Chapter V: Antiquities of Yucatan (5)

[V-31] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 320; Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 165, speaks of this part of the ruin as 'an immense court or square, enclosed by stone walls, leading to the Nun's House,' C of the plan. He says, also, that some of the scattered mounds in this direction have been excavated and seem to have been intended originally for sepulchres.

[V-32] Mr Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 320, refers to his appendix for a mention of some of the relics found in this group. The reference is probably to a note on vestiges of the phallic worship on p. 434, which from motives of modesty the author gives in Latin.

[V-33] Mr Norman's statements, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 166, differ materially from those of Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 298-9. He states that the walls are only twelve feet apart, that the eastern façade only has the entwined serpents, that the western is covered with hieroglyphics, that the structure contains rooms on a level with the ground, and implies that the western ring was still perfect at the time of his visit. This building is called by Charnay the Cárcel, or Prison.

[V-34] In these dimensions I have followed Mr Stephens' text, as usual in Uxmal, as far as possible. Although the Casa de Monjas has received more attention than any of the other structures, yet, strangely enough, no visitor gives all the dimensions of the buildings and terraces; hardly any two authors agree on any one dimension; and no author's text agrees exactly with his plans. Yet the figures of my text may be considered approximately correct. I append, however, in this instance a table of variations as a curiosity.

Respecting the height of the buildings, except the northern, we have no figures from any reliable authority; but we know that both eastern and western are lower than the northern building and higher than the southern, whose rooms are 17 feet high on the inside, and moreover that the eastern is higher than the western.

[V-35] M. Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xii., presents a drawing of four of these turtles. 'Covered with square blocks of stone.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 163. '_Each tortoise_ is in a square, and in the two external angles of each square is an _Egg_. The _tortoise_ and the _egg_, are both National emblems.' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 94.

[V-36] _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 364, 368; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 301, 308.

[V-37] Plan in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 301; reproduced in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, p. 136. Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xii., also gives a ground plan, which, so far as the arrangement of rooms and doorways is concerned, differs very widely from that of Stephens, and must be regarded as very incorrect. M. Waldeck, during his short stay in Yucatan, seems to have devoted his chief attention to sketching the sculptured façades, a work which he accomplished accurately, but to have constructed his plans from memory and imagination after leaving the country. In the preparation of the present plan he had, to aid his fancy, the supposed occupation of these buildings in former times by nuns, and he has arranged the rooms with an eye to the convenience of the priests in keeping a proper watch and guard over the movements of those erratic demoiselles.

[V-38] Cut from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 309. For some reason the sculpture is not shown. Waldeck's pl. xii. contains also a section showing the form of the arches and ceilings.

[V-39] 'Les linteux des portes sont en bois, comme partout à Uxmal.' 'Les intérieurs, de dimensions variées suivant la grandeur des édifices ... deux murailles parallèles, puis obliquant, pour se relier par une dalle.' 'Les salles étaient enduites d'une couche de plâtre fin qui existe encore.' 'On remarque de chaque côté de l'ouverture, à égale distance du sol et du linteau de la porte, plantés dans la muraille de chaque côté des supports, quatre crochets en pierre.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 364-6. M. Waldeck speaks of the door-tops of the western building as being composed of nine pieces of stone, perpendicular on the outside, or visible, portions, but beveled and secured by a keystone within. 'Fait de neuf pierres à coupe perpendiculaire, et point du tout à clef: je parle ici de l'aspect de cette partie du monument à l'extérieur; mais à l'intérieur, ces neuf pierres sont à clef, ce que l'absence d'enduit m'a permis de constater.' _Voy. Pitt._, p. 100. 'The height of the ceiling is uniform throughout.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 161. Heller, _Reisen_, p. 257, gives the botanical name of the zapote-wood used for lintels as _cavanilla_, _achras sapota_. Waldeck calls the wood _jovillo_. _Voy. Pitt._, p. 97. Norman spells it _zuporte_.

[V-40] 'J'ai parlé, dans le texte du présent ouvrage, des prétendues colonnes trouvées dans l'Yucatan. Les trois balustres qu'on voit dans cette planche peuvent, déplacés comme ils l'étaient, avoir donné lieu à cette erreur. En effet, en divisant ces ornements en plusieurs morceaux, on y trouvera un fût droit et une espèce de chapiteau que, d'après des idées relatives assurément fort naturelles, on place volontiers à l'extrémité supérieure du fût, au lieu de le mettre au milieu.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 103. 'C'est un ensemble de colonnettes nouées dans le milieu trois par trois, séparées par des parties de pierres plates et les treillis qu'on rencontre si souvent; ce bâtiment est d'une simplicité relative, comparé à la richesse des trois autres.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 368.

[V-41] My engravings are taken from _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xv., xvii. They are reproduced in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 323, pl. 3, 6. The perfect accuracy of the engravings--except the seated statues--is proved by Charnay's photographs 42, 49, which show the same front, as does the view in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 305. The southern front of this building is only shown in general views in _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 420; repeated in _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, p. 92; and in _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 160, which give no details.

