The Mayas, the Sources of Their History Part 3

The exact spot whence this statue was exhumed cannot be certainly stated, though among the plates which represent the discovery are two which may reasonably be supposed to exhibit the locality. One of these pictures shows the sculptured slabs which may have decorated the mound where the excavation was made, and which again appear on the side of the opening through which the statue is seen emerging. The slabs are elaborately wrought, and represent, the one a tiger holding something in his paw, and the other a bird of prey, with talons similarly employed.

During the early portion of his residence and explorations at Chichen-Itza, Dr. Le Plongeon was a.s.sisted by Government troops, who acted as a guard against hostile Indians--_sublivados_[59-*]--as these ruins lie outside the limits of territory considered safe for occupation; and though this protection was soon withdrawn, and the discoverer was obliged to rely solely upon arms furnished to his laborers, still he was not disheartened by the dangers of his undertaking, nor dissuaded by the appeals of his friends from persevering in his labors.

The first object discovered at this place, as will be learned from the _Mexican Memorial_, was a long stone, half interred among the others, which proved to be the base of a sculptured reclining tiger, of much the same size, proportions and execution as the statue of Chac-Mool, as is apparent from a photograph of the tiger in the general collection.

The head, of human form, which was wanting, was afterwards found at some distance, in a pile of carved stones. The next objects that appeared were the bas-reliefs, presumably those pictured in 3, 5, 6 and 8. The mound of stones where the excavation was made was, according to Dr. Le Plongeon, the pedestal that supported the effigy of the tiger. Work was commenced at the top of the heap of stones, which were rudely thrown together, rendering the labor difficult and dangerous. An excavation was made measuring 7 meters in depth, which was protected by a trestle-work, and at this depth a rough calcareous stone urn was secured which contained a little dust, and upon it a coa.r.s.e earthen cover. This was near the head of the statue, which then appeared. The work of liberating the statue required a deepening of the trench 1-1/2 meters more. A picture in heliotype copied from a series of six photographs, showing the various positions a.s.sumed by the figure during the process of excavation, can be consulted upon the second page following. This work of art was raised by Dr. Le Plongeon, with the a.s.sistance of his wife and ten Indian laborers, by his own ingenuity, and without other engineering apparatus than he had contrived from the trees and vines, making use also of the bark, from which he constructed ropes. Dr. Le Plongeon, in a private letter to the writer, says, "The statue is carved out of a single block of beautifully white and h.o.m.ogeneous limestone. It is naked, and the peculiar ornament suspended by a ribbon tied on the back of the neck, that is seen on the chest, is the distinctive mark of high rank. This same ornament is seen on the chests of all the personages who were ent.i.tled to carry three feathers on their heads. The band that composes the head-dress was formed of pieces of an octagonal shape, joined together, and is fastened by ribbons also on the back of the head. The figure had bracelets and garters of feathers, and the sandals, quite different from those used by the present inhabitants of the country, were tied to the feet and legs, and resemble those found on the mummies of the _Guanehes_, the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands. There were no ear laps, but square tablets appear in place of the ears, on which are hieroglyphics giving the name, condition, &c., &c., of the personage represented by the statue. It is not an idol, but a true portrait of a man who has lived an earthly life. I have seen him represented in battle, in councils, and in court receptions. I am well acquainted with his life, and the manner of his death. The scientific world owes much to Mrs. Le Plongeon for the restoration of the mural paintings where his history and the customs of his people are portrayed; and where Stephens has been unable to see more than a few figures, she has discovered the history of a people and of their leaders."

"The name, Chac Mool, or Balam, and the names of his two brothers, _Huuncay_ and _Aac_, the latter the builder of the 'House of the Governor' at Uxmal, are not given by us at random. They are written on the monuments where represented, written in characters just as intelligible to my wife and myself, as this paper is to you in latin letters. Every person represented on these monuments is known to us by name, since either over the head or at the feet, the name is written. We have tracings of the mural paintings as seen on the walls of the inner chamber of the monument raised by the queen of Itza to the memory of her husband, Chac-Mool. Stephens mistook it for a shrine where the winners at the games of ball were wont to make offerings to the presiding idol.

In your paper you have copied part of his description of that monument.

