Our explorations in that part of the country were at an end. We were beginning to grow tired of our fish diet, and looked with anxiety for an opportunity to continue our voyage to the island of Cozumel. This island, called by the ancient Mayas Cozmil (place for swallows), was the rendezvous of Indian pilgrims who flocked thither every year to pay homage at the numerous temples, the ruins of which are to be found in the thick forests that now cover it. The expected opportunity offering we reached the village of San Miguel February 3, 1877. Cozumel is a beautiful island of about 45 miles in length and 12 in breadth. The fertility of its soil is evinced by the luxuriant growth of the thick and impenetrable forests of valuable timber that have sprung up since its abandonment by its former inhabitants and which serve either for purposes of building or ornamentation. Cocoa-nuts, plantains, bananas, pineapples, ananas and other tropical fruits grow abundantly. Vanilla, yams, sweet potatoes and vegetables of all kinds can be produced in plenty, while honey and wax, the work of wild harmless bees, and copal are gathered on the trees. The tobacco, which is to-day the article that engrosses the mind and monopolizes the attention of the planters, is of a superior quality, emulating the Cuban production. On the other hand the thickets are alive with pheasants, quail, pigeons, wild pigs and other descriptions of game. The waters swarm with the most excellent fish and innumerable turtles sport in the lagoons, while curlews, snipe, ducks and other aquatic fowls flock on their shores; and not the least of the gifts with which the munificent hand of nature has so bountifully endowed this delicious oasis of the ocean is its delightful and soft, yet invigorating, climate, that makes well nigh useless the art of the physician.
At some epoch it is evident that the whole island was under cultivation, which is proved by the stone fences that divide it into small parcels or farms like a checker-board. The island, like the whole of the Yucatan peninsula, has evidently been upraised from the bottom of the sea by the action of volcanic fires, and the thin coating of arable loam of surprising fertility which covers a substratum of calcareous stones, is the result of the accumulation of detriti, mixed with the residuum of animal and vegetable life of thousands of years. The greater part of this island is as yet archæologically unexplored. I have no doubt that thorough explorations in the depths of its forests and of the caves would bring to light very interesting relics, which would repay the trouble and expense. Rough and rude as is the construction of the monuments of the island, the architecture possesses the same character as that of the more elaborate edifices on the main land. The same design of entablature, with some little difference in the cornice, the same triangular arch, the same shaped rooms—long and narrow, but all on a miniature scale. They seem more like dolls’ houses than dwellings for man. One of the best preserved of these singular buildings was visited, and two other constructions, consisting of independent and separate arches, the only ones we ever met with in our rambles in Yucatan. The edifice formed at one time, with the two triumphal arches, part of a series of constructions now completely ruined. It was a temple composed, as are all structures of the kind, of two apartments, a front or ante-chamber, and the sanctuary or holy of holies. In this case the ante-chamber measures 59 inches in width by 2 yards and 33 inches in length, its height being 2 yards and 30 inches from the floor to the apex of the triangular arch that serves as ceiling. The sanctuary is entered through a doorway 1 yard high and 18 inches wide, and is narrower than the front apartments, measuring only 34 inches across. The whole edifice is externally 3 yards high, 4 yards 29 inches long and 4 yards wide. If we judge of the stature of the builders by the size of the building, we may really imagine this to have been the kingdom of Liliput, visited by Gulliver. The triumphal arches present the same proportions as the temple I have just described, which is by no means the earliest archaic structure. Old people are not wanting who pretend to have seen these Alux-ob, whom they describe as reaching the extraordinary stature of 2 feet. They tell us of their habits and mischievousness, tales which forcibly recall to our minds the legends of “the little people” so credited among all classes of society in Ireland. There can be no reasonable doubt but that a very diminutive race of men, but little advanced in the arts of civilization, dwelt on these islands and along the eastern coast of Yucatan, and that many of the edifices, the ruins of which are to be seen in that part of the country, are the works of their hands, as the tradition has it.
The attempt has been made in the previous pages to bring the discoveries of Dr. Le Plongeon and his own account of his labors and inferences into such a form that they may be easily considered by those competent to determine their importance and bearing. The value of the statue called Chac-Mool, as an archæological treasure, cannot be questioned. It is the only remaining human figure of a high type of art, finished “in the round” known to have been discovered in America since the occupation of Maya territory in the 16th century.