[V-42] 'La décoration se compose d'une espèce de trophée en forme d'éventail, qui part du bas de la frise en s'élargissant jusqu'au sommet du bâtiment. Ce trophée est un ensemble de barres parallèles terminées par des têtes de monstres. Au milieu de la partie supérieure, et touchant à la corniche, se trouve une énorme tête humaine, encadrée à l'égyptienne, avec une corne de chaque côté. Ces trophées sont séparés par des treillis de pierre qui donnent à l'édifice une grande richesse d'effet. Les coins ont toujours cette ornementation bizarre, composée de grandes figures d'idoles superposées, avec un nez disproportionné, tordu et relevé, qui fait songer à la manière chinoise.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 366-7. The first of my engravings I take from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 306; the same front being shown also in Charnay's photograph 38, in Waldeck's pl. xv., and in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl. 3. The second engraving is from Waldeck's pl. xvi., given also in _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, pl. 5, in _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 156--where it is incorrectly stated to represent a portion of the Casa del Gobernador,--and corresponding with Charnay's photograph 39. The third cut is from _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 65. M. Viollet-le-Duc explains the cut as follows: 'Supposons des piles ou murs de refend A; si l'on pose à la tête des piles les premiers patins B, sur lesquels, à angle droit, on embrévera les traverses C, puis les secondes pièces B', les deuxièmes traverses C' en encorbellement égalemente embérvées, et ainsi de suite, on obtient, au droit des têtes de piles ou murs de refend, des parois verticales, et, dans le sens des ouvertures, des parois inclinées arrivant à porter les filières D avec potelets intercalés. Si, d'une pile à l'autre, on pose les linteaux E en arrière du nu des pièces BB', et que sur ces linteaux on établisse des treillis, on obtiendra une construction de bois primitive, qui est évidemment le principe de la décoration de la façade de pierre du bâtiment.' This façade is 'the most chaste and simple in design and ornament, and it was always refreshing to turn from the gorgeous and elaborate masses on the other façades to this curious and pleasing combination.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 306. 'The eastern façade is filled with elaborate ornaments, differing entirely from the others, and better finished.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 161-2. 'Les huit échelons dont la série forme un cône renversé, sont ornés, à chacune de leurs extrémités, d'une tête symbolique de serpent ou de dragon. La tête du Soleil qui touche à la corniche et repose sur le troisième échelon, offre deux rayons ascendants, indépendemment de ceux qui flamboient autour du masque, dont je n'ai pu deviner la signification. Les trois rayons qui se voient au dessus de la tête ont peut-être quelques rapports avec le méridien, celui du milieu indiquant le parfait équilibre.' 'Des sept masques solaires, un seul était intact.' 'L'ensemble de cette façade offre à l'heure de midi un caractère de grandeur dont il serait difficile de donner une idée.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 102-3.

[V-43] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 307, with plate; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, phot. 43.

[V-44] The illustrations of the Serpent front are in _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pl. xiii., xviii., which latter shows some of the detached faces, or masks; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, phot. 40, 41, 44; and _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 302-3. Rattlesnakes are common in this region. The proprietor proposed to build this serpent's head into a house in Mérida as a memorial of Uxmal. 'Toward the south end the head and tail of the serpents corresponded in design and position with the portion still existing at the other.' _Id._, vol. i., pp. 302-3. 'The remains of two great serpents, however, are still quite perfect; their heads turned back, and entwining each other, they extend the whole length of the façade, through a chaste ground-work of ornamental lines, interspersed with various rosettes. They are put together by small blocks of stone, exquisitely worked, and arranged with the nicest skill and precision. The heads of the serpents are adorned with pluming feathers and tassels.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 162. 'Son nom lui vient d'un immense serpent à sonnettes courant sur toute la façade, dont le corps, se roulant en entrelacs, va servir de cadre à des panneaux divers. Il n'existe plus qu'un seul de ces panneaux: c'est une grecque, que surmontent six croisillons, avec rosace à l'intérieur; une statue d'Indien s'avance en relief de la façade, il tient à la main un sceptre; on remarque au-dessus de sa tête un ornement figurant une couronne.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 367. 'Un ornement, imité d'une sorte de pompon en passementerie terminé par une frange, se voit au-dessus de la queue du reptile. On découvre également dans la frise ces rosettes frangées comme celles signalées dans le bâtiment de l'est.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, p. 69. 'En voyant pour la première fois ce superbe édifice, je ne pus retenir un cri de surprise et d'admiration, tant les choses originales et nouvelles émeuvent l'imagination et les sens de l'artiste. J'ai cherché à rendre, dans ce qu'on vient de lire, mes premières impressions. Pourquoi n'avouerais-je pas qu'il s'y mêle un peu de vanité? Un pareil sentiment n'est-il pas excusable chez le voyageur qui révèle au monde civilisé des trésors archéologiques si longtemps ignorés, un style nouveau d'architecture, et une source abondante où d'autres, plus savants que lui, iront puiser un jour?' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 100.

[V-45] Cut of one of these projecting curves in _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 162.

[V-46] 'The whole, loaded as it is with ornament, conveys the idea of vastness and magnificence rather than that of taste and refinement.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 304. 'The northern front, no doubt, was the principal one, as I judge from the remains, as well as from the fact, that it is more elevated than the others.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 161. Norman's general view of the Nunnery includes a view of this northern front, but the decorations are omitted and the turrets also. 'Chaque porte, de deux en deux, est surmontée d'une niche merveilleusement ouvragée que devaient occuper des statues diverses. Quant à la frise elle-même, c'est un ensemble extraordinaire de pavillons, où de curieuses figures d'idoles superposées ressortent comme par hasard de l'arrangement des pierres, et rappellent les têtes énormes sculptées sur les palais de Chichen-Itza. Des méandres de pierres finement travaillées leur servent de cadre et donnent une vague idée de caractères hiéroglyphiques: puis viennent une succession de grecques de grande dimension, alternées, aux angles, de carrés et de petites rosaces d'un fini admirable. Le caprice de l'architecte avait jeté çà et là, comme des démentis à la parfaite régularité du dessin, des statues dans les positions les plus diverses. La plupart ont disparu, et les têtes ont été enlevées à celles qui restent encore.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 364-5, phot. 36-7. 'Les grosses têtes forment la principale décoration des dessus de portes; les treillis sont historiés, les encorbellements empilés supprimés.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, p. 67.

