Rambles by Land and Water; or, Notes of Travel in Cuba and Mexico

by Benjamin Moore Norman

It is only for me to describe things as I saw them, leaving it to others, more profound than myself in antiquarian researches, to frame appropriate theories for their explanation. But I could not avoid the temptation to pause a little over this singular curiosity, with a lurking disposition to catechise conjecture, respecting its probable signification and end. But it was all in vain—a mere reverie of guess-work, without beginning or clue. Whether it was the offspring of a simple freak of the imagination of the artist;—whether it was one of the symbols of the worship of that unknown race, for whom the artist exercised his unholy craft of making "gods which are yet no gods;"—whether it was a quaint hieroglyphical memorial of some remarkable epoch in their history—some luckless Jonah half swallowed by a turtle, and for ever struggling to escape;—whether it was the emblematic device of a club of artistic gourmands, the sign to be placed over the door of their banqueting hall, designed to acknowledge and illustrate the intimate union and sympathy, the identity of nature, between man and beast, in those who "make a god of their belly;"—these are alternatives of conjecture, upon which we may speculate as we will, but from which it is neither safe nor easy to make a definite choice.

The probable history and design of "the American Sphinx"—for such I have taken the liberty to name it—will, I trust, be made a matter of more sober and successful enquiry by some future traveller, more skilled than I can profess to be in antiquarian researches. It is an ample field, strewn on every side with subjects of the deepest interest. And he who shall first, by means of these only records that remain, scattered, disconnected, and crumbling into hopeless decay, decypher some legible tale of probability, and unravel a leading clue to the history of these now inexplicable relics, will win and deserve the admiring gratitude of all, who are curious to investigate the ever changing aspects of human society.

I had scarcely met with any thing, in all my rambles, more full of exciting interest, than the field I was now exploring; and I never so much regretted being alone. For a well read antiquarian to talk with—for a curioso in hieroglyphical lore to trace out the mystic lines, and give an intelligent signification to the grotesque images about me—I would have given my last maravedi, and the better half of my humble stock of provisions. Fragments of various kinds, and of every size and form, lay scattered around me, on every side, in the immediate vicinity of this "American Sphinx," affording in their shapes, though mutilated and imperfect, and in the lines of sculpture still traceable upon many of them, satisfactory prima facie evidence of having once composed the ornamental decorations of immense and splendid edifices, which now lay in utter ruins at my feet.

The place where I stood had evidently been the site of a large city, thronged with busy multitudes of human beings, whose minds were cultivated and refined, whose hearts throbbed high with human affections, and human hopes, and who doubtless dreamed, as we do, that their works would make their names immortal. But where are they? A thousand echoes, from the hills and walls around, answer—where?

AN ORNAMENTED HEAD.

Proceeding with my excavations, and turning over large masses of earth, and stones of every size and shape, I was at length rewarded with the discovery of another figure, somewhat resembling, but in many respects unlike, those which I have already shown. A sketch of it is given in the above engraving. It was merely the face, standing out in full relief from the block, which was entirely cut away from the top and bottom, but left, in two nearly circular projections, at the sides. The head ornaments are striking and peculiar. They are not, as might be supposed from their appearance in the reduced scale of the engraving, miniature heads. If they were, I should venture to find in them another item of Grecian mythology, and boldly assume that the head was that of Jupiter, with three young Minervas in the act of issuing from his pregnant brain. Nor would the appearance of three, instead of one, in any manner stagger my faith, since it is well known, that America exceeds all other parts of the world in human and animal fecundity, as well as in the fertility of its soil. And why not equally so in its mythological reproductions? But, alas! for one of the most promising theories that ever was conceived, these ornaments are only balls, with slight indentations, connected together by a band running across the top of the head, and terminating at the sides, just above the ears. A phrenologist might possibly discern in them, the overgrown diseased developments of the intellectual organs residing in that part of the cranium.

The ears of this figure are monstrous, being nearly half the size of the face. The features, and the whole contour of the face, like the other two, will be seen to be entirely Caucasian, having no element of the Indian or American, in any of its lines. It is seventeen inches in length, twenty one in breadth, including the huge ears, and ten in thickness. It was found in the side of a large pile of ruins, the remains of dilapidated walls and buildings, of which it had evidently formed one of the ornamental parts. There were fragments of others of the same general character, but none in so good preservation as this, which require a distinct description.

It required but a few days to examine this part of the country,—and I was really glad when the time expired;—for, besides the immense labor of cutting every step of our way through a dense shrubbery, which covers most of the country, and a wilderness of trees and thickets, matted and woven together with thousands of creepers, together with plants, rendered almost impenetrable by their thorns, which, like spears, would pierce at every movement,—we had also to contend with myriads of insects of which the reading world has already heard so much from learned travellers, that it might be deemed a work of supererogation to speak of them again, and which, it will be observed are herein named, only in connection with other obstacles of greater magnitude,—such as the poisonous tarantula, which is often disturbed from its stony bed, and the tiger of the country, sometimes started from the thickets! But, to be deserted in this extremity, is a thing not easily to be borne. Yet so it was. My recently enlisted Indian comrades, being entirely out-done and astonished, gave me up as a wild or crazy man, and fled to their homes! Thus forsaken,—but not until after a week of research, I returned in safety to "the lady's room," where I found my Indian allies had arrived some days before me.

While pursuing my solitary researches, after my aids had absconded, I was obliged to satisfy myself with such objects of curiosity as lay upon the surface, without any effort to remove obstructions, or excavate among the ruins. There was little to be gained in this way. Moreover, as I have hinted above, there was much discomfort, and no little danger, in remaining alone, as will be seen by the following incident.