THE RUINED CITIES OF YUCATAN  
The Mayas (pronounced My-yah) were an ancient people of whom little is known. They dwelt on the broad plains of Yucatan and Central America, and built many cities, or governmental centres, for no ruins of private dwellings have yet been found. The groups of buildings resemble in no way our cities of the present day. They consist everywhere of temples and palaces of the reigning princes or caciques, of public buildings scattered about apparently at random, covering a vast area, with cemented roads and gardens intervening. The centres of the towns were occupied by the public squares and temples; around these were the palaces of the priests and lords, and the outskirts were evidently allotted to the lower classes. Religion and government seem to have gone hand in hand among these primitive Mexicans. The Maya civilization had reached a height unexcelled by any people of[439] the western hemisphere prior to the coming of the white man. They were skilled in architecture, in sculpture and in writing. The priests had developed the science of astronomy to a considerable extent. They had studied with some success the solar system. They had developed a calendar system and created a chronology. So far as these chronological accounts have been worked out they run back three thousand years or more. They reckoned time much as we do, from a fixed date, namely, the birth of Christ. The later dates of the Quirigua inscriptions are generally believed to be somewhere about the beginning of the Christian era.
The oldest of the ruins of the Maya race is said to be that of Copan, which is situated in Honduras, just across the border from Guatemala. It also seems to have been the southernmost point of their migration, as Tula was the northerly terminus of their wanderings. Then comes Quirigua, in Guatemala, which is one of the most remarkable and inexplicable of all the ruins. Tradition sheds no light whatever on these ruins of Copan or Quirigua. The mysterious silence that surrounds these forms a void in the history of the human race. There are doubtless other ruins awaiting the traveller[440] and explorer in the wilderness around Lake Peten, in the northern part of Guatemala. The founder of the race was Izamat-Ul. “To him were brought,” says an old writer, “the sick, the halt and the dead, and he healed and restored them all to life by the touch of his hand.” Hence he was generally known as the Miraculous Hand, and in inscriptions is frequently represented by a hand only.
 
CRUMBLING RUINS OF THE ANCIENT MEXICAN CIVILIZATION
 
In the extreme southeastern part of Mexico, on a small peninsula known as Yucatan, is a section which was at one time the abode of this progressive and migrating race known generally among anthropologists as the Mayas. This distant province deserves far more mention than it usually receives from passing travellers. Though possessing few natural attractions Yucatan is a never-ending source of interest for the anthropologist and archeologist. The whole peninsula is a vast limestone formation, with little or no surface water. Rain is infrequent in most parts, and one might travel for miles without crossing a river or brook, or even chancing upon a spring. In most sections of this peninsula the water is at least seventy feet below the surface of the ground. At the present time windmills aid the inhabitants of that section where the henequen,[441] from which binder twine is made, is raised, but centuries ago such facilities were unknown. There were, however, in some places natural wells which reached down to the depth of what seem to be underground rivers, and it was near these that several ancient cities were located. At least a score of these ancient cities have been explored, of which the best known and most important are Palenque, Uxmal and Chichen Itza. It is known that since the Spaniards first set foot on this peninsula many monuments and practically entire cities have disappeared. At one time, a contemporary writer asserts, there were destroyed in Yucatan five thousand idols of various forms and dimensions, thirteen huge stones which were used as altars, twenty-two smaller stones of various shapes, one hundred and ninety-seven manuscripts of all kinds, including twenty-seven written on deer skins.
Chichen Itza, which is generally interpreted to mean “the mouth of the wells of the Itzas,” seems to have been the leading city, and it was located near two of the largest natural wells, which are immense natural pits with perpendicular sides. It is probable that these phenomena attracted the Mayas in their northern migration. As the tribes quarrelled different[442] factions separated from the original body and established new cities as capitals. Thus Chichen Itza came into being. On this desolate soil,
“ ... buried ’mid trees,
Upspringing there for sunless centuries,
Behold a royal city, vast and lone,
Lost to each race, to all the world unknown,
Like famed Pompeii, ’neath her lava bed.
...
At every step some palace meets the eye,
Some figure frowns, some temple courts the sky.”
