmil_ (place
for swallows), was the rendezvous of Indian pilgrims who flocked
thither every year to pay homage at the numerous temples, the ruins
of which are to be found in the thick forests that now cover it.
The expected opportunity offering we reached the village of San
Miguel February 3, 1877. Cozumel is a beautiful island of about 45
miles in length and 12 in breadth. The fertility of its soil is
evinced by the luxuriant growth of the thick and impenetrable
forests of valuable timber that have sprung up since its
abandonment by its former inhabitants and which serve either for
purposes of building or ornamentation. Cocoa-nuts, plantains,
bananas, pineapples, ananas and other tropical fruits grow
abundantly. Vanilla, yams, sweet potatoes and vegetables of all
kinds can be produced in plenty, while honey and wax, the work of
wild harmless bees, and copal are gathered on the trees. The
tobacco, which is to-day the article that engrosses the mind and
monopolizes the attention of the planters, is of a superior
quality, emulating the Cuban production. On the other hand the
thickets are alive with pheasants, quail, pigeons, wild pigs and
other descriptions of game. The waters swarm with the most
excellent fish and innumerable turtles sport in the lagoons, while
curlews, snipe, ducks and other aquatic fowls flock on their
shores; and not the least of the gifts with which the munificent
hand of nature has so bountifully endowed this delicious oasis of
the ocean is its delightful and soft, yet invigorating, climate,
that makes well nigh useless the art of the physician.

At some epoch it is evident that the whole island was under
cultivation, which is proved by the stone fences that divide it
into small parcels or farms like a checker-board. The island, like
the whole of the Yucatan peninsula, has evidently been upraised
from the bottom of the sea by the action of volcanic fires, and the
thin coating of arable loam of surprising fertility which covers a
substratum of calcareous stones, is the result of the accumulation
of detriti, mixed with the residuum of animal and vegetable life of
thousands of years. The greater part of this island is as yet
archæologically unexplored. I have no doubt that thorough
explorations in the depths of its forests and of the caves would
bring to light very interesting relics, which would repay the
trouble and expense. Rough and rude as is the construction of the
monuments of the island, the architecture possesses the same
character as that of the more elaborate edifices on the main land.
The same design of entablature, with some little difference in the
cornice, the same triangular arch, the same shaped rooms--long and
narrow, but all on a miniature scale. They seem more like dolls'
houses than dwellings for man. One of the best preserved of these
singular buildings was visited, and two other constructions,
consisting of independent and separate arches, the only ones we
ever met with in our rambles in Yucatan. The edifice formed at one
time, with the two triumphal arches, part of a series of
constructions now completely ruined. It was a temple composed, as
are all structures of the kind, of two apartments, a front or
ante-chamber, and the sanctuary or holy of holies. In this case the
ante-chamber measures 59 inches in width by 2 yards and 33 inches
in length, its height being 2 yards and 30 inches from the floor to
the apex of the triangular arch that serves as ceiling. The
sanctuary is entered through a doorway 1 yard high and 18 inches
wide, and is narrower than the front apartments, measuring only 34
inches across. The whole edifice is externally 3 yards high, 4
yards 29 inches long and 4 yards wide. If we judge of the stature
of the builders by the size of the building, we may really imagine
this to have been the kingdom of Liliput, visited by Gulliver. The
triumphal arches present the same proportions as the temple I have
just described, which is by no means the earliest archaic
structure. Old people are not wanting who pretend to have seen
these _Alux-ob_, whom they describe as reaching the extraordinary
stature of 2 feet. They tell us of their habits and
mischievousness, tales which forcibly recall to our minds the
legends of "the little people" so credited among all classes of
society in Ireland. There can be no reasonable doubt but that a
very diminutive race of men, but little advanced in the arts of
civilization, dwelt on these islands and along the eastern coast
of Yucatan, and that many of the edifices, the ruins of which are
to be seen in that part of the country, are the works of their
hands, as the tradition has it.

