Opening…

I. ARCHÆOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION

PAGE.

Monumental Archæology -- Scope of the Volume -- Treatment of the Subject -- Sources of Information -- Tangibility of Material Relics --Vagueness of Traditional and Written Archæology -- Value of Monumental Relics, as conveying Positive Information respecting their Builders, as Corroborative or Corrective Witnesses, as Incentives to Research --Counterfeit Antiquities -- Egyptian, Assyrian and Persian monuments --Relics proving the Antiquity of Man -- Exploration of American Ruins -- Key to Central American Hieroglyphics -- No more Unwritten History 1

Chapter II

ANTIQUITIES OF THE ISTHMUS, COSTA RICA, MOSQUITO COAST, AND NICARAGUA.

The Isthmus -- Roman Coin and Galley -- Huacas of Chiriquí -- Incised Stone-carvings -- Sculptured Columns -- Human Remains -- Golden Ornaments -- Weapons -- Implements -- Pottery -- Musical Instruments -- Costa Rica -- Stone Hammers -- Ancient Plantations -- Images of Gold -- Terra-Cottas -- Axe of Quartz -- Wonderful Hill -- Paved Road -- Stone Frog -- Mosquito Coast -- Granite Vases -- Remarkable Reports -- Animal Group -- Rock-Paintings -- Golden Figure -- Home of the Sukia -- Nicaragua -- Authorities -- Mounds -- Sepulchres --Excavations -- Weapons -- Implements -- Ornaments -- Statues -- Idols -- Pottery -- Metals 15

III. ANTIQUITIES OF SALVADOR AND HONDURAS, RUINS OF COPAN

Salvador -- Opico Remains -- Mounds of Jiboa -- Relics of Lake Guijar -- Honduras -- Guanaja -- Wall -- Stone Chairs -- Roatan -- Pottery --Olancho Relics -- Mounds of Agalta and Abajo -- Hacienda of Labranza -- Comayagua -- Stone Dog-idol -- Terraced Mounds of Calamulla --Tumuli on Rio Chiquinquare -- Earthen Vases of Yarumela -- Fortified Plateau of Tenampua -- Pyramids, Enclosures, and Excavations -- Stone Walls -- Parallel Mounds -- Cliff-Carvings at Aramacina -- Copan --History and Bibliography -- Palacio, Fuentes, Galindo, Stephens, Daly, Ellery, Hardcastle, Brasseur de Bourbourg -- Plan of Ruins Restored --Quarry and Cave -- Outside Monuments -- Enclosing Walls -- The Temple -- Courts -- Vaults -- Pyramid -- Idols -- Altars -- Miscellaneous Relics -- Human Remains -- Lime -- Colossal Heads -- Remarkable Altars -- General Remarks 68

IV. ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA AND BELIZE

The State of Guatemala -- A Land of Mystery -- Wonderful Reports --Discoveries Comparatively Unimportant -- Ruins of Quirigua -- History and Bibliography -- Pyramid, Altars, and Statues -- Comparison with Copan -- Pyramid of Chapulco -- Relics at Chinamita -- Temples of Micla -- Cinaca-Mecallo -- Cave of Peñol -- Cyclopean Débris at Carrizal -- Copper Medals at Guatemala -- Esquimatha -- Fortification of Mixco -- Pancacoya Columns -- Cave of Santa María -- Mammoth Bones at Petapa -- Rosario Aqueduct -- Ruins of Patinamit, or Tecpan Guatemala -- Quezaltenango, or Xelahuh -- Utatlan, near Santa Cruz del Quiché -- Zakuléu, near Huehuetenango -- Cakchiquel Ruins in the Region of Rabinal -- Cawinal -- Marvelous Ruins Reported -- Stephens' Inhabited City -- Antiquities of Peten -- Flores -- San José -- Casas Grandes -- Tower of Yaxhaa -- Tikal Palaces and Statues -- Dolores --Antiquities of Belize 106

V. ANTIQUITIES OF YUCATAN

Yucatan, the Country and the People -- Abundance of Ruined Cities --Antiquarian Exploration of the State -- Central Group -- Uxmal --History and Bibliography -- Waldeck, Stephens, Catherwood, Norman, Friederichsthal, and Charnay -- Casa del Gobernador, Las Monjas, El Adivino, Pyramid, and Gymnasium -- Kabah, Nohpat, Labná, and nineteen other Ruined Cities -- Eastern Group; Chichen Itza and vicinity --Northern Group, Mayapan, Mérida, and Izamal -- Southern Group; Labphak, Iturbide, and Macoba -- Eastern Coast; Tuloom and Cozumel --Western Coast; Maxcanú, Jaïna, and Campeche -- General Features of the Yucatan Relics -- Pyramids and Stone Buildings -- Limestone, Mortar, Stucco, and Wood -- The Triangular Arch -- Sculpture, Painting, and Hieroglyphics -- Roads and Wells -- Comparisons -- Antiquity of the Monuments -- Conclusions 140

VI. ANTIQUITIES OF TABASCO AND CHIAPAS, RUINS OF PALENQUE

Geographical Limits -- Physical Geography -- No Relics in Tabasco --Ruins of Palenque -- Exploration and Bibliography -- Name; Nachan, Culhuacan, Otolum, Xibalba -- Extent, Location, and Plan -- The Palace -- The Pyramidal Structure -- Walls, Corridors, and Courts -- Stucco Bas-Reliefs -- Tower -- Interior Buildings -- Sculptured Tablet --Subterranean Galleries -- Temple of the Three Tablets -- Temple of the Beau Relief -- Temple of the Cross -- Statue -- Temple of the Sun --Miscellaneous Ruins and Relics -- Ruins of Ococingo -- Winged Globe --Wooden Lintel -- Terraced Pyramid -- Miscellaneous Ruins of Chiapas --Custepeques, Xiquipilas, Laguna Mora, Copanabastla, and Zitalá --Huehuetan -- San Cristóval -- Remains on the Usumacinta -- Comparison between Palenque and the Cities of Yucatan -- Antiquity of Palenque --Conclusion 286

VII. ANTIQUITIES OF OAJACA AND GUERRERO

Nahua Antiquities -- Home of the Zapotecs and Miztecs -- Remains in Tehuantepec -- Fortified Hill of Guiengola -- Petapa, Magdalena, and Laollaga -- Bridge at Chihuitlan -- Cross of Guatulco -- Tutepec --City of Oajaca and Vicinity -- Tlacolula -- Etla -- Peñoles --Quilapan -- Ruins of Monte Alban -- Relics at Zachila -- Cuilapa --Palaces of Mitla -- Mosaic Work -- Stone Columns -- Subterranean Galleries -- Pyramids -- Fortifications -- Comparison with Central American Ruins -- Northern Monuments -- Quiotepec -- Cerro de las Juntas -- Tuxtepec -- Huahuapan -- Yanguitlan -- Antiquities of Guerrero 366

VIII. ANTIQUITIES OF VERA CRUZ

Physical Features of the State -- Exploration and Reports -- Caxapa and Tuxtla -- Negro Head -- Relics from Island of Sacrificios --Eastern Slope Remains -- Medelin -- Xicalanco -- Rio Blanco -- Amatlan -- Orizava -- Cempoala -- Puente Nacional -- Paso de Ovejas --Huatusco -- Fortifications and Pyramids of Centla -- El Castillo --Fortress of Tlacotepec -- Palmillas -- Zacuapan -- Inscription at Atliaca -- Consoquitla Fort and Tomb -- Calcahualco -- Ruins of Misantla or Monte Real -- District of Jalancingo -- Pyramid of Papantla -- Mapilca -- Pyramid and Fountain at Tusapan -- Ruins of Metlaltoyuca -- Relics near Pánuco -- Calondras, San Nicolas, and Trinidad 425

IX. ANTIQUITIES OF THE CENTRAL PLATEAUX

Anáhuac -- Monuments of Puebla -- Chila, Teopantepec, Tepexe, Tepeaca, San Antonio, Quauhquelchula, and Santa Catalina -- Pyramid of Cholula -- Sierra de Malinche -- San Pablo -- Natividad -- Monuments of Tlascala -- Los Reyes -- Monuments of Mexico -- Cuernavaca, Xochicalco, Casasano, Ozumba, Tlachialco, Ahuehuepa, and Mecamecan --Xochimilco, Tlahuac, Xico, Misquique, Tlalmanalco, and Culhuacan --Chapultepec, Remedios, Tacuba, and Malinalco -- City of Mexico --Tezcuco -- Tezcocingo -- Teotihuacan -- Obsidian Mines -- Tula --Monuments of Querétaro -- Pueblito, Canoas, and Ranas -- Nahua Monuments 464

X. ANTIQUITIES OF THE NORTHERN MEXICAN STATES

The Home of the Chichimecs -- Michoacan -- Tzintzuntzan, Lake Patzcuaro, Teremendo, Aniche, and Jiquilpan -- Colima -- Armería and Cuyutlan -- Jalisco -- Tonala, Guadalajara, Chacala, Sayula, Tepatitlan, Nayarit, Tepic, Santiago Ixcuintla, and Bolaños --Guanajuato -- San Gregorio and Santa Catarina -- Zacatecas -- La Quemada and Teul -- Tamaulipas -- Encarnacion, Santa Barbara, Carmelote, Topila, Tampico, and Burrita -- Nuevo Leon and Texas --Coahuila -- Bolson de Mapimi, San Martero, Durango, Zape, San Agustin, and La Breña -- Sinaloa and Lower California -- Cerro de las Trincheras in Sonora -- Casas Grandes in Chihuahua 568

XI. ANTIQUITIES OF ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO

Area enclosed by the Gila, Rio Grande del Norte, and Colorado -- A Land of Mystery -- Wonderful Reports and Adventures of Missionaries, Soldiers, Hunters, Miners, and Pioneers -- Exploration -- Railroad Surveys -- Classification of Remains -- Monuments of the Gila Valley -- Boulder-Inscriptions -- The Casa Grande of Arizona -- Early Accounts and Modern Exploration -- Adobe Buildings -- View and Plans -- Miscellaneous remains, Acequias, and Pottery -- Other Ruins on the Gila -- Valley of the Rio Salado -- Rio Verde -- Pueblo Creek -- Upper Gila -- Tributaries of the Colorado -- Rock-Inscriptions, Bill Williams' Fork -- Ruined Cities of the Colorado Chiquito -- Rio Puerco -- Lithodendron Creek -- Navarro Spring -- Zuñi Valley -- Arch Spring -- Zuñi -- Ojo del Pescado -- Inscription Rock -- Rio San Juan --Ruins of the Chelly and Chaco Cañons -- Valley of the Rio Grande --Pueblo Towns, Inhabited and in Ruins -- The Moqui Towns -- The Seven Cities of Cíbola -- Résumé, Comparisons, and Conclusions 615

XII. ANTIQUITIES OF THE NORTHWEST

General Character of North-western Remains -- No Traces of Extinct or of Civilized Races -- Antiquities of California -- Stone Implements --Newspaper Reports -- Taylor's Work -- Colorado Desert -- Trail and Rock-Inscriptions -- Burial Relics of Southern California -- Bones of Giants -- Mounds in the Saticoy Valley -- New Almaden Mine --Pre-Historic Relics in the Mining Shafts -- Stone Implements, Human Bones, and Remains of Extinct Animal Species -- Voy's Work -- San Joaquin Relics -- Merced Mounds -- Martinez -- Shell-Mounds round San Francisco Bay, and their Contents -- Relics from a San Francisco Mound -- Antiquities of Nevada -- Utah -- Mounds of Salt Lake Valley --Colorado -- Remains at Golden City -- Extensive Ruins in Southern Colorado and Utah -- Jackson's Expedition -- Mancos and McElmo Cañons -- Idaho and Montana -- Oregon -- Washington -- Mounds on Bute Prairie, and Yakima Earth-work -- British Columbia -- Deans' Explorations -- Mounds and Earth-works of Vancouver Island -- Alaska 687

XIII. WORKS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS

American Monuments beyond the Limits of the Pacific States -- Eastern Atlantic States -- Remains in the Mississippi Valley -- Three Geographical Divisions -- Classification of Monuments -- Embankments and Ditches -- Fortifications -- Sacred Enclosures -- Mounds --Temple-Mounds, Animal-Mounds, and Conical Mounds -- Altar-Mounds, Burial Mounds, and Anomalous Mounds -- Contents of the Mounds -- Human Remains -- Remains of Aboriginal Art -- Implements and Ornaments of Metal, Stone, Bone, and Shell -- Ancient Copper Mines --Rock-Inscriptions -- Antiquity of the Mississippi Remains --Comparisons -- Conclusions 744

XIV. PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES

Two Epochs of Peruvian Civilization -- Aboriginal Government, Religion, and Arts -- Contrasts -- The Huacas -- Human Remains --Articles of Metal -- Copper Implements -- Gold and Silver Vases and Ornaments -- Use of Iron unknown -- Aboriginal Engineering -- Paved Roads -- Peruvian Pottery -- Ruins of Pachacamac -- Mausoleum of Cuelap -- Gran-Chimú -- Huaca of Misa -- Temple of the Sun -- Remains on the Island of Titicaca -- Chavin de Huanta -- Huanuco el Viejo --Cuzco -- Monuments of Tiahuanaco -- Island of Coati 791

THE NATIVE RACES OF THE PACIFIC STATES.

ANTIQUITIES.

I. ARCHÆOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION

MONUMENTAL ARCHÆOLOGY -- SCOPE OF THE VOLUME -- TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT -- SOURCES OF INFORMATION -- TANGIBILITY OF MATERIAL RELICS -- VAGUENESS OF TRADITIONAL AND WRITTEN ARCHÆOLOGY -- VALUE OF MONUMENTAL RELICS, AS CONVEYING POSITIVE INFORMATION RESPECTING THEIR BUILDERS, AS CORROBORATIVE OR CORRECTIVE WITNESSES, AS INCENTIVES TO RESEARCH -- COUNTERFEIT ANTIQUITIES -- EGYPTIAN, ASSYRIAN, AND PERSIAN MONUMENTS -- RELICS PROVING THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN -- EXPLORATION OF AMERICAN RUINS -- KEY TO CENTRAL AMERICAN HIEROGLYPHICS -- NO MORE UNWRITTEN HISTORY.

[Sidenote: TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT.]

The present volume of the NATIVE RACES OF THE PACIFIC STATES treats of monumental archæology, and is intended to present a detailed description of all material relics of the past discovered within the territory under consideration. Two chapters, however, are devoted to a more general view of remains outside the limits of this territory--those of South America and of the eastern United States--as being illustrative of, and of inseparable interest in connection with, my subject proper. Since monumental remains in the western continent without the broad limits thus included are comparatively few and unimportant, I may without exaggeration, if the execution of the work be in any degree commensurate with its aim, claim for this treatise a place among the most complete ever published on American antiquities as a whole. Indeed, Mr Baldwin's most excellent little book on Ancient America is the only comprehensive work treating of this subject now before the public. As a popular treatise, compressing within a small duodecimo volume the whole subject of archæology, including, besides material relics, tradition, and speculation concerning origin and history as well, this book cannot be too highly praised; I propose, however, by devoting a large octavo volume to one half or less of Mr Baldwin's subject-matter, to add at least encyclopedic value to this division of my work.

There are some departments of the present subject in which I can hardly hope to improve upon or even to equal descriptions already extant. Such are the ruins of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, so ably treated by Messrs Stephens, Catherwood, and Squier. Indeed, not a few relics of great importance are known to the world only through the pen or pencil of one or another of these gentlemen, in which cases I am forced to draw somewhat largely upon the result of their investigations. Yet even within the territory mentioned, concerning Uxmal and Chichen Itza we have most valuable details in the works of M. M. Waldeck and Charnay; at Quirigua, Dr Scherzer's labors are no less satisfactory than those of Mr Catherwood; and Mr Squier's careful observations in Nicaragua are supplemented, to the advantage of the antiquarian public, by the scarcely less extensive investigations of Mr Boyle. In the case of Palenque, in some respects the most remarkable American ruin, we have, besides the exhaustive delineations of Waldeck and Stephens, several others scarcely less satisfactory or interesting from the pens of competent observers; and in a large majority of instances each locality, if not each separate relic, has been described from personal examination by several parties, each noting some particulars by the others neglected. By a careful study and comparison of information drawn from all available sources respecting the several points, the witnesses mutually corroborating or correcting one another's statements, I expect to arrive in each case practically at the truth, and thus to compensate in a measure for that loss of interest inevitably incurred by the necessary omission of that personal experience and adventure by which antiquarian travelers are wont to impart a charm to their otherwise dry details.

Although necessarily to a great extent a compilation, this volume is none the less the result of hard and long-continued study. It embodies the researches of some five hundred travelers, stated not merely en résumé, but reproduced, so far as facts and results are concerned, in full. Very few of the many works studied are devoted exclusively or even chiefly to my subject; indeed most of them have but an occasional reference to antiquarian relics, which are described more or less fully among other objects of interest that come under the traveler's eye; hence the possibility of condensing satisfactorily the contents of so many volumes in one, and of making this one fill on the shelves of the antiquary's library the place of all, excepting, of course, the large plates of the folio works. Full references to, and quotations from, the authorities consulted are given in the notes, which thus become a complete index to all that has been written on the subject. These notes contain also bibliographical notices and historical details of the discovery and successive explorations of each ruin, and other information not without interest and value. That some few books containing archæological information may have escaped my notice, is quite possible, but none I believe of sufficient importance to seriously impair the value of the material here presented. In order to give a clear idea of the great variety of articles preserved from the past for our examination, the use of numerous illustrations becomes absolutely essential. Of the cuts employed many are the originals taken from the published works of explorers, particularly of Messrs Stephens and Squier, with their permission. As I make no claim to personal archæological research, save among the tomes on the shelves of my library, and as the imparting of accurate information is my only aim, the advantage of the original cuts over any copies that could be made, will be manifest to the reader. Where such originals could not be obtained I have made accurate copies of drawings carefully selected from what I have deemed the best authorities, always with a view to give the clearest possible idea of the objects described, and with no attempt at mere pictorial embellishment.

Confining myself strictly to the description of material remains, I have omitted, or reserved for another volume, all traditions and speculations of a general nature respecting their origin and the people whose handiwork they are, giving, however, in some instances, such definite traditions as seem unlikely to come up in connection with ancient history. This is in accordance with the general plan which I adopt in treating of the Native Races of this western half of North America, proceeding from the known to the unknown, from the near to the remote; dealing first with the observed phenomena of aboriginal savagism and civilization when first brought within the knowledge of Europeans, as I have done in the three volumes already before the public; then entering the labyrinthine field of antiquity from its least obstructed side, I devote this volume to material relics exclusively, thus preparing the way for a final volume on traditional and written archæology, to terminate with what most authors have given at the start,--the vaguest and most hopelessly complicated department of the whole subject,--speculations respecting the origin of the American people and of the western civilization.