But the statue of Chac-Mool was not exhumed in it as you a.s.sert, but four hundred yards from it, in the midst of the forest. No traveller or writer has ever indicated the place where it lay buried, and it is by deciphering the meaning of some hieroglyphics and mural paintings, that we came to a knowledge of the place. The building with tigers and s.h.i.+elds was simply a monument dedicated to his memory."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Statue at Chichen-Itza, Yucatan, in process of exhumation by Dr. Augustus Le Plongeon, showing the engineering process by which it was accomplished._

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

7. Represents the statue of Chac-Mool uncovered at the depth of 8 meters. At the sides are seen the frame-work "of trunks of trees of 2 to 2-1/2 inches in diameter, secured with vines." The inclined plane on which it was drawn to the surface is visible, as are some of the ten Indian laborers, in working costume.

8. The statue has now been drawn to the upper part of the inclined plane. The ropes of habin bark are attached to the figure. Near the sculptured slabs at the right, already shown in 3, 5 and 6, Mrs. Le Plongeon appears seated.

9. Shows the capstan that served to raise the statue, the size of which is apparent by comparison with the figure of the Indian near it.

10. Apparently the same locality as 4. The method of moving the statue over the fragments of sculpture and other impediments is shown.

11. The size and appearance of the statue, "half as large again as the natural size," is here distinctly pictured, together with Dr. Le Plongeon standing in the rear of his discovery. The head-dress, trappings and sandals are clearly defined.

12. The statue is seen on the rude wagon on which it had been transported to Piste, a distance of 3 or 4 miles. In the rear is seen the stone church of Piste, surmounted by a cross, described in _Charnay's Cites et Ruines Americaines_, page 336, and by Dr. Le Plongeon, in the _Mexican Memorial_. Nearly all the small towns have similar Churches, built from the ruins of Indian buildings. It is probable that some of the choicest works of art, too large to be easily destroyed, were put out of sight in the construction of these edifices by the fanatical conquerors of the 16th century.

NOTE. The numbers of the pictures do not agree with those in the _Mexican Memorial_.]

It appears that Dr. Le Plongeon, on his arrival in Yucatan, in 1873, first visited Uxmal, where he made explorations and took photographs. He then prepared himself to undertake the more difficult and dangerous visit to Chichen-Itza. While there, the discovery of the statue, Chac-Mool, was made, and it was excavated in the manner described by the discoverer in the last pages of the _Mexican Memorial_. Dr. Le Plongeon had formed a design of sending the statue and certain bas-reliefs, together with plans and photographs, to the Centennial Exhibition, and had prepared these articles for removal, when a sudden revolution occasioned the disarming of his Indian laborers, who for some time had served for a protection, and all further operations were suspended, as longer residence in that exposed region without arms was sheer madness.

It was at that time that Dr. Le Plongeon wrote the following Memorial to the Mexican President, Senor Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, which is given nearly entire, as it makes a statement of his claims and wishes, and contains very important information concerning the discovery of the statue, and gives an idea of his method of exploration.

The account here given of experiences resulting in a discovery so surprising, must interest even those sceptical in regard to the progress in art of the American aborigines; and it must also be remembered that, almost without exception, late as well as early travellers in this region have become enthusiastic and imaginative when brought into contact with these monuments of a measureless past,[63-*]--none of them more so, perhaps, than Bra.s.seur de Bourbourg, whose works nevertheless contain a mine of most valuable information aside from hypotheses.

Accompanying the Memorial, a set of photographs, some of them similar to those copied in heliotype, was sent to Mexico for the information of the President, but the numbers in the last pages of that paper, referring to the special set of photographs, do not correspond to the pictures presented here, as there were no means of verifying the subjects, except from the descriptions.

NOTE.--It will be observed that Dr. Le Plongeon's spelling of the word _Chac-Mool_, differs from that adopted by the writer in deference to prevailing usage in Yucatan. The discoverer always spells the word _Chaacmol_, although in the long letter to the writer, on the subject of Maya antiquities, introduced at the close of this paper, the more usual spelling has been adopted by the printer, contrary to the text of Dr. Le Plongeon.

MEMORIAL PRESENTED TO THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT, AND AFTERWARDS PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF YUCATAN, APRIL 19 AND 21, 1876.

_To the President of the Mexican Republic_,

SENOR DON SEBASTIAN LERDO DE TEJADA.

Sir:

I, AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON, Doctor in Medicine, member of the Academy of Sciences of the State of California, of the Microscopical Society of San Francisco, of the Philological Society of New York, corresponding member of the Geographical and Statistical Society of Mexico; and of various other scientific societies of Europe, of the United States of America, and of South America; citizen of the United States of America; resident at present in Merida, Capital of the State of Yucatan, to you, with due respect, say: Since the year 1861 I am dedicated to the iconology of American antiquities, with the object of publis.h.i.+ng a work that may make known to the world the precious archaeological treasures that the regions of the so-called new world enclose, nearly unknown to the wise men of Europe, and even to those of America itself, and thus follow the perigrinations of the human race upon the planet that we inhabit.

