Chapter IV: Antiquities of Guatemala and Belize (2)

Near by on the Belize River is a cave in which several idols were discovered, probably brought here by the natives for concealment.[IV-45] There are found in the early Spanish annals of this region some accounts of inhabited towns in this vicinity when the conquerors first came, of which these ruins may be the remains. I close the chapter on Guatemalan antiquities with two short quotations, embodying all I have been able to find respecting the ancient monuments of the English province of Belize, on the Atlantic coast eastward from Peten. "About thirty miles up the Balize River, contiguous to its banks are found, what in this country are denominated the Indian-hills. These are small eminences, which are supposed to have been raised by the aborigines over their dead; human bones, and fragments of a coarse kind of earthen-ware, being frequently dug from them. These Indian-hills are seldom discovered but in the immediate vicinity of rivers or creeks," and were therefore, perhaps, built for refuge in time of floods. "The foot of these hills is regularly planted round with large stones, and the whole may perhaps be thought to bear a very strong resemblance to the ancient barrows, or tumuli, so commonly found in various parts of England."[IV-46] "I learned from a young Frenchman that on this plantation (New Boston) are Indian ruins of the same character as those of Yucatan, and that idols and other antiquities have often been found there."[IV-47]

FOOTNOTES:

[IV-1] About five miles down the river from El Pozo de los Amates on the main road from Guatemala to Yzabal, in a forest of cedar and mahogany, about a mile from the left bank of the river, on the estate of the Señores Payes. _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 118-23. Stephens' map locates Quirigua, however, on the south bank of the river. 'Quirigua, village guatémalien, situé sur la route et à huit lieues environ du port de l'Isabal; les ruines qui en portent le nom existent à deux lieues de là sur la rive gauche du fleuve Motagua.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Palenqué_, introd., p. 22. 'Sur la rive gauche de la rivière de Motagua, à milles vares environ de cette rivière.' _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1840, tom. lxxxviii., pp. 376-7. 'Liegen in der Nähe des kleinen Dorfes Los Amates, 2 Stunden unterhalb Encuentros, am linken Ufer des Motagua, ¾ Stunde vom Flusse entfernt, mitten im Walde. Der Weg von Yzabal führt in einer Entfernung von 3 Stunden an dem Orte vorbei.' _Reichardt_, _Cent. Amer._, p. 69. 'Eine der unbekanntesten und merkwürdigsten Ruinenstätten Central-Amerika's, nahe dem See von Isabal, in einer schwer zugänglichen Wildniss.' _Wagner and Scherzer_, _Costa Rica_, p. x. 'Quirigüa, c'est le nom d'une ville considérable, bâtie par les Aztèques à l'époque où florissait la magnifique Anahuac. Ses ruines mystérieuses sont aujourd'hui ensevelies à environ trois lieues du triste village qui porte son nom.' _Sue_, _Henri le Chancelier_, pp. 110-11. Nearly two English miles from the river-bank. _Scherzer_, _Quiriguá_, p. 5. Mention in _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 276; _Hesse_, in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 256.

[IV-2] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 118-24, with two plates. An account made up from Catherwood's notes was, however, inserted in the Guatemalan newspaper _El Tiempo_ by the proprietors of the Quirigua estate, and translated into French in _Le Moniteur Parisien_, from which it was reprinted in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1840, tom. lxxxviii., pp. 376-7; and in _Amérique Cent._, pt. ii., pp. 68-9, both French and Spanish text is given. The same description is also given in _Valois_, _Mexique_, pp. 202-3. Scherzer's pamphlet on the subject bears the title _Ein Besuch bei den Ruinen von Quiriguá im Staate Guatemala in Central-Amerika_, (Wien, 1855,) and I have not found it quoted elsewhere. _Baily's Cent. Amer._, pp. 65-6, also contains a brief account from a source not stated, and this is quoted nearly in full in _Helps' Span. Conq._, vol. ii., pp. 138-9. The ruins are slightly mentioned in _Macgregor's Progress of Amer._, vol. i., pp. 878-9, and in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 114-17, where it is incorrectly stated that Mr Stephens personally visited Quirigua. Brasseur de Bourbourg says: 'Nous les avons visitées en 1863, et nous possédons les dessins des plusieurs des monolithes qu'on y voit, faits par M. William Baily, d'Izabal.' _Palenqué_, introd., p. 22. See also the additional references in Note 1.

[IV-3] The French version of Catherwood's notes has it, 'Au centre du cirque, dans lequel on descend par des degrés très-étroits, il y a une grande pierre arrondie, dont le contour présente beaucoup d'hiéroglyphes et d'inscriptions; deux têtes d'homme, de proportion plus grande que nature, parraissent soutenir cette table, laquelle est couverte de végétation dans la plus grande partie.' _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1840, tom. lxxxviii., p. 377.

