The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-26

of about 100000 inhabitants EACH,
Doubtless at different times each
one Of these two cities was the CAPT
tai Of the country.
One Of the cities In Uxmal, pro-
nounceu "Ushmul,' situated in the
southwestern part of Yucatan, and
the other is Chichen liza, in the
eastern part of the state. One Is
six miles away from the railways
end through the jungle and the other
eighteen. In both cases the road
leading out is little better than
trail and without question the rough
est road that a wheeled vehicle was
ever pounded to pieces on.
To n y mind the most interesting
ruin of all is THE House of the
Dwarf at Uxmal. 1t is pyramid,
with a temple on top where the
priests made human sacrifices. The
steps on one side are fairly well pre-
seved. A double chain is run down
them so that it is possible to reach
the top if you have cool head.
Once there you crawl through hole
knocked in the temple wall and
come out on a platform which was
the sacrifcial altar.
On that platform the priests stood
and with knives of flint cut out the
hearts of living victims and held the
objects 'aloft, still throbbing, for the
populace below to gaze at. In the
great quadrangle at the foot of that
side of the pyramid the inhabitants
of the city gathered to watch these
festal doings. Fifty thousand people
could stand in it. Around the huge
court runs a palace, two stories high
and beautifully carved. which was
the home of the nuns, for whose
special delectation these sacrifices
were made. The nuns were the aris-
tocrats of ancient Maya society.
On all four Of the inner sides of
this palace are carved two huge
snakes, whose bodies are entwined
as they twist around the structure.
These snakes have human heads and
tassels for tails. In all the ruins the
carvings are of the same peculiar
design. The patterns of the borders
and the general ornamentation
strongly suggest the Egyptian
What is most wonderful of all Is
how they were able to cut these
huge blocks of stone and then carve
them SO beautifully without metal
hamm ers or chisels. There. is no
iron or other metal in the country
and SO all they had to work with
was flint. How they raised the blocks
into place none can explain. That
remains as much of a mystery as the
pyramids of Egypt. This is used as
| an argument to prove that the same
race of people did them both.
There are many more ruins stand
ing at Chichen liza than at Uxmal,
but in both cities all the smaller
structures and private houses have
disappeared. 1le ages have worn
them away or earthquakes shaken
/ them down and the jungle has COW
cred all. The natural accumulation
of soil for centuries has also covered
them many feet deep. The bases of
the big buildings still in sight are,
Of course. below the present surface.
| Not much has been done in the way
only just turning its attention to
lnese wonderful relics of the past.
| The ruins have several feats in
mason work that are beyond our
/ twentieth century architects, such as
arches without keystones, leaning
walls, round corners. hanging ter
races and SO on. The walls are all
enormously thick and the rooms
rather small, even in the houses of
the governors or kings. or whatever
they were called. Most of these
rooms are now inha bited by bats and
are not at all pleasant places. There
are no fiat ceilings to be found. All
are finished with pointed arches.