"It was a stone of punishment, or whipping-post; it was in use throughout this country both before and after the Conquest, and, in fact, it is not unknown to-day. The culprit was stripped and tied to this post and then publicly whipped, very much as in some of the United States within the memory of men now living. M. Charnay says there is a picoté in use to-day at the Indian village of Tumbala, near Palenque, and presumably it can be found in other Indian villages. The funny part of the business is that the Indians believe a sound thrashing at the picoté makes a man's conscience clean, and to secure such a state of mental affairs they often come forward and ask to be whipped when nobody knows of anything to entitle them to punishment.
"We don't care for any picoté just now, and so we'll drop it. There is at Aké a small pyramid about forty feet high, and built of large stones that were put together without cement. There was once a house on top, but it has crumbled away, and the sides of the pyramid are a good deal dilapidated. Then there is a large pyramid with a broad top, and on this top are three rows of stone pillars about ten feet apart one way and fifteen feet the other. The esplanade on which these pillars stand measures fifty by two hundred feet; the pillars are built up of flat stones about three feet square by fifteen inches thick, and there are ten stones in each perfect pillar. We have said there are thirty-six pillars, but only twenty-nine are standing, and from several of these some of the stones have been displaced.
PILLARS OF GREAT GALLERY, AKÉ.
"Now, what was the use of these pillars? This is a conundrum that has excited all visitors, and nobody has been able to make an explanation that has not been overthrown by some one else. Some have argued that the pillars and the stones of which they are composed were intended to mark certain epochs of time; one writer says the pillars were built up by placing single stones there at intervals, so arranged that each pillar would take 200 years for its construction. According to this theory, the erection of the thirty-six pillars would cover a period of 7200 years, and thus make the foundation of the edifice older than that of the oldest of the pyramids of Egypt.
"Opposed to this theory is that of the explorers who believe the pillars, or columns, were the supports of the roof of a temple. The roof, they say, was of perishable material and disappeared ages ago, but the stones remain. The columns are from fourteen to sixteen feet high, and the work of putting the stones in place was by no means small. The builders understood architectural principles, and that they lived and died long, long ago there can be no doubt. When it was that they lived no one has yet been able to say positively.
"In some of its features this great pyramid of Aké is one of the wonders of Yucatan. The platform on which the columns are ranged is reached by a stone staircase that seems to have been built for giants. It measures 137 feet from one side to the other, the steps are more than four feet from front to rear, and each step is sixteen inches high. When you bear in mind that the steps of a staircase of modern construction are usually about nine inches high, you will understand what a 'getting upstairs' it is to ascend this great pyramid.
"A fierce battle was fought here between the Spaniards and Mayas at the time of the Conquest, and the remains of a Spanish fort or redoubt can be distinctly traced.
"From Aké we will turn to Kabah, which lies a few miles to the south of Uxmal. Kabah was a large and very old city. How large it was nobody can say exactly, as a dense forest covers the site, and a great deal of cutting is required to visit any part of it. Every fresh visitor to Kabah discovers something new whenever and wherever he penetrates the forest. Some of the recent explorers have found many ruined buildings that escaped the observation of Stephens, who thought he had examined the entire extent of the city.