The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-05-07
-. CAPITAL OF YUCATAN
.,cu Methods of Designating Streets.
hlr0e ,rrlcpI and Modern CuriousIy Intern.
lh'hT ,IuIle pip Into Tradition.

aid lily is this capital OF Yucatan,
~ nan The ruins of another, ages
f. noo, the Maya city which the
hound here and RACED to the
adm die year 1912, was the largest
a.nTnsula, the site of many tenn
..t.es and pyramids, and so ancient
.,arHoas trees were growing on
a.1. made by hand, " as the historian
....s rbe artificial mounds. Each
Va, crowned by a temple, and
.. ...Dst. which stood in the place
...t,d 10y Merida's main plaza,
.....I5 uHpll sanctuary of the nation
.n au, "the center and founda-
.f4 diverse, where human sac
... luown gods were offered amid
...- t.rcmonies, led by a long reti-
u,:- Beyond these facts, even
Silent concerning T'-hoo and
... hereof. In the temples Were
..U -auds of idols of various forms
.-0lJs. hundreds of curiously
~.oucS and countless hierogly-
.- uptS on deer skins: but
. ud ianaticism which charac-
... Gays, ali were carefully de-
king chasm impossible to be
history of one of the most in
.-.. 4tIieS on the globe As Zu-
shop of Mexico, burned all
annals upon which he could
.-.. e4iouS hands, SO Landa, Bish-
E.f d. following the bigoted eX-
.. a.s ahief, made an auto de fe of
..I illogical treasures and all
H., 4lauents he could collect per
ming tg earlier records of the coun-
-. deginning his history, "De las
I'D. N.catan."
I,-t- ashton to say that Columbus
...- ssoyere1 of this peninsula, be-
. s0.a at Pine Island, in the sum
he sighted canoe, evident
-r .c adjacent main land. The
a. u.5 ID WAS eight feet wide and man
IT. lowers, had on board cacique
s BIZ amily, all dressed in the cos
ll -.1. known as Yucatec. 1t was
s-ts. "a tn cacao, tortillas, bever-
-. If corn, similar to Peruvian
.fi wooden swords with obsidian
.e. uper axes, and cotton cloth,
r -k and dyed in brilliant colors.
He wants agree that the celebrat-
8i whose appearance at that oppor-
Q. m4 ,nJ led to the discovery of Mex
l.4 1t come from Yucatan, but from
r, country also semi civilized,
Ue.ple wore the same dress and
as tuly the same language as the
.4s e. reasons for this conclusion
E -4at while arid Iucatan never had
3 1r- tlge enough for boat building,
-Nle did not grow cocoa, nor
4iin blades and copper axes.
0- tie a speciality of those things,
ID a.n- we'll Watered, was covered with
ag4N- cedar and mahogany trees,
ul the largest boats might have
t-- N Had Columbus followed that
a- would doubtless have added
q ., lory that of CorteZ; and at
mention OF it brought hither,
is alter, Vincent Yanez Pinzon
ll oils, who, coasting along the
isH $, We're the first white men
,. .4tan. The first to land was
tH 1911; and he came per force,
-l- asd ON an outlying reef while
ubd. His visit was not en-
ll. 4-. iar after the Indians had wei
H after their peculiar fashion,
u d all his company were left to
81 In 1917 Hernandez de Cor
led in getting little farther
lA2a Nf the natives mas>acred 81 of
aud all We're injured. Bernal
Ha 0el chosen chum, was Of the
ilN g badly wounded; but that did
Y I'd INN from returning the fol-
lR. Httl with Girjalva, and again
pa fl in 1913. Cordova, sailing
l@- -r north coast, saw great cities
II. -adid palaces, $50 he reported)
pa 8t- nigh pyramids; and landing at
F'.7 e found stately temples whose
a-s as1e covered with serpents carved
e'r-.- tHIevo,. similar to those of the
lea ali in the city of Mexico.
ltie that can be cleaned from
lNr gracious sources, we know that
''"'' The Spanish conquest there
A>+a ucatan a powerful and popu-
ll' .olNu, Of an origin SO remote as to
''' -~faer unknown, ruled by caciques
Fl.u- 10 liked principles of law and
''e. lAe decisive battle which con-
rVsi He country occurred in 1910, on
r 'r4{ spot where Merida now stands,
Ttt1 goo Spaniards and 40, 600 Indians
'-"1qirg to Spanish accounts. Prob
r Ne figures are not exact, though
Fu0Iesr he defeated army was much
FP''''5 d point of numbers.
IL" Nlaniards had the advantage of
ANUS t-ainst naked Indians with ar
'Ad wooden spears, and the chroni-
nat such terrible havoc did the
ieate, a single ball crashing
ls+ rrowds of Indians massed to-
'a living them down by hundreds.