Chapter 17

In the "Actes de la Societe Philologique," Paris, for March, 1870, Mons. H. de Charencey gives some particulars of his attempt to decipher "fragments" of one or two very brief inscriptions on the bas-relief of the cross at Palenque. I know nothing of his qualifications for this work, but he appears to have studied the characters of the Maya alphabet preserved and explained by Landa. It is seen, however, that his attempt to decipher the inscriptions is a complete failure. In fact, he professes to have done no more than reproduce two or three words in Roman characters. He gives us _Hunab-ku_, _Eznab_, and _Kukulcan_ as words found on the cross. _Eznab_ is supposed to be the name of a month, or of a day of the week, and the others names of divinities. He finds that the characters of the inscriptions are not in all respects identical with those found in Landa, and that Landa's list, especially when tested by the inscriptions, is incomplete. There is not absolute certainty in regard to the name Kukulcan; nevertheless, M. de Charencey makes this speculative use of it:

"The presence of the name 'Kukulcan' on the bas-relief of the cross is important in a historical point of view. The name of this demigod, which signifies 'the serpent with the quetzal plumes,' is the Maya form of the Mexican name 'Quetzalcohuatl,' which has precisely the same meaning. But we know that the name and worship of this god were brought to the high plateaus of Central America toward the ninth century of our era, consequently the bas-relief in question can not be more ancient."

This assumes that the worship of Kukulcan was never heard of by the Mayas until the Aztecs arrived in Mexico, an assumption for which there is no warrant, and which proceeds in utter disregard of facts. It was the Aztecs who had never heard of Kukulcan, or, at least, had not adopted his worship, previous to this time. The Aztecs, when they settled in Anahuac, did not impart new ideas, religion, or culture to any body; on the contrary, they received much from the civilization of their new neighbors, which was more advanced than their own. It is very certain that neither the Mayas nor the Quiches borrowed any thing from them.

We need not go back so far as the ninth century to find the time when the Aztecs adopted, or at least organized in Mexico, the worship of Kukulcan, whose name they transformed into Quetzalcohuatl. His worship did not begin with them; they did not introduce it; they found it in the country as a very ancient worship, and adopted their form of it from the people who yielded to their sway.

If M. de Charencey will inquire with a little more care, he will discover that Kukulcan was one of the very oldest personages in Central American mythology, as _Con_ was one of the oldest in that of Peru. Kukulcan, sometimes as Zamna, was associated with almost every thing in civilization. He introduced the beginnings of civilized life, invented the art of writing, and was to the Central Americans not wholly unlike what Thoth was to the Egyptians, and Tautus, or Taut, to the Phoenicians. If the bas-relief of the cross at Palenque were half as old as his worship in Central America, it would be far more ancient than any one has supposed.

GENERAL INDEX.

[The figures in this Index refer to pages.]

Adobe used in Northern Mexico, 82; in Peru for later constructions, 243; used by Mound-Builders, 27.

Ancient history of Mexico and Central America in the old books and traditions, 197-200; Aztecs preceded by Toltecs, and Toltecs by Colhuas, 198; Colhuas the original civilizers, 198-9; they may have come from South America, 198, 200; Chichimecs the original barbarians, 198; the Colhuas first settled in Tabasco, 199; Mayas, Quiches, Tzendals, etc., originally Colhuas, 200, 205; Colhuan kingdom of Xibalba, 199; Colhuas, Toltecs, and Aztecs branches of the same people, 206; such a history implied by the political condition in which the country was found, 206; theories of this old civilization considered, 165-183; it was original in America, 184-6.

Antiquity of man and civilization, 181-2, 273-5.

Antiquity of the Mexican and Central American ruins, 151-59, 184; the great forest was 450 years ago what it is now, 151; it covers an ancient seat of civilization, 95, 151, 152; Copan forgotten and mysterious before the Conquest, 152; there was a long period of history preceded by development of the civilization, 152, 153; distinct epochs traced, 155, 156; no perishable materials left in the ruins, 156-159; an extreme notion of their antiquity, 157, 158, 207; another notion makes this the "oldest civilization in the world," 159-61; Tyrians saw the old cities 3000 years ago, 162-64.

Antiquity of the Mound-Builders, 45-51; a new river terrace formed since they left, 47; decayed condition of their skeletons shows antiquity, 48-9; "primeval" forests found growing over their works, 50-1.