In the descriptions which follow I proceed geographically from south to north for no reason more cogent than that of convenience. From the same motive, much more weighty however in this case, I follow the same order in my comparisons between remains in different parts of the continent, comparing invariably each ruin with others farther south and consequently familiar to the reader, rather than with more northern structures to be described later. It is claimed by some writers that the term antiquities is properly used only to designate the works of a people extinct or only traditionally known. This restriction of the term would exclude most of the monumental remains of the Pacific States, since a large majority of the objects described in the following pages are known to have been the work of the peoples found by Europeans in possession of the country, or of their immediate ancestors. I employ the term, however, in its more common application, including in it all the works of aboriginal hands presumably executed before native intercourse with Europeans, at dates varying consequently with that of the discovery of different localities.

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[Sidenote: REALITY OF MATERIAL RELICS.]

Monumental archæology, as distinguished from written and traditional archæology, owes its interest largely to its reality and tangibility. The teachings of material relics, so far as they go, are irrefutable. Real in themselves they impart an air of reality to the study of the past. They stand before us as the actual work of human hands, affording no foothold for scepticism; they are the balance-wheels of tradition, resting-places for the mind wearied with the study of aboriginal fable, stepping-stones on which to cross the miry sloughs of mythic history. The ruins of a great city represent and recall vividly its original state and the populace that once thronged its streets; the towering mound or pyramid brings before the observer's mind toiling bands of slaves driven to their unwelcome task by strong progressive masters; temples and idols are but remnants of religious systems, native fear, superstition, and faith; altars imply victims and sacrificial ceremonies; sculpture, the existence of art; kingly palaces are the result of a strong government, wars, and conquest; sepulchral deposits reveal thoughts of another life; and hieroglyphic inscriptions, even if their key be lost, imply events deemed worthy of record, and a degree of progress toward letters.

What the personal souvenir is to the memory of dead friends, what the ancestral mansion with its portraits and other relics is to family memories and pride of descent, what the ancient battle-ground with the monument commemorating early struggles for liberty is to national patriotism, what the familiar hill, valley, stream, and tree to recollection and love of home,--all this and more are material relics to the study of ages gone by. Destroy such relics in the case of the individual, the family, and the nation, and imagine the effect on our interest in a past, which is, however, in nearly every instance clearly recorded. What would be the consequence of blotting from existence the ruins that stand as monuments of a past but vaguely known even in the most favorable circumstances through the medium of traditionary and written annals? Traditional archæology, fascinating as its study is and important in its results, leaves always in the mind a feeling of uncertainty, a fear that any particular tradition may be in its present form, modified willfully or involuntarily in passing through many hands, a distortion of the original, or perhaps a pure invention; or if intact in form its primary signification may be altogether misunderstood. And even in the case of written annals, more definite and reliable of course than oral traditions, we cannot forget that back beyond a certain time impossible to locate in the distant past, history founds its statements of events on no more substantial basis than popular fable.

[Sidenote: COUNTERFEIT ANTIQUITIES.]

It is true that false reports may be made respecting the discovery or nature of ruined cities and other monuments; and relics may be collected and exhibited which have no claim whatever to antiquity. Indeed it is said that in some parts of Spanish America, Aztec, Chichimec, or Toltec relics, of any desired era since the creation, are manufactured to order by the ingenious natives and sold to the enthusiastic but unwary antiquarian. To similar imposition and like enthusiasm may be referred the long list of Roman, Greek, Scandinavian, Tyrian, and other old-world coins, medals, and inscriptions, whose discovery in the New World from time to time has been reported, and used in support of some pet origin-theory. Yet practically these counterfeit or fabulous antiquities do little harm; their falsity may in most cases be without difficulty detected, as will be apparent from several instances of the kind noted in the following pages. There are, as I have said, few ruins of any importance that have not been described by more than one competent and reliable explorer. The discovery of wonderful cities and palaces, or of movable relics which differ essentially from the well-authenticated antiquities of the same region, is not accepted by archæologists, or by the public generally, without more positive proof of genuineness than the representations of a single traveler whose reliability has not been fully proved.

* * * * *

The study of ancient monuments, in addition to its high degree of interest, is moreover of great practical value in the development of historical science, as a source of positive information, as a corroboration of annals otherwise recorded, and as an incentive to continued research. It contributes to actual knowledge by indicating the various arts that flourished among the peoples of antiquity, the germs of the corresponding arts of modern times. The monuments show not alone the precise degree of excellence in architecture and sculpture attained by the particular people whose work they are, but by an examination of their differences they throw much light on the origin and growth of these and other arts, while by comparison with the works of other peoples better known they serve to establish more or less clearly national affinities. And not only do they illustrate the state of the fine and useful arts, but also to a great extent public institutions and private customs. Temples, idols, and altars reveal much of religious rites and priestly power; weapons, of warfare; implements, of household habits; ornaments, of dress; tombs and sepulchral relics, of burial ceremonies, regard for the dead, and ideas respecting another life. When, in addition to their indirect teachings respecting the arts and institutions of their builders, antique monuments bear also inscriptions in written or legible hieroglyphic characters, their value is of course greatly increased; indeed under such circumstances they become the very highest historic authority.

It is, however, in connection with the other branches of the science, written and traditional, that material relics accomplish their most satisfactory results, their corroborative evidence being even more valuable than the positive information they convey. For instance, tradition relates wondrous tales of the wealth, power, and mighty deeds of a people that long ago occupied what is now a barren desert or a dense forest. These tales are classed with other aboriginal fables, interesting but comparatively valueless; but some wandering explorer, by chance or as the result of an apparently absurd and profitless research, discovers in the shade of the tangled thicket, or lays bare under the drifting desert-sands, the ruins of a great city with magnificent palace and temple; at once the mythic fable is transformed into authentic history, especially if the traditional statements of that people's arts and institutions are confirmed by their relics.

Again, the written record of biblical tradition, unsatisfactory to some, when not supported by corroborative evidence, narrates with minute detail the history of an ancient city, including its conquest at a given date by a foreign king. The discovery in another land of that monarch's statue or triumphal arch, inscribed with his name, title, and a list of his deeds, confirms or invalidates the scriptural account not only of that particular event but indirectly of other details of the city's annals not recorded in stone. In America material relics acquire increased importance as corroborative and corrective witnesses, in comparison with those of the old world, from the absence of contemporary written annals. Beside constituting the only tangible supports of the more ancient triumphs of American civilization, they are the best illustrations of comparatively modern stages of art whose products have disappeared, and by no means superfluous in support of Spanish chroniclers in later times, "very many, or perhaps most of whose statements respecting the wonderful phenomena of the New World culture," as I have remarked in a preceding volume, "without this incontrovertible material proof would find few believers among the sceptical students of the present day."

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[Sidenote: IMPORTANCE OF MATERIAL RELICS.]

The importance of monumental remains as incentives to historical study and research results directly from the interest and curiosity which their examination invariably excites. Gibbon relates that he was first prompted to write the annals of Rome's decline and fall by the contemplation of her ruined structures. Few even of the most prosaic and matter-of-fact travelers can resist the impulse to reason and speculate on the origin of ruins that come under their notice, and the civilization to which they owe their existence; and there are probably few eminent archæologists but may trace the first development of a taste for antiquarian pursuits to the curiosity excited at the sight of some mysterious relic.

This irresistible desire to follow back remains of art to the artist's hand and genius, prompted the oft-repeated and so long fruitless attempts to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphics and the cuneiform inscriptions of Persia and Assyria. These efforts were at last crowned with success; the key to the mysterious wedges, and the Rosetta-stone were found, by which the tablets of Babylon, Ninevah, and the pyramids--the Palenque, Copan, and Teotihuacan of the old world--may be read. The palaces, monuments, and statues of ancient kings bear legible records of their lives, dominions, and succession. By the aid of these records definite dates are established for events in the history of these countries as early as two thousand years before the Christian era, and thus corroborations and checks are placed on the statements of biblical and profane history. But the art of interpreting these hieroglyphics is yet in its infancy, and the results thus far accomplished are infinitesimal in comparison with what may be reasonably anticipated in the future.

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[Sidenote: THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE.]

So much for antique monuments and their teachings--alone and in connection with history and tradition--respecting the peoples to whom they owe their existence. Another and not less important value they have, in connection with geology and paleontology, in what they tell us about the age of the human race on the earth. Biblical tradition, as interpreted in former times, asserts the earth and its inhabitants to be about six thousand years old. Geology has enforced a new interpretation, which, so far as the age of the earth is concerned, is accepted by all latter-day scholars; and geology now lends a helping hand to her sister sciences in their effort to prove, what is not yet universally accepted as truth, that man's antiquity far exceeds the limit which scripture is thought to establish.

Throughout the successive geologic strata of earthy matter that overlie the solid rocky foundations below, traces of man's presence are found. It is in deposits of peat and alluvium that these traces are most clearly defined and with greatest facility studied. The extremely slow accumulation of these deposits and the great depth at which human remains appear, impress the mind of the observer with a vivid idea of their antiquity. Calculations based on the known rate of increase for a definite period fix the age of the lowest relics at from six thousand to one hundred thousand years according to the locality. But geology tells yet no definite tale in years, her chronology being on a grander scale, and these calculations are to scientific men the weakest proofs of man's antiquity. As we penetrate, however, this superficial geologic formation, we find in the upper layers weapons and implements of iron; then, at a greater depth, of bronze; and lowest of all stone is the only durable material employed. In all parts of the world, so far as explorations have been made, this order of the ages, stone, bronze, iron, is observed; although they were certainly not contemporaneous in all regions. With the products of human skill, in its varying stages of development, are mingled the fossil trees and plants of different species which flourished and became locally extinct as the centuries passed away. So animal remains, no less abundant than the others, indicate successive changes in the fauna and its relations to human life, the animals pursued at different epochs for food, the introduction of domestic animals, and the transition from the chase to agriculture as a means of subsistence.

From a study of all these various relics of the past--human, animal, and vegetable--in connection with geologic changes, the student seeks to estimate approximately the date at which man first appeared upon the earth. He observes the slow accumulation of surface deposits and speculates on the time requisite to bury the works of man hundreds of feet deep in dilluvium. He studies savagism in its different phases as portrayed in a previous volume; notes how tenaciously the primitive man clings to old customs, how averse he is to change and improvement; and then reflects upon the centuries that would probably suffice for beings only a little above the beast to pass successively from the use of the shapeless stone and club to the polished stone spear and arrow and knife, to the partial displacement of stone by the fragment of crude metal, to the smelting of the less refractory ores and the mixture of metals to form bronze, and to a final triumph in the use of iron. He reflects farther that all this slow process of development precedes in nearly every part of the world the historic period; that its relics are found in the alluvial plains of the Nile, buried far below the monuments of Egyptian civilization, a civilization, moreover, which dates back at least two thousand years before Christ. Searching the peat-beds of Denmark, he brings to light fossil Scotch firs in the lower strata mingled with relics of the stone age; oak-trees above with implements of bronze; and beech-trunks in the upper deposits, corresponding with the iron age and also with the present forest-growth of the country. He tries to fix upon a period of years adequate to effect two complete changes in Danish forest-trees, bringing to his aid the fact that about the Christian era the Romans found that country covered as now with a luxurious growth of beech, and that consequently eighteen hundred years have wrought no change. Having thus established in his mind the epoch to which he must be carried by the relics of the alluvial deposits, he remarks that during all this period climate has not essentially changed, for the animal remains thus far discovered are all of species still existing in the same climatic zone.

But at the same time he finds in southern Europe abundant remains of polar animals which could only have lived when the everlasting snow and ice of a frigid clime covered the surface of those now sunny lands. Still finding rude stone implements, the work of human hands, mingled with these polar skeletons, he adds to the result of previous computations the time deemed necessary for so essential a climatic transformation, and, finally, he is driven to make still another addition, when he learns that in geologic strata much older than any yet considered, the bones and works of man have been discovered in several apparently well-authenticated instances lying side by side with the bones of mastodons and other ancient species which have long since disappeared from the face of the earth. With the innumerable data of which the foregoing is only an outline before him, the student of man's antiquity is left to decide for himself whether or not he can satisfactorily compress within the term of sixty centuries all the successive periods of man's development.

In our examination of relics in the thinly peopled Pacific States we shall find comparatively few works of human hands bearing directly on this branch of archæology; yet in the north-west regions, newest to modern civilization, the Californian miner's deep-sunk shafts have brought to light implements and fossils of great antiquity and interest to the scientific world.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: AMERICAN RELICS AND HIEROGLYPHICS.]

In America many years must elapse before explorations equaling in extent and thoroughness those already made in the old world can be hoped for. The ruins from whose examination the grandest results are to be anticipated lie in a hot malarious climate within the tropics, enveloped in a dense thicket of exuberant vegetation, presenting an almost impenetrable barrier to an exploration by foreigners of monuments in which the natives as a rule take no interest. It must be admitted, however, that even the most exhaustive examination of our relics cannot be expected to yield results as definite and satisfactory as those reached in the eastern continent. We have practically no written record, and our monuments must tell the tale of the distant past unaided.

Our hieroglyphic inscriptions are comparatively few and brief, and those found on the stones of the more ancient class of ruins as yet convey no meaning. By reason of the absence of a contemporary written language, the difficulties in the way of their interpretation are clearly much greater than those so brilliantly overcome in Assyria and Egypt. Only one systematic attempt has yet been made to decipher their signification, and that has thus far proved a signal failure; it is believed almost universally that future efforts will be equally unsuccessful, and that our annals as written in stone will forever remain wrapped in darkness. Yet not only was the interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions long deemed an impossibility, but the very theory that any meaning was hidden in that complicated arrangement of wedges was pronounced absurd by many wise antiquaries. Let not therefore our New World task be abandoned in despair till the list of failures shall be swollen from one to seventy times seven.

It is believed that the antiquary's zeal for all coming time will be brought to bear on no other objects than those which now claim our attention and search; that is, although new monuments will be brought to light from their present hiding-places, no additions will be made to their actual number. With the invention of printing and the consequent wide diffusion of national annals, the era of unwritten history ceased, and with it all future necessity of searching tangled forest and desert plain for monumental records of the present civilization. That the key of our written history can ever be lost, our civilization blotted out, ruined structures and vague traditions called anew into requisition for historic use, we believe impossible. Yet who can tell; for so doubtless thought the learned men and high-priests of Palenque, when with imposing pageant and sacrificial invocation to the gods in the presence of the assembled populace, the inscribed tablets had been set up in the niches of the temple; and proudly exclaimed the orator of the day, as the last tablet settled into its place, "Great are our gods, and goodly the inheritance they have bequeathed to their chosen people. Mighty is Votan, world-wide the fame of his empire, the great Xibalba; and the annals and the glory thereof shall endure through all the coming ages; for are they not here imperishably inscribed in characters of everlasting stone that all may read and wonder?"

Chapter II

ANTIQUITIES OF THE ISTHMUS, COSTA RICA, MOSQUITO COAST, AND NICARAGUA.

THE ISTHMUS -- ROMAN COIN AND GALLEY -- HUACAS OF CHIRIQUÍ -- INCISED STONE-CARVINGS -- SCULPTURED COLUMNS -- HUMAN REMAINS -- GOLDEN ORNAMENTS -- WEAPONS -- IMPLEMENTS -- POTTERY -- MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS -- COSTA RICA -- STONE HAMMERS -- ANCIENT PLANTATIONS -- IMAGES OF GOLD -- TERRA COTTAS -- AXE OF QUARTZ -- WONDERFUL HILL -- PAVED ROAD -- STONE FROG -- MOSQUITO COAST -- GRANITE VASES -- REMARKABLE REPORTS -- ANIMAL GROUP -- ROCK-PAINTINGS -- GOLDEN FIGURE -- HOME OF THE SUKIA -- NICARAGUA -- AUTHORITIES -- MOUNDS -- SEPULCHRES -- EXCAVATIONS -- WEAPONS -- IMPLEMENTS -- ORNAMENTS -- STATUES -- IDOLS -- POTTERY -- METALS.

The ancient Muiscas of Colombia, or New Granada, have left interesting relics of their antiquity, which, with some points of resemblance, present marked contrasts to the monuments of Peruvian civilization farther south, and of Maya, Quiché, and Aztec civilizations in North America.[II-1] In that part of Colombia, however, which is included within the limits of the Pacific States, extending from the gulf of Darien westward to Costa Rica, no such relics have yet come to light, except in the western provinces of Chiriquí and Veragua, notwithstanding the extensive explorations that have been made in various parts of the Isthmus in the interests of interoceanic communication.[II-2]

[Sidenote: CHIRIQUÍ ROCK-SCULPTURES.]

The province of Chiriquí lies on the Pacific side of the Isthmus, and it is in its central region about the town of David, that monuments of a past age have been unearthed.[II-3] These monuments are of three classes; the first consisting of rude figures cut on the surface of large boulders. The best known of this class, and in fact the only one definitely described, is the Piedra Pintal at Caldera, a few leagues from David, which is fifteen feet high, about sixteen in diameter, and somewhat flattened at the top. Top and sides are covered with curves, ovals, and concentric rings; while on the eastern side there are also fantastic figures, with others supposed to represent the sun, a series of varying heads, and scorpions. The figures are cut to a depth of about one inch, but on the parts most exposed to the weather are nearly effaced.

Another lava boulder similarly incised found in the parish of San Miguel is pronounced by Mr Squier, from the examination of a drawing, to resemble stones seen by him in other parts of Central America. I copy Seemann's cuts of several of the characters.[II-4] The second class includes a few stone columns, some of them ten or twelve feet high, found at David and in Veragua as well. These seem never to have been seen in situ, but scattered and sometimes used for building purposes by the present inhabitants. Their peculiarity is that the characters engraved on their surface are entirely different from those of the Piedra Pintal, being smaller and cut in low relief. Drawings of these possibly hieroglyphic signs, by which to compare them with those of Copan, Palenque, and Yucatan, are not extant. The third class comprises the huacas, or tombs, a large number of which have been opened, and a variety of deposited articles brought to light. The tombs themselves are of two kinds. Those of the first kind are mere pebble-heaps, or mounds, three or four feet high, and the only articles taken from them are three-legged stones for grinding corn, known in all Spanish America as metates. The other graves have rude boxes or coffins of flat stones, with, in a few instances, rude stone posts several feet in height. Graves of this class are found to contain golden ornaments, with trinkets and implements of stone and burned clay. In most of them no traces of human remains are met; and when human bones do occur, they usually crumble to dust on exposure to the air, one skull, however, described as broad in the middle and flat behind, having been secured, and a plaster cast exhibited to the American Ethnological Society.[II-5]

[Sidenote: POTTERY OF CHIRIQUÍ.]

