The sun., 1882-01-08

'Hs wv o' '' w ~
spirlo Oh tho uyins man ooa""oii'hh Vi''
uooy "ith lhe las. warm o.o"'n' Ioi 'i,'',u y,
ny Vhese aiu oV"V' ecuip'uie9 io"n" !"
the vicinity that the mound was "
mausoleum, DR.. LIZ PLoNGEoH resolve"
to eXcavoto 1t, ana after Two months
OF hard toll, and after penetrating 'hro"Sh
three lever iioors, he aV last uicoVcieu
large stone urn contatning heap OF dust
Part of this dust BENG sent 10 the oll''e"
States and sioJsetci to u chenlic'i a'aiyS's
by Prof. THOMPSON OF Worcester, Mass,
was pronounced 20 be organic manner whlch
had been exposed TO II very great neat. Near
the urn wns discovered the head ola colossal
statue. This head was s"iZed by the authori-
ties and carried to tho city oi Mexico, where
it was placed in the National Museum; but
the rest of tho Statue. wrapped In oi!-cioth
and ralm leaves, was secretly buried by Tho
dscover'r - order thAt hc might not pe
stripped oi the whole irui6 OF MS mpors
without le'nuner"tion
Dr. LIE fLoNGGpN found that the Mayu
civilization couid b, best studied III Chich-
en-, for i'll UXmal, whrrG he subsequently
prosecuted his researches, there are many
ycstigcs of the Nahua ihvnsinn from INC
north. The Nahuas scem to have destroyed
the high form o. civilization existing at the
time of their arrival. ana to nave TAM
rcred with the ornaments oil the puiiuihHs
with view tn introducing symbols OF thc
forces OF nature. In the pure Mi!a archi-
lecture and sculpture, Df. LIE lhoNdEoN as
surcs us that ho has never seen anything
which necessarily imphci ldol wor-
ship. Hc is inclined TO lhihk that
the ruling classes among thc Mayas
were monothcists, although the masses ot
the people may have Placed thc "'iierehI
natural phenomena under the direct super
vision OF historical or imaginary beings.
Thus, by the ,lmn o! lho spanish conquest
and owing mainly To tho effect ol the pre-
ceolng Nahua lhVasionS' inc priih'''No io''i
OF Maya worship was tending 10 De replaced
ny that OF thc'r great i"ei "n" W"'.icn' "n'
were dcliled anu hitu temples r"iS''' W 'nei'
memory. CHAhcIoL, ior instance Who' we
should in.er from the result o. our OK
plorer's excavations IN ms luherai h&uAo'
was real person became 'he goa oi war.
1t IS strange 'act that inc language o.
the ahcichl Aiayas shouio nave su'N IVY. IA,
the Vicissluues vi t!lile, wars an" Po.'''Va'
ana religious cohVulsions' "hu t'i'''' AZ
thouSh Soou ocai coIruP'e" NY 'hc c'i''-
mingllng oI races III tAe limited area Oh INC
lucatan peninsula, IL shouiu SUN DC INC
vernacular. In some parts ol Centrai Amer
lea IL Is spoken IN ltS nfiStlhc purify, as, LOT
example, by tho Chaacmulcs, tribe o
bearded men who live in the vicinity oi thc
unexplored ruins OF the ancient city OF lekai.
1t Is an undisputcd fact that many tribes
and especially that of the ltzacs (Which
seems to have exercised pricstiy ana
literary functionsl, rotreatlnS before the
Nahua invaders, sought refuge in tho
islands OF the lake now called Lake Fetcn'
and in the wril-nigh inaccessible valleys
defended by ranges OF towering mountains.
There. 1t is said, their descendants stllli
preserving the customs, manners, ana IAN
guGEe OF their foreiathers unaltered; but
no white man has ever penetrated their
guarded stronghold, situated in the tract OF
land known To Mexicans as the Te,rd de
Guerra, and which lies between Guatemala,
Tabnsco. Chiapas. and luoatan, the river
Uzumasinta watering part OF their territory.
After adducing great number OF coin
cdences and similarities in the Maya Ian
guago and architecture, and IN the monu-
ments aud languages belonging to the old
est civilizations OF the Old World, DR.. Lti
pLoSGEoN undertakes to fix the date OF the
Maya remains. He points out in the first
place, that tho head OF the mastodon ap-
pears frequently ON the oldest structures in
lucatan, and it would seem to follow that
tho builders must have been contemporary
with that animal. We may INFER that the
date of those cdiices could be roughly de-
termred II the studeats OF natura! his
tory could fix the epoch at which the
mastodon became extinct in Central
America. DI. LIE PLoEGEoN, however,
has discovered in one OF the Maya
buildings equally conclusive and more pre-
else evidence regarding the date OF its erec-
mitted by the early Spanish chroniclers,
That tho ancient ihhaDI'ai'ts o' 1uca'a''
computed tlihe oy means o' stone columns,