Lost to each race, to all the world unknown,
Like famed Pompeii, ’neath her lava bed.
...
At every step some palace meets the eye,
Some figure frowns, some temple courts the sky.”
Before Cortez landed on Mexican soil the star of these ancient peoples had already set. Their oldest cities had their birth so far back in the twilight of time that not even tradition was able to tell the history of the tribes, the causes that led to their decay or the time of their disaster. Some traditions were told to the Spaniards, but they are of such uncertain origin that very little credence can be placed in them. Upon the walls are sculptures which speak to us in an unknown language; hieroglyphics, and the chiselled types of a people long since departed. The hieroglyphics would probably explain all, but no interpreting key has yet been discovered to give an explanation to the writings. Some authorities assert, however, that Chichen Itza was inhabited at the time of the Conquest. A Spaniard by the name of Aquilar was wrecked on this coast and lived with a powerful cacique for several years, but he left behind him no written memoirs. At any rate, it is known that the Spanish forces occupied this place for at least two years. At first the submission of the natives was complete, but after a time they rallied from their stupor, tiring of ministering to the insatiable wants of their conquerors, and much severe fighting followed.
Of the two great wells at Chichen Itza one was used for the general water supply, the cenote grande, and the other was reserved for religious use exclusively, the cenote sacra. Picturesque indeed must have been the throngs of white-robed women who peopled the steps of the cenote grande at all hours of the day to fetch water for household purposes. They probably carried double-handled urns on their hips or shoulders just as their descendants do at this present day. From far and near all over Yucatan pilgrimages were made to the sacred well, which was on the outskirts of the city, just as pilgrimages are made to-day to holy shrines by Catholics and Mohammedans. It was this that gave the city its holy character. Offerings of many kinds were made to the deities. It is said that in time of drouth offerings of precious stones and other valuables were thrown into it, and in specially protracted cases human beings were thrown into it as sacrifices. Even after the time of the Spanish conquest there are recorded instances of pilgrimages to the sacred well for the purpose of sacrificing slaves to relieve a drouth. These victims were supposed to live even after they had disappeared beneath the sacred waters. A Spanish writer of the time asserts that this was done as late as 1560.
The Chichen Itza of the olden times, filled with pilgrims from far and near, would scarcely be recognized in the place of to-day. The jungle has gradually crept its way into the very holy of holies. Columns have been overthrown, and some of the structures have been almost lost in a tangle of thorns and creepers. Even in the last half century the destruction and disintegration has been very noticeable. To reach the place it is necessary to ride about fifteen miles over a rough and wearisome road. All around lie buried in thick jungle ruins of palaces and other buildings. Pyramid-like structures seem to have been one of the favourite forms of building. The most imposing of these on this site rises sixty-eight feet above the plain, and each side is almost one hundred and seventy-five feet in length, the whole covering about an acre of ground. This structure is called the Castillo, although it was really a temple. It is made up of nine terraces of faced masonry, narrowing toward the top, each one elaborately panelled to relieve the monotony. On each side there is a broad stairway, with a flight of ninety steps, with stone balustrades, which are generally carved to represent reptiles. A stone building almost forty feet square crowns the summit. The northern façade must have been very striking before time and the destroying hand of man wrought their work. There were no doors on any of the buildings, and no traces of hinges have been found. At the western base of the pyramid is the walk that leads to the sacred well. It is believed that on the top of this pyramid the sacred rites of the priests of their faith were performed, and it is said that the sacrificial victims were led down these stairways, then along the causeway and finally cast into the sacred well. It is easy for the imagination to picture the scene in all its splendour of white-robed priests, smoking censors, and—saddest of all—the victims bedecked with garlands of flowers.
There are ruins of colonnades, courts, buildings and other structures of which many columns are standing at Chichen Itza, and it has been called “the city of a thousand columns” by some writers. One of the most important monuments is the Nun’s Palace, as it is called. It is not so large as others, but contains a greater number of apartments. It is said to have been the custom of these people to educate girls of noble birth to the service of the gods, on their attaining the age of twelve or thirteen. Their service was similar to that of the Vestal Virgins, although the vows were not always perpetual. It was their duty to keep the altar supplied with fresh flowers and to sweep the temples. One group of structures is called the Ball Court, as it is believed to have been used for a game similar to the modern basket ball. It consists of two perpendicular parallel walls from north to south thirty-two feet high, three hundred and twenty-five feet long and one hundred and thirteen feet apart. The ends of this quadrangle are each occupied by a small temple. In the centre of each wall, about fifteen feet from the ground, there are two stone discs with holes through the centre, which seem to have had a part in this or some other game. The vast proportions of this court, or tlachtle, would seem to indicate that this game was very popular with the Yucatecos. Some of the well preserved ruins present beautiful sculptured façades, to which names have been given because of the fancied resemblance to something. For instance, one has been called the ruins of the “House of the Tigers,” because of a frieze of stalking tigers divided by richly fringed shells; another round building, known as El Caracol, “The Snail,” is the best preserved building at Chichen; “The Red House,” and the “House of the Dark Writing,” are still other structures. In all directions for several miles the bush is strewn with ruins. Crumbling walls and courts overgrown with jungle growth are encountered on every side, but because of the disintegration these once splendid palaces and temples are now little more than shapeless masses of crumbled masonry. The human figures seen on these monuments have the usual types of the Toltec carvings on the plateaus of Mexico. The total area covered by these ruins has been estimated by some investigators as high as ten square miles.
The next largest and most interesting city of ruins is known as Uxmal, which was the capital of the Tutal Xiu branch of the Mayas. This city is located between low ranges of hills, perhaps one hundred miles from Chichen Itza. When seen from an eminence a dozen or more imposing structures of white limestone are presented to view. This city, no doubt, supplied a very important part in the early history of Yucatan—at least if one is to judge from its size. It is believed that this was the original city of the Toltecs. A dozen or more imposing structures of considerable size still stand here that can be identified, in addition to the large numbers of ruins which can scarcely be outlined. The most notable sanctuary of Uxmal, which is now known as the “House of the Dwarf,” is over fifty feet high, and also surmounts a steep-sloped pyramid one hundred feet in height. Two stairways on opposite sides lead to this building. It is so named because the natives say it was built by a savage dwarf in a single night. Long after the city was abandoned this temple was held in especial veneration. The Spanish priests used to find offerings of cocoa and copal on it, and they attributed this to devil worship. Two lines of parallel walls, parts of which are still standing, enclose a court or quadrangle, which is similar to the Ball Court at Chichen. The group of buildings around it encloses more than one hundred rooms. All of the buildings seem to have been built on low platforms or terraces. There is also at this place a high terrace, or platform, that covers over three acres of ground, and on which is a second and a third terrace, upon the latter of which is the ruin of a building known as the Governor’s Palace. This building is one of the finest samples of early American architecture still extant. It stands at an elevation of forty-four feet above the plains, and commands a splendid view of the city. Its exterior walls are decorated with sculptured masonry, in the making of which it is estimated there are upward of twenty thousand sculptured pieces of stone. The building is three hundred and twenty-two feet long, and is divided into three parts by two arcades which pass clear through. It is built entirely of stone without ornament to a height of ten feet, then comes a cornice, above which is a wall that is a bewildering maze of beautiful sculpture. This frieze has a row of colossal heads, and is divided into panels which are alternately filled with grecques in high relief, and diamond or lattice work. All the lintels of the building here are of wood in an excellent state of preservation.