The golden ornaments taken from the huacas of Chiriquí amount to many thousands of dollars in value. They are of small size, never exceeding a few inches in either dimension, are all cast and never soldered, and take the shape of men, animals, or birds. One represents a man holding a bird in each hand, with another on his forehead. The gold is described by Dr Davis as being from ten to twenty carats fine, with some copper alloy; but by another party the alloy is pronounced silver.[II-6] Of stone are found ornaments, such as round agates pierced in the middle; weapons, including axes, chisel-heads, and arrow-heads, the latter of peculiar make, being pyramidal in form, with four cutting edges converging to a point, and in some instances apparently intended to fit loosely into a socket on the shaft; images, perhaps idols, in the shape of animals or men, but these are of comparatively rare occurrence;[II-7] and various articles of unknown use. One of the latter dug up at Bugabita is described as a "horizontal tablet, supported on ornamented legs, and terminating in the head of a monster--all neatly carved from a single stone," being twenty inches long, eight inches high, and weighing twenty-five pounds. Another was conjectured to have served for grinding paints.[II-8] Articles of burned clay are more numerous in the huacas than those of other material. Small vases, jars, and tripods, some of the latter having their three legs hollow and containing small earthen balls which rattle when the vessels are moved, with musical instruments, compose this class of relics. The earthen ware has no indication of the use of the potter's wheel; is found both glazed and unglazed; is painted in various colors, which, however, are not burned in, but are easily rubbed off when moist; and many of the articles are wholly uninjured by time. The specimens, or some part of each, are almost invariably molded to imitate some natural object, and the fashioning is often graceful and true to nature. Perhaps the most remarkable of these earthen specimens, and indeed of all the Chiriquí antiquities, are the musical wind-instruments, or whistles. These are of small dimensions, rarely exceeding four inches in length or diameter, with generally two but sometimes three or four finger-holes, producing from two to six notes of the octave. No two are exactly alike in form, but most take the shape of an animal or man, the mouth-hole being in the tail of the tiger and bird, in the foot of the peccary, in the elbow of the human figure. Some have several air-cavities with corresponding holes to produce the different notes, but in most, the holes lead to one cavity. One had a loose ball in its interior, whose motion varied the sounds. Several are blown like fifes, and nearly all have a hole apparently intended for suspending the instrument by a string.[II-9] Other antiquities are reported to exist at various points of the Isthmus, which white men have never seen; instance a rocking stone in the mountains of Veragua.[II-10]

I close my somewhat scanty information concerning the antiquities of Chiriquí with the general remarks which their examination has elicited from different writers. Whiting and Shuman speak of the sculptured columns of Muerto Island as being similar to those in Yucatan described by Stephens;[II-11] but it is hardly probable that this opinion rests on an actual comparison of the hieroglyphics. Dr Merritt deems the axe or chisel heads almost identical in form as well as material with specimens dug up in Suffolk County, England; some of the same implements resemble those seen by Mr Squier in actual use among the natives of other parts of Central America; while the arrow-heads and musical instruments are pronounced different in some respects from any others known, either ancient or modern. The incised characters represented in the cut on page 17, together with many others, if we may believe Mr Seemann, have a striking resemblance to those of Northumberland, England, as shown by Mr Tate.[II-12] In some of the terra cottas, a likeness to vessels of Roman, Grecian, and Etruscan origin has been noted; the golden figures, in the opinion of Messrs Squier and May, being like those found further south in the country of the ancient Muiscas.[II-13]

One point bearing on the antiquity of the Chiriquí relics is the wearing away by the weather of the incised sculptures, which appear to Mr Seemann to belong to a more ancient, less advanced civilization than those in low relief.[II-14] Another is the disappearance as a rule of human remains, which, however, as Dr Torrey remarks,[II-15] cannot in this climate and soil be regarded as an indication of great age; and, moreover, against the theory of a remote origin of these relics, and in favor of the supposition that all may be the work of the not distant ancestors of the people found by the Spaniards in possession of the country, we have the fact that gold figures similar to those found in the huacas were made, worn, and traded by the natives of the Isthmus at the time of its discovery and conquest;[II-16] that the animals so universally imitated in all objects whether of gold, stone, or clay, are all native to the country, with no trace of any effort to copy anything foreign; and that similar clay is still employed in the manufacture of rude pottery.[II-17]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: COSTA RICAN RELICS.]

Costa Rica, adjoining Chiriquí on the west, is the first or most southern of the states which belong politically to North America, all the Isthmus provinces forming a part of Colombia, a state of the southern continent. Stretching from ocean to ocean with an average width of ninety miles, it extends north-westward in general terms some two hundred miles from the Boca del Drago and Golfo Dulce to the Rio de San Juan and the southern shores of Lake Nicaragua in 11° north latitude. Few as are the aboriginal monuments reported to exist within these limits, still fewer are those actually examined by travelers.

[Sidenote: IMPLEMENTS AND ORNAMENTS.]

Drs Wagner and Scherzer, who traveled extensively in this region in 1853-4, found in all parts of the state, but more particularly in the Turialba Valley, which is in the vicinity of Cartago, traces of old plantations of bananas, cacao, and palms, indicating a more systematic tillage of the soil, and consequently a higher general type of culture among the former than are found among the modern native Costa Ricans. The only other antiquities seen by these intelligent explorers were a few stone hammers thought to resemble implements which have been brought to light in connection with the ancient mines about Lake Superior; but the locality of these implements is not stated. Cabo Blanco, reported by Molina[II-18] as containing the richest deposit of ancient relics, yielded nothing whatever to the diligent search of the German travelers; nor did their failure here leave them sufficient faith to continue their researches on the island of Chira, where, according to the same authority, there are to be found ruined aboriginal towns and tombs. At San José they were told of figures of gold alloyed with copper which had been melted at the government mint, and they briefly mention hieroglyphics on a few ancient ornaments nowhere described.[II-19] Mr Squier describes five vessels of earthen ware or terra cotta obtained, in localities not mentioned, from Costa Rican graves. Four of these are shown in the accompanying cut. Fig. 1, symmetrically shaped, is entirely without decoration; Fig. 2 is a grotesque image supposed to have done duty originally as a rattle; Fig. 3 has hollow legs, each containing a small earthen ball, which rattles at each motion of the vase; and the top of Fig. 4 is artistically moulded, apparently after the model of a tortoise's back. An axe of green quartz is also described, which to Mr Squier seemed to indicate a higher grade of skill in workmanship than any relic of the kind seen in Central America. The cutting edge is slightly curved, showing the instrument to have been used as an adze; the surface shown in the cut is highly polished, and the whole is penetrated by a small hole drilled from side to side parallel to the face where the notches appear. This implement seems to present a rude representation of a human figure whose arms are folded across its breast. Other implements similar in material but larger and of ruder execution, are said to be of not unusual occurrence in the sepulchres of this state.[II-20]

Mr Boyle makes the general statement that gold ornaments and idols are constantly found, and that the ancient mines which supplied the precious metal are often seen by modern prospectors. Dr Merritt also exhibited specimens of gold, both wrought and unwrought, from the (ancient?) mines of Costa Rica, at a meeting of the American Ethnological Society in February, 1862.[II-21] While voyaging on the Colorado, the southern mouth of the Rio de San Juan, Mr Boyle was told by a German doctor, his traveling companion, of a wonderful artificial hill in that vicinity, but of whose exact locality the doctor's ideas appeared somewhat vague. On this hill, according to his statement, was to be seen a pavement of slate tiles laid in copper; but the interesting specimens which he claimed to have collected in this neighborhood had been generously presented by him to museums in various parts of the world, and therefore he was unable to show any of them.[II-22] Father Acuña, an enthusiastic antiquary of the Rich Coast, living at Paraiso near Cartago, reports an ancient road which he believes to have originally connected Cartago with the port of Matina, and to have formed part of a grand aboriginal system of highways from the Nicaraguan frontier to the Isthmus, with branches to various points along the Atlantic coast. The road is described as thirty-six feet wide, paved with rounded blocks of lava, and guarded at the sides with sloping walls three feet in height. Where the line of the road crossed deep ravines, bridges were not employed, but in their stead the ascent and descent were effected by means of massive steps cut in the rocky sides. Some relics found near this road were given to New York gentlemen. The priest also speaks of tumuli abounding in the products of a past age, which dot the plains of Terraba, once the centre, as he believes, of a populous American empire.[II-23] A channel which connects the Rio Matina with Moin Bay has been sometimes considered artificial, but Mr Reichardt pronounces it probably nothing more than a natural lagoon.[II-24] In the department of Guanacaste, near the gulf of Nicoya, was found the little frog in grey stone shown, full-sized, in the cut. The hole near the fore feet would seem to indicate that it was worn suspended on a string as an ornament.[II-25]

Such is the meagre account I am able to give of Costa Rican monuments. True, neither this nor any others of the Central American states have been thoroughly explored, nor are they likely to be for many years, except at the few points where the world's commerce shall seek new passages from sea to sea. The difficulties are such as would yield only to a denser population of a more energetic race than that now occupying the land. The only monuments of the aboriginal natives likely to be found are those buried in the ancient graves. The probability of bringing to light ruined cities or temples south of Honduras is extremely slight. It is my purpose, however, to confine myself to the most complete account possible of such remains as have been seen or reported, with very little speculation on probable discoveries in the future.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: THE MOSQUITO COAST.]

Our next move northward carries us to Cape Gracias á Dios on the Atlantic, and to the gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific, the inclosed territory of Nicaragua stretching some two hundred and fifty miles north-westward to the Wanks River and Rio Negro, widening in this distance from one hundred and fifty to about three hundred miles. Dividing this territory by a line along the central mountain ranges, or water-shed, into two nearly equal portions, the western or Pacific slope is the state of Nicaragua proper, while the eastern or Atlantic side is known as the Mosquito Coast. This latter region is almost entirely unexplored except along the low marshy shore, and the natives of the interior have always been independent of any foreign control.

In respect of ancient remains the Mosquito Coast has proved even more barren of results than Costa Rica. A pair of remarkable granite vases preserved in an English museum are said to have come from this region, but as no particulars of their discovery are given, it is of course possible, considering the former unsettled condition of all Central American boundary lines, not altogether remedied in later times, that there may be an error in locality. It is from ten to twelve inches in diameter and height, as nearly as can be ascertained from the drawing, and Humboldt remarks the similarity of its ornamentation to that found on some parts of the ruins of Mitla in Oajaca, described in a future chapter. One of the vases as represented in Humboldt's drawing, is shown in the cut. The second vase is somewhat larger, more nearly uniform in size at top and bottom, with plain legs, only diamond-shaped ornaments on the body of the vessel, and handles which take the form of a head and tail instead of two heads as in the first specimen.[II-26]

Christopher Columbus in a letter speaks of having seen on this coast, which he calls Cariay, a sculptured tomb in the forest as large as a house; and Mr Helps imagines the Spanish conquerors sailing up the coast and beholding amidst the trees white structures "bearing some likeness to truncated pyramids, and, in the setting sun, dark figures would be seen against the horizon on the tops of these pyramids;"[II-27] but as he is describing no particular voyage, some allowance may be made for the play of his imagination. Mr Boyle is enthusiastic over "the vast remains of a civilization long since passed away," but far superior to that of Spain, including rocks cut down to human and animal shapes, artificial hills encased in masonry, streams turned from their courses, and hieroglyphic sculptures on the cliffs,--all in the Mosquito wilds. As a foundation for this, three men who descended the Rio Mico and Blewfields River from Libertad, Nicaragua, to the sea, claim to have beheld extraordinary ancient works. These took the form of a cliff cut away where the river passed through a narrow cañon, leaving a group of stone animals, among which was a colossal bear, standing erect on the brink of the precipice as if to guard the passage. The natives reported also to Mr Pim the existence of grand temples of the antiguos, with an immense image of the aboriginal god Mico (a monkey) on the banks of this river; but when subjected to cross-questioning, their wonderful stories dwindled to certain rude figures painted on the face of a cliff, which Mr Pim was unable to examine, but which seemed from the native description similar to the cliff-paintings at Nijapa Lake in Nicaragua, to be described on a future page.[II-28]

[Sidenote: COLOSSAL BEAR AND GOLDEN IMAGE.]

From a mound of earth fifteen feet in diameter, and five or six feet high, on an island in Duckwarra Lagoon, south of Cape Gracias á Dios, Mr Squier unearthed a crumbling human skeleton, at whose head was a rude burial vase containing chalcedony beads, two arrow-heads of the same material, and the human figure shown full-sized in the cut, fashioned from a piece of gold plate. Antonio, an intelligent Maya servant, could see no resemblance in this figure to any relics of his race in Yucatan. Two additional vases of coarse earthen ware were discovered, but contained no relics. On another occasion, during a moonlight visit to the 'Mother of Tigers,' a famed native sukia, or sorceress, on the Bocay, which is a branch of the Wanks, about fifty miles south-westward from Cape Gracias, Mr Squier claims to have seen a ruined structure, part of which is shown in the cut. The building was of two stories, but the upper walls had fallen, covering the ground with fragments. It is described as "built of large stones, laid with the greatest regularity, and sculptured all over with strange figures, having a close resemblance, if not an absolute identity" with those drawn by Catherwood. A short distance from the building stood an erect stone rudely sculptured in human form, facing east, as in the cut. There are, however, some reasons for doubting the accuracy of these Bocay discoveries, notwithstanding the author's well-known skill and reliability as an antiquarian, since they were published under a nom de plume, and in a work perhaps intended by the writer as a fictitious narrative of adventures.[II-29]

* * * * *

Across the dividing sierras, the Pacific slope, or Nicaragua proper, has yielded plentiful monuments of her former occupants, chiefly to the researches of two men, Messrs Squier and Boyle. The former confined his explorations chiefly to the region between the lakes and ocean, while the latter has also made known the existence of remains on the north-east of Lake Nicaragua, in the province of Chontales.[II-30]

[Sidenote: CLASSIFICATION OF RELICS.]

Although nothing like a thorough exploration of the state has ever been made, yet the uniformity of the remains discovered at different points enables us to form a clear idea of the character, if not of the full extent, of her antiquities, which for convenience in description may be classified as follows: I. Mounds, sepulchres, excavations, and other comparatively permanent works; II. Figures painted or cut on rocks or cliffs; III. Statues or idols of stone; IV. Stone weapons, implements, and ornaments; V. Pottery; VI. Articles of metal. Remarking that nowhere in Nicaragua have traces of ruined cities been found, nor even what may be regarded positively as the ruins of temples or other buildings, I proceed to describe the first class, or permanent monuments, beginning in the south-west, following the coast region and lake islands northward, and then returning to the south-eastern province of Chontales.

First on the south are the cemeteries of Ometepec Island, which is by some supposed to have been the general burial place of all the surrounding country. These cemeteries, according to Woeniger, are found in high and dry places, enclosed by a row of rough flat stones placed a few inches apart and projecting only slightly above the surface of the ground. Friederichsthal represents the sepulchres as three feet deep and scattered at irregular intervals over a plain. Boyle found both fixed cemeteries fenced with a line of heavy stones and also separate graves.[II-31] Thus no burial mounds proper seem to exist on the island. The ashes or unburned bones of the dead are found enclosed in large earthen vases, together with what may be considered as the most valued property of the deceased, or the most appropriate gifts of friends, in the shape of weapons, ornaments, vessels, and implements of stone, clay, and perhaps metal, all of which will be described in their turn. When the burial urn is found to contain unburned bones, its mouth is sometimes closed with the skull; in other cases one or more inverted earthen pans are used for that purpose.

[Sidenote: EL BAÑO AT MASAYA.]

On Zapatero, an island which lies just north of Ometepec, distributed over a level space covered with a dense growth of trees, are eight irregular heaps of loose unhewn stones, showing no signs of system either in the construction of each individual mound or in their arrangement with reference to each other.[II-32] An attempt to open one of the largest of the number led to no results beyond the discovery of an intermixture of broken pottery in the mass of stones. They are surrounded, as we shall see, by statues, and are believed by Mr Squier to be remains of the teocallis known to have served the Nicaraguans as temples at the time of the conquest.[II-33] At the foot of Mt Mombacho, a volcano south of Granada, was found a ruined cairn, or sepulchre, about twenty feet square, not particularly described, but similar to those which will be mentioned as occurring in the department of Chontales; others were said by the inhabitants to have been found in the same vicinity.[II-34] In a steep-banked ravine near Masaya, the rocky sides of which present numerous sculptured figures, or hieroglyphics, a shelf some nine feet wide is cut in the perpendicular cliff which towers one hundred feet in height at its back. On this shelf is a rectangular excavation eight by four feet and eighteen inches deep, with regularly sloping and smoothly cut sides, surrounded by a shallow groove which leads to the edge of the precipice, presumably designed to carry off rain-water. This strange excavation is popularly known as El Baño, although hardly of sufficient size to have served as a bath; a rudely cut flight of steps leads up the cliff to the shelf, and two pentagonal holes penetrate the face of the cliff at its back horizontally to a great depth, but these may be of natural formation. Some kettle-shaped excavations are reported also along the shore of the lake, now and possibly of old used in tanning leather.[II-35] Mr Boyle speaks of the road by which water is brought up from the lake to the city by the women of Masaya, a deep cut in the solid rock, a mile long and descending to a depth of over three hundred feet, as a reputed work of aboriginal engineering, but as he seems himself somewhat doubtful of the fact, and as others do not so mention it, this may not properly be included in our list of ancient monuments.[II-36] In the cliff at Nijapa, an old crater-lake near Managua, is what has been regarded by the natives as a wonderful temple excavated from the solid rock by the labors of the Antiguos, their ancestors. Indeed its entrance bears a strong resemblance, when viewed from the opposite side of the lake, to the arched portals of a heathen temple, but, explored by both Squier and Boyle, it proved to be nothing more than a natural cavern.[II-37]

Across the lake northward from Managua the volcano of Momotombo, projecting into the waters, forms a bay in a locality once occupied traditionally by a rich and populous city. If we may credit the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, its ruins are yet to be seen beneath the waters of the bay.[II-38] Captain Belcher visited the country in 1838, and was told that a causeway formerly extended across from the main to the island of Momotombita, probably for the use of the priests of ancient faith, since the island is rich in idols. He even was able to see the remains of the causeway extending in the dry season some three hundred and sixty yards from the shore; but a closer examination convinced Mr Squier that the supposed ruins were simply a natural formation whose extreme hardness had resisted better than the surrounding strata the action of the waves.[II-39]

On the slope of a small bowl-shaped valley near Leon is what the natives call the Capilla de la Piedra, a natural niche artificially enlarged in the face of a large rock facing the amphitheatre. It is spacious enough to accommodate four or five persons, and a large flat stone like an altar stands just at the entrance. At Subtiava, an Indian pueblo near Leon, is a stone mound, sixty by two hundred feet, and ten feet high, very like those at Zapatero, except that in this case the stones about the edges present some signs of regularity in their arrangement. It is very probably the ruin of some old temple-mound, and even in modern days the natives are known to have secretly assembled to worship round this stone-heap the gods of their antiquity. Several low rectangular mounds were also seen but not examined at the base of the volcano of Orota, north-east of Leon.[II-40]

[Sidenote: CHONTAL BURIAL MOUNDS.]