The attempt has been made in the previous pages to bring the discoveries of Dr. Le Plongeon and his own account of his labors and inferences into such a form that they may be easily considered by those competent to determine their importance and bearing. The value of the statue called Chac-Mool, as an archæological treasure, cannot be questioned. It is the only remaining human figure of a high type of art, finished "in the round" known to have been discovered in America since the occupation of Maya territory in the 16th century.

The idols of Copan have expressive human countenances,[89-*] though they are distorted in order to inspire awe and fear in the beholder, but no attempt was there made to depict the graceful proportions of the nude figure. They stand perpendicularly, carved from solid blocks of stone, and are from 10 to 15 feet in height. The figures upon them are bas-reliefs, occupying generally only 2/3 of the length of the front, while the back of the block is a straight surface and is covered with emblems and hieroglyphics. The sculptures of Palenque[89-[+]] have many of them much artistic beauty, but they are all of them attached figures, as it is believed are also the beautiful statues of Nineveh.[89-[++]] Even the slightest touching makes a figure "in relief." This statue from Chichen-Itza has all the appearance of being intended as the likeness of a man, and much skill is shown in the delineation of the proportions. It is entirely detached, and reposes upon a base carved from the same block of stone as the figure, which gives it a higher rank in sculpture than any other in America, of which we have ocular proof at this day. It is a noteworthy circumstance in the controversy regarding the seizure of the statue by the Yucatan Government, and afterwards by that of Mexico, that no doubt in regard to its authenticity, so far as is known to the writer, has been expressed on the part of those who would naturally be the best judges of objects found in their own country. Among the Le Plongeon photographs of sculptures from Uxmal is a head in demi-relief, which resembles in the lineaments of the face those of this statue so much as to offer a striking likeness, and this agrees with the theory of the intimate connection of Chichen-Itza and Uxmal, adopted in the communication to Hon. J. W. Foster.

Diego de Landa, second Bishop of Yucatan, in his account of that country written in 1566, speaks of two similar statues observed by him at the same locality, Chichen-Itza, which place he speaks of as famous for its ruins.[90-*] His description is: "I found there sculptured lions, vases, and other objects, fashioned with so much skill that no one would be tempted to declare that that people made them without instruments of metal. There I found also two men sculptured, each made of a single stone, and girded according to the usage of the Indians. They held their heads in a peculiar manner, and had ear-rings in their ears, as the Indians wear them, and a point formed a projection behind the neck, which entered a deep hole in the neck, and thus adorned the statue was complete." He also speaks of the practice of burying articles used by the dead with their ashes,[90-[+]] and he says: "As regards Seigneurs and people of superior condition, they burn their remains, and deposit their ashes in large urns. They then build temples over them, as one sees was anciently done, by what is found at Izamal."[90-[++]]

The statue discovered seems to resemble those spoken of by Landa in all the peculiarities mentioned. He also refers to the custom among the women of filing the teeth like a saw, which was considered by them to be ornamental.[90-§]

A remark to Dr. Le Plongeon about the statues above described drew from him the following statement: "We have seen the remnants of the statues you referred to as mentioned by Landa; some one has broken them to pieces." He also speaks of the resemblance of the statue he discovered to those of ancient Egypt, from the careful finish of the head and the lesser degree of attention bestowed on the other parts of the body.

Dr. Le Plongeon has stated in the first of the three communications contained in this paper, that from his interpretation of mural paintings and hieroglyphics in the building upon the South-East wall of the Gymnasium at Chichen-Itza, he was induced to make the excavation which resulted in his discovery. Elsewhere we learn that in the same building, and also on the tablets about the ears of the statue, he was able to read the name Chac-Mool, &c., &c. (Chaac or Chac in Maya means chieftain, Mol or Mool means paw of an animal.) He says that the names he gives, "were written on the monuments where represented, written in characters just as intelligible to my wife and myself, as this paper is to you in latin letters. Every personage represented on these monuments is known by name, since either over the head or at the feet the name is written." He also states that he knows where the ancient books of the _H-Menes_ lie buried, as well as other statues. The discovery of one of these hidden books would be a service of priceless value.

