Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-29
TRADITIONS OF A LOST RACE.
The IdolalrUus Israelites Of Qua
tcmala.
From the New YORK Times.I

| old WOriu are atlflUuteu, were au-
tochthonous or were the ofishoois
of some one OF the classified races
of antiquity will probably never be
determined until an Interpretation
is made Of the records that are
carved In hieroglyphics upon their
historic stone tablets, monoliths,
idols and temples.
These ancient heaps have never
been thoroughly explored, but such
research as has been made only
demonstrates the depth Of the mys-
tery-the completely Of the historic
problem that is presented TO the in
telligence Of this later day for sOlu-
ton. The archaeological remains
are unlike those Of any other race or
place on earth-they are peculiar TO
Gucatan; and there have not yet
been found any evidence of a litera-
ture or Of methods and styles Of
architecture which in the remotest
manner identify these people with
any Of the historic races.
An almost universal predispOsi-
ton to accept the Mosaic record of
the origin and descent of man rs
conclusive, coupled with the diff
Guilty Of accounting for his origin in
any other manner than as descended
from Adam, has prompted certain
pedants TO jump prematurely TO the
conclusion that those ancient Yucca
tecans were but the descendants Of
the ''lost tribes Of Israsl' or OF some
one Of the Semitic Tnces. There is
nothing in the monumental remains
of these prehistoric Yucatans to
bear out the hypothesis Of Asiatic
origin. Even the fragment Of tra-
dition that has survived the vandal-
ism Of the Spanish invaders CONTRA
diets this hypothesis. 1t relates to
the tribe of "Indians'' called by
themselves the Quiches-a semi
civilized, numerous and powerful
tribe, whom the Spaniards found in
possession Of a fertile region in the
present State Of Guatemala, with
fortified cities and towns.
OF this interesting people no rec
ords, no monuments remain except
their Astounding stone houses
and protected settlements. Unlike
the race inhabiting or once inhabit-
ing the peninsula to the north Of
them, they had no method Of re-
cording history whatever, and left
no inscribed tablets or monuments.
no sculpture, and no symbolic in
scriptiOns that have ever been dis
covered. Their buildings give evil
| dence Of no such progress in archi-
lecture as had been made by the
Yucatecans, and there were no
monuments Of a feryent idolatry
and Facrificial religion such as eb-
tanned among the Tucatecans-ihe
builders Of Uxmal, Palenque, Copan,
Quirigua, and the many other once
pOpulOus cities, Of which there re-
main only the parts that were built
Of stone, and these only in broken
heaps, all overgrown with the lux
uriant vegetation Of the tropics.
Unlike the Others, furthermore, the
Clutches handed down a consistent
traditional history of their origin
and progress to the time Of their
overthrow by the Spaniards. And
this tradition, accepted for what il
is worth, claims for them q descent
from the house Of Israel; but this
same tradition says that they found
the country already inhabited by
several tribes OF "Indians'' when
they invaded it and settled in it
thus testifying to the existence OF a
race older than themselves i'm the
country, and whose origin is not ac-
counted for. Their capital was
Utatlan, a city built upon and around
an artificial terrace of vast extent.
1t was situated in fertile basin sur
rounded by snow-capped mountains.
Its only highway of approach was
protected by fortress or stronghold
in the mountain pass, which the
Spanish invaders christened Santa
Cruz del Quiche, and which was
built Of stone on the top Of a triple
terrace, over 100 feet high. that was
constructed Of earth and was origin
ally faced with masonry.
According TO the tradition which
has survived the destruction OF the
Quichees as people, and which was
Of such exceptional interest that il
was deemed worthy Of survival even
by the Spaniards, the Kings of
Quiche and Kachiquel and their
people descended from the Toltecan
Indians, who, when they came to
the country, found it already inhab-
tied by people Of different nations,
but Of one race. The story that was
handed down b them from father to
son through the generations ascribed
TO the Toltecans n descent from the
house Of Israel. When they Were
released by Moses from the tyranny
Of Pharaoh in Egypt, and had reached
safety in the wilderness across
the Red Sea, they lapsed into idol
airy. To avoid the reproOfs Of
Moses, or from fear of chastisement,
and being fully determined to ad-
here to their rites of human saeri-
fice-tO the worship Of MolOch-they
separated from Moses and his people,
and under the guidance of Tanub,
their chief, passed through many
vicissitudes and by continuous travel
through many years toward the
rising Of the sun, from one continent
to the other, 10 a place which they
called the Seven Caverns, a part Of
the kingdom of Mexico, where they
founded the great city Of Tula.
From Tanub sprang the ToItecans
and from the royal house of Toltec
sprang the first Kings Of lula and
Quiche. Nimaquiche, the fifth
monarch Of the Quiche line and
the best beloved Of his people, was
directed by an oracle to leave rula,
with his people, who had GREATLY
multiplied, and journey southwark,
beyond the Kingdom of the Toltecs,
to n land which should be given
them for their own. The oracle
pleased tho people greatly, for the
land was crowded and strife be-
tween the nations was becoming
constantly more difficult to avert.
They journeyed long, over a vast
extent Of country, until they arrived
at the lake of Atitlan, near and
around which they settled in a
country they called Qulche. Here
they became prosperous and happy
people, built cities, cultivated the
fertile lands, and began to cultivate
the arts Of peace.
King Nimaquiche died and AK
copil, his son, succeeded him. Ak
eopil had two sons, and on day
when three suns were shining in
the heavens he divided his kingdom
in three parts, and established each
Of his sons king overa new king
dom. Before the death of Axcopil
his two sons were at war. This was
settled by his mediation, and there
was peace for two generations. Then
began war and bloodshed that did
not cease for generations. The
story Of the beginning and progress
OF these wars bears certain crude
similarity to the bomeric chronicles
of the abduction Of Helen and the
Trojan war.
Basam Achan, fifth king OF Qui-
che, had a lovely daughter, the
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