IDOL IN LACANDON TEMPLE. But when was Lorillard destroyed? I think Villa Gutierre Soto Mayor[162] gives us an approximate date when he says: “That the Iztaes of Peten were at enmity with the Lacandones; that in 1694—two years before the fall of the city by the Spaniards—the former were making expeditions with fleets of canoes on the Usumacinta and Rio Tabasco, and that they plundered and destroyed the towns situated on the river.” But if we follow Boyle,[163] the destruction of Lorillard would be much later, for we read: “The Lacandones are of the same race as the Manchus and very numerous; they were quite civilised a hundred and fifty years ago” (1730).
FIRST TEMPLE AT LORILLARD CITY.
This idol is very beautiful and unique of its kind, for nothing like it has been found either in Tabasco or Yucatan. It represents a figure sitting cross-legged, the hands resting on the knees. The attitude is placid and dignified, like a Buddha statue; the face, now mutilated, is crowned by an enormous head-dress, of peculiar style, presenting a fantastic head with a diadem and medallions, topped by huge feathers like those on the columns at Tula and Chichen-Itza. The bust is admirably proportioned; while the dress consists of a rich cape embroidered with pearls, a medallion on each shoulder and in front, recalling Roman decorations. The same ornamentation is seen on the lower part of the body, having a much larger medallion and a fringed maxtli. The arms are covered with heavy bracelets. Round the idol, and in every apartment of the building, are a number of bowls of coarse clay of some 4 or 6 inches in diameter by 2 inches in height. The borders are ornamented with masks representing faces with flat or aquiline noses, utterly devoid of artistic feeling. Nevertheless the difference of type is noteworthy, and may point to two different races. These bowls were used as censers, for some are still filled with copal. Our cut shows two specimens. Similar bowls are found in all the buildings which were used as temples.
LACANDON VASES FOUND AT LORILLARD CITY.
This temple is pierced by three openings, with stone lintels fairly carved; its facade is about 68 feet by 19 feet 6 inches long, its height to the decorative wall is 17 feet to 19 feet; the latter, of lattice-work, is 14 feet high, and recalls similar structures at Kabah, and more particularly the Pigeon House at Uxmal. The decoration must have been very rich, for in the central upper wall is a large panel which was occupied by a figure sitting on a bench which is still standing. The masonry which formed the body of the statue is yet visible, while a narrow long stone to the right formed the shin-bone of the figure’s left leg; a method of working which we pointed out at Palenque, Izamal, and Aké, and called the “cement epoch.” Below in the great frieze forming the body of the edifice, three large panels were also occupied by statues, which were still standing. In the central panel to the right, the masonry which formed the bodies before the fall of the plaster is still visible; while eight niches, in groups of two each, contained idols of smaller dimensions.
On the first esplanade of the pyramid is another building, which to judge from its inner arrangement was the priest’s house. This temple is neither stately nor ancient, for hardly any rubbish has accumulated at the foot of the building.
We give here the drawing of a diminutive ancient temple in terra-cotta, to be seen in the Trocadéro, and which we found on the Uplands of Mexico. It consists of a pyramid with three or four stories, and a temple crowning its summit, with projecting cornices surmounted by a decorative wall, pierced by holes exactly like the temple at Lorillard, at Tikal, and the Pigeon House at Uxmal. The most prejudiced mind cannot but acknowledge the resemblance and similarity of design in the religious architecture of the plateaux, and that of Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, and Guatemala.