With so important an object, I visited the different countries of the American Continent, where I could gather the necessary information to carry through my work, already commenced, and in part published, "The Vestiges of the human race in the American Continent since the most remote times."

The New York Tribune published part of my discourse before the Geographical Society of New York, on the "Vestiges of Antiquity,"

in its Lecture Sheet No. 8 of 1873.

After traversing the Peruvian Andes, the Glaciers of Bolivia, and the Deserts of the North and North-East part of the Mexican Republic, in search of the dwellings of their primitive inhabitants, I resolved to visit Yucatan, in order to examine at leisure the imposing ruins that cover its soil, and whose imperfect descriptions I had read in Stephens, Waldeck, Charnay, Bra.s.seur de Bourbourg, and others.

The atmospheric action, the inclemencies of the weather, and more than all, the exuberant vegetation, aided by the impious and destructive hand of ignorant iconoclasts, have destroyed and destroy incessantly these _opera magna_ of an enlightened and civilized generation that pa.s.sed from the theatre of the world some twelve thousand years ago, if the stones, in their eloquent muteness, do not deceive. And unless the few treasures that yet remain, in a state of more or less perfect preservation, be gathered and saved, they will before long disappear completely, and with them the last traces of the high civilization, the artistic and scientific culture attained by the architects and other artists that worked and raised them, under the protection of enlightened potentates, lovers of all that was grand, and of everything that could glorify their country.

The results of my investigations, although made in territories forbidden to the whites, and even to pacific Indians obedient to Mexican authority; surrounded by constant dangers, amid forests, where, besides the wild beasts, the fierce Indians of Chan-Santa-Cruz lay in ambush for me; suffering the pangs of hunger, in company with my young wife Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, have surpa.s.sed my most flattering hopes. To-day I can a.s.sert, without boasting, that the discoveries of my wife and myself place us in advance of the travellers and archaeologists who have occupied themselves with American antiquities.

Returning however to civilization with the hope of making known to the scientific world the fruit of our labors, I am sorry to find myself detained by prohibitive laws that I was ignorant of, and which prevent me from presenting the unmistakable proofs of the high civilization and the grandeur, of ancient America; of this old Continent of Professor Aga.s.siz and other modern geologists and archaeologists.

These laws, sanctioned by an exclusive and retrogressive government, have not been revoked up to the present time by the enlightened, progressive and wise government that rules the destinies of the Mexican Republic, and they are a barrier that henceforth will impede the investigation of scientific men, among the ruins of Yucatan and Mexico. It is in effect a strange fact, that while autocratic governments, like those of Turkey, Greece, and Persia, do not interpose difficulties--that of Turkey to Dr.

Henry Schliemann, after discovering the site of the celebrated Troy and the treasures of King Priam, to his carrying his _findings_ and presenting them to the civilized world; that of Greece to General Cesnola's disposing in New York of his collection of Phnician antiquities (the only one in the world), found in the tombs of the Island of Cyprus. Nor did even that of Persia think of preventing Mr. George Smith, after he had disinterred from among the ruins of Nineveh, the year before last, the libraries of the kings of a.s.syria, from carrying the precious volumes to the British Museum, where they are to be found to-day. I alone, a free citizen of a Republic, the friend of Mexico, after spending my fortune and time, see myself obliged to abandon, in the midst of the forests, the best and most perfect works of art of the sculptor, up to the present time known in America, because the government of this Nation reclaims as its own, objects found in the midst of forests, at great depths below the surface of the earth, and of whose existence it was not only ignorant, but was even unsuspicious.

The photographs of these objects, and of the places where they were found, are all that, with plans, and tracings of most interesting mural paintings, I can now present: and that after so many expenses, cares, and dangers, unless you, Mr. President, considering the historical importance of my discoveries and works, as an ill.u.s.trious man, a lover of progress, and the glory of his country, in the name of the nation authorize me to carry my _findings_ and photographs, plans and tracings, to that great concourse of all nations to which America has just invited every people of the earth, and which will be opened shortly in Philadelphia; and with them the material proofs of my a.s.sertion that America is the cradle of the actual civilization of the world.

Leaving New York on the 29th of July, 1873, we, Mrs. Le Plongeon and myself, arrived, on the 6th of August, at Progreso. We remained in Merida from that date, studying the customs of the country, acquiring friends, and preparing to fulfil the mission that had brought us to Yucatan, (viz: the study of its ruins), until the 6th of November, 1874. At that epoch the epidemic of small-pox, that has made such ravages in Merida, and is yet active in the interior villages of the Peninsula, began to develop itself. Senor D.