[V-47] I append a few general quotations concerning the Nunnery: The court façades 'ornamented from one end to the other with the richest and most intricate carving known in the art of the builders of Uxmal; presenting a scene of strange magnificence, surpassing any that is now to be seen among its ruins.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 300. 'All these façades were painted; the traces of the colour are still visible, and the reader may imagine what the effect must have been when all this building was entire, and according to its supposed design, in its now desolate doorways stood noble Maya maidens, like the vestal virgins of the Romans, to cherish and keep alive the sacred fire burning in the temples.' _Id._, p. 307. The bottoms of the caissons of the diamond lattice-work are painted red. The paint is believed to be a mixture in equal parts of carmine and vermilion, probably vegetable colors. _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 200-1; Zavala, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., pp. 33-4, describes a building supposed to be the Nunnery on account of the serpent ornament, which, however, is stated to be on the exterior front of the building. Cogolludo, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 177, describes the court and surrounding edifices, stating that the serpent surrounds all four sides. 'Vn gran patio con muchos aposentos separados en forma de claustro donde viuian estas doncellas. Es fabrica digna de admiracion, porque lo exterior de las paredes es todo de piedra labrada, donde estàn sacadas de medio relieue figuras de hombres armados, diuersidad de animales, pajaros, y otras cosas.' 'Todos los quatro lienços de aquel gran patio (que se puede llamar plaça) los ciñe vna culebra labrada en la misma piedra de las paredes, que termina la cola por debaxo de la cabeça, y tiene toda ella en circuito quatrocientos pies.' Jones, _Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 93, accounts for the superiority of the sculpture on the court façades by supposing that it was executed at a later date; its protection from the weather would also tend to its better preservation.

[V-48] Although Zavala says, speaking of the Uxmal ruins in general: 'Celles qui forment l'arête à partir de laquelle les plans des murs convergent pour déterminer la voûte prismatique dont j'ai déjà parlé, sont taillées en forme de coude dont l'angle est obtus.' _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 34. 'In the rear of, and within a few feet of the eastern range, are the remains of a similar range, which is now almost in total ruins. There appear to have been connecting walls, or walks, from this range to the Pyramid near by, as I judged from the rubbish and stones that can be traced from one to the other.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 162. Cuts from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 311, 430; one of them reproduced in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._

[V-49] So say Stephens' text and plan, Viollet-le-Duc, and Charnay's plan; but Stephens' views, except that in _Cent. Amer._, Charnay's photographs, and Waldeck's plan and drawings, do not indicate an oval form. I am inclined to believe that the corners are simply rounded somewhat more than in the other Uxmal structures, and that the oval form indicated in the plan is not correct.

[V-50] M. Viollet-le-Duc says it is 'entièrement composé d'un blocage de maçonnerie revêtu de gros moellons parementés,' in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 70.

[V-51] _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 193. 'La subida principal está á la parte del oriente y se practica por medio de una grada, que á la altura referida, guarda, segun mi cálculo, el muy escaso declive de treinta pies á lo mas: esta circunstancia, como se deja entender, la hace en extremo pendiente y peligrosa. Si no me engaño, la grada á que me refiero, tiene de 95 á 100 escaloncitos de piedra labrada, pero tan angostos, que apénas pueden recibir la mitad del pié: la cubren muchos troncos de árboles, espinos, y, lo que es peor, una multitud de yerba, resbaladiza.' The author, however, climbed the stairway barefooted. _L. G._, in _Registro de Yuc._, tom. i., p. 278. 'Les côtés de la pyramide sont tellement lisses qu'on ne peut y monter même à l'aide des arbres et des broussailles qui poussent dans les interstices des pierres.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 95. The eastern slope 70°, and the western 80°. _Heller_, _Reisen_, p. 256. Stairway has 180 steps, each 12 to 15 centimetres wide and high. _Zavala_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 33. 100 steps, each 5 inches wide. _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 71. 100 steps, each 6 inches wide. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 163. About 130 steps, 8 or 9 inches high. _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 421.

[V-52] 'Une espèce de petite chapelle en contre-bas tournée à l'ouest; ce petit morceau est fouillé comme un bijou; une inscription parait avoir été gravée, formant ceinture au-dessus de la porte.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 368. 'Loaded with ornaments more rich, elaborate, and carefully executed, than those of any other edifice in Uxmal.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 313.

[V-53] In the matter of dimensions, the Casa del Adivino presents the same variations as the other structures--Stephens, _Yucatan_, being the authority followed. Waldeck makes the platform 45 by 91 feet 8 inches, and the building 81 feet 8 inches by 14 feet 8 inches. Zavala calls the building 8 metres square. According to Norman the pyramid measures 500 feet at the base, and is 100 feet high, the platform being 21 by 72 feet, and the building 12 by 60, and 20 feet high. Charnay pronounces the pyramid 75 to 80 feet high. Stephens, _Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., pp. 421-2, gives the dimensions as follows: Pyramid, 120 by 240 feet at base; platform, 4½ feet wide outside the building; building, 68 feet long; rooms, 9 feet wide, 18, 18, and 34 feet long. Friederichsthal's dimensions: Pyramid, 120 by 192 feet and 25½ feet high; platform, 23⅓ by 89 feet; building, 12 by 73 feet, and 19¼ feet high. _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 307. Heller's dimensions: Pyramid, 135 by 225 feet, and 105 feet high; platform, 20 by 70 feet; building, 12 by 60 feet, and 20 feet high.

[V-54] 'Il est à remarquer que le pénis des statues était en érection, et que toutes ces figures étaient plus particulièrement mutilées dans cette partie du corps.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 95-6. Plate xi. shows the statue and accompanying portion of the wall. 'The emblems of life and death appear on the wall in close juxtaposition, confirming the belief in the existence of that worship practiced by the Egyptians, and all other eastern nations, and before referred to as prevalent among the people of Uxmal.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 314. 'The western façade is ornamented with human figures similar to _caryatides_, finely sculptured in stone with great art.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 164. It is astonishing how easy the meaning of these sculptures may be deciphered when the right person undertakes the task. For instance: 'The translation of the above Sculpture seems as easy as if a DANIEL had already read the handwriting on the wall! as thus--The human figure, in full life and maturity, together with the sex, presents mortality; over the figure the _cross-bones_ are placed, portraying the figure's earthly death; while the skull supported by expanding wings (and this Sculpture being placed above those of life and death,) presents the immortal Soul ascending on the wings of Time, above all earthly life, or the corruption of the grave!' _Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer._, p. 103.