A perusal of the communications contained in this paper lead to the impression that their writer accepts many of the theories advanced by Brasseur de Bourbourg, that he is a believer in the interpretations of Landa, and that he thinks he has been able to establish a system which enables him to read Maya inscriptions.

Dr. Le Plongeon has been accompanied and assisted in all his labors by his accomplished wife, and he has frequently stated that a great part of the credit for the results achieved is due to her intelligent judgment and skilful execution. His last date is from Belize, British Honduras, September 1. In that letter he announces the preparation of a paper for the Royal Geographical Society of London, in which he says he shall give his researches _in extenso_.

After four years of toil and exposure to danger, and after a large expenditure of money paid for services in opening roads, clearing ruins, and making excavations, Dr. Le Plongeon finds himself deprived of all the material results of his labors and sacrifices which could secure him an adequate return. We hope that he may soon receive just and satisfactory treatment from the government, and a fitting recognition and remuneration from the scientific world.

In judging of the subject here presented, the reader will bear in mind that facts substantiated should not be rejected, even if the theories founded on them advance beyond the light of present information.

* * * * *

In August, Dr. Le Plongeon sent the following letter with the request that it should be published in a form which would allow of its presentation to the _Congrès International des Américanistes_, which would be held at Luxembourg in the month of September. It was printed in the Boston Daily Advertiser, in the issues of Sept. 3d and 4th, and is now repeated in the same type in this connection. The spelling of the name Chac-Mool in the letter was changed by the writer from that employed in the text by Dr. Le Plongeon, which is invariably _Chaacmol_; a liberty taken in consequence of the unanimous preference in favor of the spelling Chac-Mool shown in all the written or printed articles from Yucatan relating to this discovery, which have come to our observation. Copies of the letter were sent to Luxembourg, and also to the Bureau of the Société des Américanistes at Paris.

LETTER FROM DR. LE PLONGEON.

ISLAND OF COZUMEL, YUCATAN,}
June 15, 1877. }

_Stephen Salisbury, jr., esq., Worcester, Mass.:_--

Dear Sir,-- ... The London Times of Wednesday, January 3, 1877,
contains views on the projected congress of the so-called
Americanists, that is expected to be held at Luxembourg in
September next. Was the writing intended for a damper? If so, it
did not miss its aim. It must have frozen to the very core the
enthusiasm of the many dreamers and speculators on the prehistoric
nations that inhabited this western continent. As for me, I felt
its chill even under the burning rays of the tropical sun of
Yucatan, notwithstanding I am, or ought to be, well inured to them
during the four years that my wife and myself are rambling among
the ruined cities of the Mayas.

True, I am but a cool searcher of the stupendous monuments of the
mighty races that are no more, but have left the history of their
passage on earth written on the stones of the palaces of their
rulers, upon the temples of their gods. The glowing fires of
enthusiasm do not overheat my imagination, even if the handiwork of
the ancient artists and architects--if the science of the Itza
_H-Menes_--wise men, fill my heart with a surprise akin to
admiration. Since four years we ask the stones to disclose the
secrets they conceal. The portraits of the ancient kings, those of
the men with long beards, who seem to have held high offices among
these people, have become familiarized with us, and we with them.
At times they appear to our eyes to be not quite devoid of life,
not entirely deaf to our voice. Not unfrequently the meaning of
some sculpture, of some character, of some painting,--till then
obscure, unintelligible, puzzling,--all of a sudden becomes clear,
easy to understand, full of meaning.

Many a strange story of human greatness and pride, of human, petty
and degrading passions, weakness and imperfections, has thus been
divulged to us;--while we were also told of the customs of the
people; of the scientific acquirements of the _H-Menes_; of the
religious rites observed by the _kins_ (priests); of their
impostures, and of the superstition they inculcated to the masses;
of the communication held by the merchants of Chichen with the
traders from Asia and Africa; of the politeness of courtiers and
gracefulness of the queen; of the refinement of the court; of the
funeral ceremonies, and of the ways they disposed of the dead; of
the terrible invasions of barbarous Nahua tribes; of the
destruction, at their hands, of the beautiful metropolis
Chichen-Itza, the centre of civilization, the emporium of the
countries comprised between the eastern shores of Mayapan and the
western of Xibalba; of the subsequent decadence of the nations; of
their internal strife during long ages. For here, in reckoning
time, we must not count by centuries but millenaries. We do not, in
thus speaking, indulge in conjectures--for, verily, the study of
the walls leaves no room for supposition to him who quietly
investigates and compares.

