Telegram-herald., 1886-05-01
RUINS IN YUCATAk
Percy T. Cook Tells What He
Saw Down There
4 fRtACHNlA PANTS 1 EIlL
ne Rolan- Coche DsscriD iDeo The Non
aerfoi Ruins Al Axe anc izsmsl-
The Remnants OF bsrDar-
ous Sacrifice Altar.


extended Southern "Trip and speaking OF lhe
sonaerf,h ruins found la NaeSgan. said.
Leaving iAs island oi Cozumel. which
/ lies east Of the ooast Of lueatsu. coursed
around 10 Possi Progress. stopping ia the
meantime a. Merida. the capital Of that
country Dauns nay stay ia the capital
I made frequent excursions lnto
+ the interior. IL was nay good
fortune 10 become acquainted With l.. ii.
/ Thompson, the United States Consul al that
/ place aud a man who had devoted consid-
I erable part OF his lime 70 archaeological re-
search 1 will tell you Of one Of these llps
1 into the interior and from that you can
/ gain a good idea Of the others. Mr. ThOmp-
! son, Dr. Buhl, of Cincinnati and myself
started out one day 20 visit ia, s9in- at AXE
and lanai First, We travelled for nine
/ leagues east by rail 10 Ii1kOkob, The ter
I minus where We hired rOlau-
/ cOche or dying cOAch-an Invention of
/ the devil for tormentng the reckless travel
/ er who commits himself 10 lis interior. The
/ vehicle consists OF log coach body hung
/ upon straus ia square frame, which II
/ placed upon two wheels. Inside Oi the
/ coach body il mattress upon which the
travellers are 10 reclne AT full length II
/ there are few enough, but If there are over
/ three present il becomes necessary 10 double
up as best they can.
This rude conveyance is drawn by
three mules hitched up abreast the
! middle one supporting the sbalts
upon sort of pack saddle
/ The stout baggage. such as can stand good
deal OF humping, Is tied 10 the frame, while
/ the tenderer baggage Is taken inside OF the
r.t..t 81
| concerns makeup ls The elactlcity OF
the leathern straps. The YucaJan roads are
rendered as rough by projecting points of
lime stone as the toughest Indiana cOrdu-
I 10Y. After the unsuspecting passenger has
| slowed himself away inside as comfortably
| as possible the driver shouts out his en-
| cOuragement 10 the mules and the machine
is set in motion. The mules plunge ahead
/ at full gallOp and keep il up without any
intermission till the first nalung place Is
reached.
BY the time the vehicle has reached the
| outskirts of the village, which forms
starting point for the journey, all ideas of
comfort vanishes. From that time on the
passenger devotes all OF lis time 10 easing
his person, and avoiding as far lies IL
his power, the assaults of various loose
articles of baggage and his fellow passen-
gers. VINO are thrown against him by the
bOuncldg over the rocks. In one halt
hour the passengers and baggage have
become an indiscrin- mate mixture
The driver is the only person who seems to
enjoy the ride He sits up. probably be-
cause his entire attention is occapied IN the
vocal efforts necessary or urging the mules
to keep no the greatest rate of speed pos
sible After several hours of this halting
place is reached, where the mules are fed
and rested for an hour. Then the baggage
is retied, and second stage. like the inst
follows On the trip in question fortunately
we had only one stage TO 90 from the ter
minus of the railway 10 the Hacienda.
on the plantation OF Axe, which wa in the
immediate vicinity of the site where the
! ruins are situated. We reached the
spot after dark and experienced some
difficulty in awakening the overseer. We
I spent the night there.
: Next morning We began our investigations
and found the ruins to consist of some forty
or fifty mounds of crumbling masonry, a
few of which, larger than the others, rose
high enough above the fallen debris to give
one at least a general idea of the original
plan of the buildings The most
interesting was pyramid tor-
ty feet high, one hundred feet
wide at the base and two hundred feet long.
As We approached it from the south mag
niticent broad staircase nearly as long as
the building was noticed. Ga the top there
was a level platform on which are now
standing three rows of square pillars some
fifteen feet high This structure Is men,
toned as the only example of columnar
build among the ruins of Iucatan. i
second building was evidently a fortress and
temple combined An old winding road
way to the summit is visible to-
. dav On the summit we discovered indica-
tions of ancient graves, but, since We could
not secure the privilege of making an inyes-
of ancient burial urns. peculiar feature
of the ruins both at AXE and Izamal lies in
the fact that the main approaches are from
the south, the northern faces of buildings
and pyramids being very steep. Al lzamal
we saw the grand sacritical pyramid OF Kin
! ich- -kakmoO. Ii is mound about eight
hundred feet square at the base,
sixty feet high To level terrace,
ON the northern side Of which is another
pyramid sixty feet which terminates in a
stone platform fifty feet long and twelve feet
wide Traces of the sacrificia altar on this
! platform still remain. lt Is believed that
this structure contains chambers rich IN
antiquities, and also passages which lead deep
into the earth 10 a subterranean riyer. On
some of the ruins at lzamsl we found rem
nants Ofirlezes with figures IN stuoco moulded
2 in high relief Among other interesting
{ thing. we found traces Of a modern French
J archmolOgist Charnay, the great French
traveller. had visited Izlmal few weeks
before we did He had reported at Merida
that he had photographed some curious
remnants of an ancient mural painting.
, We examined the excavation Of tins dis
tinguished savon. saw the mural painting
and also found the color pots, which he had
used in placing the paintings there himself
, We regretted that We could not ind the
2 brushes, too They would be interesting
{ objects 90 place before the Academy
Of sciences when NJ Charnay reads his re-
port The most renowned ruins I did not
have time 20 visit. but from photographs oi
7 xmal. what ! saw in the museum a.
Merida and the inspection - lesser ruins, I
am surprised al the grade ~ civilization in-
dieated hv the highly architectural orna-
+ menfs and the wealth and hunters of ?
P people whose needs demanded such vast
, Buildings now represented by ruins. Who
these people were and what IDEAS ihey DO
veioped better than oor own is the prob em
for American srcheologisfs. 1ucsfau y
the field Tor Investigation