[V-55] Stephens, _Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 312, 316, gives views of the east and west fronts, the former of which I have inserted in my description; and in _Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 420, a view from the south, which is copied in _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, p. 92, which last authority also gives what seems to be a restoration of the pyramid from Waldeck. Waldeck's plates, ix., x., xi., relate to this structure; plate ix. is a view from a point above the whole and directly over the centre, including a ground plan of the summit building; plate x. is the western elevation of the pyramid and building with the eastern elevation of the latter; and plate xi. is a view of one of the statues as already mentioned. Charnay's photograph 35 gives a western view of the whole, which is also included in photograph 38; it is to be noted that his plan places the Casa del Adivino considerably south of the Nunnery. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 162, gives an altogether imaginary view of the pyramid and building, perhaps intended for the western front. 'La base de la colline factice est revêtue d'un parement vertical avec une frise dans laquelle on retrouve l'imitation des rondins de bois, surmontés d'une sorte de balustrade presque entièrement détruite.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 70. On the east front of the building are 'deux portes carrées et deux petits pavillons couverts d'une espèce de toit reposant sur des pilastres.' 'Tel est ce monument, chef-d'œuvre d'art et d'élégance. Si j'étais arrivé un an plus tard à Uxmal, je n'aurais pas pu en donner un dessin complet; le centre avait été dégradé par suite de l'extraction de quelques pierres nécessaires à la solidité de cette partie de l'édifice.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 96. Yet if the structure was as perfect and his examination as complete as he claims, it is very strange, to say the least, that he did not discover the apartments in the western projections. Zavala, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 33, says that the interior walls of this building are plastered. Stephens, Charnay, and Brasseur, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 578-88, give the tradition of the Dwarf, which gives this temple one of its names. 'The construction of these ornaments is not less peculiar and striking than the general effect. There were no tablets or single stones, each representing separately and by itself an entire subject; but every ornament or combination is made up of separate stones, on each of which part of the subject was carved, and which was then set in its place in the wall.' 'Perhaps it may, with propriety, be called a species of sculptured mosaic.' _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 422.

[V-54] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 248-51, 227-8; _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 166, 157; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 74; _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 307-8; _Zavala_, in _Antiq. Mex._, tom. i., div. ii., p. 35; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 51.

[V-55] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 188, 221-2.

[V-56] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 122, with plate showing front of one building.

[V-57] On Xcoch and Nohpat see _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 348-58, 362-8, with cut of the pyramid, beside those given in the text. Cut of former ruin reproduced in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 144-5. 'Una infinita multitud de edificios enteramente arruinados, esparcidos sobre toda la extension del terreno que puede abrazar la vista. Esta como cadena de ruinas que desde Uxmal se prolonga con direccion al S.E. por mas de 4 millas, induce á creer que es la continuacion de esa inmensa ciudad.' 'Muchos edificios colosales enteramente arruinados, que, aunque compartidos casi del mismo modo que en Uxmal, indican, sin embargo, mayor antigüedad; porque siendo construidos con iguales materias, y con no menor solidez, las injurias del tiempo son mas evidentes sobre cuantos objetos se presentan á la vista. Aún se nota la configuracion y trazo de las rámpas, átrios y plazas, donde andan, como diseminados en grupos, restos de altares, multitud de piedras escuadradas talladas en medios relievos representando calaveras y canillas, trozos de columnas, y cornizas y estátuas caprichosas ó simbólicas.' This visitor describes most of the monuments mentioned by Stephens. The picote, or phallus, together with a sculptured head, he brought away with him. _M. F. P._, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 365-7.

[V-58] 'The cornice running over the doorways, tried by the severest rules of art recognised among us, would embellish the architecture of any known era, and amid a mass of barbarism, of rude and uncouth conceptions, it stands as an offering by American builders worthy of the acceptance of a polished people.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 387-95, with plates of the whole front, an enlarged portion of the same, and the interior of the room mentioned. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 149, devotes a few lines to this building, but furnishes no details.

[V-59] The front is as usual decorated with sculpture, but it is much fallen. Plate showing the front in _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., p. 397.

[V-60] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 398-400, with cuts of the Casa de Justicia and of the Arch; the latter being also in _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, p. 139.

[V-61] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 386-7, 402-14, with cuts and plates. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 148-9, thus describes these sculptured jambs, which he found where Stephens left them placed against the walls of the room: 'They are about six feet high and two wide; the front facings of which are deeply cut, representing a caçique, or other dignitary, in full dress, (apparently a rich Indian costume,) with a profusion of feathers in his head-dress. He is represented with his arms uplifted, holding a whip; a boy before him in a kneeling position, with his hands extended in supplication; underneath are hieroglyphics. The room is small, with the ceiling slightly curved.'

[V-62] _Larenaudière_, _Mex. et Guat._, p. 321; _Baril_, _Mexique_, p. 129; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. 'Autour de cette grande ville (Uxmal), dans un rayon de plusieurs lieues, l'œil admirait les cités puissantes de Nohcacab, de Chetulul, de Kabah, de Tanchi, de Bokal et plus tard de Nohpat, dont les nobles omules se découpaient dans l'azur foncé du ciel, comme autant de fleurons dans la couronne d'Uxmal.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 21.

[V-63] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 30-8, 41-6, 124-6.