[IV-4] 'Wahrscheinlich benutzten die Erbauer einen hier schon vorhandenen grossen Felsblock zu ihren Zwecken, denn der Transport eines Steines von solcher Grösse und Umfang mit den bewegenden Kräften welche diesen Völkern muthmasslich zu Gebote standen, wäre sonst kaum begreiflich.' _Scherzer_, _Quiriguá_, p. 7.

[IV-5] 'Plus inclinée que la tour de Pise.' _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1840, tom. lxxxviii., p. 376.

[IV-6] Stephens' text, _Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 122, leaves it uncertain whether it is the statue or the altar afterwards mentioned which rests on the elevation. The French text, however, indicates that it is the former.

[IV-7] See Notes 6 and 3.

[IV-8] Baily, _Cent. Amer._, pp. 65-6, sums up all the relics at Quirigua as follows: seven quadrilateral columns, twelve to twenty-five feet high, three to five feet at base; four pieces of an irregular oval shape, twelve by ten or eleven feet, not unlike sarcophagi; two large square slabs seven and a half by three feet and over three feet thick; all except the slabs being covered on all sides with elaborately wrought and well-defined sculptured figures of men, women, animals, foliage, and fanciful representations. All the columns are moreover of a single piece of stone.

[IV-9] Yet Scherzer thinks that 'es ist nicht ganz unwahrscheinlich, dass die Monumente von Quiriguá noch zur Zeit der spanischen Invasion ihrer religiösen Bestimmung dienten, und dass auch eine Stadt in der Nähe noch bewohnt war.' _Quiriguá_, p. 15, although there is no record of such a place in the annals of the conquest.

[IV-10] Although Baily, _Cent. Amer._, p. 66, says 'they do not resemble in sculpture those of Palenque ... nor are they similar to those of Copan.... They suggest the idea of having been designed for historical records rather than mere ornament.'

[IV-11] The sculpture presents no old-world affinities whatever. A certain coarseness of execution, implying inferior tools, distinguishes them from the coarsest Egyptian carvings. Both grouping and execution indicate a still "barbaric state of art, with no advanced idea of beauty, the patience and industry of the workmen being more remarkable than their ideas or skill." _Scherzer_, _Quiriguá_, p. 11-12.

[IV-12] _Hesse_, in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 256.

[IV-13] _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 62.

[IV-14] Padre Urrutia published an account of his investigations at Cinaca-Mecallo in the _Gaceta de Guatemala_, according to _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 81. The most complete description, however, he gave in a letter to E. G. Squier, who published the same in his _Cent. Amer._, pp. 342-4. The substance of the letter may be found in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, p. 124; and a French version in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1857, tom. cliii., pp. 182-6.

[IV-15] _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, pp. 45, 308-9, taking the information from _Fuentes_, _Recopilacion Florida_, MS., tom. ii., lib. iv., cap. ii. Of course no importance is to be attached to these and similar reports.

[IV-16] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 43-4.

[IV-17] _Valois_, _Mexique_, pp. 430-1.

[IV-18] _Dupaix_, _Rel. 3me Expéd._, p. 9, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. i., tom. iii., pl. vii., fig. 12, and in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 290, vol. vi., p. 470, vol. iv., pl. viii., fig. 12. Kingsborough's translation incorrectly represents this relic as having been found at Palenque, although the original reads 'lo encontró en Guatemala' and the French 'l'a trouvée à Guatemala.' M. Lenoir, _Parallèle_, p. 72, thinks the engraved device may show some analogy with the astronomical traditions of the ancients, the serpent of the pole, the dragon, the constellation Ophis, the apples of the Hesperides, etc.; and the reverse may be the Mexican tradition of the creation, the Python, or the serpent killed by Cadmus!! Cabrera, _Teatro Crítico_, pp. 53-5, pl. i., who was the bearer of one of the medals to the king of Spain, speaks of it as made of brass, and pronounces it to be 'a concise history of the primitive population of this part of North America.' The bird, in his opinion, is an eagle with a serpent in its beak and claws. His application of this relic to history will be more appropriate when I come to treat of the origin of the Americans.

[IV-19] _Hist. Mag._, vol. vi., pp. 57-8.

[IV-20] _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, pp. 488-9. The ruins are situated on a rock commanding the junction of the rivers Pixcayatl and Motagua. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 524. Ruins of the ancient capital of the Cakchiquel kings. _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, pp. 333, 335. 'Remarquable par les ruines de l'ancienne forteresse du même nom.' _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 266; _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 470.

[IV-21] _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, pp. 487-8; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 333.

[IV-22] _Hesse_, in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 257.

[IV-23] _Fuentes_, in _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, p. 492; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 327.

