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A GLIMPSE AT GUATEMALA, AND SOME NOTES ON THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
A GLIMPSE AT GUATEMALA, AND SOME NOTES ON THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
By ANNE CARY MAUDSLAY AND ALFRED PERCIVAL MAUDSLAY With Maps, Plans, Photographs, and other Illustrations LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1899. PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. DEDICATED TO FREDERICK DUCANE GODMAN, D.C.L., F.R.S., AND TO THE MEMORY OF OSBERT SALVIN, F.R.S....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The Archæological results of my seven expeditions to Central America are in course of publication in the ‘Biologia Centrali-Americana,’ and eight parts containing about 200 plates have already been issued to the public; this is necessarily a costly work which is not likely to find its way into many private libraries. It has therefore frequently been suggested to me that I should publish a less ambitious and less expensive volume giving a general account of my travels as well as some description
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LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS.
LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS.
The Maps and Plans are reduced copies of those already published, or in course of publication in the ‘Biologia Centrali-Americana’ (Archæology). End Papers. Drawn from ancient American originals by Miss Annie Hunter . Photogravures. By the Swan Electric Engraving Company . Chromolithographs. By W. Griggs & Sons , Ltd. Etchings on Tissue. By the Typographic Etching Company . Index. By Miss M. H. James . Index. By Miss M. H. James ....
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CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE.
CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE.
We left England early in October, 1893, and on the 13th November found ourselves in San Francisco. Our passages were taken in a steamer advertised to sail from that Port on the 18th of the month for San José de Guatemala, but no sooner had we set foot in the Palace Hotel, than the Influenza fiend seized us both; so we were obliged to give up our cabins in the steamer, and, as soon as we were well enough to travel, were ordered by the doctor to leave San Francisco and its cold winds for the more
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CHAPTER II. THE CITY.
CHAPTER II. THE CITY.
CITY OF GUATEMALA, FROM THE CERRO DEL CARMEN. The city of Guatemala occupies a beautiful position in the middle of a broad plain, surrounded on all sides by mountains and volcanoes. Hill after hill rises to the north until the view is shut in by the distant Sierra Madre range. To the south-east is a volcanic group crowned by the peaks of Pacaya, and above the nearer hills to the south rise the giant cone of Agua and the triple craters of Fuego. The streets of the city are laid out at right angle
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CHAPTER III. THE START.
CHAPTER III. THE START.
STONE IDOLS ON THE ROAD TO MIXCO. At the end of three weeks all our outfit for the journey, including numerous cases of provisions, had, by the kindness of the Government, been passed through the Custom House free of duty, and we at once set to work sorting the provisions and repacking them in smaller boxes—some to be carried with us, others to be sent on to various points on the road to await our arrival. We had already purchased seven cargo-mules and one horse, none of them in very good condit
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CHAPTER IV. ANTIGUA.
CHAPTER IV. ANTIGUA.
My dreams faded away for a time when we reached the Hotel Rojas, which had been recommended to us as the best in Antigua. Probably it is the best, but it certainly is very bad. The rooms are small and ill-kept, and the dreadfully dirty maids seemed to consider their duty done when they had swept the dust from our room into the corridor on which all the bedrooms opened, and thrown the bath-water across the corridor into the courtyard beyond. The table was provided with an abundance of beef, poult
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CHAPTER V. THE VOLCANOES.
CHAPTER V. THE VOLCANOES.
AGUA FROM SANTA MARIA. On the afternoon of the 8th of January we started with all our men and mules, carrying bed, tent, canteen, and provisions, for the Indian village of Santa Maria, about three leagues distant on the slope of the volcano. Our road lay through the streets of the old town, past ruined churches and half-neglected convent-gardens, then through an alameda with a beautiful avenue of ficus trees whose branches met overhead, to a picturesque old fountain at the southern outskirts of
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CHAPTER VI. THE ROAD TO GODINES.