[V-64] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 16-28, with two plates in addition to the cuts I have given. _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, pp. 79-80, with two cuts, from Stephens. 'The summits of the neighboring hills are capped with gray broken walls for many miles around.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 150-3, with view of front, copied in _Democratic Review_, vol. xi., pp. 536-7; _Frost's Pict. Hist. Mex._, pp. 78-9; and _Id._, _Great Cities_, pp. 291-5.

[V-65] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 40-65, with plates. The cut given in the text is also given by Baldwin, _Anc. Amer._, as a frontispiece. _Willson's Amer. Hist._, p. 86.

[V-66] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 72-8, with two plates, and cut of painting. _Willson's Amer. Hist._, pp. 86-7.

[V-67] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 83-4, 87-94.

[V-68] _Id._, vol. ii., pp. 235-43.

[V-69] _Un Curioso_, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., pp. 207-8, 351.

[V-70] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 249, 258-61, 130-5, with four plates illustrating the ruins of Chunhuhu. At Mani 'a pillory of a conical shape, built of stones, and to the southward rises a very ancient palace.' _Soza_, in _Rio's Description_, p. 7. 'On voit encore près de Mani les restes d'un édifice construit sur une colline. On appelle cette ruine le temple _de las monjas del fuego_.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 48.

[V-71] Authorities on Chichen Itza. _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 340-7,--Landa describing the ruins from personal observation, having been bishop of Mérida for several years, and died in the country in 1579; _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 300, 302, 304-6,--this author having visited Chichen in 1840, directed thereto by the advice of Mr Stephens, who had heard rumors of the existence of extensive remains; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 282-324,--whose visit was from March 11 to 29, 1842, and whose description, as usual, is much more complete than that of other explorers; _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 104-28,--the corresponding survey having lasted from February 10 to 14, 1842; _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 339-46, phot. 26-34,--from an exploration in 1858. Thomas Lopez Medel is also mentioned in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 38, 43, as having visited Chichen by authority of the Guatemalan government. Other authors who publish accounts of Chichen, made up from the works of the preceding actual explorers, are as follows: _Armin_, _Das Heutige Mex._, pp. 80-3; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 140-4; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 15; _Frost's Great Cities_, pp. 282-91; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 186, 193; _Willson's Amer. Hist._, pp. 79-82; _Davis' Antiq. Amer._, p. 6; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Mayer's Mex. Aztec, etc._, vol. ii., p. 179, cut; _Democratic Review_, vol. xi., pp. 534-6; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 174; _Schott_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1871, pp. 423-4.

[V-72] Plan from Stephens. The only other plan is that given by Norman, which, in distances and the arrangement of the buildings with respect to each other, presents not the slightest similarity with the probably accurate drawings of Stephens and Catherwood. 'The ruins of Chichen lie on a hacienda, called by the name of the ancient city.' 'The first stranger who ever visited them was a native of New-York,' Mr John Burke. First brought to the notice of the world by Friederichsthal. 'The plan is made from bearings taken with the compass, and the distances were all measured with a line. The buildings are laid down on the plan according to their exterior form. All now standing are comprehended, and the whole circumference occupied by them is about two miles ... though ruined buildings appear beyond these limits.' 'In all the buildings, from some cause not easily accounted for, while one varies ten degrees one way, that immediately adjoining varies twelve or thirteen degrees in another;' still the plan shows no such arrangement. _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 282-3, 290, 312. The modern church 'entièrement composée de pierres enlevées aux temples et aux palais dont j'allais étudier les ruines.' The proprietor 'me proposa la cession de sa propriété et des ruines pour la somme de deux mille piastres.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 336, 344-5. 'A city which, I hazard little in saying, must have been one of the largest the world has ever seen. I beheld before me, for a circuit of many miles in diameter, the walls of palaces and temples and pyramids, more or less dilapidated.' 'No marks of human footsteps, no signs of previous visitors, were discernible; nor is there good reason to believe that any person, whose testimony of the fact has been given to the world, had ever before broken the silence which reigns over these sacred tombs of a departed civilization.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 108-9. Thirty-three leagues from Valladolid, and twenty-five from Mérida. 'Une grotte offre, à une profondeur de 52 pieds, un petit étang d'eau douce, auquel on descend par des degrés taillés dans le roc, et se prolongeant au-dessous de la surface de l'eau.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 304-6.

[V-73] 'Le bijou de Chichen pour la richesse des sculptures.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 342. 'The most strange and incomprehensible pile of architecture that my eyes ever beheld--elaborate, elegant, stupendous.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 119. Norman calls the building House of the Caciques.

[V-74] 'L'édifice appelé _la casa de las Monjas_ (la maison des nonnes) est long de 157 pieds, large de 86, haut de 47. Dans la partie inférieure, il n'y a pas de trace d'ouverture. L'étage supérieur a des chambres nombreuses; les linteaux des portes sont ornés d'hiéroglyphes.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 305. 'La porte (east front), surmontée de l'inscription du palais, possède en outre une ornementation de clochetons de pierre qui rappellent, comme ceux des coins de plusieurs édifices, la manière chinoise ou japonaise. Au-dessus, se trouve un magnifique médaillon représentant un chef la tête ceinte d'un diadème de plumes; quant à la vaste frise qui entoure le palais, elle est composée d'une foule de têtes énormes représentant des idoles, dont le nez est lui-même enrichi d'une figure parfaitement dessinée. Ces têtes sont séparées par des panneaux de mosaïque en croix, assez communs dans le Yucatan.' 'Le développement du palais et de la pyramide est d'environ soixante-quinze mètres.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 342-3. Photograph 30 shows the eastern front, and 29 the northern, of the wing; 26 the north side of the building _a_; 27 the eastern, and 28 the southern front of the Iglesia, _b_. 'La façade (eastern) est même d'un beau caractère, et la composition de la porte avec le bas-relief qui la surmonte est pleine d'une grandeur sauvage, d'un effet saisissant. Mieux traités que dans les exemples précédents, l'appareil des parements est plus régulier, et il présente cette particularité très-remarquable, qu'il s'accorde exactement avec la décoration.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, p. 60. East wing 32 by 50 feet, and 20 feet high. 'Over the door-way ... is a heavy lintel of stone, containing two double rows of hieroglyphics, with a sculptured ornament intervening. Above these are the remains of hooks carved in stone, with raised lines of drapery running through them ... over which, surrounded by a variety of chaste and beautifully executed borders, encircled within a wreath, is a female figure in a sitting posture, in basso-relievo, having a head-dress of feathers, cords, and tassels, and the neck ornamented.' Building _a_, 10×35×20 feet; building _b_, 13×22×36 feet. Main platform 75×100 feet. 'On the eastern end of these rooms (in 1st story over the solid basement) is a hall running transversely, four feet wide ... one side of which is filled with a variety of sculptured work, principally rosettes and borders, with rows of small pilasters; having three square recesses.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 169-73, with view of eastern front of wing, and of north front of the whole structure. 'Over the doorway (eastern front) are twenty small cartouches of hieroglyphics in four rows, five in a row.' _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 293, with plates of eastern front, northern front, and the Iglesia.

