The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13

by the independent tribes cannot even be conjectured. That there are many Is proved by the reports of the Indians | themselves and by the tales of rubber gatherers who have ventured into the for. bidden territory.
 How the barren, sterile territory of Yu- catan could support a population that. Judging by these ruins, must have num- bered millions is a problem. It is evident | that the inhabitants of this district must have devoted themselves largely to man ufacturing and mercantile pursuits, de.
 pending for food supplies upon the more fertile and productive regions of Guate- mala and Mexico.
 The island of CozUmel. separated from
 Yucatan only by the deep Yucatan chan nel. is the Mecca of the Mayas. In its deep forests are the ruins of their sacred city and their most holy temple. Most of the island has not yet been explored
 by the inquisitive white man, which seem. all the moro remarkable when we con- sider the fact that It's shores are skirted
 by every vessel sailing from New Orleans or Mobile to Central American ports, and that 1t is the first land sighted after crossing the Gulf of Mexico. Its verdant, pa4m- shores have gladdened the eyes of many a seasick voyager, giving promise of early relief from his cramped ill-smelling quarters in the little fruit carrying steamer.
 The most extensive of these ruins were discovered and partially explored by Holmes ilI 1895.
 The Mayas possessed an extensive lit
 erature written on parchment or native paper folded like Japanese screen. or on the white inner bark of a tree, which
 was then rolled like a school girls essay. The bigotry or mistaken zeal of the Span ish monks and priests caused nearly all of these ancient manuscripts to be de- stroyed. Altars. monoliths and walls in
 the ruins are often covered with so- called calculiform Inscriptions, named l from the resemblance of the characters
 to small, rounded pebbles. No key to
 the deciphering of the inscriptions has
 ever been discovered.
 The most important and extensive of | the written manuscripts of the ancient | Mayas is the ''Chilan- BaIam book" the
 interpreter of oracles. It is the Maya Book of Fate. being to them what the | Sibylline books were to ancient Romans. | It consists largely of interpretations of
 dreams. signs and omens; of prophecies,
 and of rules for forecasting the times
 and seasons from the movements of the | heavenly bodies. There are said to be l sixteen copies of it still in existence.
 which are in the custody of the leading
 villages. They are, however. at all times
 accessible to the wise men of all the | tribes.
 It is hoped and expected that many
 more manuscripts may be found among
 the untamed tribes on the Guatemalan | frontier. If this hope is realized much
 of the history of America before the
 conquest of Mexico may be revealed. This in fact, is the most important re-
 suit that is likely to flow from the
 present effort of the Mexican government
 to explore the peninsula.
 That the north coast of Yucatan has | been redeemed from barbarian is due
 more to the energy of American hene- l quin planters than to the efforts of the Mexican government Not more than $50 | square miles of territory are under cul- | tivation in henequin or S1sal hemp, vet
 on this small area is produced the fibre
 that literally binds the wheat harvests of the world. It is used alike in Minne-
 sota and Argentina, in Siberia and
 Egypt, and whenever. in fact, the pro-
 duction of wheat is of sufficient import | ance to call for the automatic harvester. l The henequin plant is a species of
 agave, closely resembling the century plant, so common in northern homes and l conservatories. It is found all over trop- l ical America, but nowhere else are its
 flores so fine. strong and durable as in
 the rocky. limestone soil of Yucatan. The cultivation of this plant, therefore. has become of great importance. There | are S4S henequin plantations, connected
 by complete system of railroads and