LORILLARD TOWN.

Paso Yalchilan—Another Mule Lost—An Anxious Night—A Wild Boar—Encampment—Upper Usumacinta—No Canoes—A Difficulty—Deliverance—Surprise—A Mysterious Traveller—A Canoe—Fever—Down Stream—A Votive Pillar—Ruins—I Meet with a Stranger—General View of Lorillard—A Reminiscence—Stephens’ “Phantom City”—Extent of the Ruins Unknown—Temple—Idol—Fortress—Our Dwelling Palace—Great Pyramid—Second Temple—Stone Lintels and Two Kinds of Inscriptions—Our Return—Lacandones.

Paso Yalchilan is a geographical point, meaning any given place on the right bank of the Usumacinta, dividing Mexico from Guatemala. We reached it so late that we had barely time to unload our animals and get them some fodder before the night set in. But now I discovered that the mule carrying the material for our squeezes had lagged behind; but it was too dark, the men declared, to go hunting for him in the insecure forest, next morning would be time enough. In the night we were rather startled by cries of “Al tigre! al tigre!” (the tiger). It turned out to be only a jaguar, but it served to remind us to keep a fire burning. The next day some of the men set to work at our cabins, whilst others went in quest of the wretched mule, which they found almost dead with fatigue and want of food. They also brought to the general larder a nice young boar, which was received with joyful shouts, immediately cut up, roasted, and eaten at our mid-day meal down to the last morsel.

Our shots brought the canoeros I had sent in advance to construct a canoe. My inquiries as to the work done were met with the unsatisfactory answer that nothing was finished; they had been unlucky in the choice of timber, etc. I immediately set out to see how it was, and to my great annoyance I found that hardly any progress had been made. In fact, the men had taken it mighty easy, had lived like lords on the supplies I had given them, varying their fare with fish from the river and game from the forest; causing me a delay which might ruin my expedition, for our supplies would not last out if this was the way they went to work. I was returning with head downcast, looking at the broad river, here over 500 feet across, pondering on the distance which divided me from the goal of my expedition, when I spied ahead of us a boat manned by a Lacandon, who on perceiving us veered quickly round. Fortunately one of our men spoke Maya; he hailed the man, promising him a great reward if he would steer towards us. He came to our encampment, and when I heard that he was a chief, I showed him the presents I had brought, telling him they would be his and any of his people’s he should bring to me. We learnt that he had two more canoes he was willing to let us have for a consideration, and I congratulated myself on being able to attain my end so easily.

We were now waiting with some impatience for the cayucoes, when a large canoe manned by three white men loomed in the distance; a horrible suspicion flashed across my mind, that they were men belonging to another expedition, who had forestalled me. The canoe came near, and I learnt that they had been on a foray expedition among the Lacandones, but had been unable to obtain anything except a few tomatoes, and were now returning to the ruins to join their master, Don Alvaredo, and that their provisions were running very short.

“Have you another canoe?” I inquired.

“Yes, much larger than this.”

“Look here, my good fellows, take my card to your master with my compliments, together with half a wild pig, salt meat, rice, biscuits, and in return ask him to lend me his large canoe, which these men I send with you will bring.”

The strangers rowed away, and I began to prepare for the next day’s expedition, in which Lucian and six men would accompany me, leaving the rest behind to take care of our heavy luggage under the superintendence of Julian. But in the morning early I had a severe attack of malaria, which threatened at one time to delay our journey. A few hours’ rest, however, and a good dose of quinine, restored me sufficiently to allow of my setting out for the long-sought, long wished-for ruins, which we reached in three hours, landing near an enormous pile of stones—a kind of votive pillar—rising on the left bank of the river, which has withstood the buffeting of the waters for several centuries. This stone mound was described to me at TenosiquÉ, as having formed part of an old bridge which spanned the river at this point. But what we know of the natives’ method of building makes this supposition impossible, for the river is too Pg 433
Pg 434
Pg 435broad, and on the other hand, had a bridge formerly stood here, remains would be found either on the opposite side or in the bed of the river. There is very little doubt that for all the purposes of daily life, the inhabitants of this city used “canoas” just as they do now.