[V-75] _Akab-Tzib_ and not _Akatzeeb_, as Stephens spells it. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., p. 12; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 291-2, with plate of front and of the sculptured lintel. 'Those (rooms) fronting the south are the most remarkable, the inner doorways having each a stone lintel of an unusually large size, measuring thirty-two inches wide, forty-eight long, and twelve deep; having on its inner side a sculptured figure of an Indian in full dress, with cap and feathers, sitting upon a cushioned seat, finely worked; having before him a vase containing flowers, with his right hand extended over it, his left resting upon the side of the cushion--the whole bordered with hieroglyphics. The front part of this lintel contains two rows of hieroglyphics. 43×150×20 feet, walls 3 feet thick. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 123-4. 'Un énorme bâtiment près des Nonnes, mais totalemente dénué de sculptures.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 344.

[V-76] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 311-17, with plates of north front of the castle and its pyramid, and the interior of the room, besides the cut of the monsters' heads given in my text. Bishop Landa gives a description probably intended for this edifice and even gives a plan of it. His account, except in mentioning four stairways, agrees very well with that of later visitors, and is as follows: 'This edifice has four stairways facing the four parts of the world; they are 33 feet wide, each having 91 steps, very difficult of ascent. The steps have the same height and width as ours. Each stairway has two low balustrades, two feet wide, of good stonework like all the building. The edifice is not sharp-cornered, because from the ground upward between the balustrades the cubic blocks are rounded, ascending by degrees and elegantly narrowing the building. There was, when I saw it, at the foot of each balustrade a fierce serpent's mouth very strangely worked. Above the stairways there is on the summit a small level platform in which is an edifice of four rooms. Three of them extend round without interruption, each having a door in the middle and being covered with an arch. The northern room is of peculiar form, and has a corridor of great pillars. The middle one, which must have been a kind of little court between the rooms, has a door which leads to the northern corridor and is closed with wood at the top, and served for burning perfumes. In the entrance of this door or corridor is a kind of coat of arms sculptured in stone, which I could not well understand.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 342-4. 550 feet in circumference at the base, its sides facing the cardinal points. 'The angles and sides were beautifully laid with stones of an immense size, gradually lessening, as the work approached the summit.' Stairways on north and east 30 feet wide and narrowing toward the top. The south and west slopes also mount in steps, each four feet high. Monsters' heads at foot of eastern stairway. Slope 100 feet; building 42 feet square; stone door-jambs have holes drilled through their inner angles; interior walls are plastered and painted with figures now very dim; roof perfectly flat and covered with soil. This author in his whole description evidently confounds the north with the east front. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 115-17, with view of pyramid. Charnay's phot. 32 gives a view of the Chateau. 120 feet high, 159 feet square at base; platform 60 feet square; 80 steps in the stairway. _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 304.

[V-77] 'Tenia delante la escalera del corte (of the castle) algo aparte dos teatros de canteria pequeños de a quatro escaleras, y enlosados por arriba en que dizen representavan las farsas y comedias para solaz del pueblo.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 344.

[V-78] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 303-11. Plates giving a general view of the Gymnasium, the front of the building on the eastern wall, and the painted and sculptured figures. 'Le monument se composait autrefois de deux pyramides perpendiculaires et parallèles, d'un développement de cent dix mètres environ, avec plate-forme disposée pour les spectateurs. Aux extrémités deux petits édifices semblables, sur une esplanade de six mêtres de hauteur, devaient servir aux juges, ou d'habitation aux guardiens du gymnase.' Of the two chambers on the eastern wall, 'la seconde, entière aujourd'hui, est couverte de peintures. Ce sont des guerriers et des prêtres, quelques-uns avec barbe noire et drapés dans de vastes tuniques, la tête ornée de coiffures diverses. Les couleurs employées sont le noir, le jaune, le rouge, et le blanc.... Dans le bas et en dehors du monument se trouve la salle dont nous donnons les bas-reliefs, qui sont certainement ce qu'il y a de plus curieux à Chichen-Itza. Toutes les figures en bas-relief, sculptées sur les murailles de cette salle, ont conservé le type de la race indienne existante.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, pp. 140-1. Phot. 33 and 34 show the sculptured procession of tigers and that of human figures, of which I have given a portion in my text. 'On observera que les joints des pierres ne sont pas _coupés_ conformément à l'habitude des constructeurs d'_appareils_, mais que les pierres, ne formant pas _liaison_, présentent plusieurs joints les uns au-dessus des autres, et ne tiennent que par l'adhérence des mortiers, qui les réunit au blocage intérieur. Par le fait, ces parements ne sont autre chose qu'une décoration, un revêtement collé devant un massif.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, pp. 48-9. Walls stand on foundations about 16 feet high; columns two feet in diameter; walls 250×16×26 feet and 130 feet apart; building of southern wall (eastern, Norman having completely lost his reckoning at Chichen in the points of the compass) 24 feet high; rings two feet thick; line of rubbish in form of a curve connecting main and end walls (_c_ and _d_). General view of the Temple and cut of the ring. _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 111-15. Walls 262×18×27 feet. _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 305.

