[141] We looked in vain for the triumphal and solitary arch mentioned by Stephens, a unique specimen of this kind of monument in America. It is 20 feet high by 14 feet wide; and we shall see later that it could only have been erected to commemorate a victory of the sovereign of Kabah. The reader will notice that in this monument the corbel vault is more convex, and recalls that of a ruinous palace at Palenque.
[142] Salisbury, “The Mayas,” p. 25. Worcester, 1877.
[143] Eligio Ancona writes: “The king of Mayapan, whom we will call Cocom, distrusting both his great vassals and their allies, sought the support of foreigners against them. He entered into negotiations with the Aztec military authorities of Tabasco and Xicalango” (he probably means Goatzacoalco, for it is certain that the Aztec dominion did not extend beyond that limit), “and it is said that the Mayapan ruler promised to quarter the troops they should send to his capital. Cocom’s proposals were accepted, and a strong Nahua garrison entered the city. The names of the Mexican leaders given in the Maya MS. are Ahzin-Teyut-Chan Tzumtecum, Taxcal, Ponte-Mit Itztecnat and Kakaltecat.” All the traditions are agreed on the arrival of the Mexicans in the peninsula, and the investigations of Don Juan Kanil show that the witnesses he examined swore that his ancestors had come from Mexico by order of Montezuma the Elder.—C. E. Ancona, “Hist. de Yucatan,” Merida, 1878.
[144] Cogolludo, lib. IV. cap. iii.
[145] Herrera, Decade IV. lib. X. cap. iii.
[146] Herrera, Decade IV. lib. X. cap. ii.
[147] Landa, “Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan,” sec. x. p. 59.
[148] Compare the striking resemblance between the Aztec warrior in our Temalacatl drawing, chap. iii. p. 42, and the kneeling figure.
[149] Lizana, chap. ii. This author does not take into consideration the abandonment of the cities by the natives at the Conquest.
[150] Cogolludo, tome I. lib. iv. cap. vi.