Astronomical monument in Southern Mexico, 122-3; at Chapultepec, 220-1; in Peru, 254; Mexican calendars, 214-15; Peruvian calendars, 236. See Telescopic Tubes.

Atlantis supposed to be an ingulfed part of America, 175-7; its destruction recorded in Egypt and related to Solon, 177-8; said to be recorded in old Central American books, 176; Proclus on remembrance of Atlantis, 178; derivation of the words Atlas, Atlantes, and Atlantic, 179; opinions relative to former existence of such land, 180-1; geological probabilities, 181; memory of war with the Atlantes preserved at Athens, 178.

Aztec civilization denied in a "New History," 207-8; facts discredit this denial, 208-9; Cortez found abundant supplies, 208, 210; found Mexican mechanics, masons, and the like, 213, 214, 215; the city of Mexico and its great temple, realities, 208, 212, 215; both described, 211-12; present remains of them, 214-15.

Aztecs, the, were less civilized than their predecessors, 221; they came from the south, 217-18; when they left Aztlan, 219; how long they had been in Mexico, 219; what they learned and borrowed of their neighbors, 220-1; did not adopt the phonetic system of writing, 221; could not have left such ruined cities as Palenque and Mitla, 221; Aztecs still found at the south, 218-19.

Balboa's hunt for Peru, 223-4.

Basques, their fishing voyages to America, 62.

Books of ancient America destroyed in Mexico and Central America by the Aztec Ytzcoatl, 189; by Spanish fanaticism, 188-9; a few of the later books saved, 180-196; some of the more important, 195-6; books of hieroglyphics in Peru, 256.

Boturini collected Mexican and Central American books, 195; misfortunes of his collection, 195-6.

Brasseur de Bourbourg on the antiquity of the Mound-Builders, 53; on their Mexican origin, 57; on their religion, 53; on the Chichimecs, 198; on Huehue Tlapalan, 201; on Nahuatl chronology, 204; his "Atlantic theory," 159, 160, 174-83; he has great knowledge of American traditions and antiquities, 174; discovered the works of Ximenes and Landa's Maya alphabet, 191, 192; translated "Popol-Vuh," 192; he is unsystematic, confused, and fanciful, 102, 160.

Brereton on the wild Indians of New England, 62-5; his invented stories of their copper and flax, 62, 63.

Calendars in Mexico, 214-15; in Peru, 236.

Central American and Southern Mexican ruins most important, 93; their masonry and ornamentation, 99-101; a great forest covers most of them, 94, 103, 104; a road built into the forest in 1695, 95, 151-2; this forest covers a chief seat of the ancient civilization, 95; Cinaca-Mecallo, 124.

Cevola, "Seven Cities" of, 85-9.

Charencey, M. de, attempts to decipher an inscription, 292-3; his singular speculation concerning the worship of Kukulcan, 293.

Charnay, Desire, his account of Mitla, 121, 122.

Chronology of the Mexican race, 203-4; of the Peruvians, 265-6.

Civilization, antiquity of, underrated, 181-2, 273.

Cloth of Mound-Builders, fragments of, 41.

Coin among the Muyscas, 271.

"Coliseum" at Copan, 114.

Columbus and the Mayas, 209-10.

Copan, its ruins situated in wild region, 111; first discovered in 1576, and were then mysterious to the natives, 93, 111; what Mr. Stephens saw there, 111, 112; what Palacios found there 300 years ago, 113, 114; the inscriptions, monoliths, and decorations, 112; seems older than Palenque, 112, 113, 155.

Copper of Lake Superior described, 43.

Coronado's conquest of "Cevola," 85, 86.

Cortez invades Mexico, 210; his progress, 210-11; well received at the city of Mexico, 211; driven from the city, 213; how the city was taken, 213-14; it was immediately rebuilt, 214; the plaza made of part of the inclosure of the great temple, 214; Cortez could not have invented the temple, 215.

Cross, the, not originally a Christian emblem, 109; vastly older than Christianity as a symbolic device, 109, 110; common in Central American ruins, 109; the assumption that it was first used as a Christian emblem has misled inquiry as to the age and origin of antiquities, 110.

Cuzco, Montesinos on its name, 227; was probably built by the Incas on the site of a ruined city of the older times, 226-7; the ruins at Cuzco, 226, 234-5.

