Show I I fi rRE = ISTORIC CITIES OF YUCATAN I Account of Experiences and Remarkable Discoveries Made in a Little Known Country by a Member of the Smithsonian Institute Insti-tute and a Newspaper Correspondent lics of Civilized r People Peo-ple Who Vanished From the Earth Thousands of Years Ago I In the fall of the year 1SOO a representative repre-sentative of the London Times In company with n member of the Smlth I eonlan Institute decided to explore the wonderland of Yucatan the southern peninsula of Mexico and after receiv ing1 from the genial Dim president of Mexico several letters of Introduction to various Alcaldes and Commandants of the provinces and barrios lying south of the City of Mexico the two adventurers I I tuners accompanied by a wiry old Mcx I Icon guide Jose Gonzales left the capital I capi-tal of tie Republic of Mexico and made I a start on what proved to be a most eventful trip through the mountains I and swamps of a comparatively unknown un-known and unexplored country Their outfit consisted of three sturdy I Mexican horse and two wicked ULtlo pack mules a complete camping outfit and arms and ammunition calculated to last during the twelve months Journey Jour-ney neyMEXICAN PECULIARITIES The journey for the first month led through the partially dessert lands of Mexico south of the capital the course lending southwesterly toward the foothills foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains at which they arrived live weeks after leaving the City of Mexico The young I men were both fluent Spanish students and decided before starting on their I perilous Journey to pose as Spanish students I stu-dents traveling for pleasure and health A peculiarity of the Mexican Is I that an American or as they are slurrlngly i termed Gringo Is a fair object of I plunder under any and all circumstances circum-stances but the laws of hospitality areas are-as pronounced In the wilds of Mexico as anywhere on earth Hence the explorers ex-plorers claimed to be wlthoilt money and in need of bed and hoard without I 1 money and without price although I for the sake of keeping up a semblance 1 of gratitude they never filled to give the children of the kindly Mexicans who entertained thcrripresents of small I coins strings of beads and other art i It cles of small value en route to the oh 1 Jectlve point of their Journey the I burled city of Palanque Yucatan I r DEADLY TREES 1 I leaving the sandy cactuscovered plains the trail led through a wonderfully I wonder-fully picturesque country The foothills I foot-hills and mesas stretching to the westward i west-ward were covered with a dense growth of multicolored flowers and the air was laden with almost overpowering I perfume The scrub liveoak of the I plains disappeared and the hillsides l j were covered with a dense growth of mimosas orewood resembling mahogany mahog-any and stately gum trees while here i I and there blossomed the curious though deadly arbol de atom or water tree The guide warned his patrons t to avoid 1 swinging their hammocks beneath these trees as they possessed the peculiar pecu-liar quality even In the most Intense inimical heat of constantly dripping poisonous water from their diamond shaped leaves and neither animal nor owl ever rested beneath their dampened damp-ened shade The guide explained that unwary travelers frequently spread their blankets under the agua tree to find themselves burning with fever as soon as the dampness from the tree had saturated their clothing small red blotches appeared all over the body and l is the fever Increased these spots filled with pus while the skin became blackened and terribly irritated the torture terminating In fearful paroxysms par-oxysms and a most painful death ENCOUNTER WITH SNAKE About noon of the sixth Sabbath after leaving the City of Mexico the explorers ex-plorers were riding through a deep canyon can-yon winding upward through tho foothills foot-hills The newspaper I correspondent Frank Willis was slightly In advance followed by the pack mules his companions com-panions and their guide The young man hnd a wenkncns find had It asset as-set erly I as ever falls to the lot of man He feared every variety of snake ns It Is stated tho devil fears holy water Suddenly bin little horse stopped and stood trembling his sharp cars thrown forward and evincing every sign of fright The young mans scattered thoughts were abruptly recalled from his northern home to present conditions condi-tions and looking up he saw swing ing directly ahead of him suspended from the limb of a giant mimosa tree an Immense boa constrictor Forgetful Forget-ful that he held a loaded Winchester in his hand the badly scared correspondent corres-pondent quit the hurricane duck of his I broncho with far greater