Returning to the south-eastern Chontal province, the only well-attested permanent monuments are burial mounds or cairns of stone, although the Chevalier Friederichsthal claims to have found here "remains of ancient towns and temples," which, nevertheless, he does not attempt to describe, and Mr Squier mentions a traditionary ruined city near Juigalpa.[II-41] The cairns are found in the regions about the towns of Juigalpa and Libertad, although exploration would doubtless reveal their existence elsewhere in the province. At both the places named they occur in great numbers over a large area. "At Libertad," says Mr Boyle, "graves were so plentiful we had only the embarrassment of choice. Every hill round was topped with a vine-bound thicket, springing, we knew, from the cairn of rough stone reverently piled above some old-world chieftain." No farther description can be given of them than that they are rectangular embankments of unhewn stone, built, in some cases at least, with regularly sloping sides, and of varying dimensions, the largest reported being one hundred and twenty by one hundred and seventy-five feet, and five feet high. Being opened they disclose earthen burial urns containing, as at Ometepec, human remains, both burned and unburned, and a great variety of stone and earthen relics both within and without the cinerary vase. The burial deposit is oftenest found above, but sometimes also below, the original surface of the ground. These cairns appear to have somewhat more regularity, on the exterior at least, than the stone tumuli of Ometepec. A more thorough examination of both is necessary before it can be determined whether or not the Ometepec mounds are, as Mr Squier believes, the ruins of teocallis and not tombs, and whether some of the Chontal cairns may not be the ruins or foundations of ancient structures. There can be little doubt that the Nicaraguans employed the mound-temple in their worship, and it is somewhat remarkable if modern fanaticism has left no traces of them; yet it is probable that wood entered more largely into their construction than in more northern climes. Mr Boyle found one grave near Juigalpa differing from the usual Chontal method of interment, and agreeing more nearly with that practiced in Mexico and Ometepec; and Mr Pim mentions the occurrence of numerous graves in the province, of much smaller size and of different proportions, the largest being twenty by twelve feet, and eight feet high.[II-42]

Near Juigalpa was seen a hill whose surface was covered with stones arranged in circles, squares, diamonds, and rays about a central stone;[II-43] also a hill of terrace-formation which from a distance seemed to be an aboriginal fortification.[II-44] In the same neighborhood is reported a series of trenches stretching across the country, one of them traced for over a mile, nine to twelve feet wide, widening at intervals into oval spaces from fifty to eighty feet in diameter, and these enlargements containing alternately two and four small mounds arranged in lines perpendicular to the general direction of the trench.[II-45] "Several rectangular parallelograms outlined in loose stone," in the vicinity of Libertad, are supposed by Mr Boyle to be Carib works, not connected with the Chontal burial system.[II-46]

I come secondly to the hieroglyphic figures cut or painted on Nicaraguan cliffs. These appear to belong for the most part to that lowest class of picture-writing common throughout the whole length of the North American continent, even in the territory of the most savage tribes. Doubtless many of these figures were executed in commemoration of events, and thus served temporarily as written records; but it is doubtful if the meaning of any of these inscriptions ever survived the generation which originated them, and certain that they are not understood by native or by antiquarian at the present day. It is not unlikely that some of them in Nicaragua may be rude representations of deities, and thus identified with the same gods preserved in stone, and with characters in the Aztec picture-writings; but the picture-writing of the Nicaraguan Nahuas, unlike that of their brethren of Anáhuac, was not committed to paper during the first years of the conquest, and has consequently been lost.

[Sidenote: CLIFF-CARVINGS AT MASAYA.]

At Guaximala a cave is mentioned having sculptures on the rocks at its entrance. The natives dared not cross the figured portal.[II-47] In the ravine near Masaya, already spoken of as the locality of the excavation known as El Baño, the steep side-cliffs are covered with figures roughly cut in outline, and often nearly obliterated by the ravages of time. They are shown in Squier's drawings on the following page, the order in which the groups occur being preserved.

Mr Squier detects among the objects thus rudely delineated, the sun twice represented, a shield, arrows or spears, the Xiuhatlatli of the Aztec paintings, which is an instrument for hurling spears, and a monkey. Besides the regular groups, isolated single figures are seen, among which the two characters shown in the accompanying cut are most frequently repeated. The same vicinity is reported to contain figures both painted and cut in other localities.[II-48]

[Sidenote: CLIFF-PAINTINGS AT NIJAPA.]

On the old crater-walls, five hundred feet in height at the lowest point, which inclose Lake Nijapa, a few miles south-west of Managua, are numerous figures painted in red. Portions of the walls have been thrown down by an earthquake, the débris at the water's edge being covered with intricate and curious red lines; and most of those still in place have been so defaced by the action of wind and water that their original appearance or connection cannot be distinguished.

Among the clearest of the paintings is the coiled feathered serpent shown in the cut. It is three feet in diameter, across the coil, and is painted forty feet up the perpendicular side of the precipice. This would seem to be identical with the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, or the Quiché Gucumatz, both of which names signify 'plumed serpent.' Of the remaining figures, shown in the cut on the following page, the red hand is of frequent occurrence here, and we shall meet it again farther north, especially in Yucatan. The central upper figure is thought by Mr Squier to resemble a character in the Aztec paintings; and among those thrown down the sun and moon are said to have been prominent.[II-49]

In the Chontal province none of these pictorial remains are reported, yet Mr Boyle believes that many of the ornamental figures on pottery and stone vessels are hieroglyphic in their nature; founding this opinion on the frequent repetition of complicated groups, as for instance that in the cut, which is repeated four times on the circumference of a bowl.[II-50]

[Sidenote: STONE STATUES OR IDOLS.]

Statues in stone, representing human beings generally, but in some cases animals and monsters also, have been found and described to the number of about sixty, constituting our third and the most interesting class of Nicaraguan relics. Ometepec, rich in pottery and other relics, and reported also to contain idols, has yielded to actual observation only the small animal couchant represented in the cut. It was secretly worshiped by the natives for many years, even in modern times, until this unorthodox practice was discovered and checked by zealous priests. This animal idol was about fourteen inches long and eight inches in height.[II-51]

[Sidenote: IDOLS ON ZAPATERO ISLAND.]

The island of Zapatero has furnished some seventeen idols, which are found in connection with the stone-heaps already described, lying for the most part wholly or partially buried in the sand and enveloped in a dense shrubbery. It is not probable that any one of them has been found in its original position, yet such is their size and weight that they are not likely to have been moved far from their primitive locality. Indeed Mr Squier, with a large force of natives, transformed into zealous antiquarians by a copious dispensation of brandy, had the greatest difficulty in placing them in an upright position. An ancient crater-lake conveniently near at hand accounts satisfactorily for the almost entire absence of smaller idols, and would doubtless have been the receptacle of their larger fellow-deities, had the strength of the priestly iconoclasts been in proportion to their godly spirit, as was the case with Mr Squier's natives. As it was they were obliged to content their religious zeal with overthrowing and defacing as far as possible these stone gods of the natives. There seems to be no regularity or system in the arrangement of the statues with respect to each other, and very little with respect to the stone mounds. It is probable, however, that, if the latter are indeed ruined teocallis, the statues stood originally round their base rather than on their summit. The idols of Zapatero, which is within the limits of the Niquiran or Aztec province, are larger and somewhat more elaborate in workmanship than those found elsewhere; and the genital organs appear on many of their number, indicating perhaps the presence here of the wide-spread phallic worship. The cuts show ten of the most remarkable of these monuments.

Fig. 1 is nine feet high and about three feet in diameter, cut from a solid block of black basalt. The head of the human figure crouching on its immense cylindrical pedestal forms a cross, a symbol not uncommon here or elsewhere in America. All the work, particularly the ornamental bands and the niches of unknown use or import in front, is gracefully and cleanly cut. Fig. 2 is a huge tiger eight feet high seated on a pedestal. The heads and other parts of different animals are often used in the adornment of partially human shapes both in stone work and pottery, but purely animal statues, intended as this apparently is, for idols, are rare. Fig. 3, an idol "of mild and benignant aspect" is shown in the leaning position in which it was found. Fig. 4, standing in the background, was raised from its fallen position to be sketched.

Fig. 5 represents a statue which, with its pedestal, is over twelve feet high. The well-carved head of a monster, two feet eight inches broad, surmounts the head of a seated human form, a common device in the fashioning of Nicaraguan gods. A peculiarity of this monument is that the arms are detached from the sides at the elbows; free-sculptured limbs being of rare occurrence in American aboriginal carvings. Fig. 6 is a slab three by five feet, bearing a human figure cut in high relief, the only sculpture of this kind discovered in Nicaragua. The tongue appears to hang upon the breast, and the eyes are merely two round holes. Fig. 7, on the following page, represents a crouching human form, on whose back is a tiger or other wild beast grasping the head in its jaws, a favorite method among these southern Nahua nations of representing in stone and clay the characteristics of what are presumably intended as beings to be worshiped. The expression of the features in the human face is described by Mr Squier as differing from any of the others found in this group. This idol and the following, with many other curious monuments of antiquity obtained by the same explorer, are now in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington.

Fig. 8 is carved on a slab five feet long and eighteen inches wide, representing a person who holds to his abdomen what seems to be a mask or a human face.

Fig. 9 is of very rude execution and seemingly represents a human figure wearing an animal mask, which is itself surmounted by another human face. Two small cup-shaped smoothly cut holes are also noted in the head-dress. Fig. 10 is a stone three feet and a half high, but slightly modified by the sculptor's art, which gave some semblance of the human form.

From the cuts given a good general idea of the Zapatero monuments may be obtained; of the others described, one is a man with a calm, mild expression of countenance, seated with knees at chin and hands on feet on a round-topped square pedestal which tapers towards the bottom.

[Sidenote: IDOLS AT GRANADA.]

Two statues from Zapatero stand at the street-corners of Granada; one, known as the Chiflador, is much broken; the other has the crouching animal on the human head. Another from the same island stands by the roadside at Dirioma, near Granada, where it serves as a boundary mark. According to Mr Boyle this statue is of red granite, and it seemed to Mr Squier more delicately carved than those at Zapatero.[II-52]

In the vicinity of the cairn already spoken of at the foot of Mount Mombacho, were found six statues with abundant fragments. One had what seemed a monkey's head, with three female breasts and a phallus among the complicated sculptures below; a rudely cut animal bore some resemblance to a bear; a broken figure is said by the natives to have represented, when whole, a woman with a child on her back. One female figure, of which there is no drawing, is pronounced by Mr Boyle "very far the best-drawn statue we found in Nicaragua." A sleeping figure with large ears, a natural face, absurd arms, and a phallus, with the life-sized corpse or sleeper of the cut complete the list.

Mr Boyle believes the statues of Mombacho, like other relics there found, to unite the styles of art of the Chontales and the Aztec natives of Ometepec; showing, besides the cairns, the simplicity of sculpture peculiar to the former, together with the superior skill in workmanship and the distinction of sex noticeable in the monuments of the latter.[II-53]

[Sidenote: IDOLS OF PENSACOLA ISLAND.]

Pensacola is one of the group of islands lying at the foot of Mt Mombacho in Lake Nicaragua. On this island the three statues shown in the following cuts have been dug up, having been buried there purposely by order of the catholic authorities in behalf of the supposed spiritual interests of the natives. Fig. 1 is cut from hard red sandstone; the human face is surmounted by a monster head, and by its side the open mouth and the fangs of a serpent appear. The limbs of this statue, unlike those of most Nicaraguan idols, are freely sculptured and detached so far as is consistent with safety.

Fig. 2 is an animal clinging to the back of a human being, concerning which Mr Squier remarks: "I never have seen a statue which conveyed so forcibly the idea of power and strength." The back is ribbed or carved to represent overlapping plates like a rude coat of mail, and the whole is nine feet high and ten feet in circumference. Fig. 3 is the head and bust--the lower portion having been broken off--of a hideous monster, with hanging tongue and large staring eyes, large ears, and distended mouth, "like some gray monster just emerging from the depths of the earth at the bidding of the wizard-priest of an unholy religion," not inappropriately termed 'el diablo' by the natives, when first it met their view.[II-54]

[Sidenote: MOMOTOMBITA RELICS.]

Momotombita Island formerly contained some fifty statues standing round a square, and facing inward, if, as Mr Squier believes, we may credit the native report. All are of black basalt, and have the sex clearly marked, a large majority representing males.

Fig. 1 is a statue noticeable for its bold and severe cast of features, and for what is conjectured to be a human heart held in the mouth, as is shown in the front view, Fig. 2. Fig. 3 was found at a street-corner at Managua, but had been brought originally from the island. Another, also from Momotombita, was found at Leon and afterwards deposited in the Smithsonian Institution. It evidently served as a support for some other object; the back is square and ribbed like the one at Pensacola, the eyes closed, and "the whole expression grave and serene." The colossal head shown in the cut on the preceding page was among the other fragments found on the island, where two groups of relics are said to exist, only one of which has been explored.[II-55]

The Piedra de la Boca is a small statue, or fragment, with a large mouth, standing at a street-corner in Granada, having been brought from one of the lake islands. The natives still have some feelings of dependence on this idol in times of danger. Several rudely carved, well-worn images stood also at the street-corners of Managua in 1838.[II-56]

[Sidenote: IDOLS OF SUBTIAVA.]

At the Indian pueblo of Subtiava near Leon many idols were dug up by the natives for Mr Squier, eight of them ranging from five and a half to eight feet in height and from four to five feet in circumference. The natives have always been in the habit of making offerings secretly to these gods of stone, and only a few months before Mr Squier's visit a stone bull had been broken up by the priests. About the large stone mound before described are numerous fragments, but only one statue entire, which is shown in Fig. 1. It projects six feet four inches above ground and is cut from sandstone. At the lower extremity of the flap which hangs from the belt in front is noted a cup-like hole large enough to contain about a quart. Fig. 2, of the same material, is two feet six inches in height, and represents a female either holding a mask over her abdomen, or holding open the abdomen for the face to look out. Fig. 3 and 4 show a front and rear view of another statue, in which the human face, instead of being surmounted by, looks out from the jaws of some animal. The features of the face had been defaced apparently by blows with a hammer; the ornamentation was thought to resemble somewhat that of the Copan statues. Others mentioned and sketched at Subtiava have a general resemblance to these.[II-57]

[Sidenote: IDOLS OF CHONTALES.]

The Chontal statues are divided by Mr Boyle into two classes; the first of which includes idols, with fierce and distorted features, never found on the graves, but often near them; while the second is composed of portrait-statues, always distinguished by closed eyes and a calm, "simple, human air about their features, however irregularly modeled." The latter are always found on or in the cairns under which bodies are interred, and are much more numerous than the idols proper. Unfortunately we have but few drawings in support of this theory. It is true that the two classes of features are noticeable elsewhere, as well as here, but the position of the statues does not seem to justify any such division into portraits and idols. Mr Boyle also believes the Chontal sculptures better modeled though less elaborate than those of the south-west.[II-58]

Fig. 1 is one of several statues found near Juigalpa; it is of the portrait class, and is remarkable for the wen over the eye and a cross on the breast. Fig. 2 is the head of another taken from a cairn near Libertad, and since used to prop up a modern wall. Fig. 3 is what Mr Pim terms a head-stone of one of the graves in the same locality. Many of the images have holes drilled through them; there is no distinction of sex, and here, as elsewhere, there is no attempt at drapery. Entire statues seem to be rare, but fragments very abundant. Mr Squier notes in all the Nicaraguan statues a general resemblance, but at the same time marked individuality, and deems it possible to identify many of them with the gods of the Mexican Pantheon.[II-59]

[Sidenote: NICARAGUAN WEAPONS.]

My fourth class includes weapons, implements, ornaments, and other miscellaneous articles of stone. There is a mention without description of arrow-heads and flint flakes dug up from the graves of Ometepec. Celts, much like those extant in European collections, are reported as of frequent occurrence; two of granite and one of basalt at Ometepec, and one of chipped flint at Zapatero, the latter being regular in outline, with a smooth sharp edge, believed by Mr Boyle to be of very rare form, and unique in America. Axes are also said to be numerous, there being specially mentioned one of basalt, broad and thin, from Ometepec; and a similar one, three or four inches wide, six inches long, and of a uniform thickness, not exceeding one third of an inch, from Zapatero.

Fig. 1 is a rude aboriginal weapon from a cairn near Libertad, called by Mr Pim a hatchet. Fig. 2 is an axe of syenite found by Mr Squier at Granada, where he states that similar relics are not uncommon. Fig. 3 is one of two very beautiful double-edged battle-axes from the Chontal cairns. It is of volcanic stone, twelve and a half inches long by seven and three fourths inches wide. Fig. 4 represents a flint axe from Zapatero Island as sketched by Mr Boyle. A knife ten inches long was also found by Pim in a Chontal grave.[II-60]

[Sidenote: STONE IMPLEMENTS AND ORNAMENTS.]

Stone vessels are rare, though a granite vase, eighteen inches high, as shown in the cut, was dug up at Brita, near Rivas; and two marble vases of very superior workmanship were found in a Libertad mound. One was of the tripod form and badly broken; the other was shaped like a can resting on a stand, with ornamental handles, and having its sides, not thicker than card-board, covered with grecs and arabesques.[II-61]

Metates occur often on both sides the lakes. The cut on the following page shows one dug up at Leon, being very similar to those still in use in the country, but more elaborate in its ornamentation. Those east of the lakes are flat instead of curved, but still superior to any now made, and in connection with them have been found the pestles with which maize was crushed.[II-62]

Broken pedestals and sculptured fragments whose original purpose is unknown occur frequently, and stone rattles were formerly found about Juigalpa. Beads of lava, basalt, and chalcedony, in collections suggestive of small necklaces, are numerous, particularly at Ometepec. Those of lava are often wonderfully wrought, about an inch long, ringed or grooved on the surface, pierced lengthwise with a hole only large enough to admit a fine thread, and yet the whole, of the most brittle material, not thicker than twine. Those of chalcedony are of larger size.[II-63]

The niche near Leon, known as the Capilla de la Piedra, had before its entrance a flat stone resembling an altar. At Zapatero Mr Squier found four stones also apparently intended for sacrificial purposes. One of these, an oval stone imbedded in the earth, and covered on its upper surface with inscribed characters, is shown in the cut. Near the Simon mine in Nueva Segovia, the north-eastern province of the state, was found by Mr Pim a broken font, the only relic of this region, on the exterior of which the following figure is carved, supposed to represent the sun. It has also the peculiarity of what seem intended for long moustaches.[II-64]

[Sidenote: NICARAGUAN POTTERY.]

