Show THE PHANTOM 01 mr Charn nys DI ni covery lu in sorce ti time m e ago ago a d dispatch ispa brou brought gli t the information that mr desire charnay ilio the celebrated french archaeologist now on a tour of exploration through the wilds of central america had bad discovered tho the famed phantom city in aunte guatemala A new york reporter in an interview with mr A T rice the editor of the korth american amerian review in which magazine mr Char nays researches and explorations arc narrated from time to time obtained some additional particulars relating to the discover discovery y As the alleged discovery is of considerable interest wo we present it to our readers al although other matters have retarded the publication until now having been asked in what sense the term phantom city is to bo be understood mr rice replied that the most satisfactory answer to tho the question fuestion would be an account of t tho way i in it which this city was first brought into notice upward of forty yc years qi a ago t said he when the d distinguished is d american traveler jo john L stephens visited tho the village of santa cruz dc de quiche guatemala lie learned of the exis existence tence of a great inhabited city in sierra de guerra land larid of war this is the region in the northwestern part of guatemala occupied ay ly iy Can candines dones cs or la Can cardones dones nc a tribe of people said eaid to this day to perpetuate the traditions and mode modo of their forefathers though nominally subject c et to the laws of the republic of G guatemala the la condones are in fact absolutely independent and jealously refuse white men entry into their settlements stephens tep bens thought that a force of men would be necessary in order to overcome the resistance of the natives native to the in intrusion trudon of an exploring party whether mr charney chief of the ev sedition cedi edition tion had bad to employ so strong a force as this I can BOI not of course say but if such force was required lie no doubt had bad it at command orders having been given by the government to the commandment jentof of several garrisons to furnish him s sufficient escort but to raburn to the phantom city mr stephens was assured by the cura coraor or parish priest of quiche that ho lie himself while still a young man and living in the village of chagul chajul has climbed to the summit of the bare and lofty peak of the neighboring serra sierra and had then at a bei height lit of or feet looked over an immense plain extending to yucatan and the gulf of Al mexico exico in tho the midst of which at a great distance he lie sawa saw a large city t y it was spread spread over a considerable er le space with uri co white and glistening in the sun eun this place was according to the cura a living city large and populous Fro from other mother sources stephens learned that from the sierra a largo large ruined city was visible while others who had climbed to the same elevation had seen nothing owing to a dense cloud resting rating on it later writers pretty generally relegate this city to a class of phantoms and mirages oroff or of fables ables yet in itself the auras curas story is in no wise improbable for there arc tire throughout that entire region in guatemala yucatan chiapas and tabasco to be seen in in ruins ruins it is true bund hundreds reds of place cot cities which while they flourished must have presented just such appearance pe arance astvat as that described by the old cura it is worthy of note that stephens an embodiment of common sense an explorer who had never a it pet pot theory to support saw sav no reason to doubt daudt the truth of the padres story and now mr charnay has found the city though of course we cannot as yet affirm that he lie found it living and po populous pulou what special significance attaches to this discovery the best reply to your query can be made roade in almost tho the identical words of stephens if that city is still inhabited then a place is left where indians and an indian city exist just as cortez and aivarado do found them there tire still livin living men who can solve the mystery that hangs over the ruined cities of america perhaps who can cart go to copan and read the inscriptions on the monuments monument ss you know what absurdities havo have been published about the ae a age e of these monuments these catia de bourboun bourbourg Bour bour bourg makes antedate the flood and dr is satisfied that some of them arc are at least years old mr charney lias lia i stubbornly maintained that the oldest of them date from a period not anterior to the eleventh century that many of them are of still later origin and that nearly all of them were flouris flourishing hilim at the time of the spanish invasion it concerns every student ot of american history to have this vexed question settled beyond dispute mr Char nays discovery promises to supply the missing link which connects the founders foun dera of these central al I american cities with the present in populations of the same region y IV n do you expect to receive a detailed account of mr Char nays discovery sir mr nays journal in he notes every step made in pursuing ilia his explorations is doubtless now on its way by courier and find post |