How far Mrs. Le Plongeon and myself have been able to interpret the
mural paintings, bas-reliefs, sculptures and hieroglyphics, the
results of our labors show. (Some of them have been lately
published in the "Illustration Hispano-Americana" of Madrid.) The
excavating of the magnificent statue of the Itza king, Chac-Mool,
buried about five thousand years ago by his wife, the queen of
Chichen, at eight metres under ground (that statue has just been
wrenched from our hands by the Mexican government, without even an
apology, but the photographs may be seen at the residence of Mr.
Henry Dixon, No. 112 Albany street, Regent park, London, and the
engravings of it in the "Ilustracion Hispano-Americana"); the
knowledge of the place where lies that of Huuncay, the elder
brother of Chac-Mool, interred at twelve metres under the
surface--of the site where the _H-Menes_ hid their libraries
containing the history of their nation--the knowledge and sciences
they had attained, would of itself be an answer to Professor
Mommsen's ridiculous assertion, that we are anxious to find what
_cannot be known_, or what would be _useless_ if discovered. It is
not the place here to refute the learned professor's sayings; nor
is it worth while. Yet I should like to know if he would refuse as
_useless_ the treasures of King Priam because made of gold that
belongs to the archaic times--what gold does not? Or, if he would
turn up his nose at the wealth of Agamemnon because he knows that
the gold and precious stones that compose it were wrought by
artificers who lived four thousand years ago, should Dr. Schliemann
feel inclined to offer them to him. What says Mr. Mommsen?

Besides my discovery of the statues, bas-reliefs, etc., etc., which
would be worth many thousands of pounds sterling to--if the Mexican
government did not rob them from--the discoverers, the study of the
works of generations that have preceded us affords me the pleasure
of following the tracks of the human mind through the long vista of
ages to discover that its pretended progress and development are
all imaginary, at least on earth. I have been unable to the present
day to trace it. I really see no difference between the civilized
man of today and the civilized man of five thousand years ago. I do
not perceive that the human mind is endowed in our times with
powers superior to those it possessed in ages gone by, but clearly
discern that these powers are directed in different channels. Will
Professor Mommsen pretend that this is also _useless_ after being
found? Man today is the same as man was when these monuments, which
cause the wonder of the modern traveller, were reared. Is he not
influenced by the same instincts, the same wants, the same
aspirations, the same mental and physical diseases?

I consider mankind alike to the waters of the ocean; their surface
is ever changing, while in their depths is the same eternal,
unchangeable stillness and calm. So man superficially. He reflects
the images of times and circumstances. His intellect develops and
expands only according to the necessities of the moment and place.
As the waves, he cannot pass the boundaries assigned to him by the
unseen, impenetrable Power to which all things are subservient. He
is irresistibly impulsed toward his inevitable goal--the grave.
There, as far as he positively knows, all his powers are silenced.
But from there also he sees springing new forms of life that have
to fulfil, in their turn, their destiny in the great laboratory of
creation. The exploration of the monuments of past generations, all
bearing the peculiarities, the idiosyncracies of the builders, has
convinced me that the energies of human mind and intellect are the
same in all times. They come forth in proportion to the
requirements of the part they are to represent in the great drama
of life, the means in the stupendous mechanism of the universe
being always perfectly and wisely adapted to the ends. It is
therefore absurd to judge of mental attainments of man in different
epochs and circumstances by comparison with our actual
civilization. For me the teachings of archæology are these:
"Tempora mutantur, mores etiam in illis; sicut ante homini etiam
manent anima et mens."