celerity than grace and with a series of yells that would have done credit to an Apache Apa-che brave on the warpath took the back trail at championship speed nor stopped his flight until he had placed the entire outfit between himself and the repulsive monster Jose poured TL load of buckshot Into the boa and ended end-ed the episode without fatal results to anything but hls snakcshlp A measurement meas-urement of the constrictor satisfied the explorers that the newspaper man exhibited ex-hibited considerable wisdom In not standing upon ceremony but healing a masterly retreat MOSQUITOS AND CIIIGGERS Among the discomforts oC tropical travel none are more unpleasant than tho festive mosqultoa which In Yucatan Yuca-tan completely distance their New Jersey cousins rind without a heavy mosquito bar the travelers would have soon succumbed to the savage attacks of these pestiferous Insects Chiggers abound In the sandy foothills I foot-hills They are a HOtle red Insect about I the size of half a grain of wheat and have a habit of sinking shafts beneath ones nails either on hands or feet I boring their way through leather or cloth and causing fostering sores which soon rot off the nail and If noL treated properly I and In time result I In gangrene Sand flies a sort of narrowgauge pinchbug which I sticks closer than a brother help < < to make up the rank and file of object Ion able Inhabitants of Yucatan CARVED CLIFF Two months after leaving the City of Mexico the explorers camped one noon at the foot of an abrupt cliff which arose several hundred feel t above the valley Willis discovered half burled bur-led In the soil at the foot of the clllt I a hand and arm carved from granite and on drawing closer to the precipitous I precipi-tous side of the rocky mesa they discovered dis-covered hundreds of figures carved In basrelief covering thc smooth face of the rocks towering above them Fully one hundred feet above the valley val-ley was a massive sun with long rays extending on every side carved in the solid rock while beneath and around It were male and female figures fig-ures some clothed In u sort of flowing flow-ing garment and some entirely nude In postures of worship dance or the chase An animal 1 resembling the horse pave that It had two sharp horns protruding from either side of the head was also among the curious carvings Beneath the soil of their camping ground they excavated several beautiful beau-tiful specimens of sculpture arms limbs jind heads which had evidently by erosion or otherwise become detached de-tached from the face of the cliO and I fallen to the valley beneath RUNS OF ANCIENT CITY After a hurried lunch the young men decided to make an attempt to scale the overhanging cliff leaving Jose In charge of the camp and after a tedious te-dious climb consuming some three hours found themselves on the top of a narrow mesa or table land extending extend-ing to the westward some 500 feet while beyond its limits the explorers could dimly discern the partly destroyed de-stroyed remains of what they believed to be an ancient city Returning to their camp they waited for the following follow-ing day to break when leaving their guide In care of their camp the adventurous adven-turous young fellows climbed the mesa again by means oC a rough stairway evidently hewn out of the solid rock I = = = by time hand of man ages before and Just ns 1 the sun arose found themselves clammier Imm over thcjinosKyrown walls of what had In uges past beer u large and prosperous city The walls were In placer fully fifty foot high and twenty feet In thickness with watch towers rising to a height of fifty or sixty feet above the walls at intervals of about one hundred yurdn I The streets were broad and had at onetime one-time been paved with fiat blocks of granite while the houses many of which were In a splendid condition oC preservation were substantially built of granite with tile roofs resembling i in architectural design a combination or Egyptian and Corinthian art In every house they found a plaza In the center of which was a large Bmoothly hewn basin evidently Intended for bathing by the strange people whose very existence has hecn lost beneath the ruins of age The chambers were on the second floor and In many were fragments of red orowood bedsteads which hul withstood the ravages of thousands of years and now stood mute proofs of a higher grade of civilization civi-lization of thousands of years past than that which existed In the Old World at the same period In the center which was fully fifteen mlleis III circumference stood an Immense temple tem-ple the portico of which wai supported by ten granite pillars three of which were In an perfect a state of preservation preserva-tion as on the day they were