The fifth class embraces all articles of pottery, abundant throughout the whole extent of the state, but especially so on the lake islands, where the natives actually dig them from the earth to supply their present needs. None of the localities which have yielded other relics is without its deposit of earthen ware, either whole or in fragments. The fact that vessels unearthed by the natives, when unbroken, are wholly uninjured by their long rest under a damp tropical soil, indicates their excellence in material and construction. It is not indeed probable that in material or methods of manufacture the ancient differed essentially from the modern pottery; but in skill and taste the former was unquestionably far superior. Mr Squier pronounces the work equal to the best specimens of the Mexican and Peruvian potters. He finds no evidence of the use of the wheel; Mr Boyle, however, thinks it was employed, but rarely. The clay varies from brown to black, and the glazing, often sufficiently thick to be chipped off with a knife, is usually of a whitish or yellowish hue. The colors with which most articles are painted are both brilliant and durable, red being a favorite. In some cases the paint seems to have penetrated the substance of the pottery, as if applied before the clay was dry. The figures of the cut illustrate the two most common forms of the cinerary, or burial, urns, both from Ometepec, the former sketched by Mr Boyle and the latter by Mr Squier. The urns contain a black sticky earth supposed to represent traces of burned flesh, and often unburned bones, skull, or teeth, together with a collection of the smaller relics which have been described. The bones of animals, deer-horns, and boar-tusks, and bone implements rarely or never occur. Earthen basins of different material and color from the urns are often--always in the Chontal graves--found inverted one over another to close the mouth. The burial vases are sometimes thirty-six inches long by twenty inches high, painted usually on the outside with alternate streaks of black and scarlet, while serpents or other ornaments are frequently relieved on the surface. One or two handles are in most cases attached to each. Mr Squier believes a human skull to have been the model of the urns. Five of them at Libertad are noticed as lying uniformly east and west. It appears evident that many of the articles found in or about the graves had no connection with burial rites, some of them having undoubtedly been buried to keep them from the hands of the Spaniards. The figures of the cuts, from Mr Boyle, show two forms of vessels which are frequently repeated among an infinite variety of other shapes. The tripod vase with hollow legs is a common form, of which Fig. 1 is a fine specimen from Ometepec, five and three fourths inches high, and six inches in diameter, with a different face on each leg. Fig. 2 is a bowl from Zapatero which occurs in great numbers, of uniform shape and decoration, but of varying size, being ordinarily, however, ten inches in diameter and four and one fourth inches high. Both inside and outside are painted with figures which from their uniformity in different specimens are deemed by Mr Boyle to have some hidden hieroglyphic meaning. It is also remarked that vessels intended to be of the same size are exactly equal in every respect. Another common vessel is a black jar, glazed and polished, about four inches high and five and one fourth inches in diameter, made of light clay, and having a simple wavy ornament round the rim. Animals or parts of animals, particularly alligators, often form a part of the ornamentation of pottery, but complete animals in clay are rare, a rude clay stag being the only relic of the kind reported. The device of a beast springing on the back of a human form, so frequent among the statues or idols, also occurs in terra cotta. The four figures of the cut show additional specimens in terra cotta from Mr Squier, of which Fig. 2 is from Ometepec.[II-64]

[Sidenote: RELICS OF THE USE OF METALS.]

It only remains to speak of the sixth and last class of Nicaraguan relics; viz., articles of metal, which may be very briefly disposed of. The only gold seen by any of our authorities was "a drop of pure gold, one inch long, precisely like the rattles worn by Malay girls," taken by Mr Boyle from a cinerary vase at Juigalpa. But all others mention small gold idols and ornaments which are reported to have been found, one of them weighing twenty-four ounces; so that there can be but little doubt that the ancient people understood to a limited extent the use of this precious metal, which the territory has never produced in large quantities. Copper, on the contrary, is said to be abundant and of a variety easily worked, and yet the only relic of this metal discovered is the copper mask, which Mr Squier supposes to represent a tiger's face, shown in the cut. It was presented to him by a man who claimed to have obtained it from Ometepec. Mr Boyle believes, with reason as I think, that in a country abounding in the metal, the skill and knowledge requisite to produce the mask would most certainly have left other evidences of its possession. The authenticity of this mask, when considered as a Nicaraguan relic, may be regarded as extremely problematical.[II-65]

Nicaraguan antiquities, concerning which I have now given all the information in my possession, give rise to but little discussion or visionary speculation. Indeed there is little of the mysterious connected with them, as they do not necessarily carry us farther back into the past than the partially civilized people that occupied the country in the sixteenth century. Not one relic has appeared which may not reasonably be deemed their work, or which requires the agency of an unknown nation of antiquity. Yet supposing Nicaragua to have been long inhabited by a people of only slightly varying stages of civilization, any one of the idols described may have been worshiped thousands of years before the Spanish conquest. The relics are over three hundred years old; nothing in themselves proves them to be less than three thousand. Comparison with more northern relics and history may fix their age within narrower limits.

FOOTNOTES:

[II-1] A general view of South American antiquities is given in another chapter of this volume.

[II-2] I might except a Roman coin of the time of Cæsar Augustus, and a buried ship, or galley, of antique model, said to have been discovered in early times by the Spaniards in the vicinity of Panamá, and which figured somewhat largely in early speculations on the question of American origin. I need not say that the evidence for the authenticity of such a discovery is extremely unsatisfactory. See: García, Orígen de los Ind., p. 174, with quotation from Marineo, Sumario, (Toledo, 1546,) fol. 19--apparently the original authority in the matter--and a reference to other editions and works; Solórzano Pereyra, De Ind. Jure, tom. i., p. 93; Id. Política Ind., tom. i., p. 22; Horn, Orig. Amer., p. 13; Simon, Noticias Historiales, (Cuença, 1626,) lib. i., cap. x.

[II-3] Authorities on the Isthmian antiquities are not numerous. Mr Berthold Seemann claims to have been the first to discover stone sculptures near David in 1848, and he read a paper on them before the Archæological Institute of London in 1851. He also briefly mentions them in his Voy. Herald, vol. i., pp. 312-13, for which work drawings were prepared but not published. Some of the drawings were, however, afterwards printed in Bollaert's Antiq. Researches in N. Granada, (Lond., 1860,) and a few cuts of inscribed figures also inserted with farther description by Seemann in Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 25-32. It is stated in the last-named work that M. Zeltner, French Consul at Panamá, whose private collection contained specimens from Chiriquí, published photographs of some of them with descriptive letter-press. Bollaert also wrote a paper on 'The Ancient Tombs of Chiriquí,' in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 151, 159. On various occasions from 1859 to 1865, travelers or residents on the Isthmus, chiefly parties connected with the Panamá railway, sent specimens, drawings, and descriptions to New York, where they were presented to the American Ethnological Society, or exhibited before and discussed by that body at its monthly meetings, an account of which may be found in the Hist. Mag., vol. iii., p. 240, vol. iv., pp. 47-8, 113, 144, 176-7, 239-41, 274, 338, vol. v., pp. 50-2, vol. vi., pp. 119, 154, vol. ix., p. 158. A report on the Chiriquí antiquities by Dr Merritt was printed by the same society. The above, with slight mentions in Cullen's Darien, p. 38, from Whiting and Shuman's Report on Coal Formations, April 1, 1851, and in Bidwell's Isthmus, pp. 37-8, from Hay's Report, in Powles' N. Granada, are the only sources of information on the subject with which I am acquainted.

[II-4] Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 25, 28-31; Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. i., pp. 312-13; Hist. Mag., vol. iv., p. 338.

[II-5] Hist. Mag., vol. ix., p. 158.

[II-6] Id., vol. iii., p. 240, vol. iv., pp. 47-8, 239-40.

[II-7] Three statues presented by Messrs Totten and Center in 1860 were about two feet high, of a dark, hard stone, in human form with features and limbs distorted. Two of them had square tapering pedestals apparently intended to support the figures upright in the ground. Id., vol. iv., p. 144.

[II-8] Id., vol. iv., pp. 239-40, 274.

[II-9] Hist. Mag., vol. iv., pp. 144, 177, 240-1, 274.

[II-10] Seemann's Voy. Herald, vol. i., p. 314.

[II-11] Cullen's Darien, p. 38.

[II-12] Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 25-32; Tate's Ancient British Sculptured Rocks.

[II-13] Bidwell's Isthmus, p. 37; Hist. Mag., vol. iv., p. 176.

[II-14] 'A much higher antiquity must be assigned to these hieroglyphics than to the other monuments of America.' Voy. Herald, vol. i., p. 313.

[II-15] Hist. Mag., vol. v., p. 50.

[II-16] Vol. i., chap. vii. of this work.

[II-17] Merritt and Davis, in Hist. Mag., vol. iv., pp. 176, 274.

[II-18] In a work which I have not seen. That author's Coup d'Œuil sur la République de Costa Rica, and Memoir on the Boundary Question, furnish no information on the subject.

[II-19] Wagner and Scherzer, Costa Rica, pp. 465-6, 471, 522-4, 561.

[II-20] Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., pp. 338-9, and plate.

[II-21] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., p. 86; Hist. Mag., vol. vi., p. 119.

[II-22] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 25-6.

[II-23] Meagher, in Harper's Mag., vol. xx., p. 317.

[II-24] Reichardt, Cent. Amer., pp. 121-2.

[II-25] Squier's Nicaragua, p. 511.

[II-26] Pownal, in Archæologia, vol. v., p. 318, pl. xxvi.; Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., p. 205, pl. xiii.; (Ed. in folio, pl. xxxix.); Id., in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., pp. 27-8, tom. ii., suppl. pl. vii., fig. xi.

[II-27] Colon, Carta, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, tom. i., p. 307; Helps' Span. Conq., vol. ii., p. 138.

[II-28] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 296-9; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, p. 401.

[II-29] Bard's (E. G. Squier) Waikna, or Adventures on the Mosquito Shore, pp. 216-17, 254, 258-60. The 'King of the Mosquitos' somewhat severely criticised the work, in which, by the way, His Royal Highness is not very reverently spoken of, as 'a pack of lies, especially when it was notorious that the author had never visited the Mosquito Coast.' Pim and Seemann's Dottings, p. 271. 'Le désert qui s'étend le long de la côte de la mer des Antilles, depuis le golfe Dulce jusqu'à l'isthme de Darien, n'a pas offert jusqu'à présent de vestiges indiquant que le peuple auquel on doit les monuments de Palenquè, de Quiragua, de Copan, ait émigré au sud de l'isthme.' Friederichsthal, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 301.

[II-30] Squier's Nicaragua; Boyle's Ride Across a Continent. Mr E. G. Squier resided in Nicaragua as Chargé d'Affaires of the United States during the year 1849-50. On account of his position he was afforded facilities for research not enjoyed by other foreigners, and which his well-known antiquarian tastes and abilities prompted and enabled him to use to the best advantage during the limited time left from official duties. Besides the several editions of the work mentioned, Mr Squier's accounts or fragments thereof have been published in periodicals in different languages; while other authors have made up almost wholly from his writings their brief descriptions of Nicaraguan antiquities. See Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 341; Sivers, Mittelamerika, pp. 128-35; Tiedemann, in Heidelberger Yahrb., 1851, pp. 81, 91, 170; Müller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 463, 484, 498, 544; Andree, in Westland, tom. ii., pp. 3, 251; Heine, Wanderbilder, p. 181; Holinski, La Californie, p. 252; Baldwin's Anc. Amer., p. 124. Frederick Boyle, F.R.G.S., visited the country in 1865-6, with the examination of antiquities as his main object. Both works are illustrated with plates and cuts; and both authors brought away interesting specimens which were deposited by the American in the Smithsonian Institution, and by the Englishman in the British Museum. 'J'avoue n'avoir rien rencontré d'important dans mes lectures, en ce qui touche les états de Costa Rica et de Nicaragua.' Dally, Races Indig., p. 12.

[II-31] 'Nicht ... von abgesonderten Steinen umgeben, sondern fanden sich, in einer Tiefe von drei Fuss, unregelmässig über die Ebene zerstreut.' Friederichsthal, in Sivers, Mittelamerika, p. 128; 'Les îles du lac, notamment Ométépé semblent avoir servi de sépultures à la population des villes environnantes, ... car on y rencontre de vastes nécropoles ou villes des morts, ressemblant par leur caractère à celles des anciens Mexicains.' Id. in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 297; in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 100; Woeniger, in Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 509-10; Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., p. 86.

[II-32] Plan showing their relative position, in Squier's Nicaragua, p. 477.

[II-33] 'On y trouve (sur les îles du lac) encore un grand nombre de débris de constructions antiques.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., p. 135.

[II-34] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., p. 42.

[II-35] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 439-41.

[II-36] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 10-11.

[II-37] Id., vol. ii., pp. 161-2; Squier's Nicaragua, p. 396.

[II-38] 'Ils montrent avec effroi les débris de la cité maudite, encore visibles sous la surface des eaux.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., p. 149.

[II-39] Belcher's Voyage, vol. i., p. 171; Squier's Nicaragua, p. 299.

[II-40] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 306-8; Id., (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 335.

[II-41] Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 100; Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1811, tom. xcii., p. 297; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 335.

[II-42] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 159-61, 195-212, 291; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, p. 126; On the buildings of the ancient Nicaraguans, see vols. ii. and iii. of this work; also Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 114; Peter Martyr, dec. vi., lib. v.; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., pp. 335-6.

[II-43] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 154-5.

[II-44] Froebel, Aus Amer., tom. i., pp. 379-80; Id., Cent. Amer., pp. 119-20.

[II-45] Livingston, in Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., pp. 334-5.

[II-46] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., p. 212.

[II-47] Heine, Wanderbilder, p. 181.

[II-48] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 435-41; 'Sur les parois du rocher on voit encore des dessins bizarres gravés et peints en rouge, tels que les donne M. Squier.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., p. 147.

[II-49] Mr Boyle found the cliff-paintings to have suffered much since Mr Squier's visit, thirteen years before; so much so that none could be made out except the winged snake and red hand. He also states that yellow as well as red pictures are here to be seen. Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 160-1; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 391-6. In a letter, a fragment of which is published in the Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1850, p. 364, Mr Squier declares the paintings precisely in the style of the Mexican and Guatemalan MSS., closely resembling, some of the figures indeed identical with, those of the Dresden MS. Pim and Seemann, Dottings, p. 401, also noted the 'coiled-up lizard' and other pictures, calling the locality Asososca Lake. Scherzer, Wanderungen, p. 72, and Trav., vol. i., p. 77, mentions also sculptured figures on this crater-wall.

[II-50] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 142-3.

[II-51] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 510-17. There were formerly many idols resembling those of Zapatero, but they have been buried or broken up. A group is reported still to be found near the foot of Mt Madeira, but not seen. Woeniger, in Id., p. 509. Froebel, Aus Amer., tom. i., p. 261.

[II-52] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 180, 470-90, 496; Id., (ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 336; Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1851, p. 388. 'L'île de Zapatero a fourni des idoles qui sont comme des imitations grossières du fameux colosse de Memnon, type connu de cette impassibilité réfléchie que les Égyptiens donnaient à leurs dieux.' Holinski, La Californie, p. 252. 'There still exist on its surface some large stone idols.' Scherzer's Trav., vol. i., p. 31. 'Statues d'hommes et d'animaux d'un effet grandiose, mais d'un travail qui annonce une civilisation moins avancée que celle de l'Yucatan ou du Guatémala.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., p. 135; Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., p. 122.

[II-53] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 42-7; Friederichsthal, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 100; Id., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 297.

[II-54] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 448-57. The head of fig. 1 is the Mexican sign tochtli. The animal in fig. 2 may be intended for an alligator. Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1851, p. 387.

[II-55] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 285-7, 295-301, 402; Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1850, p. 363; Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 341.

[II-56] Belcher's Voyage, vol. i., p. 172; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 179, 402.

[II-57] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 264-5, 301-7: 'Some of the statues have the same elaborate head-dresses with others of Copan; one bears a shield upon his arm; another has a girdle, to which is suspended a head.' Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1850, p. 363.

[II-58] If idols, to Mr Boyle they indicate a worship of ancestors, of which, however, there seems to be no historical evidence. Mr Pim suggests that the idols of mild expression may be those worshiped before, and those of more ferocious aspect after, the coming of the Aztecs.

[II-59] The other Chontal statues more or less fully described are the following: A huge monolith, of which twelve feet six inches were unearthed, having a cross on the breast with two triangles, and the arms and legs doubled back; a head four feet eight inches in circumference, and one foot ten inches high; an idol four feet eight inches high, wearing on its head an ornamented coronet, resembling a circlet of overlapping oyster-shells, with a cross on the left shoulder and a richly carved belt; a stone woman thirty-seven inches high, having the left corner of the mouth drawn up so as to leave a round hole between the lips, and the arms crossed at right angles from the elbows; a very rude idol with pointed cap, holes for eyes, and a slit for a mouth, whose modern use is to grind corn; and lastly, a statue with beard and whiskers. Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 147-9, 158-64, 210-12, 242, 290-5; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 126-8.

[II-60] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 290-1, vol. ii., pp. 97, 144-5; Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 339; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 126-7.

[II-61] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 200-2, 209, vol. ii., pp. 45-6; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 515, 521; cut of the leg of a stone vase, Id., (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 339.

[II-62] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 256-7.

[II-63] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 150-2, 159, vol. ii., pp. 43, 98; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 521-2; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 126-7.

[II-64] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 307-8, 476, 488; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, p. 128.

[II-64] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 150-1, 201, 209, vol. ii., pp. 45, 86, 90-7; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 299, 490, 509-10; Id., (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., pp. 335-8, 362; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, p. 126; Sivers, Mittelamerika, pp. 128-9.

[II-65] Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pp. 150-1, vol. ii., p. 87; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 509-11.

III. ANTIQUITIES OF SALVADOR AND HONDURAS. RUINS OF COPAN

SALVADOR -- OPICO REMAINS -- MOUNDS OF JIBOA -- RELICS OF LAKE GUIJAR -- HONDURAS -- GUANAJA -- WALL -- STONE CHAIRS -- ROATAN -- POTTERY -- OLANCHO RELICS -- MOUNDS OF AGALTA AND ABAJO -- HACIENDA OF LABRANZA -- COMAYAGUA -- STONE DOG-IDOL -- TERRACED MOUNDS OF CALAMULLA -- TUMULI ON RIO CHIQUINQUARE -- EARTHEN VASES OF YARUMELA -- FORTIFIED PLATEAU OF TENAMPUA -- PYRAMIDS, ENCLOSURES, AND EXCAVATIONS -- STONE WALLS -- PARALLEL MOUNDS -- CLIFF-CARVINGS AT ARAMACINA -- COPAN -- HISTORY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY -- PALACIO, FUENTES, GALINDO, STEPHENS, DALY, ELLERY, HARDCASTLE, BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG -- PLAN OF RUINS RESTORED -- QUARRY AND CAVE -- OUTSIDE MONUMENTS -- ENCLOSING WALLS -- THE TEMPLE -- COURTS -- VAULTS -- PYRAMID -- IDOLS -- ALTARS -- MISCELLANEOUS RELICS -- HUMAN REMAINS -- LIME -- COLOSSAL HEADS -- REMARKABLE ALTARS -- GENERAL REMARKS.

[Sidenote: ANTIQUITIES OF SALVADOR.]

