Two Maya priests or chieftains with elaborate head-dresses and ornaments stand facing each other above a hieroglyphic inscription, which commences with what I have called an “Initial Sequence,” which Mr. Goodman has proved to be a date. In the lower panels are two unadorned crouching human figures, with their necks and arms bound with ropes, evidently meant to represent prisoners trodden under foot by the two gorgeously arrayed figures who stand above them. The marked difference in physiognomy between the Mayas and their captives is clearly shown, and this monument may celebrate the conquest of the aboriginal inhabitants of the land or the defeat of some of those barbarous invaders from the north whom some writers believe to have finally caused the overthrow of the Maya civilization. It is also worth noting that the Mayas carry only ornamented staves in their hands and make no show of weapons of war. In one of the other partly destroyed monuments a figure is represented carrying in his hand one of the “Manikin sceptres,” of which so many examples occur on the sculptures at Quirigua.
SCULPTURED MONOLITH AT IXKUN.
For the first few days after setting the men to work I made only occasional visits to the ruins, and spent most of my time in Dolores working out the observations taken on the route; but as soon as the clearing was sufficiently advanced to enable me to commence measurements, I took up my quarters in the ruins under a rough shed of palm-leaves, and remained there until our work was finished.
On the 24th of March we resumed our journey, and set out for Yaxché, a small village about sixteen miles to the north-west of Dolores. After travelling through forest for some hours along the divide between the Pasion and Belize Rivers, we emerged on a savannah country studded with innumerable low timber-covered hills. As we approached the village the trees became scarcer, and both plain and hills were clothed with rough grass. Here we stayed until the 5th of April, examining the ruins in the neighbourhood and sending out expeditions to hunt for others, of which reports had reached us, but our efforts at discovery were not altogether successful.
PLAN OF TEMPLE.
About two miles to the north-west of Yaxché, on the banks of a streamlet which runs to join the Rio San Juan, stand the remains of a town of considerable size; but, as no signs of sculptured stones could be found among the foundation mounds, we did not attempt to clear away the thick undergrowth, but turned our attention to two conical hills of natural formation standing up conspicuously about eight hundred yards apart on either side of the stream. Both hills were overgrown with grass, and each was crowned with a mound which we thought must contain the remains of a building. We set to work to dig into the mound on the summit of the southern hill, and, as we expected, unearthed the remains of a small building facing north. The walls were in some parts perfect to the height of six feet, and they appear to have been built separately (as indicated by the shading in the Plan). The entrance-passage and interior of the chamber were lined with small well-wrought blocks of stone, but the material is so soft that it could easily be cut with a knife. The floor had a covering of cement, which was in good condition, and the outside of the walls appears to have had a thick coating of the same material. A stone lintel and a few slabs, which may have been used for roofing, and some fragments of rough pottery were met with in digging out the debris. Along the back of the chamber was a raised bench about two feet high, and in the face of it was a niche about twenty inches by eighteen, which was much smoke-stained and had probably been used for burning offerings of copal. We also dug into the mound on the summit of the northern hill, and with some difficulty were able to trace the walls of a building which must have closely resembled its companion facing it on the opposite side of the valley. On the broken floor of the chamber we discovered portions of three earthen pots and some fragments of a good-sized stucco figure. We were able to piece together two fragments of a well-modelled face, which must have been about ten inches in breadth, and to ascertain that the eyes had been made of obsidian.