We had made but a short way among the ruins lying in every direction, when we were met by Don Alvaredo, whose fair looks and elastic step showed him to be an Englishman. We shook hands; he knew my name, he told me his: Alfred Maudslay, Esq., from London; and as my looks betrayed the inward annoyance I felt:

“It’s all right,” he said; “there is no reason why you should look so distressed. My having had the start of you was a mere chance, as it would have been mere chance had it been the other way. You need have no fear on my account, for I am only an amateur, travelling for pleasure. With you the case of course is different. But I do not intend to publish anything. Come, I have had a place got ready; and as for the ruins I make them over to you. You can name the town, claim to have discovered it, in fact do what you please. I shall not interfere with you in any way, and you may even dispense with mentioning my name if you so please.”

I was deeply touched with his kind manner, and I am only too charmed to share with him the glory of having explored this city. We lived and worked together like two brothers, and we parted the best friends in the world.

This town, which I shall call “Lorillard,” in honour of the munificent man who partly defrays the cost of the expedition, rises on the left bank of the Usumacinta in the 17th degree lat. (see Map), in a region hitherto unclassified, between Guatemala, Chiapas, and Tabasco. (We are able to determine approximately its position from the bearings we took along our route.)

It was discovered twelve years ago by Suarez of TenosiquÉ, and has been visited at different times by monteros and by Balay de Palisada. It has been called “Phantom city,” from a passage in Stephens’ Journal,160 in which he reproduces a conversation with the merry “Cura” of Santa Cruz del QuichÉ, who told of “a great Indian city four days’ journey from Santa Cruz, on the road to Mexico, as being densely populated, and in the same condition as other places of Central America. He had heard of it at Chayul many years before, where he had ascended the Sierra, whence the vast panorama of Yucatan and Tabasco to the sea could easily be distinguished, and that he had seen in the far distance a city occupying an immense space, its white towers shining in the sun.”

I do not think that this mysterious city, if ever it was in existence, is Lorillard, for its bearings do not agree with those of the American traveller; but there are many others in the forests, and monteros may come upon palaces which will answer the description of the “cura,” who assured Stephens that “the palaces of Santa Cruz del QuichÉ, which in 1841 were found in an advanced state of dilapidation, were in a perfect state of preservation thirty years before, and that they had reminded him of the buildings of his own country; that at Coban, in the province of Vera Paz, stood an ancient city (Utatlan) as large as Vera Cruz, now deserted, but almost as perfect as when its inhabitants had abandoned it. He had walked in the silent streets, among its colossal buildings, and found its palaces as entire as those at Vera Cruz.”161

The number of buildings in good preservation at Lorillard was supposed to be twelve, of which six were “casas cerradas,” and six without doors. Balay in his ground plan places monuments on the right bank of the river, these we were unable to discover; but we found more than twelve monuments on the left bank, three or four of which are still standing, having no trace of doors, just like those at Palenque where they were also supposed to exist. Owing to the distance from all inhabited centres and the luxurious vegetation which overruns these ruins, a complete exploration of them is almost impossible. Their extent is not known; but to judge from other Indian centres, the number of the monuments may be estimated at fifteen or twenty, consisting as usual of temples, palaces, and the huts of the lower orders. These buildings, some 65 feet distant from the river, are like those at Palenque, supported on terraces rising in amphitheatre and resting on natural hills, which the builders made use of to save labour. They are, as usual, faced with stones, have a central flight of steps, but they are fewer, of smaller dimensions, and not so richly decorated as similar edifices at Palenque; but the materials employed, the inner decorations, the figures on the bas-reliefs with retreating foreheads, are the same, although more rudely built. The outline, however, resembles some of the Yucatec structures. It should be remarked that it is difficult to give a correct description of these monuments, for all trace of outer decoration has disappeared.