Alchemists have gone out of fashion, thank God! Would that the old
sort of antiquaries, who lose their time, and cause others to lose
theirs also, in discussing idle speculations, might follow suit.
History requires facts,--these facts, proofs. These proofs are not
to be found in the few works of the travellers that have hastily
visited the monuments that strew the soil of Central America,
Mexico and Peru, and given of them descriptions more or less
accurate--very often erroneous--with appreciations always affected
by their individual prejudices. The customs and attainments of all
sorts of the nations that have lived on the western continent,
before it was America, must be studied in view of the monuments
they have left; or of the photographs, tracings of mural paintings,
etc., etc., which are as good as the originals themselves. Not even
the writings of the chroniclers of the time of the Spanish conquest
can be implicitly relied upon. The writers on the one hand were in
all cases blinded by their religious fanaticism; in many by their
ignorance; on the other, the people who inhabited the country at
the time of the arrival of the conquerors were not the builders of
the ancient monuments. Many of these were then in ruins and looked
upon by the inhabitants, as they are today, with respect and awe.
True, many of the habits and customs of the ancients, to a certain
extent, existed yet among them; but disfigured, distorted by time,
and the new modes of thinking and living introduced by the
invaders; while, strange to say, the language remained unaltered.
Even today, in many places in Yucatan the descendants of the
Spanish conquerors have forgotten the native tongue of their sires,
and only speak _Maya_, the idiom of the vanquished. Traditions,
religious rites, superstitious practices, dances, were handed down
from generation to generation. But, as the sciences were of old the
privilege of the few, the colleges and temples of learning having
been destroyed at the downfall of Chichen, the knowledge was
imparted by the fathers to their sons, under the seal of the utmost
secrecy. Through the long vista of generations, notwithstanding the
few books that existed at the time of the conquest, and were in
great part destroyed by Bishop Landa and other fanatical monks, the
learning of the _H-Menes_ became adulterated in passing from mouth
to mouth, merely committed to memory, and was at last lost and
changed into the many ridiculous notions and strange practices said
to have been consigned afterward to these writings.

Withal the knowledge of reading those books was retained by some of
the descendants of the _H-Menes_. I would not take upon myself to
assert positively that some of the inhabitants of Peten--the place
where the Itzas took refuge at the beginning of the Christian era
after the destruction of their city--are not still in possession of
the secret. At all events, I was told that people who could read
the Maya _pic-huun_ (books), and to whom the deciphering of the
_Uooh_ (letters) and the figurative characters was known, existed
as far back as forty years ago, but kept their knowledge a secret,
lest they should be persecuted by the priests as wizards and their
precious volume wrenched from them and destroyed. The Indians hold
them yet in great veneration. I am ready to give full credit to
this assertion, for during my rambles and explorations in Peru and
Bolivia I was repeatedly informed that people existed ensconced in
remote nooks of the Andes, who could interpret the _quippus_
(string writing) and yet made use of them to register their family
records, keep account of their droves of llamas and other
property.

I will not speak here at length of the monuments of Peru, that
during eight years I have diligently explored; for, with but few
exceptions, they dwindle into insignificance when compared with the
majestic structures reared by the Mayas, the Caras, or Carians, and
other nations of Central America, and become, therefore, devoid of
interest in point of architecture and antiquity; excepting,
however, the ruins of Tiahuanaco, that were already ruins at the
time of the foundation of the Incas' empire, in the eleventh
century of our era, and so old that the memory of the builders was
lost in the abysm of time. The Indians used to say that these were
the work of giants who lived _before the sun shone in the heavens_.
It is well known that the Incas had no writing characters or
hieroglyphics. The monuments raised by their hands do not afford
any clew to their history. Dumb walls merely, their mutism leaves
large scope to imagination, and one may conjecture any but the
right thing. Of the historical records of that powerful but
short-lived dynasty we have nothing left but the few imperfect and
rotten _quippus_ which are occasionally disinterred from the
_huacas_.

