Gilpin observer., 1900-01-11
MAYAS OF YUCATAN.
WERE THE PYRAMID BUILDERS
OF AMERICA.
And Had an Advanced Civilization Be-
fore the Advent pf the spani.rds--
They Are Now fighting the Mexi.
cans.

| Behind the massive stone walls of
huge prehistoric fortresses, reared
l,O00 years or more ago, the descend
ants of the Egyptians of America-the
pyramid-building Mayas of Yucatan-
are awaiting the approach of the
armed expedition sent against them by
the Mexican government. Theirs is
the last stand of sayagery against civ
1lization on this continent, and for
| more than one reason the outcome of
the conflict will be awaited with in
terest. The regions inhabited by these
Wlld people are as yet to so great an
extent uneXplored, the enormous
structures uplifted upon pyramids
which serve them as military refugees
are so very great and of such mystic
rlous origin, and the resistance of the
tribes to subjugation by white au-
thorlty has been so Successful hitherto
that an atmosphere of veritable ro-
nance may be said to envelop the sit
uation. Meanwhile a fleet of twenty
four light-draught boats has been sent
up the Pondo river, carrying troops to
| attack the natives, who are obstructing
the commercial development of the
country by interfering with the gath
| ering of dyewoods and in other ways
Extensive portions of the peninsula
| OF Yucatan remain unknown to the
geographer simply because the boldest
explorers have not dared to venture
into them for fear of the fierce and
warlike inhabitants. Several tribes of
| the latter have defied the authority of
the government of Mexico for more
than three-quarters of century, hold
ing the temples and palaces of their
forefathers by force of arms and main
tanning feud against all comers, white
or red. OF these strongholds the most
important is that of Puloom, oft seen
but never visited by civilized travellers.
1t stands on high bluff, in full view
OF the 'sea-a frowning outpost of saw
age domination. The structure is of
immense size, and many centuries ago
1t was the strongest place held by the
Mayas, whose descendants keep watch
from its battlements today.
The status of the ancient Mayas at
the time of the discovery of America
was much like that of the Egyptians
Immediately before the dawn of his
tory in the old world. In respect to
civilization they were considerably
ahead of any other people on the
American continent. They were trad
ers and navigators, building vessels of
large size and maintaining commerce
with Cuba and Florida. Their arts
were highly developed and their archi-
lecture was of SO notable character
that at the present time thousands OF
square miles of the territory they once
occupied are dotted with the ruins of
their towns. Indeed, in that country
the traveller is seldom out of sight of
some massive structure of antiquity,
and in one case ii mountain 1000 feet
high has been completely remodeled by
artifice into a system of pyramids and
terraces.
Some of these buildings, like the edi-
flee of Puloom, are so well preserved
as to serve the purpose of fortresses
most admirably even now. The pc
riod of their construction no man
knoweth, but many of them undoubt-
edly date back to a period before the
time of Columbus. In that mysterious
theater of vanished Maya civilization
are found the remains of fifty-one
cities, while a greater number are
probably hidden beneath the tropical
forests and in the uneXplored region
of the east and south.
There is something extremely pic
turesque and even weird about the no.
tion of race of savages lurking in the
half-ruined fortresses and palaces
built in dim antiquity by their civilized
ancestors. Some day. doubtless, these
mysterious retreats will be explored,
but meanwhile the accessible remains
of ancient Yucatan cities afford a sufii-
GENTLY attractive field for chronological
study. The country has almost no sur
face water, nearly all of the streams
running underground. In places the
roofs of these subterranean rivers are
perforated by the disintegration of the
limestone strata, forming natural wells
or sinks 100 feet or more in depth, the
water in which. can be reached in many
cases by ropes or ladders. In olden
times every such well, or group of
wells, was encircled by buildings enor-
nous in size and richer in barbarious
sculpture than any others in old Amer
lea.
Barring the Egyptians, the ancient
Mayas of Yucatan seem to have been
the greatest pyramid builders the
world ever saw. Sometimes they
shaped entire hills to serve as supports
for temples or groups of shrines, but
ordinarily they would take small
elevation and add courses of stone in
such n manner as to give increased
height and symmetry. In the interior
of some of the mounds thus uplifted
have been found supporting construc-