[V-79] Cuts from _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 300-1. Terrace 55 by 62 feet; stairway 20 feet wide; building 23 by 43. _Ib._ 'Foundations of about twenty feet in height, which were surrounded and sustained by well-cemented walls of hewn stone with curved angles' 240 feet in circumference. Building 21 by 40 feet. 'Across these halls were beams of wood, creased as if they had been worn by hammock-ropes.' _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 124-5. Foundation only two mètres high, but photograph 31 shows this to be an error. _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 344. 'Deux petits temples (E and D), ayant leur façade au sud et à l'est; le vestibule du premier est orné d'hiéroglyphes.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 305.

[V-80] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 298-300, with view of the building. This author is at fault so far as dimensions are concerned, since 4 and 5 feet, the width of the corridors, and 3¾ feet, half the diameter of the solid central mass, exceed 11 feet, half the diameter of the whole building, to say nothing of the two walls. 'Bâti en manière de mur à limaçon.' _Charnay_, _Ruines Amér._, p. 344. Top of first terrace, 30 feet high, 125 feet square; second terrace 50 feet square and 12 feet high; on this terrace is a pyramidical square 50 feet high, divided into rooms; on the centre of this square is the Dome--'three conic structures, one within the other, a space of six feet intervening; each cone communicating with the others by doorways, the inner one forming the shaft. At the height of about ten feet, the cones are united by means of transoms of zuporte. Around these cones are evidences of spiral stairs, leading to the summit.' It is clear that either Stephens' description or that of Norman is very incorrect. Norman compares this Dome to a 'Greenan Temple' in Donegal, Ireland. _Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 118-19, with a cut which agrees with Stephens' cut and text. Tower 50 feet high, 36 feet in diameter; surrounding wall 756 feet in circumference and twenty-five feet high. _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 305.

[V-81] Four hundred and eighty bases of overthrown columns. 'Des colonnades qui, bien que d'une construction lourde, surprennent par leur étendue.' _Friederichsthal_, loc. cit., pp. 302, 300; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 317-18, and view.

[V-82] 'Had the Spaniards selected this for the site of their city of Valladolid, a few leagues distant, it is highly probable that not a vestige of the ancient edifices would now be seen.' _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 174. 'Lieu qui offre beaucoup l'apparence d'une ville sainte.' _Friederichsthal_, loc. cit., p. 300. Dr Arthur Schott discourses, in the _Smithsonian Rept._, 1871, pp. 423-5, on a face, or mask, of 'semiagatized xyolite, still bearing the marks of silicified coniferous wood, a fossil probably foreign to the soil of the peninsula.' It was found at Chichen, and the Doctor thinks it may have some deep mythologic meaning, which he generously leaves to some other ethnologist to decipher. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 127, states that the hewn blocks of stone at Chichen are uniformly 12 by 6 inches. M. Waldeck, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 47, speaks of a reported silver collar bearing an inscription in Greek, Hebrew, and Phœnician letters, found in the 'grottes cristallines de Chixhen.' But even this enthusiastic antiquarian looks at this report with much distrust.

[V-83] _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, p. 87; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 340-4.

[V-84] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 272-85; _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 146-7; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 22, 70, 73, 102-3, 111; _Bradford's Amer. Antiq._, p. 103; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144.

[V-85] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 130-9, with cuts; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 127-9, with cuts. Near the village of Telchaquillo. _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. Surrounded by a ditch that can be traced for three miles. _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., pp. 194-5. 'Se dice que Mayapan ... estaba murada, pero fué demolida hasta sus cimientos, y únicamente los grandes montones de piedras indican que fué una gran poblacion.' _Un Curioso_, in _Registro Yuc._, tom. i., p. 206.

[V-86] 'Los españoles poblaron aqui una ciudad, y llamaronla Mérida, por la estrañeza y grandeza de los edificios.' As to the size of the pyramid mentioned it is 'mas de dos carreras de caballo'--that is twice as far as a horse can run without taking breath--in extent. The cement is made with the juice of the bark of a certain tree, 'El primero edificio de los quatro quartos nos dio el adelantado Montejo a nosotros hecho un monte aspero, limpiamosle y emos hecho en el con su propria piedra un razonable monesterio todo de piedra y una buena yglesia que llamamos la Madre de Dios.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 330-8, with cut. 'Entre aquel cerro, y otro como èl hecho à mano, que està à la parte Oriental de la Ciudad; se determinò fuesse fundada, y eran tan grandes, que con la piedra que auia en el que estaban, se obraron quantos edificios ay en la Ciudad, con que quedò todo el sitio llano, que es la Plaça mayor oy, y sus quadras en contorno, y con la del de la parte Oriental, se edifico nuestro Conuento por caerle cercano, despues se han hecho muchas casas, y todo el Conuento, y Iglesia de la Mejorada, que tambien es nuestro, y tiene material para otros muy muchos.' _Cogolludo_, _Hist. Yuc._, p. 138. 'Auia junto adonde està aora la Plaça entre otros cerros, vno que llamaban el grande de los Kues, adoratorio que era de Idolos lleno de arboleda.' _Id._, p. 149. Tihoo was built by the Tutul-Xius, and had a celebrated temple to Baklum-Chaam, the Maya Priapus. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 8-9. 'En el pátio del convento de S. Francisco está una cruz.... En la huerta del mismo convento se ven aun algunas piedras curiosamente labradas con cotas y morreones á la antigua romana, y púnica.' _Alegre_, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. ii., p. 112. The buildings were 'construits en pierres de taille fort grandes. On ignore qui les a bâtis; il paraît que ce fut avant la naissance de Jésus-Christ, car il y avait au-dessus des arbres aussi gros que ceux qui croissaient au pied. Ces bâtiments ont cinq toises de hauteur, et sont construits en pierres sèches; au sommet de ces édifices sont quatre appartements divisés en cellules comme celles des moines; ils ont vingt pieds de long et dix de large; les jambages des portes sont d'un seul morceau, et le haut est voûté.' _Bienvenida_, _Lettre_, in _Ternaux-Compans_, _Voy._, série i., tom. x., pp. 310-11. 'In different parts of the city are the remains of Indian buildings.' _Stephens' Cent. Amer._, vol. ii., p. 398. Montanus, _Nieuwe Weereld_, p. 259, says that Mérida is built on the ruins of Mayapan. Malte-Brun, _Précis de la Géog._, tom. vi., p. 465, confounds Mérida with the ruins farther south, mentioned by Padre Soza. See mention in _Norman's Rambles in Yuc._, pp. 45-8; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 23, 55-6; _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 37; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 174; _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, pp. 243-4; _Morelet_, _Voyage_, tom. i., p. 269; _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. i., pp. 94-8.

