The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-07-06
MEXICAN RUINS.
Some Unique and wonderful Relies
Huge Pyramids and MoDstrous
sphinxes, Half Man and Half Beast.

Some Unique and wonderful Relies
Huge Pyramids and Monstrous
sphin1es, Half Man and Half Beast.
trrom the New York world.l
LAREDO, TEX, June 15.-Twclve
miles northwest of the village of Multi
pee, in the State Of Guadalajara, Mex
leo, there is one of the strangest, most
unique and grandest ruins of the West
ern World. 1t covers a level plateau,
twenty-five or thirty acres in area, elc-
waited 900 feet above the circumiacent
country on the east, south and west,
and hemmcd in on the north by the pur-
pie propyl@a of ssow-mantled Sierra
Madre. These ruins are imposing, not
only because of their tomb.like
grandeur, but the picturesqueness of
scenery below and about them sheds
vivid beauty over dim memories of un-
known races and ages whose i~nefTacea-
bic footprints mark the marvellous spot.
Among these everlasting ruins a huge
pyramid, 500 feet square and 40 high,
is most prominent. Its architectural
outlines are admirable in their SYM
metry and of imposing grandeur, hard
ly surpassed by the ruins of Thebes and
Persepolis.
Capt. Richard Stewart, Of Texas, who
recently traversed the State of Guadala-
jara, says that on the eastern front of
the quadrilateral pyramid there is a
broad doorway, % feet wide and 80 in
height, crowned with n perfect arch.
On each side of this doorway stands a
monstrous sphynx, half man, half beast,
I feet high and 10 in length, deity
carved out of granite sandstone. Their
pedestals are blocks Of marble, A feet
high and IL wide, deliberately adorned
with undeciphered hieroglyphics. These
sphynxes guard the entrance to laby-
rinths below, as did dragons the gate.
way to the garden of the Hesperides.
In front of each sphynx are two marble
pillars, 40 feet high and B in diameter.
The outlines of a nude figure Z feet high
are carved on each pillar. The features,
clearly defined, are pleasing, and theii
expression full of bcnignity. The dress
and decorations of these figures arc
most elaborate and fanciful. The
male, as represented, holds n sceptei
in his right hand pointing upward
the woman, q wand pointing to the
entrance to the temple. The pillars
arc adorned from base to capital
with hieroglyphics. The main room OF
this temple is So feet wide and 80 in
length. The interior walls IRE covered
with sculptured figures and hieroglyph.
les in strong relief, and traces of the
colorings with which these carved
stones were embellished are still visible.
The ceiling, of wen height with the
door, is supported by marble pillars, sin
on either side of the aisle, adorned with
strange designs carved in strong relief,
In this spacious apartment q marble
tablet is fixed in the wall, on which is
engraved the figure of a half-recumbent
woman of exquisite symmetry of out.
line. Above is a representation of the
sun. On each side of this tablet are
four columnar series of hieroglyphica
extending from floor to ceiling, which
some Champollion should at once de-
cipher. The tablet is fourteen feet wide
and twenty-five in height, its strange
letterings perhaps teaching humble
devotees who worshipcd there the sa-
cred mysteries of the forgotten faith OF
4 forgotten race. A block of marble,
concave on top, eight feet square, three
high, and covered with hieroglyphics,
stands Immediately in front of
the tablet. 1t is doubtless the
altar on which sacrificial offer
ings were inundated. There are four
doors leading from this larger into
smaller apartments, used, it seems, as
for dead bodies. inches
followed out of the walls within con-
tain nothing but dust. The very bones
of the dead have been resolved by
chemical processes of time into impal-
pable powder, but strange inscriptions,
perfect as when written, eloquent and
poetical and sad enough when inscribed,
are voiceless as the ashes within, and
tell no story of priests or people or kings.
Captain Stewart counted 800 of these
each eleven feet long and three
feet wide. He inferred, as every pc
c~uliarity of the grand structure indi-
that the occupants of these cata-
combs were of gigantic proportions. A
traditional belief obtains among the
present inhabitants of the country that
the pyramid builders were white and
gigantic. ~"Gigantes," the Mexican
guide said, dwclt here. They toiled in
dustriously, built many cities and tenn
pies, wore wooden and silk fabrics
(found in their tombs), and were adj
to agriculture, as attested by
fallen walls that inclosed "broad
acres" Canals which they dug may
still be traced, traversing the valleys
and plains in all directions, and these at
Multipec may not be the grandest ruins
of temples reared in Mexico by the pre-
historic race.
Our traveller tells us that the door
ways on either side of the sanctuary led
to a flight of steps descending to subtcr-
ranean chambers, which, because of
their depth, darkness and noisome ex-
h~alations, were u%nexplored. Tradition
tells, and popular faith accepts the as
sertion, that untold treasures are hid.
den in the vaults beneath this vast
structure, and superstition stands senti-
mel to guard the spot uninvaded by
footsteps through many centu-
ries. In crypts in this gloomy abode
of bats and creeping things were many
urns and images, which the AL
oalde of the village of Multipec, hardb by,
would not suffer the American traveller
to rcmovc. The Mexican guide, of