A short historical notice of the stone image “Chac-Mool,” discovered in the celebrated ruins of Chichen-Itza, by the learned Archæologist, Mr. Le Plongeon, to be preserved in the National Museum of Mexico, for which place it is destined.
Mérida, 1877.
There exist, in the deserts of Yucatan, at about 36 leagues—108 miles —from Mérida, some very notable monumental ruins, known by the name of Chichen-Itza, whose origin is lost in the night of time. Their situation, in the hostile section of revolutionary Indians (Sublivados), caused them to be very little visited until, to the general astonishment, an American traveller, the wise archæologist and Doctor, Mr. Augustus Le Plongeon, in company with his young and most intelligent wife, fixed his residence among them for some months towards the end of 1874. They both gave themselves up with eagerness to making excellent photographic views of what was there worthy of notice, to be sent to the ministry of protection, the depository which the law provides in order to obtain the rights of ownership. They did not limit themselves to this work. The illustrious Doctor and his wife, worthy of admiration on many accounts, supported with patient heroism the sufferings and risks of that very forlorn neighborhood, and passed their days in producing exact plans, and transferring to paper the wall paintings that are still preserved upon some of the edifices, such as Akabsib—(dark writings).
There came a day on which one, endowed like the visitor, had by abstruse archæological reasoning, and by his meditation, determined the place, and, striking the spot with his foot, he said, “Here it is, here it will be found.” The language of this man—better said, of this genius—will appear exaggerated. It can be decided when he has succeeded in bringing to light the interesting work which he is writing about his scientific investigations in the ruins of Yucatan. Let us finish this short preamble, and occupy ourselves with the excavation of the statue.
Chac-Mool is a Maya word which means tiger. So the discoverer desired to name it, who reserved to himself the reasons for which he gave it this name. He discovered a stone base, oblong, somewhat imperfect, that measured 9 Spanish inches in thickness, by 5 feet 3 1/2 inches in length, and 2 feet 10 inches in width. Above it reposed in a single piece of stone the colossal image whose weight amounted to about 3,500 lbs. Its imposing and majestic attitude, and the insignia which adorned it, leads to the supposition that it was some notable leader of the time, a king, or perhaps a noble of those regions. Such deductions were hazarded as suppositions. The discoverer supposed it buried by its kindred and subjects more than 12,000 years ago. The reasons shall I attempt to give? It was reached at 8 meters in depth, not far from the manorial castle of Chichen, to which the approach is by a staircase of 90 steps, which are visible from the four cardinal points. According to the above discoverer there existed a kind of mausoleum or monument—erected to the memory of the ruler, Chac-Mool, by the queen, his wife—until it was destroyed at the time of the invasion of Chichen-Itza by the Nahuas or Toltecs, at the end of the second century of the Christian era. Even now is preserved at a short distance from the place where was exhumed the statue of Chac-Mool, a statue of stone representing a tiger, also above a quadrilateral base, which once had a human head, and which it is presumed surmounted the monument before the time of its destruction.
Employing a protection of limbs and trunks of trees, and providing a capstan with ropes made from the bark of the grapevine, by force of perseverance the learned Le Plongeon was able to land upon the surface of the soil the most noteworthy archæological treasure which has been discovered to this day in Yucatan.
Ignorant of the laws of the country, this American traveller thought that he might at once call himself the proprietor of the statue, and succeeded in bringing it, in 15 days, as far as the uninhabited town of Pisté, two miles from the ruins, upon a wagon constructed for the purpose, hiding it in the neighborhood of the above town, while he informed himself about his supposed rights. The indefatigable traveller came to Mérida, where, in the meantime the Government of the State asserted that the statue was the general property of the nation and not that of the discoverer.
Leaving for a better opportunity the questions relative to it, Dr. Le Plongeon occupied himself in visiting other ruins, busying himself between the Island of Cozumel and that of Mugeres, until peace should be established in the State, and the Sr. General Guerra should be nominated Provisional Governor.
At the suggestion of the subscriber the Governor allowed the transportation of this statue to the Museo Yucateco, and the Director of the Museo, in compliance with his duty, counting upon the assistance of an armed force necessary for an expedition of such a dangerous character, left this capital February 1, 1877, to the end of securing the preservation of an object so important to the ancient history of the country. Overcoming the thousand difficulties that presented themselves in opening a road of 6 leagues that was known to the birds alone, over a surface covered with mounds and inequalities, he constructed a new wagon on which the colossal statue was dragged along by more than 150 Indians, in turn, who, in their fanatical superstition, asserted that, during the late hours of the night there came from the mouth of the figure the words “Conex! Conex!” which signifies in their language, “Let us go! Let us go!”
Upon the 26th of the same month and year, the historical and monumental city of Izamal received with enthusiastic demonstrations the statue of the king Chac-Mool. Brilliant compositions referring to it were read, which, in a printed form, will accompany it for the archives of the Museo National. When it arrived at Mérida it had a no less lively reception on the morning of the 1st of March, 1877.