[V-87] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., p. 440-4, vol. i., p. 127, with plate; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144. 'Les monuments les plus anciens, dont les restes sont composés d'énormes blocs de pierres brutes, posés quelquefois les uns sur les autres, sans aucun ciment qui les unisse. Tels sont les édifices d'un lieu voisin de l'hacienda d'Aké, située à 27 milles à l'est-sud-est de Mérida.' _Friederichsthal_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 300.

[V-88] Stephens speaks of the 'sternness and harshness of expression' of the cara gigantesca. 'A stone one foot six inches long protrudes from the chin, intended, perhaps, for burning copal on, as a sort of altar.' _Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 434-6, with plate. 'Les alentours sont parsemés de pyramides artificielles, et deux, entre autres, sont les plus considérables de la péninsule.' M. Charnay finds fault with Catherwood for representing the colossal head as in a desert with a raging tiger and savages armed with bows and arrows in the foreground. 'A force de vouloir faire de la couleur locale, on fausse l'histoire, et on déroute la science.' He pronounces the face 'd'un genre cyclopéen. Ce sont de vastes entailles, espèces de modelages en ciment.' _Ruines Amér._, pp. 319-22, phot. 23-5. 'C'est une sorte de gros blocage dont les moellons, posés avec art par le sculpteur au milieu d'un mortier très-dur, ont formé les joues, la bouche, le nez, les yeux. Cette tête colossale est réellement une bâtisse enduite.' 'Les traits sont beaux, la bouche est bien faite, les yeux grands sans être saillants, le front, couvert d'un ornement, ne semble point fuyant. Cette tête était peinte comme toute l'architecture mexicaine.' _Viollet-le-Duc_, in _Id._, pp. 46-7. Dr Schott pronounces Mr Stephens' description unsatisfactory, especially his calling the face harsh and stern in expression. The features are feminine in their cast, and of the narrow rather than of the broad type. 'The whole face exhibits a very remarkable regularity and conforms strictly to the universally accepted principles of beauty.' 'The head-dress in the shape of a mitre is encircled just above the forehead by a band, which is fastened in front by a triple locket or tassel.' This author identities the face as that of Itzamatul, the semi-divine founder of Izamal, and explains the signification of each particular feature. His treatise is perhaps as intelligible and rational as most speculation on such topics, but it is to be noted that the Dr founds his conclusions on Clavigero's description of the Toltecs! It would be hard to prove that the cara gigantesca does not represent this particular hero, and that the large ears are not emblems of wisdom. Dr Schott pronounces it 'hazardous' to attempt to connect this face with any other than Itzamatul, and I prefer to run no risks. _Smithsonian Rept._, 1869, pp. 389-93. Norman, _Rambles in Yuc._, p. 79, speaks of a well on the platform of one of the pyramids. 'Dans ses flancs, la colline sacrée recélait de vastes appartements, des galeries et un temple souterrain, destinés, dit-on, aux mystères de la religion et à servir de nécropole aux cadavres des prêtres et des princes.' The grave of Zamná was here, and his followers erected the pyramid. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 79. History of the pyramids, see _Id._, tom. ii., pp. 47-8. 'On trouva dans un édifice en démolition une grande urne à trois anses, recouverte d'ornements argentés extérieurement, au fond duquel il y avait des cendres provenant d'un corps brûlé, parmi lesquelles nous trouvâmes des objets d'art en pierre.' 'Statues en demi-bosse, modelées en ciment que je dis se trouver dans les contreforts, et qui sont d'hommes de haute taille.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 326-30, with plan. 'Ay en este pueblo de Ytzamal cinco cuyos ó cerros muy altos, todos levantados de piedra seca, con sus fuerças y reparos, que ayudan á levantar la piedra en alto, y no se ven edificios enteros oy, mas los señales y vestigios están patentes en uno dellos de la parte de mediodia.' One altar was in honor of their king or false god Ytzmat-ul, and had on it the figure of a hand, being called _Kab-ul_, or 'working hand.' Another mound and temple in the northern part of the city, the highest now standing, was called _Kinich-Kakmó_, or 'sun with fiery rayed face.' Another, on which the convent is founded, is _Ppapp-Hol-Chac_, 'house of heads and lightnings.' Another in the south called _Hunpictok_, 'captain with an army of 8000 flints.' _Lizana_, _Devocionario_, 1663, in _Landa_, _Relacion_, pp. 348-64.

[V-89] _Stephens' Yucatan_, vol. ii., pp. 137-232, with plates and cuts; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 144; _Baldwin's Anc. Amer._, pp. 101, 146-7; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. ii., pp. 20-3.