CHAPTER VI. THE ROAD TO GODINES.
We left Antigua on the morning of the 12th January. Just as we were ready to ride out of the Patio our landlord approached me, carrying in his hand a hideous toy parrot, sitting in a swing, with staring red eyes and scanty green feathers glued on its back. This he solemnly presented to me with many bows and wishes for a “buen viaje.” I felt bound to show my appreciation by hanging the thing to my saddle, sincerely hoping that it would soon be jolted off; but no such luck attended me, and there t
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CHAPTER VII. THE LAKE OF ATITLAN.
CHAPTER VII. THE LAKE OF ATITLAN.
Our tent was pitched so close to the precipice that even from my bed I had a grand view over the lake, and could watch the black masses of the volcanoes looming clear cut and solemn in the moonlight, or changing from black to grey in the early dawn; then a rosy flush would touch the peak of Atitlan and the light creep down its side, revealing for a brief half-hour every detail of cinder ridge and chasm on its scarred and wounded slopes, until with a sudden burst of glory the sun rose above the e
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CHAPTER VIII. THE QUICHÉS AND CACHIQUELS. (BY A. P. M.)
CHAPTER VIII. THE QUICHÉS AND CACHIQUELS. (BY A. P. M.)
ON THE STEPS OF THE CABILDO, ATITLAN. It will be as well now to give a slight sketch of the history of the Indians whose country we were passing through. At the time of Alvarado’s entry into Guatemala in February 1524, the tableland round about the modern towns of Santa Cruz del Quiché and Quezaltenango was occupied by the Quiché Indians, who had their capital at Utatlan, close to Santa Cruz. The Cachiquels held the land to the east of the Quichés, and their capital, Patinamit or Iximché, stood
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CHAPTER IX. ACROSS THE ALTOS.
CHAPTER IX. ACROSS THE ALTOS.
Our journey began again on the 25th January, along the road by the lake shore and round a bluff headland which divides the delta of Panajachél from a much smaller plain of the same formation. Then the track rose rapidly and we gained a view over the lake, and glimpses of little Indian towns nestling beneath the lofty headlands and at the foot of the distant volcanoes. The beauty of this view under a canopy of the deepest blue flecked with billowy clouds, the charm of leafy lands through which we
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CHAPTER X. USPANTAN AND THE RIO NEGRO.
CHAPTER X. USPANTAN AND THE RIO NEGRO.
We had ridden on our way for about five miles over a fairly level plain covered with rastrojos and dried-up grass, relieved here and there by a few straggling ocote pines and mimosa shrubs, when we caught sight of some artificial mounds on the far side of a gully to the right of the track. Tying up our mules we climbed down to the banks of a small rushing rivulet, crossed the stream, and scrambling up on the other side found ourselves on a detached bare plain surrounded on all sides by barrancas
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CHAPTER XI. COBAN AND THE VERA PAZ.
CHAPTER XI. COBAN AND THE VERA PAZ.
COBAN. A pleasant air of prosperity pervades the settlement of Coban. Fortunately the touch of modern European influence has in no way lessened the attractiveness of the native surroundings, and for the first time we found comfort united with picturesqueness under the lovely skies of these tropical highlands. The cottages of the natives stand apart from one another in gardens of flowering shrubs, fruit-trees, and rose-bushes, many of them half-buried in the thick foliage of coffee-trees, and the
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CHAPTER XII. RUINS AT RABINAL. (BY A. P. M.)
CHAPTER XII. RUINS AT RABINAL. (BY A. P. M.)
A TEMPLE NEAR RABINAL. We had already changed our plans once, when the failure to find a road from Belehú to Rabinal diverted our steps to the Alta Vera Paz and Coban, and now news reached us that, through some blunder, the cases of instruments and boxes of provisions which were to have been forwarded to Salamá for our use at Rabinal had never left Guatemala, so that again we had to alter our plans, and all thoughts of exploring the ruins near Rabinal had finally to be abandoned. I regretted thi
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CHAPTER XIII. THE ROAD TO ZACAPA AND COPAN.