The first monument we study—of which a drawing and a ground plan are given—is a temple. It stands at a distance of 487 feet from the river, on a mound about 120 feet high. I call it temple because it contains a great stone idol and niches which must have supported other idols, and that the walls are black from the smoke of offerings. The idol’s head is lopped off, and lies amidst the rubbish; the face is completely mutilated, which seems to show that in the frequent inter-tribal wars, the town was taken and plundered, the temple demolished, and the vanquished gods destroyed. This we see in the Mexican manuscripts, where the defeat of a nation is always represented by a small edifice with a prominent cornice, which is entered by the invader a lighted torch in his hand. IDOL IN LACANDON TEMPLE.
IDOL IN LACANDON TEMPLE. But when was Lorillard destroyed? I think Villa Gutierre Soto Mayor162 gives us an approximate date when he says: “That the Iztaes of Peten were at enmity with the Lacandones; that in 1694—two years before the fall of the city by the Spaniards—the former were making expeditions with fleets of canoes on the Usumacinta and Rio Tabasco, and that they plundered and destroyed the towns situated on the river.” But if we follow Boyle,163 the destruction of Lorillard would be much later, for we read: “The Lacandones are of the same race as the Manchus and very numerous; they were quite civilised a hundred and fifty years ago” (1730).

This idol is very beautiful and unique of its kind, for nothing like it has been found either in Tabasco or Yucatan. It represents a figure sitting cross-legged, the hands resting on the knees. The attitude is placid and dignified, like a Buddha statue; the face, Pg 441
Pg 442
Pg 443now mutilated, is crowned by an enormous head-dress, of peculiar style, presenting a fantastic head with a diadem and medallions, topped by huge feathers like those on the columns at Tula and Chichen-Itza. The bust is admirably proportioned; while the dress consists of a rich cape embroidered with pearls, a medallion on each shoulder and in front, recalling Roman decorations. The same ornamentation is seen on the lower part of the body, having a much larger medallion and a fringed maxtli. The arms are covered with heavy bracelets. Round the idol, and in every apartment of the building, are a number of bowls of coarse clay of some 4 or 6 inches in diameter by 2 inches in height. The borders are ornamented with masks representing faces with flat or aquiline noses, utterly devoid of artistic feeling. Nevertheless the difference of type is noteworthy, and may point to two different races. These bowls were used as censers, for some are still filled with copal. Our cut shows two specimens. Similar bowls are found in all the buildings which were used as temples.

This temple is pierced by three openings, with stone lintels fairly carved; its facade is about 68 feet by 19 feet 6 inches long, its height to the decorative wall is 17 feet to 19 feet; the latter, of lattice-work, is 14 feet high, and recalls similar structures at Kabah, and more particularly the Pigeon House at Uxmal. The decoration must have been very rich, for in the central upper wall is a large panel which was occupied by a figure sitting on a bench which is still standing. The masonry which formed the body of the statue is yet visible, while a narrow long stone to the right formed the shin-bone of the figure’s left leg; a method of working which we pointed out at Palenque, Izamal, and AkÉ, and called the “cement epoch.” Below in the great frieze forming the body of the edifice, three large panels were also occupied by statues, which were still standing. In the central panel to the right, the masonry which formed the bodies before the fall of the plaster is still visible; while eight niches, in groups of two each, contained idols of smaller dimensions.

On the first esplanade of the pyramid is another building, which to judge from its inner arrangement was the priest’s house. This temple is neither stately nor ancient, for hardly any rubbish has accumulated at the foot of the building.

We give here the drawing of a diminutive ancient temple in terra-cotta, to be seen in the TrocadÉro, and which we found on the Uplands of Mexico. It consists of a pyramid with three or four stories, and a temple crowning its summit, with projecting cornices surmounted by a decorative wall, pierced by holes exactly like the temple at Lorillard, at Tikal, and the Pigeon House at Uxmal. The most prejudiced mind cannot but acknowledge the resemblance and similarity of design in the religious architecture of the plateaux, and that of Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, and Guatemala.

To the rear of the temple, on a much higher pyramid, stands the loftiest and largest monument at Lorillard. On its vast esplanade were six palaces, forming a rectangle. One of these palaces, having stone lintels finely sculptured, is still partly standing, but so decayed that we could do nothing with it. As for the other buildings, they are a ruinous heap. The narrow openings had stone lintels, while those of the large entrances were of wood; this was probably owing to the difficulty of procuring blocks of stone of sufficient size for the main doorways. Remains of wooden lintels and zapotÉ wood are still found in the walls. This building, whether it was the cacique’s residence MODEL OF ANCIENT TEMPLE. MODEL OF ANCIENT TEMPLE. or a fortress, is admirably situated, and from the upper terrace a magnificent view extending over boundless woodlands is obtained. It should be borne in mind that in an unhealthy, burning climate, dwellings on the summits of pyramids were a necessity for health, pure air, absence of mosquitoes and other disagreeable insects; that is the reason why we invariably find buildings of any dimensions supported on mounds and terraces.

