Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-30

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has served simply as Quarry to furnish |
building stones, ready cut and polished.
Among the ruins are found many circu-
lar holes, dug deep into the ground, which
the indians call otulhsnes, or wells. Several
have been entered by means of ladders,
and a small dome-shaped chamber is re-
ported at the bottom. Strewn all about
are large, oblong stones, followed out like
troughs, which the Ticulans designate as
piJas, fountains, or piedrds de mOlis, stones
for grinding.
john L. Stephens, who visited this place
more than forty years ago, believed these
ruins to be those of the original TScul-an
ancient Indian city Of which Spanish his
tory speaks. He found vase here on
one side of which was border of hero
glsphics, and on the other sculptured
face, with head-dress and pluzle of feath-
ers, very much like those en- the stuc-
coed and carved walls OF Palenque. He
described it as Of admirable workmanship,
fully realizing the account given by
Herrera of the Mexican markets at Tlax-
lola" There were goldsmiths, feather
workers, BARRIERS, baths, and as good
earthenware as in Spain"
In his Incidents of E'ravel,r referring
to these ruins of 1icul, Stephens saws:
My great desire was to discover an
ancient sepulchre, for which we had sought
in vain amcng the rims of Uxmal. There
was no use to look for them among the
larger mounds, or al all events, it was
work of too much labor to attempt open
ing one Of them. At length, after care
full examination, the cure selected one
upon which We began.
1t was a square stone structure, with
sides four feet high, the top rounded over
with earth, having stones bedded in it. 1t
stood midway between two high mounds
which had evidently been important struc-
lures, and from its position seemed to have
direct communication with them. Unlike
most Of the ruined structures around, it
was entire, with every stone in its place.
and probably had not been disturbed since
the earth was first packed down on top.
"The Indians commenced picking out the
stones and clearing away the earth with
their hands. Fortunately we had crow
bar, an instrument unknown in Yucatan,
but Indispensable here on account of the
stony nature of the soil. : They
lOullu lllG lIlltI Sltlt vi lIlt outer wall, lHc
whole interior being loose earth and stones
| with some layers of large fat stones, the
whole very rough. We con-
tinued the work six hours, and the appear
ance of things was so rude that we began
to despair of success when, on prying up
a big fiat stone, we saw underneath skull
/ was exceedingly anxious to
get the skeleton out entire, but it was i'm
possible to do so. 1t had no covering or
envelope of any kind; the earth was
| thrown upon it as in common grave, and
as this was removed it all fell in pieces. 1t
was in a sitting posture with its face
toward the west. The knees were bent
| against the stomach, the arms doubled
from the elbow, and the hand supporting
the head. Unfortunately the skull was
broken, but the facial bone was entire, with
the jaws and teeth-the enamel on the lat
ter still bright; but when the skull was
handed up, many of the teeth fell out
1T was strangely interesting, with the
ruined structures towering around us, to
| bring to light these buried bones, after a
lapse Of unknown ages. Whose were they I?
| The Indians were excited, and conversed
in low tones The burden of their talk
was: These are the bones of our ancestors;
what will our kinsman say to our dragging
! forth his remains "-and but for the cure
| they would have covered him up and left
the sepulchre.
In collecting the bones one of the In
dams picked up a small, white object,
which would have escaped any
but an Indians eye. 1t was made of
deer's-horn, about two inches long, sharp
| a tho tNnint with OF bo Dtl
They all called it a needle, and the reason
| Of their immediate and unhesitating opin-
ion was the fact that the Indians of the
present day use needles of the same ma
terial
"The position of this skeleton was not in
the center Of the sepulchre, but on one
side, and on the other side of it was a large
rough rock, firmly imbedded in the earth
In digging around, at some little distance
from the skeleton, we found large vase
of rude pottery, resembling the canliro
used by the Indians as water,iar. 1t
had a fiat stone over the mouth to
exclude the earth, on removing which we
| found the jar to be empty. 1t had a
small hole worn in the bottom, through
which liquor or any pulverized substance
! might have escaped. 1t may once have
contained water, or the heart of skele-
| ton.
"Whosever were the bones, little did
the pious friends who placed them there
imagine the fate to which they were des-
tined. l had them carried to the convent,
thence to Uxmal, and thence l bore
| them away forever from the bones of their
kindred. In their rough journeys on the
backs of mules and Indians, they were so
crumbled and broken that their ancient
proprietor would not be able to identify
them in court of law, and one night they
left me in ocket-handkerchief, to be
carried to DR.. S. G.. Morton, of Philadel-
phia." FANNIE b. WARD.