Chapter V: Part 5

The architecture of the Mayas is unlike that of any other people of
what is called the Old World. It resembles only itself. And,
notwithstanding that Mayapan, from the most remote times, was
visited by travellers from Asia and Africa, by the wise and learned
men who came from abroad to consult the _H-Menes_; notwithstanding,
also, the invasion of the Nahuas and the visitation of the
pilgrims, the Maya art of building remained peculiar and unchanged,
and their language was adopted by their conquerors. The Nahuas,
after destroying the city of the wise men, established themselves
in Uxmal, on account of its strategic position, in the midst of a
plain inclosed by hills easily defended. To embellish that city,
where dwelt the foes of Chichen, they copied the complex
ornamentation of the most ancient building of that metropolis,--the
palace and museum,--disdaining the chastity, the simplicity, the
beautiful and tasteful elegance of the monuments of the latter
period. These, of graceful and airy proportions, are utterly devoid
of the profusion and complexity of ornamentation and design that
overload the palaces and temples of Uxmal. When gazing on the
structures of that city, and comparing them with those of Chichen,
it seemed that I was contemplating a low-born, illiterate man, on
whom Fortune, in one of her strange freaks, has smiled, and who
imagines that by bedecking himself with gaudy habiliments and
shining jewelry he acquires knowledge and importance. All in Uxmal
proclaims the decadency of art, the relaxation of morals, the
depravity of customs, the lewdness of the inhabitants. In Chichen
they represent the life-giving power of the universe under the
emblems of the Sun and Kukulcan. In Uxmal they worshipped the
phallus, which is to be seen everywhere, in the courts, in the
ornaments of the temples, in the residences of the priests and
priestesses, in all the monuments except the house of the governor,
built by Aac, the younger brother and assassin of Chac-Mool.

The edifices of Uxmal are evidently constructed with less art and
knowledge than those of Chichen. The latter remain whole and nearly
intact, except in those places where the hand of man has been busy;
the former have suffered much from the inclemencies of the
atmosphere, and from the ignorance and vandalistic propensities of
the visitors. I have been present at the destruction of magnificent
walls where the ruins stand. Some prefer to destroy these relics of
past ages, rather than to pick up with more ease the stones that
strew the soil in every direction.

The ornaments of temples and palaces are mostly composed of
hieroglyphics, highly adorned, of the emblems of religious rites,
of statues of great men and priests, surrounded by many
embellishments. In Uxmal the columns are representations of the
phallus-worship of the Nahuas. In Chichen the base is formed by the
head of Kukulcan, the shaft by the body of the serpent, with its
feathers beautifully carved to the very chapter. On the chapters of
the columns that support the portico, at the entrance of the castle
in Chichen-Itza, may be seen the carved figures of long-bearded
men, with upraised hands, in the act of worshipping sacred trees.
They forcibly recall to the mind the same worship in Assyria, as
seen on the slabs found by Layard in the ruins of Nineveh, now in
the Assyrian gallery of the British Museum. No one can form an
exact idea of the monuments of Mayapan by reading mere
descriptions. It is necessary to either examine the buildings
themselves (and this is not quite devoid of danger, since the most
interesting are situated in territories forbidden to white men,
and occupied by the hostile Indians of Chan-Santa-Cruz, who since
1849 wage war to the knife on the inhabitants of Yucatan, and have
devastated the greatest part of that State), or to study my
magnificent collection of photographs where they are most
faithfully portrayed; that can be done with more ease, without
running the risk of losing one's life.