Following the continent westward from Nicaragua, we have the state of Salvador on the Pacific side, stretching some one hundred and eighty miles from the gulf of Fonseca to the Rio de Paza, the Guatemalan boundary, and extending inland about eighty miles. Here, in the central province of San Vicente, a few miles southward from the capital city of the same name, I find the first well-authenticated instance in our progress northward of the occurrence of ruined edifices. But of these ruins we only know that they are the most imposing monuments in the state, covering nearly two square miles at the foot of the volcano of Opico, and that they consist of "vast terraces, ruins of edifices, and circular and square towers, and subterranean galleries, all built of cut stones. A single carving has been found here, on a block of stone eight feet long by four broad. It is in the true Mexican style, representing probably a prince or great warrior."[III-1] Several mounds, considerable in size and regular in outline, were noted on the plain of Jiboa west of San Vicente; also similar ones near Sonsonato in the south-western portion of the state. In the north-west on the Guatemalan boundary, aboriginal relics are vaguely reported on the islands of Lake Guijar, but of them nothing is known.[III-2] And concerning Salvador monuments nothing further is to be said, although Mr Squier heard of ruins in that state rivaling in extent and interest the famous Copan.[III-3]

* * * * *

On the other side of the continent, reaching also across to the Pacific at the gulf of Fonseca, north of Nicaragua, the Mosquito coast, and Salvador, is the state of Honduras. It extends over three hundred and fifty miles westward along the Atlantic shore, from Cape Gracias á Dios nearly to the narrowest point of the isthmus where America is a second time so nearly cut in twain by the gulfs of Honduras and Dulce. The mountain chains which skirt the valley of the Motagua on the south, known as the sierras of Grita, Espíritu Santo, Merendon, Copan, etc., form the boundary line between Honduras and Guatemala. The northern coast, closely resembling in its general character the Mosquito shore, has preserved along its marshy lagoons, so far as they have been explored, no traces of its early occupants. Yet on the coast islands some relics appear. On that of Guanaja, whence in 1502 Columbus first beheld the continent of North America, is reported a wall of considerable extent, only a few feet high, with three-legged stone chairs fixed at intervals in rude niches or fissures along its sides. Chair-shaped excavations in solid rock occur at several other points on the island, together with rudely molded but fantastically decorated vessels of earthen ware. The Guanaja remains are chiefly found in the vicinity of the Savanna Bight Kay.[III-4] On the neighboring island of Roatan fragments of aboriginal pottery and small stone idols are found scattered through the forest.[III-5]

The eastern interior of Honduras, by reason of its gold mines, has been more extensively explored than the Mosquito region farther south; yet with respect to the departments of Olancho and Tegucigalpa I only find the statement by Mr Wells that "mounds containing specimens of ancient pottery are often met with by the vaqueros while exploring the gloomy depths of the forest, but these seldom survive the destructive curiosity of the natives;" this chiefly in the valleys of Agalta and Abajo, and on the hacienda of Labranza. The pottery takes the form of pans and jars to the number of ten to thirty in each mound; no idols or human remains having been reported.[III-6]

[Sidenote: COMAYAGUA RELICS.]

Still farther west, in the valley of Comayagua, midway between the oceans, about the head-waters of the rivers, to which the names Ulua, Goascoran, and Choluteca are applied as often as any others on the maps, there are abundant works of the former natives, made known, but unfortunately only described in part, by Mr Squier. These works chiefly occur on the terraces of the small branch valleys which radiate from that of Comayagua as a centre, in localities named as follows: Chapulistagua, Jamalteca, Guasistagua, Chapuluca, Tenampua, Maniani, Tambla, Yarumela, Calamulla, Lajamini, and Cururu. The ruins are spoken of in general terms as consisting of "large pyramidal, terraced structures, often faced with stones, conical mounds of earth, and walls of stone. In these, and in their vicinity, are found carvings in stone, and painted vases of great beauty." Concerning most of the localities mentioned we have no further details, and must form an idea of their nature from the few that are partially described, since a similarity is apparent between all the monuments of the region.

About Comayagua, or Nueva Valladolid, we are informed that "hardly a step can be taken in any direction without encountering evidences of aboriginal occupation," the only relic specified, however, being a stone idol of canine form now occupying a position in the walls of the church of Our Lady of Dolores. At Tambla, some leagues south-east of Comayagua, was found the fossil skeleton of a mastodon, whose tooth is shown in the cut, imbedded in a sandstone formation.[III-7] One of the stratified sandstone terraces of the sierra south-west of Comayagua forms a fertile table over three thousand feet above the level of the sea; and on its surface, in an area of ten or twelve acres inclosed by a spring-fed mountain stream, are the ruins of Calamulla, consisting simply of mounds. Of these, two are large, one about one hundred feet long, with two stages, having a flight of steps on the western slope. It shows clear traces of having been originally faced with flat stones, now for the most part removed. Most of the mounds are of earth in terraces, and some of rectangular outline have a small conical mound raised a few feet above the surface of their upper platform. Stone-heaps of irregular form also occur; perhaps places of sepulture; at least differing in their use from the tumuli of more regular outlines which may readily be imagined once to have supported superimposed structures of more perishable materials. The natives have traditions, probably unfounded, of subterranean chambers and galleries beneath this spot. In the same vicinity, near the banks of the Rio Chiquinguare, and about a league from the pueblo of Yarumela, is another group of mounds, lying partly in the forest and partly in lands now under native cultivation. These remains, although in a more advanced state of ruin, are very similar to those of the Calamulla group. It is noted, however, that the tumuli are carefully oriented, and that some have stone steps in the centre of each side. In one or two cases there even remained standing portions of cut-stone walls. Local tradition, which as a rule amounts to nothing in such cases, seems to indicate that these structures were already in a ruined state before the Spanish conquest. At the town of Yarumela, and presumably taken from the group described, were seen, besides a few curiously carved stones, six earthen vases of superior workmanship and design, one of which is represented in the cut, together with separate and enlarged portions of its ornamentation, which is both carved and painted. The flying deity painted in outline on one of its faces is pronounced by Mr Squier identical with one of the characters of the Dresden Codex.[III-8]

[Sidenote: RUINS OF TENAMPUA.]

At Tenampua, or Pueblo Viejo, twenty miles south-east of Comayagua, near Flores, is a hill of white stratified sandstone, whose sides rise precipitously to a height of sixteen hundred feet above the level of the surrounding plain. The summit forms a level plateau one half a mile wide and one mile and a half long from east to west. On the eastern half chiefly, but also spreading over the whole surface of this lofty plateau, is the most extensive group of ancient works in the whole region, and in fact the only one of which we have a description at all in detail. As in the other localities of this part of the state, the group is made up for the most part of rectangular oriented mounds, some of stone, but most of earth, with a stone facing. The smaller mounds are apparently arranged in groups according to some system; they vary in size from twenty to thirty feet in height, having from two to four stages. The larger pyramidal tumuli are from sixty to one hundred feet long and of proportionate width and altitude, with in many cases a flight of steps in the centre of the side facing the west.

[Sidenote: RUINS OF TENAMPUA.]

The structures that have been described are as follows, it being understood that they are but a part of the whole: A mound located on the very edge of the southern precipice commands a broad view over the whole plain of Comayagua, and its position suggests its possible aboriginal use as a station for fire-signals. Just north of this is an excavation, or perhaps a small natural valley, whose sides are faced with stone in steps leading up the slope on all four sides. In the centre of the eastern half of the plain, and consequently in the midst of the principal ruins, is what may be regarded as the chief structure of the group, commanding a view of all the rest. The annexed cut, made up from the description, will aid in giving a clear idea of the work. Two stone walls, an outer and an inner, about ten feet apart, each two feet thick, of which only a few feet in height remain standing, enclose a rectangular area of one hundred and eighty by three hundred feet. Cross-walls at regular intervals divide the space between the two into rectangular apartments now filled with earth to a depth of two feet. The walls terminate on the western side in two oblong terraced mounds between which is the only entrance to the enclosure; while on the opposite side in a corresponding position on the eastern wall is a mound equal in bulk to both the western ones combined. Within the inclosure is a large pyramidal mound in three stages, with a flight of steps on the west, situated just south of a central east and west line. From its south-west corner a line of imbedded stones runs to the southern wall; and between the pyramid and the gateway is a small square of stones. A similar mound, also provided with a stairway, is found in the north-east corner of the enclosure. The stones of which the walls and facings are made, indeed of all the stone work at Tenampua, are not hewn, but very carefully laid, no mention being made of mortar. All the structures are carefully oriented. At the south-east corner of the plateau is a second enclosure which has a gateway in the centre of each of its four equal sides, but whose dimensions are not given. This has in its area two mounds, each with a stairway. Elsewhere, its location on the plateau not being stated, is a raised terrace, or platform, three hundred and sixty feet long, containing one of the most remarkable features of the place, in the form of two parallel mounds one hundred and forty feet long, thirty-six feet wide at the base, ten feet high, and forty feet apart at their inner and lower edges. The outer sides have double walls like those of the chief enclosure, divided into three compartments, and having served apparently as the foundations of three separate buildings. The inner side of each mound slopes in three terraces, the lower ones being faced with large flat stones set upright. In a line with the centre between these parallels and at a distance of one hundred and twenty paces is a mound with a stairway on its southern slope, and at a distance of twenty-four paces on the same line, but in a direction not stated, are two large stones carefully placed with a space of one foot between them. The conjectural use of these parallels, like that of somewhat similar ones which we shall meet elsewhere, is for the accommodation of the ancient nobility or priesthood in their games or processions. On the west end of the plateau are two perpendicular excavations in the rock, twenty feet square and twelve feet deep, with a gallery three feet square leading northward from the bottom of each. The natives have an idea that these passages lead to the ruins of Chapulistagua, but they are probably of natural formation with artificial improvements, and of no great extent. The remains of a pyramid are found in the vicinity of the holes. Near the centre of the plateau, in a spot naturally low and marshy, are two large square excavations which may have been reservoirs. In addition to the works described are over three hundred mounds or truncated pyramids of different sizes, scattered over the surface of the plateau, to the location and arrangement of which, in the absence of a plan, we have no guide. They are covered with a heavy growth of timber, some of them supporting pine-trees two feet in diameter. Only one was opened and its interior found to consist simply of earth, except the upper terrace which was ashes and burned matter, containing fragments of pottery and of obsidian knives. The pottery is chiefly in the form of small flat pans and vases, all decorated with simple painted figures; and one small gourd-shaped vase, nearly entire, was filled with some black indurated matter so hard as not to be removable. As to the original purposes to which the structures of Tenampua were devoted, speculation points with much plausibility to religious ceremonies and temples in the case of the enclosures and larger pyramids; to sepulchral rites in that of the smaller mounds; while the strong natural position of the works on a plateau with high, precipitous, and at nearly every point inaccessible sides, indicates that defense was an important consideration with the builders. The supposed reservoirs favor this theory, which is rendered a certainty by the fortifications which protect the approach to the plateau at the only accessible points, on three narrow ridges connecting this hill with others of the range. These fortifications are walls of rough stone, from six to fifteen feet high and ten to twenty feet thick at the base, according to the weakness or strength of the location. Gullies on the slopes which might afford a cover for approaching foes are carefully filled with stones; and the walls themselves, which also have traces of towers at intervals, while presenting a perpendicular exterior, are terraced on the inside for the convenience of the defenders. Yet the poor thin soil, incapable of supporting a large number of people, indicates that it was not probably a fortified town, but that it must be regarded as a place sacred to the gods, to be defended to the last, and possibly a refuge for the people of the towns below in cases of extreme danger.[III-9]

[Sidenote: CLIFF-CARVINGS OF ARAMACINA.]

Southward from Comayagua, toward the Pacific shore, we find relics of former times near Aramacina, in the Goascoran region. Here the smooth vertical face of a sandstone ledge forms one side of a natural amphitheatre, and is covered, for a space of one hundred by fifteen feet, with engraved figures cut to a depth of two and a half inches, the incisions serving as convenient steps by which to mount the cliff. Some of the engravings have been destroyed by modern quarry-men; of those remaining some seem to be ornamental and arbitrary, while in others the forms of men and animals may be distinguished. They are pronounced by the observer identical in style with the inscriptions of Nicaragua and Salvador, of whose existence in the latter state we have no other intimation.[III-10]

* * * * *

But one group of antiquities in Honduras remains to be described,--Copan, the most wonderful of all, and one of the most famous of American ruins. The location is in a most fertile tobacco-producing region near the Guatemalan boundary, on the eastern bank of the Rio Copan, which flows northward to join the Motagua some fifty miles below the ruins, at a point something more than one hundred miles above its mouth in the bay of Honduras.[III-11]

Some rapids occur in the Copan River below the ruins, but in the season of high water it is navigable for canoes for a greater part of its course. The name Copan, so far as can be known, was applied to the ruins simply from their vicinity to an adjacent hamlet or Indian pueblo so named, which is located at the mouth of a small stream, called Sesesmil by Col. Galindo, which empties into the Copan a little higher up. This pueblo has greatly deteriorated in later times; formerly both town and province were rich and prosperous. Indeed, in the sixteenth century, in the revolt which broke out soon after the first conquest, the cacique of Copan resisted the Spanish forces long after the neighboring provinces had been subdued. Driven eventually to his chief town, he opposed barricades and ditches to the advancing foe, but was at last forced after a desperate struggle to yield to Hernando de Chaves in 1530. It was formerly supposed that the place where he made his brave stand against Chaves was identical with the ancient city since called Copan, its ruin dating from its fall in 1530. It is now believed, however, that there was no connection whatever between the two, and that, so far as the ruined city of antiquity is concerned, history is absolutely silent. This conclusion is based on the facts that Cortés in his famous march through Honduras in 1524, although passing within a few leagues of this place, heard nothing of so wonderful a city, as he could hardly have failed to do had it been inhabited at the time; that there is not the slightest resemblance between the ruined structures to be described in these pages and the town besieged by Chaves as reported in the chronicles of the period; and above all that the ruins are described by Palacio as being very nearly in their present state, with nothing but the vaguest traditions respecting their origin, only about forty years after the fall of the brave cacique, the latter fact, however, not having been known to those authors who have stated that Copan was inhabited at the conquest.[III-12]

[Sidenote: EXPLORATION OF THE RUINS.]

This region has never been really explored with a view to the discovery of ancient relics. The few visitors, of whose explorations I give the history and bibliography in full in the annexed note,[III-13] have found enough of the wonderful in the monuments known to exist since the sixteenth century, without pushing their investigations back into the dense and almost impenetrable forest away from the immediate banks of the river. The difficulty attending antiquarian research in a country where the whole surface is covered with so dense a growth that progress in any direction is possible only foot by foot with the aid of the native machete, may be imagined. A hot climate, a moist and malarious atmosphere, venomous serpents and reptiles, myriads of diminutive demons in the form of insects, all do most vigorous battle against the advances of the foreign explorer, while the apathetic natives, whether of American or Spanish blood, feel not the slightest enthusiasm to unveil the mysterious works of the antiguos.

For what is known of Copan the world is indebted almost entirely to the works of the American traveler, Mr John L. Stephens, and of his most skilful artist-companion, Mr F. Catherwood;[III-14] and from the works of these gentlemen, with the slight notes to be gleaned from other sources, I proceed to give all that is known of what is commonly termed the oldest city on the American continent. I will begin by giving Juarros' description in full, since few or none of the objects mentioned by him can be identified with any of those met in the following pages. "In the year 1700, the Great Circus of Copan, still remained entire. This was a circular space, surrounded by stone pyramids about six yards high, and very well constructed; at the bases of these pyramids were figures, both male and female, of very excellent sculpture, which then retained the colours they had been enamelled with; and, what was not less remarkable, the whole of them were habited in the Castilian costume. In the middle of this area, elevated above a flight of steps, was the place of sacrifice. The same author (Fuentes) relates that, at a short distance from the Circus, there was a portal constructed of stone, on the columns of which were the figures of men, likewise represented in Spanish habits, with hose, ruff round the neck, sword, cap, and short cloak. On entering the gateway there are two fine stone pyramids, moderately large and lofty, from which is suspended a hammock that contains two human figures, one of each sex, clothed in the Indian style. Astonishment is forcibly excited on viewing this structure, because, large as it is, there is no appearance of the component parts being joined together; and, although entirely of stone, and of an enormous weight, it may be put in motion by the slightest impulse of the hand. Not far from this hammock is the cave of Tibulca; this appears like a temple of great size, hollowed out of the base of a hill, and adorned with columns having bases, pedestals, capitals and crowns, all accurately adjusted according to architectural principles; at the sides are numerous windows faced with stone exquisitely wrought. All these circumstances lead to a belief that there must have been some intercourse between the inhabitants of the old and new world at very remote periods."[III-15]

[Sidenote: EXTENT OF THE RUINS.]

The ruins are always spoken of as extending two miles along the bank of the river; yet all the structures described or definitely located by any visitor, are included in the much smaller area shown on Mr Stephens' plan, with, however, the following exceptions: "A stone wall with a circular building and a pit, apparently for a reservoir," is found about a mile up the river; the quarry which supplied material for all the structures and statues,--a soft grit interspersed with hard flinty lumps,--is in a range of hills two miles north of the river, where are scattered many blocks rejected by the ancient workers, one being seen on the very top of the range, and another, the largest noted, half-way between the quarry and its destination at the ruins; Fuentes' wonderful cave of Tibulca is in the same range of hills, and may be identical with the quarry, or, as Col. Galindo thinks, with a natural cave in a mountain two leagues distant; one monument is mentioned at a distance of a mile across the river on the summit of a mountain two thousand feet high, but this does not appear to have been visited; and finally, the natives reported to Mr Hardcastle a causeway in the forest, several leagues in length. Yet although so very little is known of outside monuments, there can be no doubt that such exist, not improbably of great extent and interest; since, although heaps of ruins and fragments are vaguely reported in every direction, no attempt at a thorough examination has ever been made or indeed could be, except by removing the whole forest by a conflagration during the dry season.[III-16]

The plan on the opposite page shows the ruins in their actual state, according to Mr Stephens' survey, together with a restoration to what seems to have been something like their original condition. The union of the two effects in one plate is, I believe, a sufficient reason for indulging to this extent in a fancy for restoration, justly condemned by antiquarians as a rule.[III-17]

Returning then to the limits of the plan, we find portions of a wall, a, a, a, which when entire, as indicated by the dotted lines, seems to have enclosed a nearly rectangular area, measuring in general terms 900 by 1600 feet. Whatever treasures of antiquity may be hid in the depths of the forest, there can be but little doubt that this enclosure embraced the leading structures or sacred edifices of the ancient town. These walls would seem at least twenty-five feet thick at the base, and are built, like all the Copan structures, of large blocks of cut stone, of varying but not expressly stated dimensions. They are built, in parts at least, in terraces or steps, and painted. Only one authority speaks of the use of mortar.[III-18]

[Sidenote: THE GREAT TEMPLE.]