The palace we inhabit is below the temple and on the first grade of the hill or amphitheatre. What remains of its decorations is like that of the temple, but ruder and more dilapidated. The doors are irregular, of different size, with slanting or perpendicular jambs and niches distributed without any order. The decorative wall which crowned the building has fallen in; the frieze is but a confusion of holes, niches, and projecting stones. The inner arrangement is rather peculiar, being a maze of narrow passages, small apartments having platforms of masonry covered over with plaster, which may have been used as beds. Another long narrow platform, occupying the centre of the main passage, we thought was the dining-room, and was used as such. To the rear, in a subterraneous portion which is reached by a very steep passage, are two narrow apartments filled up to the ceiling, which were probably tombs. They reminded me of similar chambers at Palenque, in which I found skeletons and vases.

The faÇade of this building is 65 feet by 52 feet long. Two fragments of sculptured columns, about 2 feet in height, the use of which is not known, but which may have been altars supporting household gods, or pediments for censers, are found in the front yard. On clearing the edifice of its vegetation, I found that the average of concentric circles, showing the age of the trees, were ten or twelve a year, just as at Palenque.

I may remark that virgin forests have no very old trees, being destroyed by insects, moisture, lianas, etc.; and old monteros tell me that mahogany and cedar-trees, which are most durable, do not live above 200 years. In our passage through the forest, even on days when there was not a breath of wind, trees were falling in every direction. In a storm they fall about in hundreds, and the journey is then most dangerous. Monuments cannot be gauged, therefore, from the size of the trees growing in and over them. Another feature of virgin forests is that they do not strike the mind as anything particular, and I know none which can at all compare with Fontainebleau.

To the south-west of our residence is another great pyramid, having circular buildings, which must have been a temple, for we found a great number of vases for perfumes, both on the ground floor and in the upper portion of the edifice. The body of the monument is of the usual type, but the first story (a side of which is shown in our cut) affords a new specimen of the Indian mode of building. We think this but an extension of the decorative wall; it consists of a narrow apartment and a receding passage extending from end to end, terminating at each extremity with the peculiar opening seen in our drawing.

We have also noticed a greater variety in the triangular vaults (arches) of these buildings, which are either straight, concave, or convex; sometimes the latter vault has no key, and the two walls meet with an acute angle, whereas in Tabasco and Yucatan, they are straight or concave only. Lintels are more numerous and richly sculptured than in Yucatan, but they are only found in edifices which we suppose were temples or palaces. The best carved are small, and seem to replace both the slabs covered with inscriptions, the rear of altars, and the sculptured pillars of the buildings at Palenque.

The first we give occupies the central door of the temple, and is 3 feet 9 inches long, by 2 feet 10 inches wide. Two figures with retreating foreheads form the main subject, having the usual high head-dress of feathers, cape, collar, medallion, and maxtli like the idol; while their boots are fastened on the instep with leather strings, as similar figures at Palenque. They are of different size, and represent probably a man and a woman performing a religious ceremony; the taller holds in each hand a Latin cross, while the other carries but one in the right hand. Rosettes form the branches of the crosses, a symbolic bird crowns the upper portion, whilst twenty-three katunes are scattered about the bas-relief. We think this a symbolic representation of Tlaloc, whose chief attribute was a cross, which here consists of palms or more probably maize-leaves intermingled with human figures, recalling to the memory of his devotees the god who presided over harvests.