It is said that the deciphering of the American hieroglyphics is a
rather desperate enterprise, because we have no Rosetta stone with
a bilingual inscription. I humbly beg to differ from that opinion;
at least as regards the inscriptions on the walls of the monuments
of Mayapan. In the first instance, the same language, with but few
alterations, that was used by the builders of these edifices is
today commonly spoken by the inhabitants of Yucatan and Peten, and
we have books, grammars and dictionaries compiled by the Franciscan
friars in the first years of the conquest, translated in Spanish,
French and English. We do not, therefore, require an American
Rosetta stone to be discovered. Secondly, if it is undeniable that
Bishop Landa consigned to the flames all the books of the Mayas
that happened to fall into his hands, it is also true that by a
singular freak he preserved us, in great part at least, the Maya
alphabet in his work, "Las Cosas de Yucatan," discovered by
Brasseur de Bourbourg in the national library of Madrid. The
Americanists owe much to the researches of the abbé. I consider his
works as deserving a better reception than they have ever had from
the scientific world at large. It is true that he is no respecter
of Mosaic chronology,--and who can be in presence of the monuments
of Central America? Reason commands, and we must submit to evidence
and truth! I have carefully compared the characters of said
manuscript with those engraved upon the stones in Chichen, which I
photographed, and found them alike. Some on the frontispieces of
the palaces and temples differ, it is true, but do not our
ornamented capital letters from the small? Their deciphering may
give a little more trouble.

The Mayas, besides using their alphabet, employed at the same time
a kind of pictorial writing, something not unlike our _rebus_. They
also would record domestic and public life-customs, religious
worship and ceremonies, funeral rites, court receptions, battles,
etc., etc., just as we do in our paintings and engravings,
portraying them with superior art and perfect knowledge of drawing
and colors, which also had their accepted and acknowledged meaning.
These we have already partly deciphered, and now understand.

I have said it was my firm conviction that among the inhabitants of
Peten--nay, perchance, also, of Chan-Santa-Cruz--some one may be
found who is still possessed of the knowledge of reading the
ancient _Pic-huun_. But the Indians are anything but communicative,
and they are at all times unwilling to reveal to the white men
whatever may have been imparted to them by their fathers. To keep
these things a secret they consider a sacred duty. They even refuse
to make known the medicinal properties of certain plants, while
they are willing, provided they feel a liking for you, or are asked
by a person whom they respect or love, to apply these plants,
prepared by them, to heal the bite of a rattlesnake, tarantula, or
any of the many venomous animals that abound in their forests.

During the many years that I have been among the Indians of all
parts of America,--now with the civilized, now amidst those that
inhabit the woods far away from the commerce of people,--strange to
say, reciprocal sympathy and good feeling have always existed
between us; they have invariably ceased to consider me a stranger.
This singular attractive feeling has often caused them to open
their hearts; and to it I owe the knowledge of many curious facts
and traditions that otherwise I should never have known. This
unknown power did not fail me in Espita, a pretty little town in
the eastern part of Yucatan, where I received from a very old
Indian not only the intelligence that forty years ago men still
existed who could read the ancient Maya writing, but also a clue to
decipher the inscriptions on the buildings.

Conversing with some friends in Espita about the ancient remains to
be found in that vicinity, they offered to show me one of the most
interesting relics of olden times. A few days later they ushered
into my presence a venerable old Indian. His hairs were gray, his
eyes blue with age. The late curate of the place, Senor Dominguez,
who departed this life at the respectable age of ninety, was wont
to say that he had, since a child, and as long as he could
remember, always known Mariano Chablé, the same old man. They give
him 150 years at least; yet he enjoys perfect health; still works
at his trade (he is a potter); is in perfect possession of his
mental faculties, and of an unerring memory. Having lost his wife,
of about the same age as himself, but a short time before my
interview with him, he complained of feeling lonely, and thought
that as soon as the year of mourning was over he would take another
wife to himself. It was a Sunday morning that we met for the first
time. He had been to church, assisted at mass. There the
recollection of his departed life-companion had assailed him and
filled his old heart with sadness,--and he had called to his relief
another acquaintance--rum--to help him to dispel his sorrow. Sundry
draughts had made him quite talkative. He was in the right
condition to open his bosom to a sympathizing friend,--so I was to
him already. The libation I offered with him to the _manes_ of his
regretted mate unsealed his lips. After a few desultory questions,
with the object of testing his memory and intelligence, with great
caution I began to inquire about the points I had more at heart--to
wit, to gather all possible information and traditions upon the
ruins of Chichen-Itza I was about to visit. The old man spoke only
Maya; and my friend Cipriano Rivas, well versed in that language,
was my interpreter, not being myself sufficiently proficient in it
to hold a long conversation.

"Father," said I, "have you ever been in Chichen? Do you know
anything about the big houses that are said to exist there?"