[IV-24] _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 281.

[IV-25] _Hesse_, in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 257.

[IV-26] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 507.

[IV-27] _Reichardt_, _Cent. Amer._, p. 72.

[IV-28] The distance is stated to be one fourth of a mile, one mile and a half, one league, and one league and a half by different writers.

[IV-29] _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, pp. 382-4; his authority being _Fuentes_, _Recopilacion_, MS., tom. i., lib. iii., cap. i., and lib. xv., cap. v.; _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 147, 149-53. Juarros' account is also given in _Conder's Mex. Guat._, vol. ii., pp. 270-1, in _Bradford's Amer. Antiq._, p. 90, and in _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, loc. cit. It is also used with that of Stephens to make up the description in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, pp. 199-200. Slight mention also in _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 284; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Palenqué_, p. 33; _Id._, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 152, 493, 526. According to Brasseur's statement, M. Daly made drawings at Patinamit, seen by the Abbé, and to be published.

[IV-30] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 146.

[IV-31] 'In the province of Quezaltenango, there are still to be met with the vestiges and foundations of many large fortresses, among which is the celebrated one of Parrazquin, situated on the confines of Totonicapan and Quezaltenango; and the citadel of Olintepeque, formed with all the intricacies of a labyrinth, and which was the chief defence of the important city of Xelahuh.' _Juarros' Hist. Guat._, pp. 485, 379. Slight mention also, probably resting on no other authority than the paragraph above quoted, in _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 247; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 341.

[IV-32] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 171, 182-8. Mr Stephens gives, besides the engravings I have copied, and one of the other terra-cotta heads mentioned, a view of El Sacrificatorio, a ground plan showing the relative positions of the plateau, the barranca, and the projecting fortress, together with a view of El Resguardo and the other ruins in the distance. I do not reproduce them because they show no details not included in the description, which, moreover, is easily comprehended without the aid of cuts. A thorough exploration of Utatlan was made by Don Miguel Rivera y Maestre, a commissioner sent for the purpose by the Guatemalan government in 1834. His MS. report to the state authorities was seen by Mr Stephens and is described as being very full and accurate, but not containing any details outside of Stephens' account. He does not state that his plans and views were obtained from Rivera y Maestre. Juarros, _Hist. Guat._, pp. 86-8, 487, follows Fuentes, who described the city chiefly from historical accounts of its original condition, although it seems that he also visited the ruins. Las Casas, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. lii., speaks of Utatlan's 'maravillosos edificios de cal y canto, de los cuales yo vide muchos.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 493, 120, tom. i., p. 124, speaks of Rivera y Maestre's plans in Stephens' work as incorrect, but rejoices in the prospect that M. César Daly will publish correct drawings. 'Un des palais des rois de Quiché a 728 pas géométriques de longueur et 376 de largeur.' _Humboldt_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1827, tom. xxxv., p. 329. 'En Utlatan habia muchos y muy grandes _cues_ ó templos de sus Idolos, de maravillosos edificios, y yo vi algunos aunque muy arruinados.' _Zurita_, in _Palacio_, _Carta_, pp. 123-4. See also accounts of these ruins made up from Stephens and Juarros, in _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 286, and _Reichardt_, _Cent. Amer._, p. 72; also mention in _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 470; _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pp. 266, 274; _Galindo_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., pp. 73-8; _Revue Amér._, 1826, tom. i., pp. 353-5; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 462.

[IV-33] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 192.

[IV-34] See p. 63 of this volume.

[IV-35] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 228-32, with figures of two vases found at Huehuetenango in addition to those represented above. 'On trouve un plan des plus incorrects dans le MS. de Fuentes.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 119, 504. Mention of the ruins in _Id._, _Palenqué_, p. 34. Huehuetenango, in Lat. 15° 28´ 15´´, Long. 91° 36´ 50´´. _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 288. Engravings of four vases copied from Stephens, in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 379, pl. 14.

[IV-36] 'J'ai moi-même visité les ruines d'un grande nombre de ces villes et châteaux, dont les positions sont admirablement choisies pour la défense; il en existe sur presque toutes les hauteurs qui environnent la plaine de Rabinal. Elles sont, du reste, très-nombreuses dans toutes les provinces guatémaliennes et sont une preuve de l'étendue de leur antique population.' The chief one is one league west of Rabinal. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 125. Ruins of Cawinal, _Id._, p. 149. Mention of tumuli, _Id._, tom. i., p. 15. Mention of ruins of Tzuruya, Tzutum, Nimpokom, Cakyug, Zamaneb, and Salama. _Id._, tom. ii., pp. 479, 505-6. Mention of Nebah, Uspantan, Rabinal, Cavinal, Xeocok, and Nimpokom. _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, pp. 288, 291. The ruins located by Sonnenstern, _Mapa de Guat._, 1859, proceeding from west to east, are as follows: Xolacul, Nebak, Hatzal, Suizul, Balbitz, Cavinal, Pacalay, Xokoc, Beleh Trak, Pikek, Xozintun, Trak Pocoma, Cakyug, Chocotoy, Chotocoy, Talam, Xubabal.