CHAPTER XIII. THE ROAD TO ZACAPA AND COPAN.
We would gladly have lingered on in the enjoyment of such pleasant lazy days at Coban; but there were many miles to be traversed before we could reach the ruins of Copan, a place so like in name and so different in nature, the goal to which my eyes now turned longingly. Moreover, the season was advancing, and the fervid rays of the sun at midday proclaimed that summer was upon us. Two days were passed in hunting up mozos to carry our baggage, and it was only owing to the fear of the wrath of the
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CHAPTER XIV. COPAN.
CHAPTER XIV. COPAN.
SQUARE ALTAR, COPAN VILLAGE. It only needed one night’s experience to convince me that the cross draughts of our airy residence were not suited to our constitutions, and when on rising to make my toilet in the morning, the transparent nature of my dressing-room was borne in on me, my mind was made up, and I ordered the tent to be pitched without delay. Thenceforward we had a thoroughly comfortable bedroom. One end of the tent was left open for ventilation, but we were well sheltered from draught
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CHAPTER XV. COPAN IN 1885. (BY A. P. M.)
CHAPTER XV. COPAN IN 1885. (BY A. P. M.)
I was at Copan for a few days in 1881, and returned there again in 1885, determined to make a more thorough investigation of the ruins, and the result of my work has been published at length in the pages of the ‘Biologia Centrali-Americana.’ The earliest description of the ruins is found in a letter addressed by Diego Garcia de Palacio, an officer of the Audiencia of Guatemala, to King Philip II. of Spain, dated 8th of March, 1576. Palacio was an acute observer, and his description of the ruins
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CHAPTER XVI. COPAN IN 1885 (CONTINUED). (BY A. P. M.)
CHAPTER XVI. COPAN IN 1885 (CONTINUED). (BY A. P. M.)
In such an out-of-the-way place as Copan the natives seem to think that every foreigner must know something about medicine, and soon after my arrival the maimed and the sick began to pay me visits and pour their tales of suffering into my ears. With the many sick children I often found that good beef-tea and condensed milk and arrowroot from my stores worked wonders, without any call on the medicine chest; but my strongest efforts went towards persuading the mothers to keep their babies clean, f
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CHAPTER XVII. COPAN TO QUIRIGUA.
CHAPTER XVII. COPAN TO QUIRIGUA.
Towards the middle of March the heat at noonday became excessive and the weather looked threatening. It was early for rain, but ominous thunderclouds had hovered about for several days, and finally, after an oppressively hot morning and afternoon, the storm burst. We had just finished our dinner when the rain began to fall. With all speed the men dug a trench round the tent, and drove the tent-pegs deeper into the ground, whilst we hastened to cover our possessions in the house, the roof of whic
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CHAPTER XVIII. ON THE WAY TO THE COAST.
CHAPTER XVIII. ON THE WAY TO THE COAST.
Although the work which my husband had planned to do at the ruins was not nearly finished, we had reluctantly to cut short our stay at Quirigua, as we learnt that the next steamer to leave Livingston would be the last to carry passengers to New Orleans without a long detention on account of quarantine. As far as our personal comfort was concerned I was sincerely glad of the move, for as the season advanced the heat and steamy dampness had become exceedingly trying. A few days before setting out,
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CHAPTER XIX. CAJABON AND THE NORTHERN FORESTS. (BY A. P. M.)
CHAPTER XIX. CAJABON AND THE NORTHERN FORESTS. (BY A. P. M.)
I had passed the last two months of the year 1886 in an interesting journey through the Altos, examining the ruins of Indian towns which were known to have been occupied at the time of the Spanish invasion; then crossing the main range I found myself, in January 1887, in my old and comfortable quarters at Coban in the Alta Vera Paz. I had no settled plan of work before me, but was prepared to do a little amateur map-making about the headwaters of the Rio de la Pasion, and to examine into the tru
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CHAPTER XX. THE RUINS OF IXKUN AND THE PINE RIDGE.
