RANCHO AT BELLOTE.
The pyramids, which are the object of our visit, are three in number, from 195 to 325 feet at the base, by 37 to 43 in height. The temples which once stood on the summit are but a mass of ruins. Thanks to excavations made by the owner of the rancho, one side of one of the pyramids has been cleared of the vegetation and now a good view can be obtained, enabling us to perceive that it is identical in all respects with those at Tula and Teotihuacan, save that this is much smaller, the baby pattern, so to speak, of those we have hitherto visited. On the terrace crowning the pyramid a fragment of wall on an incline is still standing, covered with hard cement. This facing was composed of four layers of lime and mortar, each coating representing figures and characters in bas-reliefs, modelled in the lime coating. On removing one of these the next was discovered, almost invariably at the cost of nearly the whole bas-relief. We were fortunate in taking away intact the fragment shown in our plate, a head with retreating forehead resting on the instep of a foot which lies on a cushion. The notable feature of this profile is its similarity with those on the bassi-rilievi at Palenque, proving in my opinion the unity of civilisation of the two countries, save that priority of date must be awarded to Bellote. Besides these reliefs we found a vast quantity of broken arms, hands, ex-votos, pottery, etc.
It should be mentioned that these pyramids, unlike those at Teotihuacan, were built with shells and mud, and that baked bricks were only employed in the partition walls and those of the temples. That such materials should have been used was natural in a region where even gravel is unknown.
In speaking of the Toltec chronology, it was observed that on the new fire being rekindled, all house furniture was renewed, every dwelling and every temple repainted. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility to imagine that this custom received here its highest development, that the walls of the temples were covered with hieroglyphic coatings commemorating the age which had just elapsed, and that each succeeding century received a layer similarly inscribed? Were this presumption substantiated, a starting-point would be obtained, enabling us to state that at the Conquest in 1520, this monument was four Indian centuries, or 208 years old, plus the fraction of the century just begun. I am well aware that this hypothesis is not borne out by scientific facts, and that I cannot even claim
TEMPLE BAS-RELIEF, BELLOTE. the honour of being the first in starting it, for I was forestalled by Stephens, who says: “In the remotest corridor of the palace, the wall was coated with lime, and broken in various places; I counted as many as six coatings, every one of which bore traces of paintings. In a corner were characters which looked as though they had been written with black ink. In our efforts to reach this, the whole thing came down and obliged us to desist.”[83]
Granting our theory, the six layers at Palenque would be equivalent to 312 years, plus the fraction of the current century, which might bring it to 330 years at the Conquest, and about 690 years old up to the present time, an antiquity which may be reasonably accorded to Palenque, as the sequel will show.
As may have been noticed, these monuments are identical with those observed by the early Spaniards, and so often described by their historians; and if it is borne in mind that when the Toltecs were driven from the high plateaux they migrated south, and were found as early as 1124 established at Goatzacoalco, Tabasco, and Yucatan, by the envoys of Xolotl, the conclusion that the monuments under notice belong to this tribe must force itself upon every unbiassed mind.
We leave Bellote en route for Paraïso, following the course of Tomo, Largo, and calling at Ceiba, a small hamlet standing amidst a glorious landscape. Here once rose Cintla, a dependency of Tabasco, and this is the river which Grijalva discovered, which Cortez navigated, and on the banks of which he fought his great battle, against 40,000 or 50,000 Indians. Many are the proofs which can be brought to confirm our opinion: this river has but one mouth, and therefore can at no time have borne the name of Las Dos Bocas; we read that Cortez was obliged to use launches on account of its shallow waters, whereas vessels of great tonnage, drawing twelve feet of water, ply daily on it; the tide, moreover, advances farther in at Frontera than is reported by Diaz.[84] Herrera says that Cortez, whilst in this region, took up his position on an islet opposite the village: now there is but one very large island, and that nearly a mile below Frontera; that his soldiers crossed the river to reconnoitre, but the stream is so wide and so deep at that point, as to preclude the possibility of any fording-place; that the general traversed immense cocoa-plantations, yet none are to be seen about Frontera, whereas on Rio Seco, over which we float at this present moment, it is the principal cultivation. Herrera’s account consequently is applicable in every respect to Rio Seco, with its two mouths, its impassable bar, and its fording-places; here was fought the great battle, not far rose the Indian capital, the name of which has not come down to us, but which is known as Comalcalco at the present day; and we are of opinion that Ceiba, or Zeiba, is the village where Cortez, in the name of the king, took possession of the country.[85]
Cogolludo, in speaking of the first skirmishes of the Spaniards against the cacique of Tabasco, says: “They numbered over 12,000 entrenched behind some breastworks, but we made a sudden rush, forced them out of their defences, obliging them to fall back; this they did like good soldiers without turning their backs, raining showers of arrows on us, until they reached the outward buildings of some temples, from which they took all they could carry. The enemy being now in full retreat, Cortez stopped all further pursuit, and here, in the name of His Majesty, he took possession of the country, drawing his sword and making three large cuts at a huge tree, which is called Ceiba by the natives, and which grew on the terrace of the temple, exclaiming that should any one question his right, he was ready to make it good with his sword and shield.”[86]