The San Francisco call., 1897-05-19
FOUND A MAN
IN A BIG JAR
Queer Painted Beads and
Images in the Mounds
of Tonola.
Marvellous Buried City in Which
Trees Have Grown That
Are Centuries Old.
H. r Freear Tells of the Ancient
Temples and Brilliant Birds
Unknown to Science.

From time to time lately word has been
received here of strange mounds and
buried cities on the borders of Tehuante-
pee and in the remote stretch of the con-
tinent toward Yucatan. However, no
eyewitness of these relics of bygone ages
has arrived here, and IN the minds of
many the stories OF the wonders observed
there have been taken with grains of
allowance.
Notwithstanding this it is unquestioned
that the ancient mounds, built for what
ever purpose, do exist, and it is also GER.
tain city has been discovered so old that
trees as much as four or FIVE feet thick
have grown up among the ruined temples.
H. R. Freear of this City, who with sew
eral friends went to Tapachula, in the
extreme southern part of Mexico, sew
eral months ago, has returned here.
He says that at point about eight miles
from the port of Tonola he and his party
| found three great mounds. Each was
from 25 to 80 feet high and from go to IS
| feet across at the base. In one Of these he
| and his party being short of water began
digging. They commenced at point
about six feet from the ground and dug
down about four and half feet. At that
| depth they struck huge jar made oil
| earthenware
ut was about four feet high. three feet
wide and nearly half an inch thick, said
Mr.. Freear, "and what do you suppose
was in it? A human skeleton. 1t was
| the skeleton of very big man, because
| my uncle, E. J. Crabtree, who was with
| me, and who is a very big man himself,
| took the tnig b bone and measured II with
his own. 1t extended over two or three
inches. The skeleton was com plete, none
- L<,, ha,.. rnd
that the body had been pressed down in
the jar. Around the jar, scattered through
| the soil, were many beads in bright colors.
There were heads of alligators, COWS, one
deer head, fish and other figures OF ami
mails of different kinds, all in earthen
| ware, as well as several kinds of pottery.
| We dug through the soil with machete,
and had no difficulty in finding great
many strange relics. They had no doubt
been buried there for hundreds of years.
| The natives there refer to the mounds as
the work of the antiguas or ancients.
while this was very remarkable it was
nothing to discovery made near Com otan
in great forest not far from the border OF
| Yucatan. In that forest is very old city
| with a street extending for more Than a
mile, where stone temples and many
other kinds of buildings may be seen.
Some of the buildings have withstood the
effects of time and are intact, or nearly So
while others have fallen partly down, the
stones being scattered every which way.
I'm the streets of this silent city, once sc
busy with life, and. growing up through
the houses, were to be seen enormous
forest trees. Many of the trees were as
much as five feet each IN diameter. II
had been hundreds and maybe thousands
of years since the strange city had been
deserted of humankind. The tenn pies
many of them, were in a good state oi
| preservation. In the rooms were things
used in household affairs, and thousands
| on thousands of more valuable antiquities
of different kinds. 1t is most interesting
field for an explorer, especially if of a
scientific turn of mind.
when 1 go back, as I expect soon to
do, shall take, if possible, one OR two
scientists with me. / especially want to
take along skilled taxidermist, because
there are many remarkable BIRDS there OF
rare plumage and of kind not 10 be
found in such collections as are to be seen
at the Academy of Sciences and other
places here. For some years have been
\ taking special interest in the birds OF
different countries, and because of this
have travelled many thousands of miles in
Lower California and different States Of
| Mexico and Central America
| Mr.. Freear is at the International and
will probably remain there several days