“The name, Chac Mool, or Balam, and the names of his two brothers, Huuncay and Aac, the latter the builder of the ‘House of the Governor’ at Uxmal, are not given by us at random. They are written on the monuments where represented, written in characters just as intelligible to my wife and myself, as this paper is to you in latin letters. Every person represented on these monuments is known to us by name, since either over the head or at the feet, the name is written. We have tracings of the mural paintings as seen on the walls of the inner chamber of the monument raised by the queen of Itza to the memory of her husband, Chac-Mool. Stephens mistook it for a shrine where the winners at the games of ball were wont to make offerings to the presiding idol. In your paper you have copied part of his description of that monument. But the statue of Chac-Mool was not exhumed in it as you assert, but four hundred yards from it, in the midst of the forest. No traveller or writer has ever indicated the place where it lay buried, and it is by deciphering the meaning of some hieroglyphics and mural paintings, that we came to a knowledge of the place. The building with tigers and shields was simply a monument dedicated to his memory.”

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

7. Represents the statue of Chac-Mool uncovered at the depth of 8meters. At the sides are seen the frame-work “of trunks of trees of 2 to2 1/2 inches in diameter, secured with vines.” The inclined plane onwhich it was drawn to the surface is visible, as are some of the tenIndian laborers, in working costume.

8. The statue has now been drawn to the upper part of the inclinedplane. The ropes of habin bark are attached to the figure. Near thesculptured slabs at the right, already shown in 3, 5 and 6, Mrs. LePlongeon appears seated.

9. Shows the capstan that served to raise the statue, the size of whichis apparent by comparison with the figure of the Indian near it.

10. Apparently the same locality as 4. The method of moving the statueover the fragments of sculpture and other impediments is shown.

11. The size and appearance of the statue, “half as large again as thenatural size,” is here distinctly pictured, together with Dr. LePlongeon standing in the rear of his discovery. The head-dress,trappings and sandals are clearly defined.

12. The statue is seen on the rude wagon on which it had beentransported to Pisté, a distance of 3 or 4 miles. In the rear is seenthe stone church of Pisté, surmounted by a cross, described inCharnay’s Cités et Ruines Américaines, page 336, and by Dr. LePlongeon, in the Mexican Memorial. Nearly all the small towns havesimilar Churches, built from the ruins of Indian buildings. It isprobable that some of the choicest works of art, too large to be easilydestroyed, were put out of sight in the construction of these edificesby the fanatical conquerors of the 16th century.

Note. The numbers of the pictures do not agree with those in theMexican Memorial.

Statue at Chichen-Itza, Yucatan, in process ofexhumation by Dr. Augustus Le Plongeon, showing the engineering processby which it was accomplished.

It appears that Dr. Le Plongeon, on his arrival in Yucatan, in 1873, first visited Uxmal, where he made explorations and took photographs. He then prepared himself to undertake the more difficult and dangerous visit to Chichen-Itza. While there, the discovery of the statue, Chac-Mool, was made, and it was excavated in the manner described by the discoverer in the last pages of the Mexican Memorial. Dr. Le Plongeon had formed a design of sending the statue and certain bas-reliefs, together with plans and photographs, to the Centennial Exhibition, and had prepared these articles for removal, when a sudden revolution occasioned the disarming of his Indian laborers, who for some time had served for a protection, and all further operations were suspended, as longer residence in that exposed region without arms was sheer madness. It was at that time that Dr. Le Plongeon wrote the following Memorial to the Mexican President, Senor Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, which is given nearly entire, as it makes a statement of his claims and wishes, and contains very important information concerning the discovery of the statue, and gives an idea of his method of exploration.

The account here given of experiences resulting in a discovery so surprising, must interest even those sceptical in regard to the progress in art of the American aborigines; and it must also be remembered that, almost without exception, late as well as early travellers in this region have become enthusiastic and imaginative when brought into contact with these monuments of a measureless past,[63-*]—none of them more so, perhaps, than Brasseur de Bourbourg, whose works nevertheless contain a mine of most valuable information aside from hypotheses.

Accompanying the Memorial, a set of photographs, some of them similar to those copied in heliotype, was sent to Mexico for the information of the President, but the numbers in the last pages of that paper, referring to the special set of photographs, do not correspond to the pictures presented here, as there were no means of verifying the subjects, except from the descriptions.

Note.—It will be observed that Dr. Le Plongeon’s spelling of the word Chac-Mool, differs from that adopted by the writer in deference to prevailing usage in Yucatan. The discoverer always spells the word Chaacmol, although in the long letter to the writer, on the subject of Maya antiquities, introduced at the close of this paper, the more usual spelling has been adopted by the printer, contrary to the text of Dr. Le Plongeon.

Memorial presented to the Mexican Government, and afterwards published in the Official Journal of Yucatan, April 19 and 21, 1876.

To the President of the Mexican Republic,

Senor Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.

Sir: