Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1912-10-25
71ZH09zE ar EHEc VIII EzzENQ2z1H


49,. :. :, MT known nv what name 1t was
called - -,
IF the feat of Millward in his two years o!
fighting the untrodden jungles and wastes ui
Peten had yielded nothing more imam ehe hno"l
edge of these old stone cities II "oulu nave 80
of priceless value, according 10 archaeoioes'
In making possible a study OF Maya hlstory anu
culture So far they are almost as much mys-
terry as they were two hundred years ago INC
elaborate carvings and petroglyphs "nAcn iif' IA
the buried temples and palaces are uhueciphoi
able and what little history of the movements
of the Mayas and their ancestors, their lie anu
art. has survived has been only in the form OF
legends kept alive by obscure Maya tribes
Mr. Mllward's explorations have estapnsnea
the fact that the confines of the Maya empire ex-
tended far south of the belt of towns and clues
whose ruins dot the northern coast toward the
Bay of Campeche
In the course of his explorations Millward
came upon more than three hundred groups or
ruins which mark the site OF what were once
villages and towns Of from 1,5OO to l5,ooo popua-
ton each The latter have all the characterls'
tics of great centers Of highly developed nte'
AS in the famous Palenque, many of the ruins IN
this hitherto undiscovered land which M1llwaro
nenetrated are notable in their dimensions, deco
rations and suggestions of the high degree OF
civilization which created them. But as ever
owing to the superstition of the Mayas IN MS
party, he was unable to give them more than
scant attention.
For four months Mward and his men toiled
through forests whose richness he declares is not
even suspected by people familiar with ADJOINING
countries. Immense mahogany trees or size
and quality unapproached by anything known to
commerce grew on every side. Rosewood ebony
cedar logwood chicle cacao and rubber trees
of dimensions unknown to the famous district OF
Quintana Roo. extended far northWard into the
districts which he afterward explored. Orchids
of the most delicate hue. half dozen OF whose
bulbs would make a small fortune for Fifth
avenue florist, trailed from the trees and dangled
the path so to be nuisance.
Four months and half from the time they
left Belize Millward and his men came out OF the
jungle at Laguna Carmen, near the Bay OF Cam
peche in the Gulf of Mexico. There they put in
a month of good rest. Several of the men had
died from fever and exposure and a percentage
of the mules had been lost The trip however,
was a marked success. Preparations were at
once made for the return trip to Belize and for
this MiIlward mapped out a route which would
take him across about sixty miles further to the
north.
It was when month and half inland on this
second trip that there occurred one of the most
important incidents Of the enterprise. This was
the discovery of four large and hitherto unknown
lakes Here, again, Millward found that their
existence, il not their location, was already
known to his Mayas under the of THE
Four Sisters"
Maya villages continued to dot the jungles as
the party progressed eastward, and in all of
them the explorer was we'll received AS Mill
ward worked further in the general direction
of Belize his destination and began to approach
the other coast he came upon occasional settle
ments of Caribs. In physique and strength he
considers these far superior to the Mayas.
The new territory. whose resources have been
revealed through the enterprise of this young
explorer is believed to be OF the most val
liable finds commercially and historically, of
many decades. The untold riches of it's forests
are not only accessible, but Mr. Millward is likely
to prove to large extent its developer as well
as its discoverer since he already is at work on
plans for the establishment of direct route
overland from the Caribbean Sea to the Gulf of
Mexico which would open up the greaterp art Of
the region to travel and commerce.