Before Cortez landed on Mexican soil the star of these ancient peoples had already set. Their oldest cities had their birth so far back in the twilight of time that not even tradition was able to tell the history of the tribes, the causes that led to their decay or the time of their disaster. Some traditions were told to the Spaniards, but they are of such uncertain origin that very little credence can be placed in them. Upon the walls are sculptures which speak to us in an unknown language; hieroglyphics, and the chiselled types of a people long since departed. The hieroglyphics would probably explain all, but no interpreting key has yet been discovered to give an explanation to the writings. Some authorities assert, however,[443] that Chichen Itza was inhabited at the time of the Conquest. A Spaniard by the name of Aquilar was wrecked on this coast and lived with a powerful cacique for several years, but he left behind him no written memoirs. At any rate, it is known that the Spanish forces occupied this place for at least two years. At first the submission of the natives was complete, but after a time they rallied from their stupor, tiring of ministering to the insatiable wants of their conquerors, and much severe fighting followed.
Of the two great wells at Chichen Itza one was used for the general water supply, the cenote grande, and the other was reserved for religious use exclusively, the cenote sacra. Picturesque indeed must have been the throngs of white-robed women who peopled the steps of the cenote grande at all hours of the day to fetch water for household purposes. They probably carried double-handled urns on their hips or shoulders just as their descendants do at this present day. From far and near all over Yucatan pilgrimages were made to the sacred well, which was on the outskirts of the city, just as pilgrimages are made to-day to holy shrines by Catholics and Mohammedans. It was this that gave the city its holy character.[444] Offerings of many kinds were made to the deities. It is said that in time of drouth offerings of precious stones and other valuables were thrown into it, and in specially protracted cases human beings were thrown into it as sacrifices. Even after the time of the Spanish conquest there are recorded instances of pilgrimages to the sacred well for the purpose of sacrificing slaves to relieve a drouth. These victims were supposed to live even after they had disappeared beneath the sacred waters. A Spanish writer of the time asserts that this was done as late as 1560.
The Chichen Itza of the olden times, filled with pilgrims from far and near, would scarcely be recognized in the place of to-day. The jungle has gradually crept its way into the very holy of holies. Columns have been overthrown, and some of the structures have been almost lost in a tangle of thorns and creepers. Even in the last half century the destruction and disintegration has been very noticeable. To reach the place it is necessary to ride about fifteen miles over a rough and wearisome road. All around lie buried in thick jungle ruins of palaces and other buildings. Pyramid-like structures seem to have been one[445] of the favourite forms of building. The most imposing of these on this site rises sixty-eight feet above the plain, and each side is almost one hundred and seventy-five feet in length, the whole covering about an acre of ground. This structure is called the Castillo, although it was really a temple. It is made up of nine terraces of faced masonry, narrowing toward the top, each one elaborately panelled to relieve the monotony. On each side there is a broad stairway, with a flight of ninety steps, with stone balustrades, which are generally carved to represent reptiles. A stone building almost forty feet square crowns the summit. The northern fa?ade must have been very striking before time and the destroying hand of man wrought their work. There were no doors on any of the buildings, and no traces of hinges have been found. At the western base of the pyramid is the walk that leads to the sacred well. It is believed that on the top of this pyramid the sacred rites of the priests of their faith were performed, and it is said that the sacrificial victims were led down these stairways, then along the causeway and finally cast into the sacred well. It is easy for the imagination to picture the scene in all its splendour of white-robed priests, smoking censors,[446] and—saddest of all—the victims bedecked with garlands of flowers.
There are ruins of colonnades, courts, buildings and other structures of which many columns are standing at Chichen Itza, and it has been called “the city of a thousand columns” by some writers. One of the most important monuments is the Nun’s Palace, as it is called. It is not so large as others, but contains a greater number of apartments. It is said to have been the custom of these people to educate girls of noble birth to the service of the gods, on their attaining the age of twelve or thirteen. Their service was similar to that of the Vestal Virgins, although the vows were not always perpetual. It was their duty to keep the altar supplied with fresh flowers and to sweep the temples. One group of structures is called the Ball Court, as it is believed to have been used for a game similar to the modern basket ball. It consists of two perpendicular parallel walls from north to south thirty-two feet high, three hundred and twenty-five feet long and one hundred and thirteen feet apart. The ends of this quadrangle are each occupied by a small temple. In the centre of each wall, about fifteen feet from the ground, there are two stone discs with holes through[447] the centre, which seem to have had a part in this or some other game. The vast proportions of this court, or tlachtle, would seem to indicate that this game was very popular with the Yuca............