Egyptian pyramids totally unlike those in America, 183; no resemblance between Egyptians and the Mexican race, 183.

Ethnology, American, discussed, 65-9; South Americans the oldest aborigines, 68, 69, 185; Huxley's suggestion, 69.

Gallatin, Albert, on Mound-Builders, 34.

Garcilasso partly of Inca blood, 258; not well qualified to write a history of Peru, 258-9; he began with the fable of Manco-Capac, and confined all history to the Incas, 259-61; was received as an "authority," 269; his influence has misdirected Peruvian studies, 269.

Gila, valley of, its ruins, 82.

Gold the most common metal in Peru, 250; astonishing abundance of Peruvian gold-work, 249-50; their gardens made of gold, 250; amount of gold sent from Peru to Spain, 238, 250; gold calendar found recently at Cuzco, 236.

Herrara[TN-7] on the buildings in Yucatan, 149.

Huehue-Tlapalan, from which the Toltecs went to Mexico, 57, 75, 201-3; supposed to be the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, 202, 203; described in old Central American books, 202; the Toltecs driven from Huehue-Tlapalan by the Chichimecs, or wild Indians, 203; it was at a distance northeast of Mexico, 201, 202; Cabrera and others on Huehue-Tlapalan, 202.

Humboldt on Phoenician symbols in America, 186; on the origin of the Aztecs, 218; on Peruvian great roads, 245; on books of hieroglyphics found in Peru, 246, 255; describes the pyramid of Papantla, 91, 92.

Huxley on American ethnology, 69.

Incas of Peru, origin of the title, 267; they represent only the last period of Peruvian history, 261; their dynasty began 500 years or less before the Conquest, 260-1; list of the Incas, 261; Manco-Capac a fable, 260-1.

Indians of North America, vain endeavors to connect them with the Mound-Builders, 62; came toward the Atlantic from the northwest, 59; the Iroquois group may have come first, 58; their distribution relative to the Algonquins, 59, 60; date of Algonquin migration estimated, 60; these Indians resemble the Koraks and Chookchees, 65, 185; they are entirely distinct from Mound-Builders and Pueblos, 60, 65; their barbarism original, 61.

"Inscription Rock," 78.

Inscriptions in Central America written in Maya characters, 196; written perhaps in an old form of speech from which the Maya family of dialects was derived, 196; attempts to decipher them, 292.

Iron, names for, in ancient Peru, 248.

Israelitish theory of ancient America, 166-7.

Keweenaw Point, a copper district, 44.

Kukulcan, his worship, 220, 293.

Lake Peten in the forest, Maya settlement there, 95; Ursua's road from Yucatan to the lake, 95.

Landa wrote on the Mayas of Yucatan, 191; preserved the Maya alphabet, with explanations, 191.

Languages in Mexico and Central America, 200, 205; three groups, 216; probably not radically distinct, 206, 216; the most important group supposed to be Colhuan, 205.

Las Casas on Central American annalists, 187-8; what he says of the old books and their destruction, 188.

Maize, did Indians get it from Mound-Builders? 35.

Malays, their ancient empire, 167-8; their navigation of the Pacific, 168; spread of their dialects, 168; came to America, 169, 170, 272; El Masudi[TN-8] on the Malays, 168; were not civilizers in America, 170-1; ruins of Malayan cities in Java, 163-9.

Manco-Capac a fiction of the Incas, 260-1; discarded by Montesinos and other early Spanish writers, 261, 269.

Mandan Indians supposed Mound-Builders, 74.

Mayas first seen by Columbus, 209; their phonetic alphabet preserved, 191; descendants of the first civilizers, 170.

Mexican cities noticed by Spaniards, 211, 215; what Montezuma said of his building materials, 209.

Mexican "picture-writing" a peculiarity of the Aztecs, 221; much inferior to the Maya writing, 221; something like it at Chichen-Itza, 143; Aztecs could not have left such inscriptions as those seen in the ruined cities, 221.

Mexican ruins in the central region, 89-92; Tulha, 89; Xochicalco, 89, 90; Papantla, 91, 92; Cholula, 90; Teotihuacan, 90; pyramids with galleries, 91; unexplored antiquities in this region, 91.

Mining works of Mound-Builders, 43-6; mining method of the Mound-Builders, 43; their mining tools found, 44, 46; they left a detached mass of copper in a mine, 43-4; antiquity of their mining works, 46, 53, 64.