In the north-west corner of the enclosure, nearly filling its northern half, is the chief structure which has been called the Temple. Its dimensions are 624 feet north and south by 809 feet east and west.[III-19] From the remains the Temple in its original state is seen to have been an immense terrace, with sides sloped toward the land but perpendicular on the river, on the platform of which were both pyramidal elevations and sunken courts of regular rectangular outlines. The river wall, b, c, rises perpendicularly to a height, in its present ruined state, of from sixty to ninety feet, and the annexed cut gives its appearance from the opposite side of the river; but the original elevation of the terrace overlooking the river, judging from portions still intact, was about a hundred feet, some twenty-five or thirty feet of this elevation, at least at the northern end, being, however, the height of the original bank above the water; so that the terrace-platform of the whole Temple, d, d, d, must have been about seventy feet above the surface of the ground. The whole is built of cut stone in blocks a foot and a half wide by three to six feet long, and, without taking into account the excess of superimposed pyramids over sunken courts, must have required in round numbers over twenty-six million cubic feet of stone in its construction.[III-20]

The land sides on the north, east, and south, slope by steps of about eighteen inches each to a height of from thirty to 140 feet according as they are more or less fallen, extending also in some parts to the general level of the terrace-platform, and in others reaching in one incline to the top of the upper pyramids, E, E.[III-21] On the main platform are two sunken rectangular courts, marked on the plan A and B, whose floors or pavements seem to be about forty feet above the surface of the ground, and thirty feet below the level of the terrace. The court A is ninety by 144 feet, and ascends on all sides in regular steps like a Roman amphitheatre. The west side ascends in two flights each of fifteen steps, separated by a terrace twelve feet wide, to the platform overlooking the river, on which, at i, are the ruins of what were apparently two circular towers. From a point half-way up the steps a passage or gallery m, n, just large enough to afford passage to a crawling man, leads horizontally through to the face of the river-wall, the opening in which, visible from the opposite bank, has given to the ruins the name among the natives of Las Ventanas. Just below the entrance to this gallery, at o, is a pit five feet square, and seventeen feet deep, from the bottom of which a passage leads into a vault five feet wide, ten feet long, and four feet high, which, according to Col. Galindo's measurement, is twelve feet below the pavement of the court; the opening into this pit, at o, seems however to have been made by Galindo by excavation. The entrance to the court A is by the passage-way, C, C, from the north, the floor of which is on a level with that of the court. Similar steps lead up to the river-terrace on the west, while the pyramid D on the east rises to a height of 122 feet on the slope in steps or stages each six feet high and nine feet wide. The passage-way is thirty feet wide and over 300 feet long, and it seems probable that a flight of steps originally led up to the level of its entrance at p. The Court B is larger, but its steps are nearly all fallen, and it is now only remarkable for its altar, which will be described elsewhere.[III-22]

As I have said, all the steps and sides bear evident traces of having been originally painted. The whole structure is enveloped in a dense growth of shrubs and trees, which have been the chief agents in its ruin, penetrating every crevice with their roots and thus forcing apart the carefully laid superficial stones. Two immense ceiba-trees over six feet in diameter, with roots spreading from fifty to one hundred feet, are found on the summit of the lofty pyramid D.

[Sidenote: PYRAMIDS AT COPAN.]

Besides the temple, there are three small detached pyramids, I, F, G, the former fifty feet square and thirty feet high, between the last two of which there seems to have been a gateway, or entrance, to the enclosure. There are moreover the terraced walls v, v, of the plan, which require no additional description, but which extend for an unknown distance eastward into the forest. There are also shapeless heaps of fallen ruins scattered in every direction.[III-23]

[Sidenote: STATUES OR IDOLS.]

[Sidenote: SCULPTURED OBELISK.]

Next to the ruined Temple in importance, or even before it as an indication of the artistic skill of its builders, are the carved obelisks, statues, or idols, which are peculiar to this region, but remarkably similar to each other. Fourteen of these are more or less fully described, most of them standing and in good preservation, but several of this number, and probably many besides, fallen and broken. Their positions are shown on the plan by the numbers 1 to 14. It will be noticed that only one is actually within the structure known as the Temple, three standing at the foot of its outer terrace within the quadrangle H, and the remainder in a group at the southern part of the enclosure, two of the latter being at the foot of terraced walls. These statues are remarkable for their size and for their complicated and well-executed sculpture. Of the eight whose dimensions are given, the smallest, No. 13, is eleven feet eight inches high, three feet four inches wide and thick; and the largest, Nos. 2 and 3, are thirteen feet high, four feet wide, and three feet thick. The material is the same soft stone taken from the quarry which furnished the blocks for building the walls. As to their position, Nos. 3, 11, and 13 face toward the east; Nos. 1, 5, and 9, toward the west; and No. 10 toward the north; the others are either fallen or their position is not given. No. 1 is smaller at the bottom than at the top, and Col. Galindo mentions two others, on hills east and west of the city, which have a similar form; all the rest are of nearly uniform dimensions throughout their length. Several rest on pedestals from six to seven feet square, and No. 13 has also a circular stone foundation sixteen feet in diameter. In each a human face occupies a central position on the front, having in some instances something that may be intended to represent a beard and moustache. The faces are remarkably uniform in the expression of their features, generally calm and pleasant; but in the case of No. 11 the partially open lips, and eye-balls starting from their sockets, indicate a design on the part of the artist to inspire terror in the beholder of his work. The hands rest in nearly every instance back to back on the breast. The dress and decoration seem to indicate that some were intended for males, others for females; this and the presence or absence of beard are the only indications of sex observable. The feet are mostly dressed in sandals, as shown clearly in the cut from No. 7. Above and round the head is a complicated mass of the most elaborate ornamentation, which utterly defies verbal description. Mr Stephens notes something like an elephant's trunk among the decorations of No. 8. The sides and usually the backs are covered with hieroglyphics arranged in square tablets, which probably contain, as all observers are impelled to believe, the names, titles, and perhaps history of the beings whose images in stone they serve to decorate. The backs of several, however, have other figures in addition to the supposed hieroglyphics, as in No. 8, where is a human form sitting cross-legged; and in No. 10, in which the characters seem to be human in a variety of strange contortions, although arranged in tablets like the rest; and No. 13 has a human face in the centre of the back as well as front. The sculpture is all in high relief, and was originally painted red, traces of the color being well preserved in places protected from the action of the weather. I give cuts of two of these carved obelisks, Nos. 3, and 6, to illustrate as fully as possible the general appearance of these most wonderful creations of American art, the details and full beauties of which can only be appreciated in the large and finely engraved plates of Catherwood.

[Sidenote: SACRIFICIAL ALTARS.]

Standing from six to twelve feet in front of nine of the fourteen statues, and probably of all in their primitive state, are found blocks of stone which, apparently, can only have been employed for making offerings or sacrifices in honor of the statues, whose use as idols is rendered nearly certain by the uniform proximity of the altars. The altars are six or seven feet square and four feet high, taking a variety of forms, and being covered with sculpture somewhat less elaborate than the statues themselves, often buried and much defaced. Two of them, belonging to Nos. 10 and 7, are shown in the accompanying cuts. The former is five and a half feet in diameter, and three feet high, with two grooves in the top; the latter seven feet square and four feet high, supposed to represent a death's head. The top of the altar accompanying No. 9 is carved to represent the back of a tortoise; that of No. 13 consists of three heads strangely grouped. The grooves cut in the altars' upper surface are strongly suggestive of flowing blood, and of slaughtered victims.[III-24]

I will next mention the miscellaneous relics found in connection with the ruins, beginning with the court A. The vault already spoken of, whose entrance is at o, was undoubtedly intended for burial purposes. Both on the floor of the vault and in two small niches at its sides were found human bones, chiefly in vessels of red pottery, which were over fifty in number. Lime was found spread over the floor and mixed with human remains in the burial vases; also scattered on the floor were oyster and periwinkle shells, cave stalactites, sharp-edged and pointed knives of chaya stone, and three heads, one of them "apparently representing death, its eyes being nearly shut, and the lower features distorted; the back of the head symmetrically perforated by holes; the whole of most exquisite workmanship, and cut out or cast from a fine stone covered with green enamel." Another head, very likely one of the other two found in this vault, its locality, not, however, being specified, is two inches high, cut from green and white jade, hollow behind, and pierced in several places, probably for the introduction of a cord for its suspension. Its individual character and artistic workmanship created in Col. Galindo's mind the impression that it was customary with this people to wear as ornaments the portraits of deceased friends.[III-25]

Two thirds of the distance up the eastern steps at u, is the colossal head of the cut, which is about six feet high. Two other immense heads are overturned at the foot of the same slope; another is half-way up the southern steps at w; while numerous fragments of sculpture are scattered over the steps and pavement in every direction. There are no idols or altars here, but six circular stones from one foot and a half to three feet in diameter, found at the foot of the western stairway of the passage C, C, may have supported idols or columns originally.[III-26]

[Sidenote: ALTAR OF THE TEMPLE.]

In the court B, the only relic beside the statue No. 1 is a remarkable stone monument, generally termed an altar, at x. This is a solid block of stone six feet square and four feet high, resting on four globular stones, one under each corner. On the sides are carved sixteen human figures in profile, four on each side. Each figure is seated cross-legged on a kind of cushion which is apparently a hieroglyphic, among whose characters in two or three cases the serpent is observable. Each wears a breastplate, a head-dress like a turban,--no two being, however, exactly alike--and holds in one hand some object of unknown significance. The cut shows the north front of the altar. The two central figures on this side sit facing each other, with a tablet of hieroglyphics between them, and may readily be imagined to represent two kings or chiefs engaged in a consultation on important matters of state. According to Mr Stephens' text the other fourteen figures are divided into two equal parties, each following its leader. But the plates represent all those on the east and west as facing the south, while those on the south look toward the west. The top is covered with hieroglyphics in thirty-six squares, as shown the cut on the preceding page. A peculiarity of this altar is that its sculpture, unlike that of all the other monuments of Copan, is in low relief.[III-27]

[Sidenote: MISCELLANEOUS RELICS.]

The head shown in the cut is one of the fragments lying on the ground at the foot of the terraces that inclose the quadrangle H. On the slopes of these terraces, particularly of the eastern slope of the pyramid e, half-way from top to bottom, are rows of death's heads in stone. It is suggested that they represent the skulls of apes rather than of human beings, and that this animal, abundant in the country, may have been an object of veneration among the ancient people. One of the skulls is shown in the cut. The next cut pictures the head of an alligator carved in stone, found among the group of idols towards the south. Another is mentioned by Col. Galindo, as holding in its open jaws a figure, half human, half beast. A gigantic toad, standing erect, with human arms and tiger's claws, was another of the relics discovered by the same explorer, together with round plain stones pierced by a hole in the centre. Mr Davis talks of an architrave of black granite finely cut; and M. Waldeck corrects a statement, in a work by Balbi, that marble beds are to be found here. The portrait in the cut is from the fragments found at the north-west corner of the temple near b.[III-28]

[Sidenote: GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.]

Most of the general reflections and speculations on Copan indulged in by observers and students refer to other ruined cities in connection with this, and will be noted in a future chapter. It is to be remarked that besides pyramids and terraced walls, no traces whatever of buildings, public or private, remain to guide us in determining the material or style of architecture affected by the former people of this region. The absence of all traces of private dwellings we shall find universal throughout America, such structures having evidently been constructed of perishable materials; but among the more notable ruins of the Pacific States, Copan stands almost alone in its total lack of covered edifices. There would seem to be much reason for the belief that here grand temples of wood once covered these mighty mounds, which, decaying, have left no trace of their former grandeur.

Col. Galindo states that the method of forming a roof here was by means of large inclined stones. If this be a fact, it must have been ascertained from the sepulchral vault in the temple court, concerning the construction of which both he and Stephens are silent. The top of the gallery leading through the river-wall would indicate a method of construction by means of over-lapping blocks, which we shall find employed exclusively in Yucatan and Chiapas. No article of any metal whatever has been found; yet as only one burial deposit has been opened, it is by no means certain that gold or copper ornaments were not employed. That iron and steel were not used for cutting implements, is clearly proved by the fact that hard flinty spots in the soft stone of the statues are left uncut, in some instances where they interfere with the details of the sculpture. Indeed, the chay-stone points found among the ruins are sufficiently hard to work the soft material, and although in some cases they seem to have required the use of metal in their own making, yet when we consider the well-known skill of even the most savage tribes in the manufacture of flint weapons and implements, the difficulty becomes of little weight. How the immense blocks of stone of which the obelisks were formed, were transported from the quarry, several miles distant, without the mechanical aids that would not be likely to exist prior to the use of iron, can only be conjectured.

The absence of all implements of a warlike nature, extending even to the sculptured decorations of idol and altar, would seem to indicate a population quiet and peaceable rather than warlike and aggressive; for though it has been suggested that implements of war are not found here simply because it is a place sacred to religion, yet it does not appear that any ancient people has ever drawn so closely the line between the gods of war and the other divinities of the pantheon.[III-29]

Of the great artistic merit of the sculpture, particularly if executed without tools of metal, there can be no question. Mr Stephens, well qualified by personal observation to make the comparison, pronounces some of the specimens "equal to the finest Egyptian sculpture."[III-30] Mr Foster believes the flattened forehead of the human profile on the altar-sides to indicate a similar cranial conformation in the builders of the city.[III-31]

With respect to the hieroglyphics all that can be said is mere conjecture, since no living person even claims the ability to decipher their meaning. They have nothing in common with the Aztec picture-writing, which, consequently, affords no aid in their study. The characters do, however, appear similar to, if not identical with, some of those found at Palenque, in Yucatan, in the Dresden Codex, and in the Manuscript Troano. When the disciples of Brasseur de Bourbourg shall succeed in realizing his expectations respecting the latter document, by means of the Landa alphabet, we may expect the mystery to be partially lifted from Copan. It is hard to resist the belief that these tablets hold locked up in their mystic characters the history of the ruined city and its people, or the hope that the key to their significance may yet be brought to light; still, in the absence of a contemporary written language, the hope must be allowed to rest on a very unsubstantial basis.[III-32]

[Sidenote: ORIGIN OF THE RUINS.]

Concerning the age and origin of the Copan monuments, as distinguished from other American antiquities, there are few or no facts on which to base an opinion. The growth of trees on the works, and the accumulation of vegetable material can in this tropical climate yield but very unsatisfactory results in this direction. Copan is, however, generally considered the oldest of American cities; but I leave for the present the matter of comparison with more northern relics. Palacio claims to have found among the people a tradition of a great lord who came from Yucatan, built the city of Copan, and after some years returned and left the newly built town desolate; a tradition which he inclines to believe, because he says the same language is understood in both regions, and he had heard of similar monuments in Yucatan and Tabasco. Among the inhabitants of the region in later times, there is no difference of opinion whatever with respect to the origin of the ruins or their builders; they are unanimous in their adherence to the 'quien sabe' theory.

FOOTNOTES:

[III-1] Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 341; Baldwin's Anc. Amer., pp. 123-4.

[III-2] 'Hier sollen sich gleichfalls noch ununtersuchte interessante indianische Monumente finden.' Reichardt, Cent. Amer., p. 83. 'Nothing positive is known concerning them.' Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 341. Hassel says they are the remains of the old Indian town of Zacualpa. Mex. Guat., p. 368.

[III-3] Squier's Nicaragua, (Ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 335.

[III-4] Young's Narrative, p. 48. Mr Young also saw, but does not describe, several 'curious things' besides these chairs where once the antiguos seated, perhaps, their gods of stone.

[III-5] Sivers, Mittelamerika, p. 182. 'I understand the adjacent island, Roatan, exhibits yet more proofs of having been inhabited by an uncivilized race.' Young's Narrative, p. 48. 'Jusqu'à ce jour on n'y a découvert aucune ruine importante; mais les débris de poterie et de pierre sculptée qu'on a trouvés ensevelis dans ses forêts, suffisent pour prouver qu'elle n'était pas plus que les autres régions environnantes privée des bienfaits de la civilisation.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iv., pp. 612-3.

[III-6] Wells' Explor. Hond., p. 553. Sivers, Mittelamerika, pp. 166-7, without reference to any particular locality, mentions pottery as frequently found in graves and among ruins, including pipe-heads, cigar-holders, drinking-cups, sacrificial vessels, and jugs.

[III-7] Squier's Cent. Amer., pp. 132-3; Scherzer's Trav., vol. ii., p. 95; Id., Wanderungen, p. 371; Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 310; Harper's Mag., vol. xix., p. 610, with a cut of the mastodon's tooth.

[III-8] Visit to the Guajiquero Ind., in Harper's Mag., vol. xix., pp. 608-11. For account of the Dresden MS., see vol. ii. of this work.

[III-9] Squier's Cent. Amer., pp. 134-9; Scherzer's Trav., vol. ii., pp. 95; Id., Wanderungen, p. 371; Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 310.

[III-10] Atlantic Monthly, vol. vi., p. 49. Las Casas has the following on the province of Honduras at the time of the conquest: 'Tenia Pueblos innumerables, y una vega de treinta leguas y mas, toda muy poblada ... la ciudad de Naco que tenia sobre dos cientas mil animas, y muchos edificios de piedra, en especial los templos en que adoraban.' Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. lii.

[III-11] On the north bank of the Copan, in latitude 14° 45´, longitude 90° 52´, four leagues east of the Guatemalan line, twenty leagues above the junction of the Motagua, which is sixty-five leagues from the bay. Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 547-50. Latitude 14° 39´, longitude 91° 13´ west of Paris; six hundred and forty mètres above the sea level; forty-five leagues from San Salvador, fifty-eight leagues from Guatemala. Id., in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 76. 'Thirty miles east of Chiquimula.' Cyclopedia. Three hundred miles from the sea, (perhaps by the windings of the stream). By reason of accidental injury to the instruments the latitude and longitude could not be obtained. Situated on the east bank of the stream according to plan. Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 132. 'Until lately erroneously located in Guatemala, are many miles within the boundaries of Honduras, and but a few days' travel from the original landing-place of the Spanish discoverers.' Wells' Explor. Hond., p. 552. Not to be confounded with Coban, metropolis of Vera Paz, one hundred and fifty miles west of Copan. Gallatin, in Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 5.

[III-12] 'Copan was a colony of Tultecos.' 'The Spaniards found Copan inhabited, and in the summit of its perfection.' Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 546, 549. On the expedition of Cortés referred to, see Alaman, Disertaciones, tom. i., pp. 203-25; Cogolludo, Hist. Yucathan, pp. 45-58; Cortés, Cartas, pp. 396-492; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 245-74; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. vii., cap. viii., to lib. viii., cap. vii.; Peter Martyr, dec. viii., lib. x.; Prescott's Mex., vol. iii., pp. 278-99; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 588; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 39-50; Helps' Span. Conq., vol. iii., pp. 33-57. Stephens seems to be in some doubt as to the identity of ancient and modern Copan, there being 'circumstances which seem to indicate that the city referred to was inferior in strength and solidity of construction, and of more modern origin.' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 99-101. 'The ruins of the city of that name and their position do not at all agree with the localities of the severe battle which decided the contest.' 'There is every appearance of these places (Copan and Quirigua) having been abandoned long before the Spanish conquest.' Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 171. 'Whatever doubts may have existed on the Subject, and as regards the high antiquity of the Ruins of Copan ... they are set at Rest by this Account of Palacio. They were evidently very nearly in their present Condition, at the Time he wrote, three hundred Years ago.' Squier's Pref. to Palacio, Carta, p. 9. 'Certain it is that the latter was a ruin long before the arrival of the Spaniards.' Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 345.