If we desire to know anything about the civil laws and policy, the
religious rites and ceremonies of the Incas, their scanty
scientific attainments, and their very few and rude artistic
attempts, we are obliged to recur to the "Comentarios reales" of
Garcilasso de la Vega, to the _Décadas_ of Herrera, to Zarata and
other writers of the time of the conquest of Peru by Francisco
Pizarro. None of them--Montesinos excepted--try to shed any light
on the origin of _Manco-Ceapac_ and that of his sister and wife,
_Mama-Oello_, nor on the state of the country before their arrival
at Cuzco.

I have been most happy in my researches into the history of this
founder of the Inca dynasty, whom many consider a mere mythical
being. In the library of the British Museum I came across an old
Spanish manuscript, written by a Jesuit father, A. Anilla, under,
as he asserts, the dictation of a certain _Catári_, an
ex-_quippucamayoe_,--archive-keeper.

Writing now from memory, far away from my books, notes, plans,
etc., etc., left for safe-keeping in the hands of a friend in
Merida, I do not remember the number of the catalogue. But it is
easy to look for "_Las vidas de los hombres ilustres de la compania
de Jesus en las Provincias del Peru_," where I have read of the
origin of Manco-Ceapac, of his wanderings from the sea coasts to
those of the lake of Titicaca, and hence through the country till
at last he arrived at the village of Cuzco, where he was kindly
received by the inhabitants and established himself. This MS. also
speaks of the history of his ancestors, of their arrival at Tumbes
after leaving their homes in the countries of the north in search
of some lost relatives, of their slow progress toward the South,
and the vain inquiries about their friends, etc., etc. Now that I
have studied part of the history of the Mayas and become acquainted
with their customs, as pictured in the mural paintings that adorn
the walls of the inner room of the monument raised to the memory of
Chac-Mool by the Queen of Itza, his wife, on the south end of the
east wall of the gymnasium, at Chichen (the tracings of these
paintings are in our power), and also in the traditions and customs
of their descendants, by comparing them with those of the Quichuas,
I cannot but believe that Manco's ancestors emigrated from Xibalba
or Mayapan, carrying with them the notions of the mother country,
which they inculcated to their sons and grandsons, and introduced
them among the tribes that submitted to their sway.

Let it be remembered that the Quichua was not the mother-tongue of
the Incas, who in court spoke a language unknown to the common
people. They, for political motives, and particularly to destroy
the feuds that existed between the inhabitants of the different
provinces of their vast dominions, ordered the Quichua to be taught
to and learned by everybody, and to be regarded as the tongue of
_Ttahuantinsuyu_. Their subjects, from however distant parts of the
empire could then also understand each other, and came with time to
consider themselves as members of the same family.

I have bestowed some attention upon the study of the Quichua. Not
being acquainted with the dialects of the Aryan nations previous
to their separation, I would not pretend to impugn the grand
discovery of Mr. Lopez. But I can positively assert that
expressions are not wanting in the Peruvian tongue that bear as
strong a family resemblance to the dialects spoken in the Sandwich
Islands and Tahiti, where I resided a few months, as the ruins of
Tiahuanaco to those of Easter Island, that are composed of stones
not to be found today in that place. When I visited it I was struck
with the perfect similitude of the structures found there and the
colossal statues, which forcibly recalled to my mind those said by
Pinelo to have existed in Tiahuanaco even at the time of the
Spanish conquest. This similarity in the buildings and language of
the people separated by such obstacles as the deep water of the
Pacific, hundreds of miles apart, cannot be attributed to a mere
casual coincidence. To my mind it plainly shows that communications
at some epoch or other have existed between these countries. On
this particular point I have a theory of my own, which I think I
can sustain by plausible facts, not speculative; but this is not
the place to indulge in theories. I will, therefore, refrain from
intruding mine on your readers. On the other hand, they are welcome
to see it in the discourse I have pronounced before the American
Geographical Society of New York in January, 1873, which has been
published in the New York Tribune, lecture sheet No. 8.