"I have never been in Chichen, and of my own knowledge know nothing
of those big houses; but remember what the old men used to say
about them when I was young."

"And what was that, pray. Will you tell me?"

"Oh yes! I had a friend in _Saci_ (Valladolid today),--he died
forty years ago or so,--a very, very old man. His name was Manuel
Alayon. He used to tell us all about these enchanted houses. He had
a book that none but he could read, which contained many things
about them. We used to gather at his house at night to listen to
the reading of that book."

"Where is the book now, father?"

"Don't know. Alayon died. No one ever knew what became of the
sacred book. Afterwards came the insurrection of the Indians, and
the old friends also died."

"Do you remember what the book said?"

"Now, one of the things comes to my mind. It said that there was a
very old house called the _Akab-sib_, and in that house a writing,
which recited that _a day would come when the inhabitants of Saci
would converse with those of Ho [Merida] by means of a cord, that
would be stretched by people not belonging to the country_."

When I heard this, the idea occurred to me that the old fellow was
quietly having his little bit of fun at my expense. In order to be
sure of it I inquired:--

"What do you say, father? How can that be? Do you imagine how
people forty leagues apart can converse by means of a cord?"

But when my interlocutor answered that he could not either know or
imagine how that could be done, and particularly when my friends
assured me that Chablé had no idea of the electric telegraph, I
then became convinced of his good faith, and began to ponder on the
strange disclosure we had just listened to. The old man soon rose
to take his departure, and I invited him to call again, when he had
not been to church and consoled himself with his spiritual friend,
in order that I might be able to take his portrait. He repeated his
visit a few days later, as requested. I took his portrait, and
asked him again about the monuments of Chichen. But, alas! that day
his lips were sealed, or his memory failed, or his Indian secrecy
had returned. He knew nothing of them; had never been there; did
not remember what the old men said of the enchanted houses when he
was young, except that the place had been enchanted for many, many
years, and that it was not good to sleep near them, because the
_Xlab-pak-yum_, the lord of the old walls, would be angry at the
intrusion, and chastise the offender by disease and death within
the year.

Some months later I arrived at Chichen. The revelation of the old
man recurred vividly to my mind. I immediately went in quest of the
building he had mentioned--the _Akab-sib_. [This name literally
means--_Akab_, dark, mysterious; _sib_, to write. But we believe
that anciently it was called _Alcab-sib_; that is, _Alcab_, to run
in a hurry; _sib_, to write.] We had some trouble in finding it,
concealed and confounded as it was among the tall trees of the
forest, its roof supporting a dense thicket. We visited its
eighteen rooms in search of the precious inscription, and at length
discovered it on the lintel of an inner doorway in the room
situated at the south end of the edifice. The dust of ages was
thick upon it and so concealed the characters as to make them
well-nigh invisible. With care I washed the slab, then with black
crayon darkened its surface until the intaglio letters appeared in
white on a dark background. (The photographs of this inscription
can be seen at Mr. H. Dixon's.)

While thus employed Mrs. Le Plongeon stood by my side, studying the
characters as they gradually appeared more and more distinct. To
our astonishment we soon discovered the cord mentioned by Chablé.
It started from the mouth of a face (which represents the people of
Saci), situated near the right-hand upper corner of the slab, then
runs through its whole length in a slanting direction and
terminates at the ear of another head (the inhabitants of Ho). The
inclined direction of the cord or line indicates the topographical
position of the respective cities--Saci (Valladolid)--being more
elevated above the level of the sea than Ho (Merida). But imagine
now our amazement at noticing the strange fact that the mode of
communication that Chablé ignored was ... by means of electric
currents! Yes, of electricity! This fact is plainly indicated by
the four zigzag lines, representing the lightning, coming from the
four cardinal points and converging toward a centre near the upper
or starting station, and also by the solitary zigzag seen about
the middle of the cord--following its direction--indicating a
half-way station. Then the electric telegraph, that we consider
_the discovery par excellence_ of the nineteenth century, was known
of the ancient Itza sages 5000 or 10,000 years ago. Ah, _Nihil
novum sub solem!_ And in that slab we have a clue to the
deciphering of the Maya inscriptions,--an American Rosetta stone.