erected The remainder had been overthrown by the ravages of time They were fully seventyfive feet high and six feet in diameter and around their entire length were entwined garlands of granite gran-ite hewn leaves resembling laurel ALTAR THIRTY FEET HIGH Tho first room of the building was partially covered with a roof consisting of carefully matched massive blocks of granite nearly hall of which had alIen al-Ien In There were several small altars fashioned of beautifully carved black granite while in the second or principal princi-pal room were endless figures carved on all of the walls of Huns moons and stars chariots and horses men and women the latter Invariably facing the mammoth sun which occupied half of the end wall of tho room In the center cen-ter of this hall was an Immense altar nearly thirty feet high and fifty f feet long built like the pyramids with two foot step extending from the hoar to the top of the altar An examination of the altar revealed a hollowed out space large enough to permit four men to He side by side Its entire length and the explorers after searching among the ashes and dirt which nearly filled the cavity found hones which the Smithsonian Smith-sonian professor pronounced the hones of a mans thigh and forearm They also discovered a curiously fashioned knifeblade of pure copper but as flexible flex-ible l and finely tempered as the finest Damascus stool l lying among the ashes on the altar The handle was of horn somewhat resembling buck and engraved en-graved In curlousi hieroglyphics which however they were unable to decipher de-cipher but which resembled Egyptian characters COPPER IMPLEMENTS At the foot of the altar were four granite posts about ten feet high In which were fastened three large copper cop-per rings one at the top one In the center and the other at the base of the post Jn the dust at the base of one of these posts they found ahollow ball of copper pierced with four small holeu on each side and containing some hard loose substance which upon being shaken gave forth a sound like that of a mellow sllvei bell In one cor ner of the altarhall was a large stone closet reaching nearly to the celling and upon forcing open the atone door the searchers found an Instrument resembling re-sembling a mammoth xylophone except that suspended beneath each key were long hollow tubes of graduated sizes which evidently formed a musical Instrument In-strument for the wonderful people who had been lost sight of In the march of time They also discovered a finely wrought copper helmet of gigantic proportions pro-portions and If It ever bad served for a headpiece for these forgotten people peo-ple there must have betas giant In those days for the helmet was fully twenty Inches In diameter and weighed about thirty pounds A spear the handle of which was an exquisitely carved piece of Ivory about ten feet long In the butt of which was net a ruby of fully five carats while the tip was of finely tempered copper about a foot In length l tray also found within the closet Several dippers and pots all of copper cop-per and all engraven with the same unintelligible un-intelligible symbols completed the collection col-lection of curios discovered ulthln tho cabinet These were stored away and afterwards taken to tIc United Staten and England by the explorers aumcl now rest within the curio hall of the Smithsonian Smith-sonian Institute and British museum An Immense reservoir had been dugout dug-out of the solid rocks In one corner of the city evidently having served as a storage for water to supply its inhabitants inhabi-tants thousands of years ago PEOPLE SEVEN FEET TALL I The western wall of the city wan pierced with Innumerable niches which served as crypts for the burial of the dead and each was scaled with a tons slve copper seal bearing the Imprint of a twcntyon raYed sun The explorers forced several of these tombs and found within coffins of solid native copper fastened with screws of tho same material ma-terial while within were mummified remains of the dead of both sexes They averaged about seven feet In height and their features were of a distinctly Jewish Jew-ish cast On the arms and limbs of both men and women were rings elaborately ela-borately chased of sold silver and copper cop-per while without exception a small sluice of gold was inserted In tho palm of each right hand After makingan exhaustive search of the buildings of tho unknown city the explorers returned to their camp carrying with them as heavy a Inul as they could pack of the curious relics which they had unearthed For nearly four months following the discovery of this wonderful city they I Journeyed southward occasionally meeting small bands of Yucntans a small wellformed kindly people who treated their visitors