“The feeling, impressive beyond words, was undoubtedly intensified by the vision of the treasures I had so recently seen and handled: the beautiful alabaster-like vase above all comparison with anything of its kind hitherto found in the whole Maya area; the remarkable terra-cotta votive urns nearly three feet high, each bearing the mask of a god surrounded with sacred ornaments; the elaborate incense-burners and other extraordinary pottery; the big, polished, globular beads of jade; the carved jade plaque; the labrets, ear- and nose-ornaments; the tubular rosettes; the thin disks of polished jade; the wonderfully worked, flawless ornaments of flint, shaped like the parts of the crozier of a bishop.
“And linked with these in my mind’s eye were the deeply paneled surfaces of walls and columns, everywhere in the Sacred City, depicting god-like personages with all the regalia of exalted priesthood: neck-chains of big globular beads, breast-plaques of finely carved design, ear- and nose-ornaments, and, grasped in the hand of these dignitaries, a staff crowned with an object resembling the crozier of a bishop.
“To me these pictures and the finds we had just made dovetailed perfectly. Beyond dispute, too, is that fact that many ancient races placed at the side of the departed those things which were most used in life and which they would, presumably, want first in the hereafter. The old Phœnicians, the Egyptians, the Scythians, the Norsemen, the Eskimos, the redskins of the North and West, the Pueblos and the Nahuatls, and the Incas and pre-Incas—all followed this custom. And I know at first hand that the Mayas were no exception, for I have found well-defined graves, never previously disturbed—graves containing child skeletons with toys beside them; graves of women in which were bone needles and spinning-whorls of terra-cotta or worked stone; graves where beside the thick bones of once-powerful men were found flint lance-heads and heads of darts for the hul-che and knife-points of obsidian.
“Beyond question I had uncovered the last resting-place of a priest obviously of very high rank. Reason and logic and facts carry us thus far. But those five hidden graves, each guarding the one below and blocking the way to the deep secret passage and the pit at its end wherein lay the sacred relics of the arch-priest—how may these be explained? It is here that the mysterious assurance came to me—the sure intuition, if you will—that this was not merely the tomb of a great priest but the tomb of the great priest, the tomb of the great leader, the tomb of the hero-god, Kukul Can, he whose symbol was the Feathered Serpent. Evidence is lacking, I can offer no scientific proof, and yet I am certain that ultimately further discoveries in the Sacred City will bear out my intuitive belief.”
CHAPTER XVI
THE LEGEND OF THE SACRIFICIAL PILGRIMAGE
WITHIN the province of Mani the water-holes, the satenejas, were dry. For many weeks no rain had fallen and the growing corn had withered and died. The people were perishing of hunger and thirst and Ah Pula Xia, overlord of the province, saw that something must be done and swiftly or the tribe of Mani would be no more.
And so he caused the great summons to be sounded, the command to every man, women, and child in the whole province to appear before him—the command that had not been heard for twenty years. The uliche, drumsticks with heads of rubber, striking upon the tunkul, caused the earth to tremble with the loud booming of the summons, while swift-footed holpopes, or runners, carried the message to the most distant parts of the nation.
At the appointed time Ah Pula ascended to his kingly seat under the spreading shade of the great yax-che, the sacred tree of the Mayas, and grouped around him were his councilors and chiefs; the ah-kin, the high priest, the kulel, the aged prime minister, the nacon, chief of the warriors. Behind each of their leaders were grouped the officers of lesser grades, each clad in his richest vestments and holding the badge of his office. And flanking these nobles were the tupiles, or guardians of the law, in long lines; and each bore the white wand, insignia of their authority. Beyond, as far as the eye could see, clear to the horizon where the level plain met the forest, were massed the commoners, the whole nation of Mani.