CHAPTER XX. THE RUINS OF IXKUN AND THE PINE RIDGE.
On the 9th of March we set out again and lunched at midday under the shade of the first pine-trees that we had seen since leaving the valley of the Cajabon River, and two leagues further on we left the shade of the forest for the open savannah of Poctum, a level plain covered with beautiful pasture and dotted over with conical limestone hills and clumps of pine-trees. The next day we crossed the Rio Machaquilá, a swift and sparkling stream which bounds the savannah towards the north, and then ha
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CHAPTER XXI. CHICHÉN ITZÁ.
CHAPTER XXI. CHICHÉN ITZÁ.
The first historical notice of the Maya Indians comes to us from Columbus, who did not get in touch with the more civilized races of America until the end of his career as an explorer, and then by an unlucky chance he failed to follow up the clue. During his fourth voyage Columbus landed on Bonacca, one of the Ruatan group of islands lying about thirty miles from the northern coast of Honduras, and the story of his meeting with the Maya Indians is well told by Washington Irving:— “The Adelantado
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CHAPTER XXII. LAGUNA AND THE RIO USUMACINTA.
CHAPTER XXII. LAGUNA AND THE RIO USUMACINTA.
In December 1890 I crossed the Gulf of Mexico from Vera Cruz to Progreso in one of the Ward Line Steamers, and was then transhipped into a coasting-boat belonging to the same company, which was to take me to Frontera, at the mouth of the Tabasco river, whence I was to find my way up the stream, and inland to the ruins of Palenque. Never did I put to sea with such misgivings: it was still the season of the ’Norte,’ the fierce cold wind which sweeps down the Mississippi Valley and across Texas fro
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CHAPTER XXIII. PALENQUE.
CHAPTER XXIII. PALENQUE.
On the 20th February, Gorgonio, José Domingo, and Caralampio Lopez arrived at Palenque, having ridden overland from Guatemala, and we at once set to work making paper moulds of the inscriptions; by the end of three weeks a large number of moulds had been dried and stored in one of the temples, and others in process of making were still adhering to the sculptured slabs, when, late one evening, a heavy rain-storm unexpectedly burst upon us. It was impossible in the dark to reach the temple where t
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CHAPTER XXIV. TIKÁL AND MENCHÉ.
CHAPTER XXIV. TIKÁL AND MENCHÉ.
SACLUC (LA LIBERTAD). Before closing the notes on my wanderings a few words must be said about two other ruins, Tikál, which I visited both in 1881 and 1882, and Menché, which I visited in the latter year only. On both occasions I started from Coban and travelled northward for ten days through the then almost uninhabited forest to the Paso Real on the Rio de la Pasion, where the Government maintains a ferryman and serviceable canoes for the passage of the river, and thence to Sacluc, a village s
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CHAPTER XXV. CONCLUSIONS (?).
CHAPTER XXV. CONCLUSIONS (?).
In the foregoing pages a slight sketch has been given of the principal groups of ruins visited during my eight winters’ wanderings in Central America, and I will now attempt to formulate some results of my observations. The first point that is noticeable is the marked limitation in range of the hieroglyphic inscriptions. I have never heard of any Maya inscriptions being found beyond the area marked on the map which accompanies this volume. The geographical features of this area have probably had
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CHAPTER XXVI. THE HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS.
CHAPTER XXVI. THE HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS.
MAYA INSCRIPTION FROM PIEDRAS NEGRAS. (The glyphs are read downwards in double columns from left to right.) I have left to the last the subject of the hieroglyphic inscriptions. For those of my readers who have not previously paid any attention to the subject it is necessary to begin at the beginning and to say that there is a very considerable difference between the Mexican picture-writing and the Maya hieroglyphics, although not so very long ago they were all classed under the same head and ca
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