The idols of Copan have expressive human countenances,[89-*] though they are distorted in order to inspire awe and fear in the beholder, but no attempt was there made to depict the graceful proportions of the nude figure. They stand perpendicularly, carved from solid blocks of stone, and are from 10 to 15 feet in height. The figures upon them are bas-reliefs, occupying generally only 2/3 of the length of the front, while the back of the block is a straight surface and is covered with emblems and hieroglyphics. The sculptures of Palenque[89-†] have many of them much artistic beauty, but they are all of them attached figures, as it is believed are also the beautiful statues of Nineveh.[89-‡] Even the slightest touching makes a figure “in relief.” This statue from Chichen-Itza has all the appearance of being intended as the likeness of a man, and much skill is shown in the delineation of the proportions. It is entirely detached, and reposes upon a base carved from the same block of stone as the figure, which gives it a higher rank in sculpture than any other in America, of which we have ocular proof at this day. It is a noteworthy circumstance in the controversy regarding the seizure of the statue by the Yucatan Government, and afterwards by that of Mexico, that no doubt in regard to its authenticity, so far as is known to the writer, has been expressed on the part of those who would naturally be the best judges of objects found in their own country. Among the Le Plongeon photographs of sculptures from Uxmal is a head in demi-relief, which resembles in the lineaments of the face those of this statue so much as to offer a striking likeness, and this agrees with the theory of the intimate connection of Chichen-Itza and Uxmal, adopted in the communication to Hon. J. W. Foster.
Diego de Landa, second Bishop of Yucatan, in his account of that country written in 1566, speaks of two similar statues observed by him at the same locality, Chichen-Itza, which place he speaks of as famous for its ruins.[90-*] His description is: “I found there sculptured lions, vases, and other objects, fashioned with so much skill that no one would be tempted to declare that that people made them without instruments of metal. There I found also two men sculptured, each made of a single stone, and girded according to the usage of the Indians. They held their heads in a peculiar manner, and had ear-rings in their ears, as the Indians wear them, and a point formed a projection behind the neck, which entered a deep hole in the neck, and thus adorned the statue was complete.” He also speaks of the practice of burying articles used by the dead with their ashes,[90-†] and he says: “As regards Seigneurs and people of superior condition, they burn their remains, and deposit their ashes in large urns. They then build temples over them, as one sees was anciently done, by what is found at Izamal.”[90-‡]
The statue discovered seems to resemble those spoken of by Landa in all the peculiarities mentioned. He also refers to the custom among the women of filing the teeth like a saw, which was considered by them to be ornamental.[90-§]
A remark to Dr. Le Plongeon about the statues above described drew from him the following statement: “We have seen the remnants of the statues you referred to as mentioned by Landa; some one has broken them to pieces.” He also speaks of the resemblance of the statue he discovered to those of ancient Egypt, from the careful finish of the head and the lesser degree of attention bestowed on the other parts of the body.
Dr. Le Plongeon has stated in the first of the three communications contained in this paper, that from his interpretation of mural paintings and hieroglyphics in the building upon the South-East wall of the Gymnasium at Chichen-Itza, he was induced to make the excavation which resulted in his discovery. Elsewhere we learn that in the same building, and also on the tablets about the ears of the statue, he was able to read the name Chac-Mool, &c., &c. (Chaac or Chac in Maya means chieftain, Mol or Mool means paw of an animal.) He says that the names he gives, “were 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 personage represented on these monuments is known by name, since either over the head or at the feet the name is written.” He also states that he knows where the ancient books of the H-Menes lie buried, as well as other statues. The discovery of one of these hidden books would be a service of priceless value.
A perusal of the communications contained in this paper lead to the impression that their writer accepts many of the theories advanced by Brasseur de Bourbourg, that he is a believer in the interpretations of Landa, and that he thinks he has been able to establish a system which enables him to read Maya inscriptions.
Dr. Le Plongeon has been accompanied and assisted in all his labors by his accomplished wife, and he has frequently stated that a great part of the credit for the results achieved is due to her intelligent judgment and skilful execution. His last date is from Belize, British Honduras, September 1. In that letter he announces the preparation of a paper for the Royal Geographical Society of London, in which he says he shall give his researches in extenso.