[IV-37] _Annual Scien. Discov._, 1850, pp. 363-4.

[IV-38] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 193.

[IV-39] Pontelli's account with some plates was published in the _Correo de Ultramar_, Paris, 1860. I have not seen the original, but what purports to be a translation of it in the _California Farmer_, Nov. 7, 1862, is the veriest trash, containing nothing definite respecting the location or description of the pretended discoveries.

[IV-40] _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 195-7; _Id._, _Yuc._, vol. ii., p. 201. 'Quant à l'existence d'une cité mystérieuse, habitué par des indigènes, qui vivraient au centre du Petén dans les mêmes conditions d'autrefois, c'est une croyance qu'il faut reléguer parmi les fantaisies de l'imagination. Ce conte a pris naissance au Yucatan, et les voyageurs en le recueillant, lui ont donné trop d'importance.' _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. ii., p. 68. Mr Otis, on the authority of a late English explorer, believes the city to be a limestone formation which has misled. _Hist. Mag._, vol. vi., p. 120. 'We must reject the notion of great cities existing here.' _Squier_, in _Id._, vol. iv., p. 67. Its existence not improbable. _Mayer's Mex. as it Was_, p. 263. Such reports unfounded. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 37.

[IV-41] _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. ii., pp. 65-8, 26. M. Morelet, by reason of sickness, was unable to make any personal explorations in Peten beyond the island. He has preserved, however, some native reports respecting the antiquities of the region. 'On trouve dans tout ce pays des ruines d'anciens édifices, comme dans le Yucathan, et des idoles en pierre.' _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 51. 'Por aquellos montes ay muchos edificios antiguos grandiosos (como lo que oy se ven en Yucathàn) y en ellos muy grandes Idolos de piedra.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 700. 'It is doubtful if any monuments of note exist in the district, except on the islands, or in the immediate neighborhood of the lakes.' _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 543-5. Mention in _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 295; _Humboldt_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1827, tom. xxxv., p. 329. 'Il n'existe dans cette île aucuns vestiges d'idoles ni de temples.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 69-70. Many relics and remains of idols still to be found on the island. _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 359; _Malte-Brun_, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 470; _Morelet's Trav._, pp. 240-2; _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Mex._, tom. iii., p. 98.

[IV-42] 'Les Indiens, on le sait, se montrent très réservés sur tout ce qui touche à leur ancienne nationalité: quoique ces ruines fussent connues d'un grand nombre d'entre eux, pas un n'avait trahi le secret de leur existence.' _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. ii., pp. 66-7; _Id._, _Trav._, pp. 241-2; _Squier_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. iv., p. 66; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 295.

[IV-43] _Galindo_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 68; _Squier_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. iv., p. 66. Mr Squier says the tower is 22 feet square at the base, instead of 22 paces as Galindo gives it. He does not state the authority on which his description rests; it seems, however, in other respects to be simply a reproduction of Galindo's account, which is also repeated in _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 544-5. Slight mention in _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. ii., p. 66; _Id._, _Trav._, p. 240; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 295.

[IV-44] Col. Mendez, whom Gov. Tut preceded at Tikal by a day or two only, visited the ruins as commissioner of the Guatemalan government, to which, after a stay of four days, he made a report. This report, so far as I know, was never published in the original Spanish; but the MS. fell into the hands of Mr Hesse, Prussian envoy to the Central American governments, and was by him translated into German and published with the plates in the _Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Erdkunde_, 1853, tom. i., pt. iii., pp. 162-8. This translation, without the plates, and with some slight omissions of unimportant details respecting the journey, was also published in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, pp. 247-54, 304-8, with notes by Messrs Hesse and Sivers. This is the source of my information. Mendez revisited Tikal in 1852, without obtaining any additional information of value so far as I know. The ruins are mentioned and more or less fully described, always from the same source, in _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 460-2; _Buschmann_, _Ortsnamen_, pp. 115-17; _Ritter_, in _Gumprecht_, tom. i., p. 3; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, pp. 247, 295.

[IV-45] Hesse, in _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, pp. 254-5, 308-9; _Buschmann_, _Ortsnamen_, pp. 115-16; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 295; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 460.

[IV-46] _Henderson's Honduras_, pp. 52-3; repeated in _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 596-7.

[IV-47] _Froebel's Cent. Amer._, p. 167.