I will now say a few words of that language that has survived
unaltered through the vicissitudes of the nations that spoke it
thousands of years ago, and is yet the general tongue in
Yucatan--the Maya. There can be no doubt that this is one of the
most ancient languages on earth. It was used by a people that lived
at least 6000 years ago, as proved by the Katuns, to record the
history of their rulers, the dogmas of their religion, on the walls
of their palaces, on the façades of their temples.

In a lecture delivered last year before the American Geographical
Society of New York, Dr. C. H. Berendt has shown that the Maya was
spoken, with its different dialects, by the inhabitants of Mayapan
and Xibalba and the other nations of Central America south of
Anahuac. He ought to be a good authority on the subject, having
dedicated some years in Yucatan to its study.

The Maya, containing words from almost every language, ancient or
modern, is well worth the attention of philologists. And since, as
Professor Max Muller said, philology is the shining light that is
to illuminate the darkness of ethnology, besides the portraits of
the bearded men discovered by me in Chichen, those of the princes
and priests, and the beautiful statue of Chac-Mool, which serve to
determine the different types, may be a guide to discover whence
man and civilization came to America, if the American races can be
proved not to be autochthonous. Notwithstanding a few guttural
sounds, the Maya is soft, pliant, rich in diction and expression;
even every shade of thought may be expressed.

* * * * *

Whence, then, are the Maya language and the Mayas? I should like to
learn from the Americanists who are soon to congregate in
Luxembourg.

AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON, M.D.

NOTE. The omission (as indicated) at the close of Dr. Le Plongeon's
letter is a repetition of what he has previously stated in other
communications, in regard to the many foreign words found in the
Maya language, and that the Greek is there largely represented.
Then the question arises, who brought this language to Mayapan? He
continues: "The customs, religion, architecture of this country,
have nothing in common with those of Greece. Who carried the Maya
to the country of Helen? Was it the Caras or Carians, who have left
traces of their existence in many countries of America? They are
the most ancient navigators known. They roved the seas long before
the Phoenicians. They landed on the North-East coasts of Africa,
thence they entered the Mediterranean, where they became dreaded as
pirates, and afterwards established themselves on the shores of
Asia Minor. Whence came they? What was their origin? Nobody knows.
They spoke a language unknown to the Greeks, who laughed at the way
they pronounced their own idiom. Were they emigrants from this
Western continent? Was not the tunic of white linen, _that required
no fastening_, used by the Ionian women, according to Herodotus,
the same as the _uipil_ of the Maya females of to-day even,
introduced by them among the inhabitants of some of the
Mediterranean isles?"

* * * * *

The latest information about the statue exhumed at Chichen Itza must be discouraging to those solicitous for the careful conservation of this work of art. _La Revista de Mérida_ of May 31, 1877, has this quotation from a Mexican newspaper:--

"A SHAMEFUL FACT."

"LA PATRIA _has the following paragraph copied from the_ EPOCA,
_which ought to attract the attention of all interested. 'The
notable statue of Chac-Mool, which was received in the capital of
Yucatan with so great demonstrations of jubilee, and with
unaccustomed pomp, has remained in our city since its arrival, some
days ago, abandoned in a small square, afar off and dirty, where
the small boys of the neighborhood amuse themselves by pelting it.
If Sr. Dn. Augustin del Rio had known the little value that would
have been placed upon his gift, it is certain that he would have
guarded there [at Yucatan] his king and his records, about which no
one here concerns himself.'_"

How much of the above unfavorable criticism on the neglect of this archæological treasure by the central government, is due to the political bias of the source of this information, cannot be determined. We can, however, protest against any want of appreciation of a monument of past history in this manner lost to the State of Yucatan and to the discoverer, Dr. Le Plongeon, by the arbitrary exercise of official authority.

FOOTNOTES:

[58-*] Stephens' Travels in Yucatan, Vol. II., page 303.