The two high reliefs which follow are also lintels from a small ruined edifice at the foot of the pyramid, of great interest and marvellous richness of detail, than which nothing at Palenque is so minute. The first represents two human figures surrounded by a snake or volute, the centre of which is occupied by a cartouche containing four hieroglyphics. The figure to the left holding a sceptre in his right hand, with an aigret in his huge head-dress, similar to that in the palace at Palenque, may be a king, or more probably a priest of Quetzalcoatl. Both figures wear the usual dress, but the priest’s medallion is a gem of art. The inscription, half of which is in a good state of preservation, is a series of characters mixed with the human figures, like the inscriptions in Chiapas and Tabasco. We think these two figures portray a ceremony in honour of Quetzalcoatl; for in the First Part of the Troano manuscript (Plate XXVI.) as well as in the Second (Plate XVII.), which are obviously dedicated to this deity, we find figures resembling that on our slab. It is by far the most wonderful monument which, up to the present time, has been found in America, and which we can boldly call a work of art. If we except the flat foreheads, everything is perfect in this monument; and nothing in the early manifestations of ancient civilisations is found more rich or better treated than this; as seen in the hands, the head-dress, the superb mantle of the kneeling figure, the dignified, majestic mien of the standing priest.

We said that this relief, and the edifice to which it belongs, were dedicated to Cukulcan, representing a religious ceremony, or rather sacrifice; for the kneeling priest has a rope passed through his tongue, whilst the other holds over him a huge palm, encouraging him to go on with his penance, and this is corroborated by Sahagun, who says:164 “They pierced a hole with a sharp itzli knife through the middle of the tongue, and passed a number of twigs, according to the degree of devotion Pg 451
Pg 452
Pg 453of the performer. These twigs were sometimes fastened the one to the other and pulled through the tongue like a long cord. They were also passed through a hole in the ear, and other parts of the body; but wherever they were passed, four hundred and even more were used by the penitent, which done, his sins were forgiven.”

Torquemada also mentions these penances: “The priests of Camaxtli and Cholula, i.e. of Quetzalcoatl, under the superintendence of their elder, or achcautli, provided themselves with sticks two feet long and the size of the fist, and with them they repaired to the main temple, where they fasted five days. Then carpenters and tool-workers were brought, who were required to fast the same number of days, at the end of which they were given food within the precincts of the temple. The former worked the sticks to the required size, whilst the tool-makers made knives of obsidian, with which they cut the priest’ tongues from side to side.

“More prayers followed, when all the priests prepared for the sacrifice, the elders giving the example by passing through their tongue four or five hundred twigs, followed by such among the young who has sufficient courage to imitate them. But the pain was so sharp that few went through the whole number; for although the first twigs were thinned out, they became stouter each time, until they attained the size of a thumb, sometimes twice as much. Not unfrequently the achcautli sang a hymn during this horrible operation, to encourage his younger companions in the pursuance of their duty. The achcautli was wont also to go about admonishing the people to prepare for the great feast (sacrifices), and in his hand was carried a large green twig.”165 This green twig was replaced by a palm in warm regions, as in our relief, the leaves of which rest on the double volute so often seen about Quetzalcoatl’s mouth.

We read in Clavigero that: “The blood which flowed from these self-inflicted wounds was carefully kept on the leaves of a plant called acxoyatl, having a number of straight stalks and large leaves growing symmetrically.”166 Is there no connection between this plant and the palm of our figure?

Landa too relates that these macerations were common to the Mexican and Maya priests: “The Mayas offered their blood to the gods, cutting their ears all round and allowing the bits to hang down; sometimes they pierced their cheeks, their lower lip, or their tongue, and passed twigs through them.”167

And at page 9 of Letellier’s “Codex,” in the National Library, we find opposite the image of Cukulcan, a painting representing a priest, passing a number of twigs through his tongue, whilst the blood is flowing freely.

We have seen that one of the attributes of Cukulcan was the cross, a symbol of rain, the fertilising element. “The cross,” says Brinton, “is the symbol of the four winds; the bird and serpent, the rebus of the air god (Quetzalcoatl) their ruler.”168 This god was therefore intimately connected with Tlaloc and his sister or mate Chalchiutlicue, and that is why the three deities are often found side by side, sometimes mixed or confused, owing probably to their festival falling on the same day.169 The cult of Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc was spread by the Toltecs in their long wanderings; consequently we find them at Lorillard just as we did on the plateaux.

