Travels Amongst American Indians, Their Ancient Earthworks and Temples / Including a Journey in Guatemala, Mexico and Yucatan, and a Visit to the Ruins of Patinamit, Utatlan, Palenque and Uxmal

by Lindesay Brine

Upon an examination of the accompanying illustration, it will be observed that the figure represented is that of a huge serpent or rattlesnake. A serpent was also the emblem or Totem of one of the tribes of the Mound Builders in Ohio, and there appear to be singular resemblances between the reptile carved in stone at Uxmal and that which is rudely made of earth and stones, and placed on high ground overlooking a valley in North America. Both reptiles have peculiarly large mouths, opened wide, ready to devour and swallow their prey or their enemies. It is perhaps not unreasonable to infer that the tribe who migrated from the north, conquered the unwarlike natives of Yucatan, raised the great pyramids, and built the temples in that region, were subsequently conquered by a more powerful tribe of the same race, also migrating from higher latitudes. The former tribe were forced to desert their buildings, and avoided slavery or extermination by escaping into the interior. The serpent stands out in bold relief. The whole of the façades of the nunnery are elaborately sculptured, and the mechanical abilities of the builders are well brought into notice.

Serpent Emblem, Casa de las Monjas.

As all investigations or theories respecting these architects and their works, depend greatly upon the conclusions that may be drawn from the evidence regarding the period when Uxmal was built, I directed my attention to certain points bearing upon this subject. Conjectures upon the origin and civilisation of the Indians must be influenced by what can be ascertained with respect to the probable dates when these religious buildings were constructed.

It is to be seen in the Casa de las Monjas that there was a lavish use of ornamentation in stone. There is, throughout, a wealth of sculpture which is astonishing when it is remembered that the sculptors, as far as we know, had no proper implements to work with. Stone chisels and obsidian scrapers appear to be inadequate for the purpose.

It can be understood that if the Indian masons and stone cutters had wished to show their ability, they might have adorned their buildings with barbarous figures or rude idols, such as were carved by the natives of Easter Island out of soft volcanic stone. But at Uxmal they revelled in their powers. The walls of the Nunnery and the Casa del Gobernador are covered with designs deeply cut and perfectly joined. Thus it is proved that the sculptors had not only much capacity as workmen, but they must have been able to chisel hard limestone with ease and facility of execution. In the interior of the Nunnery many of the designs are most artistic. Nothing can be more graceful than the block of buildings on the eastern side of the quadrangle. The lattice work, in its appearance and general effect, seems to have an indefinable accordance with the wood and stone carvings that are to be seen in the ancient quarters of Cairo, and the interior of the earliest Arabian mosques. Upon the opposite side of the quadrangle, the ornamentation upon the walls is of a different character and in some respects resembles the designs of Hindoo or Buddhist architecture. This confusion of styles is puzzling to the eye and embarrassing to the judgment.

At Palenque the long corridors, the courts, and the use of coloured stucco ornamentation appeared to have some vague relation to a mixed style of Moorish and Spanish architecture. If a corsair, with a crew of Moors and a cargo of Spanish captives, had been driven by the trade wind across the Atlantic, and the strangers, after landing upon the new continent, had married the daughters of the caciques; it would be intelligible that the descendants of the mixed races might have constructed monasteries, temples and pyramids of this strange and complex design. Such was my impression when pacing the corridors at Palenque.

Interior of the Casa de las Monjas and its adjoining Pyramid and Temple, Uxmal.

At Uxmal there were no coloured stuccoes and no corridors. The bold and fantastic style of the sculptures had a character more Eastern, and it might be permissible to imagine that wandering fakirs from Hindostan, or Buddhist pilgrims from Java, Burmah or Cambodia, had reached the Pacific coasts, and had implanted their incomplete acquaintance with the forms of Hindoo or Buddhist temples upon the barbaric ideas of the Indians, and that in this manner were produced the fanciful types of construction or symbolism that are present at Uxmal.