[59-*] The hostile Indians (_sublivados_) so often spoken of by Dr. Le Plongeon in his communications, are a body of revolted natives, variously estimated at from 50,000 to 140,000. They are called Indians of _Chan-Santa-Cruz_, from the name of their chief town, in the south-eastern part of the peninsula. During political troubles in 1847, a formidable rising of Indians against the whites took place in Yucatan, which has not yet been subdued. Nearly every year the frontier towns and plantations bordering upon the territory of these rebels, suffer from their attacks; their inhabitants are slain and their property is destroyed. So formidable is this enemy that at one time their soldiers, said to be supplied with English arms, advanced to within 15 miles of the city of Mérida. As matters stand to-day, about two-fifths of the territory of the state is in their power, and a large number of the best plantations in the peninsula are deserted.

A friend, Sr. Dn. Andres Aznar Pérez, of Mérida, a gentleman of large public spirit and much knowledge of this subject, informs the writer that "the principal Indian leaders in the revolution of 1847, were the cruel Cicilio Chi', and Jacinto Pat, the latter assassinated for his sympathy with the whites. Crecencio Poot (spoken of by Dr. Le Plongeon), is one of their later leaders. I am well convinced that the revolt of our Indians will never be brought to an end by force, as has been thus far pretended. I call this unfortunate race noble, and well it deserves the title if we follow dispassionately the sufferings it has had to endure from the remote times of the conquest until the present, with habits so moderate, so frugal, so mild, that only the inhuman treatment of civil as well as religious authorities has been able to exasperate them. Theirs have been always the sufferings, the labors--never the enjoyments--that accompany enlightenment and healthy morality." An extended and unprejudiced account of this rebellion has just been published at Mérida, called "_Historia de las Revoluciones de Yucatan_," by Sr. D. Serapio Baqueiro, in two volumes, which covers a period from 1840 to 1864. For years a constant military surveillance of the main avenues of approach from the eastern and south-eastern sections of the state has been maintained at a great expense to the government without affording adequate protection against periodical hostile incursions.

[63-*] This idea was better expressed by our learned associate, Mr. Haven, in Proceedings of this Society, No. 55, page 56, in commenting upon the works of Brasseur de Bourbourg.

[74-*] See Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, de Diego de Landa. By L'Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris, 1864, page 327.

[89-*] Stephens' Travels in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, vol. I., page 158.

[89-[+]] Id. vol. II., page 349.

[89-[++]] Encyclopædia Britannica. Boston, 1859: _Article_ Sculpture.

[90-*] Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, de Diego de Landa. By L. Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris, 1864, page 347.

[90-[+]] Id. 197.

[90-[++]] Id. 199.

[90-§] Id. 183.

Transcriber's Note

The following typographical errors were corrected:

Page Error
7 of this region. changed to of this region,
11 Cités et Ruines Americaines changed to Cités et Ruines Américaines
14 a thick dust changed to a thick dust.
21 a guadas changed to aguadas
Fn. 29-* sur le Méxique changed to sur le Mexique
57 discovery of the statute changed to discovery of the statue
58 1 Represents changed to 1. Represents
58 3 Shows changed to 3. Shows
58 5 Represents changed to 5. Represents
Ill. 1 LePlongeon changed to Le Plongeon
62 7 Represents changed to 7. Represents
62 9 Shows changed to 9. Shows
62 10 Apparently changed to 10. Apparently
Ill. 2 LePlongeon changed to Le Plongeon
71 Plate No 7 changed to Plate No. 7
74 was dated Méri a, changed to was dated Mérida
77 oblong. changed to oblong,
79 wise archæologist. changed to wise archæologist,
88 munificient changed to munificent
91 upon the the changed to upon the
93 rambling mong changed to rambling among
94 respect a d changed to respect and
95 Bisop Landa changed to Bishop Landa
96 particularly to destory changed to particularly to destroy
96 that the Quichua, changed to that the Quichua
96 valley if Cuzco changed to valley of Cuzco
99 nclemencies changed to inclemencies
99 buildings th mselves changed to buildings themselves
100 commerce of people. changed to commerce of people,
101 Do you rember changed to Do you remember

The following words were inconsistently spelled and hyphenated:

3d / 3rd
&tc / etc.
cenote / senote
Chaac-mol / Chaacmol / Chac-Mool / Chac Mool
Cukulcan / Kukulcan
débris / debris
l'Ecriture / l'Écriture
Mérida / Merida
north-east / northeast
Orosco / Orozco
Señor / Senor
south-eastern / southeastern
Tabasco / Tobasco
to-day / today