We discovered in another temple two inscriptions on stone lintels, like all the other bas-reliefs at Lorillard, resembling those given by Stephens at Chichen and Copan, rather than those which accompany the figures. We place them side by side in the next chapter, to enable the reader to judge for himself. This is not the first time we have pointed out a difference between the characters of the various inscriptions we have published; but a difference does not imply dissimilarity, and can in no way invalidate their common origin. If we look at home we shall find that the writing of the nations of Europe has been greatly modified, and that the Gothic characters of the twelfth century bear no resemblance to the Roman type of the sixteenth. These inscriptions may belong to different epochs or different dialects, and we have reason to believe that the Toltecs of Central America had a hieratic writing which was used both by the priests and the military caste, of which proof exists in the bas-reliefs and the stone inscriptions, where the figures are represented sitting cross-legged, whereas in the inscriptions which we suppose to be in the vulgar tongue, and also in the paper manuscripts, the figures are squatting, their chin resting on their knees Indian fashion. There is a third writing, or symbolical character, which was used in the Aztec manuscripts, and also in Toltec and Aztec sculptures, to denote a man or a place; as seen on the tribal leaves published by Lorenzana, on Tizoc’s stone, and on the bas-reliefs at Chichen-Itza.

We do not know Toltec writing, for the manuscripts which were read by Ixtlilxochitl, those found by Boturini, and interpreted by Veytia (so he affirms), have disappeared; but it is probable that their current writing has been preserved on the stone tables of Central America, where it was used as a hieratic or learned language, of which the Dresden and Troano MSS. are specimens, but that they adopted the language of the regions where they established themselves.

Egypt had three kinds of writing; and in the inscriptions of the far East found at Ciampa, Mr. Aymonier has discovered a hieratic, an ancient vulgar language, and a dialect in common use at the present day.

Our work at Lorillard is done; and it is high time that we should change our quarters, for Lucian, my secretary, is in a deplorable condition, brought about by the too searching garrapatas and other insects. The poor fellow is one sore from the waist, and it is a perfect wonder how he held out so long. He is unable to stand, and has to be carried on board our boat bound for “Paso Yalchilan.”

I quit this newly-found city with deep regret, leaving a great deal unexplored, and treasures, maybe, as priceless as our Quetzalcoatl bas-relief. The care of making a complete ground plan of the place, and bringing to light the monuments said to exist on the right bank of the river, must, however, devolve on one more fortunate than myself.

The day after our arrival at Yalchilan, we received the visit of the old chief, who was accompanied this time by his two wives and four young men. I photographed them, and with the interpreter’s help I succeeded in keeping them fairly quiet. They all wear the same dress, a kind of loose white tunic reaching to the ankles, made of coarse calico prepared by the women. That of the chief and his wives was dotted over with red obtained from a berry; their hair is worn long and loose, and the women adorn it with feathers; an enormous collar of berries, beads, bone, and coins is around their necks, and hangs down to their waist. They hold great store by their tunics and necklaces, which they would not be persuaded to part with in favour of European goods; this does not extend to their bows and arrow-heads.

The same dress being common to both sexes, makes it sometimes difficult to distinguish men from women. The old chief looks sharply after his young wives, and this inclines me to think that the young fellows who accompany him are bachelors, and that ladies are scarce in the forest. As a matter of fact, women are the main cause of their dissensions, and we witness here a real struggle for selection.

They still use stone implements to fell trees and cultivate the land, so that on seeing the steel hatchets, knives, and swords I gave them, the chief exclaimed in the words of the Lystrians: “These are gods and not men, who give us such wonderful things.”

The Lacandones wear no beard, and the hair that makes its appearance is immediately extracted. They are well formed and of medium size, but their flesh is flabby, their teeth decayed, and they look anÆmic, owing probably to their forest life. They live on the produce of the chase, fishing, and agriculture. I am told that their fields are better cultivated than those of the whites, their cabins neat, and that there is no lack of tobacco, cotton, maize, and fruit. They have lost many useful arts which were known to their ancestors, such as pottery, which they replace by a variety of calabashes; nevertheless, they are far from being as savage as is supposed. Their cruelty is the result of their hospitality and confidence having been grossly abused by the monteros. I could learn nothing respecting their religion, except that before the discovery of the ruins by the whites, they used to perform their religious ceremonies in them. They are extremely diffident, and will hide in the woods at the approach of strangers.