[III-13] The Licenciado Diego García de Palacio, Oidor (Justice, not Auditor) of the Real Audiencia of Guatemala, in accordance with the duties of his office, traveled extensively in Guatemala and adjoining provinces, embodying the results of his observations on countries and peoples visited in a relation to King Felipe II. of Spain, dated March 8, 1576, which document is preserved in the celebrated Muñoz collection of MSS. It contains a description of the ruins of Copan which exists in print as follows; Palacio, Relacion, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., pp. 37-9; Palacio, Carta dirijida al Rey, Albany, 1860, pp. 88-96, including an English translation by E. G. Squier; Palacios, Description, in Ternaux-Compans, Recueil de Doc., pp. 42-4, which is a somewhat faulty French translation; Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcvii., pp. 38-40; Squier's Cent. Amer., pp. 242-4; and it is mentioned by Señor J. B. Muñoz in a report on American antiquities, written as early as 1785, of which a translation is given in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Palenqué, pp. 7-8; Herrera, Hist. Gen., quotes, or rather takes from, Palacio's relation extensively, but omits the portion touching Copan. This first account of the ruins is by no means the worst that has been written. Although naturally incomplete, it is evidently a bona-fide description by an actual visitor, written at a time when the ruins were very nearly in their present condition, and their origin wrapped in mystery, although the stirring events of 1530 were yet comparatively fresh in the memory of the natives. The next account is that in Fuentes y Guzman, Recopilacion Flórida de la Historia del Reino de Guatemala, MS., 1689. This work was never printed, although said to be in preparation for the press in 1856. Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. vii. Fuentes' description of Copan was, however, given to the public in 1808, in Juarros, Compendio de la Hist. de la Ciudad de Guatemala, a work translated into English in 1823, under the title of A Statistical and Commercial Hist. of the Kingdom of Guatemala. From Juarros the account is taken by many writers, none, so far as I know, having quoted Fuentes in the original. Where the latter obtained his information is not known. His account is brief, and justly termed by Brasseur de Bourbourg, Palenqué, p. 14., 'la description menteuse de Fuentes,' since nothing like the relics therein mentioned have been found in later times. Yet it is possible that the original was mutilated in passing through Juarros' hands. This description, given in full in my text, is repeated more or less fully in Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 131; Warden, Recherches, p. 71; Conder's Mex. Guat., vol. ii., pp. 299-300; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., pp. 470-1; Humboldt, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1827, tom. xxxv., p. 329; Hassel, Mex. Guat., pp. 385-6; Cortés, Adventuras, p. 321, and in many other works mentioned in connection with matter from later sources. Next we have the exploration of Colonel Juan Galindo, an officer in the Central American service, sometime governor of the province of Peten, made in April, 1835. An account of his observations was forwarded to the Société de Géographie of Paris, and published in the Bulletin of that Society, and also in the Literary Gazette of London. A communication on the subject was also published in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 545-50; and the information furnished to the French Geographical Society was published en résumé in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., pp. 73, 76. Ten drawings accompanied Galindo's report, but have never been published, although the author announced the intention of the Central American government to publish his report in full with plates. He says, 'je suis le seul qui ait examiné les ruines de Copan, et qui en ait fait la relation,' but he knew nothing of Palacio's visit. 'Not being an artist, his account is necessarily unsatisfactory and imperfect, but it is not exaggerated.' Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 132. 'Had an enquiring mind, but a very superficial Education.' Squier's Pref. to Palacio, Carta, p. 8. Most of Galindo's account is also given with that of Juarros, in Bradford's Amer. Antiq., pp. 96-9; also some information from the same source in Brownell's Ind. Races, p. 52, and in Larenaudière, Mex. et Guat., p. 267. In 1839 Messrs Stephens and Catherwood visited Copan. Mr Stephens, as I find by a careful examination of his book, spent thirteen days in his survey, namely, from November 17 to 30; while Mr Catherwood spent the larger part of another month in completing his drawings. The results of their labors appeared in 1841 and 1844 under the titles:--Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Central America, vol. i., pp. 95-160, with twenty-one plates and seven cuts; Catherwood's Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, in folio, with large lithographic plates. Slight descriptions of the ruins, made up chiefly from Stephens, may be found as follows:--Helps' Span. Conq., vol. iii., pp. 54-5; Willson's Amer. Hist., pp. 76-9, with plan and cut; Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 64-74, 57, with plan and plates; Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer., pp. 57-69, 116; Davis' Antiq. Amer., pp. 4-5; Id., (Ed. 1847,) p. 30; Dally, Races Indig., pp. 12-13; Baldwin's Anc. Amer., pp. 111-14, with cut; Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 308; Tiedemann, Heidelb. Yahrb., 1851, p. 85; Larenaudière, Mex. et Guat., pl. 9-12, the text being from Galindo and Juarros; Reichardt, Cent. Amer., pp. 91-2; Amérique Centrale, Colonization, pt. ii., p. 68; Müller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 462-4, 483; Macgregor's Progress of Amer., pp. 877-8; Frost's Great Cities of the World, pp. 279-82, with cut. Dr Scherzer in 1856 started to explore Copan, but, owing to the political state of the country at the time, was unable to get nearer than Santa Rosa, where the padre said moreover that recent land-slides had much injured the effect of the ruins. This author gives, however, a brief account made up from Stephens, Galindo, and Juarros. Scherzer's Trav., vol. ii., pp. 41, 86-7, 94-5. Id., Wanderungen, pp. 332, 366, 371. In September, 1856, the Jesuit Padre Cornette is said to have visited the ruins; M. César Daly, at a date not mentioned, prepared on the spot plans and drawings of the different structures which he intended to publish in the Revue Générale de l'Architecture, but whether or not they have ever appeared, I know not; the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg made two visits to Copan in 1863 and 1866; some slight additional information on the subject was communicated by Mr Center, on authority not given, at a meeting of the American Ethnological Society in February, 1860; and Mr Hardcastle, who had spent several weeks in exploring the ruins, furnished some farther notes at a meeting of the same society in April, 1862; and, finally, photographs were made of the ruins by M. Ellerly, director of the Alotepeque silver-mines. But these later explorations have not as yet afforded the public much information, except that the photographs mentioned, when compared by Brasseur de Bourbourg with Catherwood's plates, show the latter as well as Stephens' descriptions to be strictly accurate. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 96, tom. ii., p. 493; Id., Palenqué, pp. 8, 17; Hist. Mag., vol. v., p. 114, vol. vi., p. 154.

[III-14] The only unfavorable criticism of Mr Stephens' work within my knowledge, is that 'the Soul of History is wanting!' 'The Promethean spark by which the flame of historic truth should illuminate his work, and be viewed as a gleaming beacon from afar, to direct wanderers through the dark night of wonders, has found no spot to rest upon and to vivify!' Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer., p. 55. And we may thank heaven for the fault when we consider the effects of the said 'Promethean spark' in the work of the immortal Jones.

[III-15] Juarros' Hist. Guat., pp. 56-7. That any such structure as the rocking hammock ever existed here is in the highest degree improbable; yet the padre at Gualan told Stephens that he had seen it, and an Indian had heard it spoken of by his grandfather. Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 144.

[III-16] 'The extent along the river, ascertained by monuments still found, is more than two miles.' 'Beyond the wall of enclosure were walls, terraces, and pyramidal elevations running off into the forest.' Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 133, 139, 146-7. 'Extended along the bank of its river a length of two miles, as evidenced by the remains of its fallen edifices.' 'Mounts of stone, formed by fallen edifices, are found throughout the neighbouring country.' Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 547, 549-50. 'La carrière ... est à 2000 mètres au nord.' 'Là se trouve beaucoup de bois de sapin pétrifié.' Id., in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 76. 'The ground, being covered with ruins for many square miles, and much overgrown by a rank vegetation, would require months for a thorough examination.' 'No remains whatever on the opposite side of the river.' Hardcastle, in Hist. Mag., vol. vi., p. 154. 'Les plaines de Chapulco s'étendent entre Copan et le pied des montagnes de Chiquimula. Elles sont couvertes de magnifiques ruines.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 105.

[III-17] Plan in Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 133, reproduced in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 57; and in Willson's Amer. Hist., p. 76. Galindo's drawings also included a plan. By reason of the disagreement between Stephens' plan and text in the matter of dimensions, I have omitted the scale as useless. The southern wall of the enclosure, to accommodate the size of my page, I have placed some two hundred feet north of its true position. Those portions of the temple shaded by cross-lines are the portions still standing according to the survey.

[III-18] The southern wall in one place rises 30 or 40 feet in steps. Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 134. 'One wall eighty feet high and fifty feet thick for half its height, or more, and then sloping like a roof, was formed of stones often six feet by three or four, with mortar in the interstices.' Hardcastle, in Hist. Mag., vol. vi., p. 154. Mr Center 'mentioned a Cyclopean wall ... undescribed in any publication, but reported to him by most credible witnesses, about 800 feet long, 40 feet high, ---- feet thick, formed of immense hewn stone.' Hist. Mag., vol. v., p. 114. Stones 'cut into blocks.' Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 549. Before reaching the ruins 'está señal de paredes gruesas.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 37.

[III-19] According to Stephens' text, which states that the river or west side is 624 feet, and the whole line of survey, which cannot in this case mean anything but the circumference, is 2866 feet, thus leaving 809 feet each for the northern and southern sides. His plan, and consequently my own, makes the dimensions about 790 feet north and south by 600 east and west, the circuit being thus 2780 feet. 'Not so large as the base of the great Pyramid of Ghizeh.' Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 133. Galindo, Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 547, makes the dimensions 750 feet east and west (He calls it north and south, but on the supposition that the ruins are on the north bank of the river instead of the east) by 600 feet north and south, a circumference of 2700 feet; or if his measurements be understood to be Spanish, their English equivalent would be about 690 by 552 feet, circuit 2484 feet. The same author, Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 76, gives 653 by 524, and 2354 feet; or if French measure be understood, its equivalent is 696 by 588, and 2568 feet. As large as Saint Peter's at Rome. Davis' Antiq. of Amer., pp. 4-5.

[III-20] 'Broad terrace one hundred feet high, overlooking the river, and supported by the wall which we had seen from the opposite bank,' cut showing a view of this wall from across the river. Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 104, 95-6, 139. Same cut in Baldwin's Anc. Amer., p. 112. 'Built perpendicularly from the bank of the river, to a height, as it at present exists, of more than forty yards.' Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 547. 'Una torre ó terrapleno alto, que cae sobre el rio que por allé pasa.' 'Hay una escalera que baja hasta el rio por muchas gradas.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 38. 'The city-wall on the river-side, with its raised bank, ... must then have ranged from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty feet in height' in imitation of ancient Tyre, the only city of antiquity with so high a wall on a river-bank. Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer., pp. 63, 161-2.

[III-21] At the south-west corner a recess is mentioned which Mr Stephens believes to have been occupied by some large monument now fallen and washed away. Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 134.

[III-22] This court may have been Fuentes' circus, although the latter is represented as having been circular. The terrace between it and the river is stated by Stephens to be only 20 feet wide; according to the plan it is at least 50 feet. Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 142-4, 133, 140. The pavement of the court is 20 yards above the river; the gallery through the terrace is 4 feet high and 2½ feet wide; the vault below the court is 5½ by 10 by 6 feet, its length running north and south with 9° variation of the compass. Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 547. 'Una plaza muy bien fecha, con sus gradas á la forma que escriben del Coliseo romano, y por algunas partes tiene ochenta gradas, enlosada, y labrada por cierto en partes de muy buena piedra é con harto primor.' The river-wall 'háse caido y derrumbado un gran pedazo, y en lo caido se descubrieron dos cuevas debajo del dicho edificio,' a statement that may possibly refer to the gallery and vault. Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., pp. 37-8.

[III-23] 'There was no entire pyramid, but, at most, two or three pyramidal sides, and these joined on to terraces or other structures of the same kind.' Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 139. The author intends to speak perhaps of the Temple only, but Mr Jones applies the words to Copan in general, and considers them a flat contradiction of the statement respecting the three detached pyramids. Hist. Anc. Amer., p. 63. 'Les édifices sont tous tombés et ne montrent plus que des monceaux de pierres.' Galindo, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 73. 'Several hills, thirty or forty feet in height, and supporting ruins, appeared to have been themselves entirely built of stone.' Hardcastle, in Hist. Mag., vol. vi., p. 154. 'Unas ruinas y vestigios de gran poblazon, y de soberbios edificios.' 'Hay montes que parecen haber sido fechos á manos.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 37. The latter sentence is incorrectly translated by M. Ternaux-Compans, 'il y a des arbres que paraissent avoir été plantés de main d'homme.' Recueil de Doc., p. 42. Mr Squier makes the same error: 'Trees which appear to have been planted by the hands of men.' Translation of Palacio, Carta, p. 91.

[III-24] See Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 140, 138, 136-7, 134, 149, 158, 157, 156, 155, 153, 152, 150, 151, for description of the statues in their order from 1 to 14, with plates of all but 4, 6, and 12, showing the altars of 7, 10, and 13. Plates of 3, 5, 10, and 13 are copied from Stephens in Larenaudière, Mex. et Guat., pl. ix-xi.; and of No. 13, from the same source, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 57. We have already seen the idea of Fuentes respecting these statues, clad in Spanish habits; that of the Licenciado Palacio is as follows: 'Una estátua grande, de más que quatro varas de alto, labrada como un obispo vestido de pontificial, con su mitra bien labrada y anillos en las manos.' In the plaza, which would seem to be the court A, where no statues were found by Stephens, were 'seis estátuas grandísimas, las tres de hombres armados á lo mosáico, con liga gambas, é sembradas muchas labores por las armas; y las otras dos de mujeres con buen ropaje largo y tocaduras á lo romano; la otra, es de obispo, que parece tener en las manos un bulto, como cofrecito; decian ser de idolos, porque delante de cada una dellas habia una piedra grande, que tenia fecha una pileta con su sumidero, donde degollaban los sacrificados y corria la sangre.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., pp. 37-8. Galindo says 'there are seven obelisks still standing and entire, in the temple and its immediate vicinity; and there are numerous others, fallen and destroyed, throughout the ruins of the city. These stone columns are ten or eleven feet high, and about three broad, with a less thickness; on one side were worked, in basso-relievo, (Stephens states, on the contrary, that all are cut in alto-relievo) human figures, standing square to the front, with their hands resting on their breast; they are dressed with caps on their heads, and sandals on their feet, and clothed in highly adorned garments, generally reaching half way down the thigh, but sometimes in long pantaloons. Opposite this figure, at a distance of three or four yards, was commonly placed a stone table or altar. The back and sides of the obelisk generally contain phonetic hieroglyphics in squares. Hard and fine stones are inserted (naturally?) in many obelisks, as they, as well as the rest of the works in the ruins, are of a species of soft stone, which is found in a neighbouring and most extensive quarry.' Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 548; and in Bradford's Amer. Antiq., p. 97. A bust 1m., 68 high, belonging to a statue fifteen to twenty feet high. Galindo, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 76. Pillars so loaded with attributes that some scrutiny is required to discover from the head in the centre that they represent a human form. An altar not infrequently found beside them would, if necessary, show their use. They are sun-pillars, such as are found everywhere in connection with an ancient sun-religion. Müller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 464.

[III-25] Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 547-8; Id., in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 73, supplementary pl. vii., fig. 14. This head bears a remarkable resemblance to one given by Humboldt as coming from New Granada, shown in fig. 13, of the same plate. Stephens, Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 144, gives the dimensions of the two niches as 1 foot 8 in. by 1 foot 9 in. by 2 feet 5 in.; the relics having been removed before his visit.

[III-26] Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 103-4, 142-3, with cut. Cut also in Larenaudière, Mex. et Guat., pl. x.

[III-27] Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 140-2, with plates; Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., pp. 57, 67-8. Plate. Mention of the altar with a comparison of the cross-legged chiefs to certain ornaments of Xochicalco. Tylor's Anahuac, p. 190. The altar is described by Galindo as a very remarkable stone table in the temple, 'two feet four inches high, and four feet ten inches square; its top contains forty-nine square tablets of hieroglyphics; and its four sides are occupied by sixteen human figures in basso-relievo, sitting cross-legged, on cushions carved in the stone, and bearing each in their hands something like a fan or flapper.' Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 548. To Mr Jones, possessed as that gentleman is with the 'Soul of History,' this altar is the 'Rosetta-stone' of American antiquity. The four supporting stones are eggs; serpents occur in the ornaments; the objects held in the hands of the lesser personages of the sides are spiral shells; the figures are seated cross-legged, or in the oriental style; one chief holds a sceptre, the other none. Now these interpretations are important to the author, since he claims that the serpent was the good demon of the Tyrians; a serpent entwining an egg is seen on Tyrian coins; the spiral shell was also put on Tyrian medals in honor of the discovery of the famous purple; the style of sitting is one practiced in Tyre; the chief representing Tyre holds no sceptre, because Tyre had ceased to be a nation at the time of the event designed to commemorate. The conclusion is clear: the altar was built in commemoration of an act of friendship between Tyre and Sidon, by which act the people of the former nation were enabled to migrate to America! Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer., pp. 65-6, 156-62. More of this in a future treatise on origin.

[III-28] Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 134-9, 156; Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., pp. 548-9; Id., in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 76; Davis' Antiq. Amer., pp. 4-5; Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., pp. 68-9. Palacio's miscellaneous relics are, a large stone in the form of an eagle with a tablet of hieroglyphics a vara long on its breast; a stone cross three palms high, with a broken arm; and a supposed baptismal font in the plaza. Relacion, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 38.

[III-29] Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer., p. 67; Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., p. 142; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, p. 197.

[III-30] Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 102-3, 151. 'La sculpture monumentale des ruines de Copan peut rivaliser avec quelques produits similaires de l'Orient et de l'Occident européens. Mais la conception de ces monuments, l'originalité de leur ornementation suffit à plus d'un esprit pour éloigner toute idée d'origine commune.' Dally, Races Indig., p. 13.

[III-31] 'We have this type of skull delineated by artists who had the skill to portray the features of their race. These artists would not select the most holy of places as the groundwork of their caricatures. This form, then, pertained to the most exalted personages.' Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, pp. 302, 338-9.

[III-32] 'The hieroglyphics displayed upon the walls of Copan, in horizontal or perpendicular rows, would indicate a written language in which the pictorial significance had largely disappeared, and a kind of word-writing had become predominant. Intermingled with the pictorial devices are apparently purely arbitrary characters which may be alphabetic.' Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, p. 322. They are conjectured to recount the adventures of Topiltzin-Acxitl, a Toltec king who came from Anáhuac and founded an empire in Honduras, or Tlapallan, at the end of the eleventh century. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 101-2. Like those of Palenque, and some characters of the Dresden MS. Squier's Pref. to Palacio, Carta, p. 10. 'No he hallado libros de sus antigüedades, ni creo que en todo este distrito hay más que uno, que yo tengo.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 39. I have no idea what this one book spoken of may have been. The characters are apparently hieroglyphics, 'but to us they are altogether unintelligible.' Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 55-6, 66.