The Quichua contains also many words that seem closely allied to
the dialects spoken by the nations inhabiting the regions called
today Central America and the Maya tongue. It would not be
surprising that some colony emigrating from these countries should
have reached the beautiful valley of Cuzco, and established
themselves in it, in times so remote that we have no tradition even
of the event. It is well known that the Quichua was the language of
the inhabitants of the valley of Cuzco exclusively before it became
generalized in _Ttahuantinsuyu_, and it is today the place where it
is spoken with more perfection and purity.

In answer to the question, if man came from the older (?) world of
Asia,--and if so how, there are several points to consider, and not
the least important relates to the relative antiquity of the
continents. You are well aware that geologists, naturalists and
other scientists are not wanting who, with the late Professor
Agassiz, sustain that this western continent is as old, if not
older, than Asia and Europe, or Africa. Leaving this question to be
settled by him who may accomplish it, I will repeat here what I
have sustained long ago: that the American races are autochthonous,
and have had many thousand years ago relations with the inhabitants
of the other parts of the earth just as we have them today. This
fact I can prove by the mural paintings and bas-reliefs, and more
than all by the portraits of men with long beards that are to be
seen in Chichen Itza, not to speak of the Maya tongue, which
contains expressions from nearly every language spoken in olden
times (to this point I will recur hereafter), and also by the small
statues of tumbaya (a mixture of silver and copper) found in the
huacas of Chimu, near Trujillo on the Peruvian coast, and by those
of the valley of Chincha.

These statues, which seem to belong to a very ancient date,
generally represent a man seated cross-legged on the back of a
turtle. The head is shaved, except the top, where the hair is left
to grow, and is plaited Chinese fashion. Not unfrequently the arms
are extended, the hands rest upon pillars inscribed with characters
much resembling Chinese. I have had one of these curious objects
long in my possession. Notwithstanding being much worn by time and
the salts contained in the earth, it was one of the most perfect I
have seen. It was found in the valley of Chincha. I showed it one
day to a learned Chinaman, and was quite amused in watching his
face while he examined the image. His features betrayed so vividly
the different emotions that preyed upon his mind,--curiosity,
surprise, awe, superstitious fear. I asked him if he understood the
characters engraved on the pillars? "Yes," said he, "these are the
ancient letters used in China before the invention of those in
usage today. That"--pointing to the image he had replaced, with
signs of respect and veneration, on the table--"is very old; very
great thing,--only very wise men and saints are allowed to touch
it." After much ado and coaxing, he at last told me, in a voice as
full of reverence as a Brahmin would in uttering the sacred word
O-A-UM, that the meaning of the inscription was _Fo_.

Some families of Indians, that live in the remote _bolsones_ (small
valleys of the Andes), sport even today a cue as the inhabitants of
the Celestial empire, and the people in Eten, a small village near
Piura, speak a language unknown to their neighbors, and are said to
easily hold converse with the coolies of the vicinage. When and how
did this intercourse exist, is rather difficult to answer. I am
even timorous to insinuate it, lest the believers in the chronology
of the Bible, who make the world a little more than 5800 years old,
should come down upon me, and, after pouring upon my humble self
their most damning anathemas, consign me, at the dictates of their
sectarian charity, to that place over the door of which Dante
read,--

Perme si vá tra la perduta gente.
* * * * *
Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' entrate.

And yet mine is not the fault if reason tells me that the climate
of Tiahuanaco, situated near the shores of the lake of Titicaca,
13,500 feet above the sea, must not have always been what it is
now, otherwise the ground around it, and for many miles barren,
would not have been able to support the population of a large city.
Today it produces merely a few _ocas_ (a kind of small potato that
is preserved frozen), and yields scanty crops of maize and beans.
Tiahuanaco _may_, at some distant period, have enjoyed the
privilege of being a seaport. Nothing opposes this supposition. On
one hand, it is a well-known fact that, owing to the conical motion
of the earth, the waters retreat continually from the western
coasts of America, which rise at a certain known ratio every
century. On the other hand, the bank of oysters and other marine
shells and debris, found on the slopes of the Andes to near their
summits, obviously indicate that at some time or other the sea has
covered them.