Mitla, its ruins show refined skill in the builders, 118, 121; the decorations, 121; present state of the ruins, 117-122.

Montesinos, Fernando, explored and studied Peru fifteen years, 261; unequaled in knowledge of its antiquities and traditional history, 263; his means of information, 262; how historical narratives and poems were preserved by the _amautas_, 263; how literature can be preserved by trained memory, 262-3; Homer and the Vedas, 262-3.

Montesinos on Peruvian history, 264-7; there were three distinct periods, 264; he rejects the Manco-Capac fable, 264; does not begin the history with such stories, 264; reports 64 kings in the first period, 264; his account of the Peruvian sovereigns, 264-7; the art of writing existed in the older time, 265; how the first period closed, 266; the second period, for 1000 years, a period of invasions, divisions, small states, and general decline of civilization, 264, 267; in this period the art of writing was lost, 267; in it the 26 successors of the 64 kings were merely kings of Tambotoco, 266; how this period ended, 267-8; the third period began with Rocca, the first Inca, 267; why Montesinos has not been duly appreciated, 268-9; his facts stand apart from his theories, 268; probabilities favor his report of three periods, 270-1.

Montezuma on his building-material, 209.

Morgan, Lewis H., on the Indians, 59, 60, 66.

Mound-Builders, their national name unknown, 14, 57; their mound-work and its uses, 17-19; like mound-work in Mexico and Central America, 70, 71, 72; their civilization, 33-39; used wood for building material, 70, 71; their inclosures, 19-24; their works at the south, 24, 27; their principal settlements, 30, 31, 34; their border settlements, 52; had commerce with Mexico, 73; relics of their manufactures, 40, 41, 61; their long stay in the country, 51-55; were not ancestors of wild Indians, 58-61; came from Mexico, 70; were connected with Mexico through Texas, 73; probably were Toltecs, 74, 200-3.

Muyscas, their civilization, 271.

Nahuatl or Toltec chronology, 203-4.

Natchez Indians, were they degenerate Mound-Builders, 58, 56.

Northmen in America, 279-85; they discovered Greenland, 280; their settlements in Greenland, 280-1, 284; Biarni's constrained voyage to Massachusetts in 985 A.D., 163, 281; subsequent voyages to New England, 281-4; encounters with the Indians, 282, 283; the Norse settlements in Vinland were probably lumbering and trading establishments, 284; not people enough in Greenland and Iceland to make extensive settlements, 284; written narratives of these discoveries, 279-80.

Origin of Mexican and Central American civilization, theories of, 165-183; the "lost tribes" theory absurd, 166-7; the Malay theory untenable, 170-1; the Phoenician theory fails to explain it, 173-4; the Atlantic theory explained by Brasseur de Bourbourg not likely to be received, 182; it was an original American civilization, 184; may have begun in South America, 185, 246, 272-3.

Orton, Prof., on Peruvian antiquity, 273, 274.

Pacific islands, their antiquities, 288-92.

Palenque, Stephens's first view of, 100; this city's name unknown, 104; supposed to have been the ancient Xibalba, 199; some of its ruins described, 105-9; extent of the old city can not be determined, 96, 105; difficulties of exploration, 105, 110; the cross at Palenque, 109; aqueduct, 105.

Papantla, its remarkable stone pyramid, 91, 92; important ruins in the forests of Papantla and Misantla, 91.

Paper, Peruvian name of, 267; manufacture of, for writing, proscribed in the second period of Peruvian history, 267.

Peruvian ancient history, 257-67.

Peruvian civilization, 246; differed from Central American, 222-3, 246; is seen in the civil and industrial organization, 247; in their agriculture, 247; in their manufactures, 247-51; their dyes, 247-8; their skill in gold-work, 249; the abundance of gold-work, 249-50; their schools of the _amautas_, 253, 263; their literature, 255; anciently had the art of writing, 255, 267; had names for iron, and said to have worked iron mines, 248-9.

Peruvian ruins, where found, 222, 237; they represent two periods of civilization, 226; remains on islands in Lake Titicaca, 227-8; at Tiahuanaco, 233-4; remarkable monolithic gateways, 233-4; at old Huanuco, 239-40; at Gran-Chimu, 237-8; ruins of a large and populous city, 237; Cuelap, 239; Pachacamac, 243; subterranean passage under a river, 243; the aqueducts, 222, 237, 243; the great roads, 243-6; ruins at Cuzco, 234.