Liborio Irigoyen, then Governor, knowing that I was about to visit the towns of the east, to seek among their inhabitants the traditions of the past, if they yet existed, or at least among their customs some of those of the primitive dwellers of those lands, begged me to scatter among them the vaccine, to ward off, as much as possible, the terrible scourge that threatened them. I accepted the commission, and to the best of my power I have complied with it, without any remuneration whatever. After examining the princ.i.p.al cities of the east of the State--Tunkas, Cenotillo, Espita and Tizimin--gathering notes upon their commerce, the occupations of their inhabitants, the productions of the places, etc., etc., remaining in them more or less time, we finally arrived at Valladolid on the 20th of May, 1875. This city, that was at one time among the most important of the State, is seen to-day almost reduced to ruins by the invasions of the Indians of Chan-Santa-Cruz. It is situated on the frontier of the enemy's country, some twelve leagues from the celebrated ruins of Chichen-Itza--the objective point of my journey to these regions.

During my perigrinations through the east, I had, more than once, opportunity to observe the profound terror that the inhabitants, as well _meztizos_ and Indians as the whites, have, not without reason, of their fierce neighbors.

In view of the dangers that awaited us, I thought proper to write to my good friend, General Don Guillermo Palomino, sub-inspector of the military posts of Yucatan; so that, without prejudice to the service, he should give orders to the commander of the post of Piste, distant one league from the ruins of Chichen, to succor us in case we should need his aid.

General Palomino, understanding the importance of my undertaking, interested himself in the result. He wrote to Don Filipe Diaz, chief of the military line of the east, so that he should give orders to his subaltern, the commander of the advance-post of Piste, that in case of necessity he should furnish my wife and myself the protection we might need while in Chichen.

After many delays, owing now to one thing, now to another, but more particularly to the alarming reports that the Indians, or at least their emissaries and spies, prowled about the neighborhood, we at last started on the march in the direction of Piste on the 21st of September, 1875.

Colonel Diaz was about to visit the posts under his command. This gentleman, as much to respect the orders of his superior as to give me a proof of his appreciation of my person, resolved to accompany us to Chichen with part of his forces. He did so, leaving Valladolid protected by a company of his battalion, and another of the 18th regiment of the line which at the time was stationed in that city. Arrived at the village of ?itas, we learned that the old footpath, the only one that had ever existed between this point and Piste, four leagues distant, was entirely closed up, impa.s.sable, consequently, for hors.e.m.e.n.

Colonel Don Jose Coronado, who, from esteem, had also wished to accompany us, offered to go forward with a part of the company, and some Indians, to re-open the road, and make it ready. His offer accepted, he departed, and a few days later we were able to continue our march to Piste, not meeting in the transit other annoyance than the roughness of the road, the roots and tree trunks that had obstructed it having been removed.

So, on the 27th of September, after a tedious march of six hours in the thicket, we reached the advance-post of Piste.

Piste, ten years ago, was a pretty village, built amid forests, around a senote of thermal waters, surrounded by most fertile lands, which the industrious dwellers cultivated. Suddenly, on a certain Sunday (election day), when they were entertained at the polls, the ominous war-cry of the Indians of Chan-Santa-Cruz fell upon their ears. Few were the villagers that, taking refuge in the bush, escaped the terrible _machete_ of their enemies. Of this village only the name remains. Its houses roofless, their walls crumbled, are scarcely seen beneath the thick green carpet of convolvulus, and cowage (mecuna). These overspread them with their leaves and beautiful petals, as if to hide the blood that once stained them, and cause to be forgotten the scenes of butchery they witnessed. The church alone, sad and melancholy, without doors, its sanctuaries silent, its floor paved with the burial slabs of the victims, surrounded by parapets, yet stands in the midst of the ruined abodes of those who used to gather under its roof; it is to-day converted into a fortress. The few soldiers of the post are the only human beings that inhabit these deserts for many leagues around; its old walls, its belfry, widowed of its bells, are all that indicates to the traveller that Piste once was there.

After resting, we continued our march to Chichen, whose grand pyramid of 22 meters 50 centimeters high, with its nine _andenes_, could be seen from afar amidst the sea of vegetation that surrounded it, as a solitary lighthouse in the midst of the ocean.

Night had already fallen when we reached the _Casa princ.i.p.al_ of the _hacienda of Chichen_, that Colonel Coronado had had cleaned to receive us.

