Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-09-27
A BUILDING m uxMAL

IOre the white man arrived this great cont
nent was inhabited only by nude savages
that daubed themselves with paint and stuck
feathers in their hair-a most erroneous be.
lief.
That the ancient Americans were mathe-
maticians, astronomers architects, artists, is
proved by what still remains Of their re-
markable work. Nor are we justified in
asserting that they were ignorant of sciences
which we of late years investigate Should
any of our cities be abandoned today, after q
few centuries only parts of the strongest
structures would remain to mark that site Of
civilization. Archmologists Of those coming
times might then say: eyes, those people left
big buildings, but they were, of course, half
savage, and knew nothing about the things
we understand" How mistaken those future
wiseacres would be in their opinion Of us!
How mistaken we may be In judging of those
who have preceded us! History teaches that
nations are like individuals. gradually ad-
vancing to maturity, and then falling into
decay.
The people Of Central America were un-
doubtedly on their downward course when
the Spaniards commenced war against them
nearly 400 years ago; but in no respect were
they savages, less SO, indeed, in many things
than the ruthless invaders
Palenque, Quirigua, Guatemala, Mexico
and other places were all once thickly inhab-
tied by people about whom very little is
known; the ruins of their long deserted cities
are hidden in dense forests, and an army Of
earnest workers is needed to explore and
study them.
There is no richer field of antiquities than
Yucatan, that sunny peninsula whose shores
nvsr I1vy<
can gulf and the Caribbean sea. The Span
ish conquerors found that the people there
had books of their own. In no other part Of
America had they found such marked evil
dence of culture, and their astonish1nent was
great. Nevertheless, the European priests
burned all the volumes they could lay hands
on, maintaining that as they contained moth
ing concerning the holy Catholic religion
they ought to be done away with. Such de-
struction Of works containing an account Of
historical events and scientific knowledge
as the Spanish historians themselves tell us
they did-was terrible and irreparable loss
Milton has well said: He who kills a man,
stroys a good book, kills reason itself.''
It is not known how, or by whom, but four
of those American books were preserved
rope; these still exist, and as DR.. Le Plon-
geon has found key to the hieroglyphs in
which they are written, their contents will
some day be made known to the public.
Yucatan was the great center of the Maya
nation, though its people spread over the face
Of the earth, which is the reason why we find
that word Maya in all parts Of the world,
and always signifying power in one form OIL.
hn Ia
nearly 75, 900 square miles, is strewn with old
cities. At the time of the conquest these
were as profound mystery to the natives,
whose well appointed villages were under the
shadow of those walls and pyramids. as they
are to us now Within some Of the doors
they occasionally ventured to beseech the fa-
vor of the Deity. .ss5 Ed 5.,i W
Temple and palaces, great public edifices,
are the structures which have withstood the
hand Of time. They were built in way that
made them almost indestructible Upon q
rocky soil, into which nothing could possibly
sink, the architects reared massive piles Of
dry stone, terraces and pyramids, generally
about seventy feet high, faced with beauti-
fully hewn stones. On these most solid
foundations they built their edifces Of white
marble. Most Of the walls are three, but
some are nine feet thick. The facing stones
areso closely fitted that nothing can be intro
duced between; the inner part of each il
hewn in pyramidal form, and the filing Of
the wall is exceedingly hard concrete The
ornamental stones were skillfully carved COW
cred with stucco and painted in bright colors,
red predominating and dgnifying power.
Pictures alone can convey correct idea Of
the intricate sculptures. The height Of the
rooms is generally twenty feet. 81