with unceasing courtesy and hospitality What they were not the founders of the strange city was evident not only from their Ignorance I of Its very existence but be ciiuso they occupied a much lower grade of civilization than had the unknown people who had passed from the memory of mankind RESEARCHES AT PALANQUE Seven month after leaving Mexico city the explorers and their faithful guide reached the strange city of Pal lanque Yucatan and found In their months excavation many strange and Inexplicable remnanta of the forgotten civilization of Its former Inhabitants Here too they found an Immense number num-ber of copper and silver utensils resembling re-sembling those found in the city of the mesa which they had named Amerl cus and also In everyone of these prehistoric pre-historic cities were found carvings and pictures In partially obliterated pig merits of suns always with exactly twentyone points or rays radiating from tho center Here they also unearthed un-earthed an Implement resembling the oldfashioned loom of our New England forefathers together with rotted Blronds of silk thread malted together without definite form or color That tobacco was known to the new world ages before Sir Walter Raleigh gave It a boom wan evident from the large number1 of curiously wrought and engrave pipes some of sliver but for the moat part of a peculiar hard finished fin-ished clay mounted with gold or sliver trimming some of the latter kind large enough to hold a halt pound of tobacco LIKIO TELEGRAPHIC KEY In a subterranean room beneath an old temple In Palnnque were discovered several copper wires running from a peculiar Instrument resembling somewhat some-what a telegraphic key to the room above where Its connection was found with a drumshaped instrument attached J at-tached to the Inside of the largest cop portrlmmcd stone Image which stood In the center of what had at one time evidently been an Immense audience hall for the purpose of worship for the Idol resembling an immense ape had for a headpiece a twentyone point sun made of solid copper which at some time had been highly burnished and ornamented with clones of some character as shown by several cavities In which they had rested the stones having been removed probably by archeologists or explorers whose visit I antedated that of the Smithsonian professor pro-fessor and Willis In tho vicinity of Palanque was time only place during the entire trip that the travelers found what Is known as English Ivy 1 and entwined amid the shattered columns winding Its way through fallen walls or creeping over ruined dwelllngR wore great masses of real English Ivy and not being able to sallsfaotorlly explain Its appearance so many thousands of miles from its 11fl > tlvo heath tho Times man declared that the blooming ivy had been brought there and planted by come blawsted British explorer dont y know In my event the Professor considered con-sidered the fact oC Its presence worthy of special mention In his report to the InsUtuto which he represented MYSTERIOUS SWAMP To the north and east oC Palanque Is an Immense tract of swamp land from the depths of which come strange tales of Inhabitants unknown and unconquered un-conquered Some of the villagers whose barrios were visited onroute to Palan quc declared that the swamp surrounded sur-rounded an immense Island scores of miles In diameter upon which lived and had dwelt for hundreds of years a race of sernlvhltc people tall and well built wearing clothing from tho description of the slmplc villagers not unlike that of the ancient Athenians while ornaments of gold silver Ivory and Jewels were universally worn by the males no women ever having been seen outside of the practically impenetrable Impene-trable swamp country Several attempts were made by the professor and his companion to find a tinll leading across the swamp to tho alleged populous Island but absolutely without success as the soft oozy ground would not bear their weight and the tangled masses of foliage rendered ren-dered traveling out of tho question Throughout the entire trip which consumed con-sumed eleven months and two weeks the travelers were the recipients of hospitable attention and courtesies alike from Alcalde and humble l peon and In spite of the almost incredible hardships due to exposure and peril from wild animals vermin swift torrents tor-rents and mlaumatic swamp the two explorers accompanied by their guide succedcd In reaching Belize British Honduras after having traversed a portion of Yucatan never before vis ited within the knowledge of the present pres-ent generation by white men and were heartily welcomed by Gov Golds worthy a splendid type of old English gentleman at his comfortable government Govern-ment residence at Belize W J 4 |