At dawn on the following day, 28th, Colonel Diaz caused parapets to be raised and the house to be fortified. He placed his advance sentinels and made all necessary arrangements to avoid a surprise from the Indians, and to resist them in case of attack. For my part I immediately commenced work. From the descriptions made by the travellers who had preceded me and that I had read, I believed fifteen days or three weeks would be sufficient for me to investigate all the ruins. But on the 12th of October, Colonel Diaz having received notice that the Indians were probably preparing an attack, sent to bring me from the ruins, to communicate to me the news that he had to march immediately. I had really scarcely commenced my studies, notwithstanding I had worked every day from sunrise to sunset, so many and so important were the monuments that, very superficially, my predecessors had visited.

I resolved to remain with my wife, and continue our investigations until they should be completed, in spite of the dangers that surrounded us. I made known my unalterable resolution to Colonel Diaz, asking him only to arm a few of the Indians that remained with me, for I did not wish even a single soldier of the post of Piste to accompany me. Leaving my instruments of geodesy and photography at the ruins, I made the church of Piste my head-quarters, where we went every night to sleep, returning always at daylight to Chichen, one league distant.

It would be too long to give here the details of my work and investigations. Enough to say, that from the 28th of September, 1875, when I began to study the monuments, up to the 5th of January, 1876, when, learning of the prohibitive laws I have already mentioned, and that on account of the better requirements of the service I was to disarm my men, I interrupted my works; that is to say, in one hundred days I have made scrupulously exact plans of the princ.i.p.al edifices, discovering that their architects made use, in those remote times, of the metrical measure with its divisions. I have made five hundred stereoscopic views, from which I have selected eighty, equal to those that accompany this writing; I have discovered hieroglyphics which I have caused to reappear intact, and taken photographs of some that are said to be a prophecy of the establishment of the electric telegraph between _Saci_ (Valladolid of to-day), and _Ho_ (Merida); I have restored mural paintings of great merit for the drawing, and for the history they reveal; I have taken exact tracings of the same which form a collection of twenty plates, some nearly one meter long; I have discovered bas-reliefs which have nothing to envy in the bas-reliefs of a.s.syria and Babylon; and, guided by my interpretations of the ornaments, paintings, &c., &c., of the most interesting building in Chichen (historically speaking), I have found amidst the forest, eight meters under the soil, a statue of Chaacmol, of calcareous stone, one meter, fifty-five centimeters long, one meter, fifteen centimeters in height, and eighty centimeters wide, weighing fifty kilos, or more; and this I extracted without other machine than that invented by me, and manufactured from trunks of trees with the _machete_ of my Indians.

I have opened two leagues of carriage road to carry my findings to civilization; and finally I have built a rustic cart in which to bring the statue to the high road that leads from ?itas to Merida. This statue, Mr. President, the only one of its kind in the world, shows positively that the ancient inhabitants of America have made, in the arts of drawing and sculpture, advances, equal at least to those made by the a.s.syrian, Chaldean and Egyptian artists.

I will pause a moment to give you an idea of my works that concern said statue, and soon bring to an end this writing. Guided, as I have just said, by my interpretations of the mural paintings, bas-reliefs, and other signs that I found in the monument raised to the memory of the Chief Chaacmol, by his wife, the Queen of Chichen, by which the stones speak to those who can understand them, I directed my steps, inspired perhaps also by the instinct of the archaeologist, to a dense part of the thicket. Only one Indian, Desiderio Kansal, from the neighborhood of Sisal-Valladolid, accompanied me. With his _machete_ he opened a path among the weeds, vines and bushes, and I reached the place I sought. It was a shapeless heap of rough stones. Around it were sculptured pieces and bas-reliefs delicately executed. After cutting down the bush, and clearing the spot, it presented the aspect which the plates No.

1 and 2 represent. A long stone, half interred among the others, attracted my attention. Sc.r.a.ping away the earth from around it, with the _machete_ and the hand, the effigy of a reclining tiger soon appeared; plate No. 3 represents it. But the head was wanting.

This, of human form, I had the happiness to find, some meters distant, among a pile of other carved stones.

My interpretations had been correct; everything I saw proved it to me. I at once concentrated all my attention at this spot. Hunting among the debris, I came across the bas-reliefs seen in plates 4, 2, and 5, which confirmed my conclusions. This pile of stones had been in times past the pedestal that supported the effigy of the dying tiger with a human head, which the Toltecs had thrown down when they invaded Chichen, at the beginning of the Christian era.