When was that? I will leave to sectarians to compute, lest the
reckoning should carry us back to that time when the space between
Tiahuanaco and Easter Island was dry land, and the valleys and
plains now lying under the waters of the Pacific swarmed with
industrious, intelligent human beings, were strewn with cities and
villas, yielded luxuriant crops to the inhabitants, and the figure
should show that people lived there before the creation of the
world. I recoil with horror at the mere idea of being even
suspected of insinuating such an heretical doctrine.

But if the builders of the strange structures on Easter Island have
had, then, communications with the rearers of Tiahuanaco by _land_,
then we may easily account for the many coincidences which exist
between the laws, religious rites, sciences,--astronomical and
others,--customs, monuments, languages, and even dresses, of the
inhabitants of this Western continent, and those of Asia and
Africa. Hence the similarity of many Asiatic and American notions.
Hence, also, the generalized idea of a deluge among men, whose
traditions remount to the time when the waters that covered the
plains of America, Europe, Africa and Asia left their beds, invaded
the portions of the globe they now occupy, and destroyed their
inhabitants.

Since that time, when, of course, all communications were cut
between the few individuals that escaped the cataclysm by taking
refuge on the highlands, their intercourse has been renewed at
different and very remote epochs--a fact that I can easily prove.

But, why should we lose ourselves in the mazes of supposition,
where we run a fair chance of wandering astray, when we may recur
to the monuments of Yucatan? These are unimpeachable witnesses that
the Peninsula was inhabited by civilized people many thousand years
ago, even before the time ascribed by the Mosaic records to the
creation.

Among the ruins of Aké, a city unique in Yucatan for its strange
architecture, evidently built by giants, whose bones are now and
then disinterred, a city that was inhabited at the time of the
conquest, and where the Spaniards retreated for safety after the
defeat they suffered at the hands of the dwellers of the country
near the ruins of Chichen-Itza, is to be seen an immense building
composed of three superposed platforms. The upper one forms a
terrace supporting three rows of twelve columns. Each column is
composed of eight large square stones, piled one upon the other,
without cement, to a height of four metres, and indicate a lapse of
160 years in the life of the nation. These stones are, or were,
called _Katun_. Every twenty years, amid the rejoicings of the
people, another stone was added to those already piled up, and a
new era or epoch was recorded in the history and life of the
people. After seven of these stones had thus been placed--that is
to say, after a lapse of 140 years--they began the _Ahau-Katun_, or
King Katun, when a small stone was added every four years on one of
the corners of the uppermost, and at the end of the twenty years of
the _Ahau-Katun_, with great ceremonies and feasting, the crowning
stone was placed upon the supporting small ones. (The photographs
of this monument can be seen at the house of Mr. H. Dixon.) Now, as
I have said, we have thirty-six columns composed of eight stones,
each representing a period of twenty years, which would give us a
total of 5760 years since the first Katun was placed on the terrace
to the time when the city was abandoned, shortly after the Spanish
conquest.

On the northeast of the great pyramid at Chichen-Itza, at a short
distance from this monument, can be seen the graduated pyramid that
once upon a time supported the main temple of the city dedicated to
_Kukulcan_ (the winged serpent), the protecting divinity of the
place. On three sides the structure is surrounded by a massive wall
about five metres high and eight wide on the top. On that wall are
to be seen the columns of the Katuns. The rank vegetation has
invaded every part of the building, and thrown many of the columns
to the ground. I began to clear the trees from the pyramid, but was
unable to finish work because of the disarming of my workmen, owing
to a revolution that a certain Teodosio Canto had initiated against
the government of Yucatan. I counted as many as one hundred and
twenty columns, but got tired of pushing my way through the nearly
impenetrable thicket, where I could see many more among the shrubs.

Those I counted would give an aggregate of 19,200 years,--quite a
respectable old age, even for the life of a nation. This is plainly
corroborated by the other means of reckoning the antiquity of the
monuments,--such as the wear of the stones by meteorological
influences, or the thickness of the stratum of the rich loam, the
result of the decay of vegetable life, accumulated on the roofs and
terraces of the buildings, not to speak of their position
respecting the pole-star and the declination of the magnetic
needle.