Phoenicians, or people of that race, came probably to America in very ancient times, 172, 173; decline of geographical knowledge around the AEgean after Phoenicia was subjugated, about B.C. 813, 272-3; supposed Phoenician symbols in Central America, 186; Phoenician race may have influenced Central American civilization, but did not originate it, 173, 185; Tyrians storm-driven to America, 162, 163.

Pizarro seeks Peru, 224-5; discovers the country, 225; goes to Spain for aid, 225; finally lands at Tumbez, 225; marches to Caxamalca, 220; perpetrates wholesale murder and seizes the Inca, 220; the Inca fills a room with gold for ransom, and is murdered, 220, 249.

"Popol-Vuh," an old Quiche book translated, 192; what it contains, 193; Quiche account of the creation, 194; four attempts to create man, 194-5; its mythology grew out of an older system, 193-4; kingdom of Quiche not older than 1200 A.D., 193.

Pueblos, 76, 77; Pueblo ruins, 77-89; occupied northern frontier of the Mexican race, 68, 217-18; unlike the wild Indians, 67-8.

Quiches, notices of, 193.

Quippus, Peruvian, 254-5.

Quirigua, its ruins like those of Copan, but older, 114; it is greatly decayed, 117; has inscriptions, 117.

Quito subjugated by Huayna-Capac, 225; was civilized like Peru, 270; modern traveler's remark on, 276.

Savage theory of human history, 182.

"Semi-Village Indians," 67, 68.

Serpent, figures of, 28; great serpent inclosure, 28.

Simpson, Lieut., describes a Pueblo ruin, 88, 89.

Spinning and weaving in Peru, 247; vestiges of these arts among the Mound-Builders, 41; the Mayas had textile fabrics, 209.

Squier on the Aztecs, 92; on the more southern ruins in Central America, 123, 124; on the monoliths of Copan, 112; on Central American forests, 94; on the ruins of Tiahuanaco, 234.

Telescopic tubes of the Mound-Builders, 42; silver figure of a Peruvian using such a tube, 254; such a tube on a Mexican monument, 123.

"Tennis Court" at Chichen-Itza, 142.

Titicaca Lake, its elevation above sea-level, 236.

Tlascalans, what Cortez found among them, 210; their capital, 211; aided the Spaniards, 211.

Toltecs identified with the Mound-Builders, 201-205; how they came to Mexico, 201, 202; date of their migration, 204. See Huehue Tlapalan.

Tuloom, in Yucatan, 150.

Uxmal described, 131-137; more modern than Palenque, 155; partly inhabited, perhaps, when Cortez invaded Mexico, 131, 155.

Valley of Rio Verde, its ruins, 82, 85.

Wallace, A. R., on ruins in Java, 168-9.

Welsh, the, in America, 285-7; Prince Madog's emigration, 285; his colony supposed to have been destroyed or absorbed by the Indians, 286; letter of Rev. Morgan Jones on his "travels" among the Doeg Indians who spoke Welsh, 286-7.

Whipple, Lieut., on Pueblo ruins, 78-85.

Whittlesey on the ancient mining, 46, 54.

Wilson's discoveries in Ecuador, 274-5.

Writing, phonetic, among the Mayas, 187-91; Aztec writing much ruder, 221; writing in Peru, 254-6, 267; Peruvian books of hieroglyphics, 256; such writing on a llama skin found at Lake Titicaca, 256.

Xibalba, an ancient Colhuan kingdom, where it was situated, 199; subjugated by the Toltecs, 199.

Ximenes, Father Francisco, his manuscript work on Guatemala, 191-2; his dictionary of the native tongues, 192; discovered and translated "Popol Vuh," 192.

Xochicalco, its pyramidal temple situated on an excavated and chambered hill, 89, 90.

Yucatan, its native name is Maya, 125; what is seen at Mayapan, 127, 128; the old edifices at Uxmal, 131-137; very ancient ruins at Kabah, 137-139; curious construction at Chichen-Itza, 142; remarkable remains at Ake, 144; aguadas in Yucatan, 145, 146; subterranean reservoirs, 146; Merida built on the site of a ruined city, 126; what the Spaniards saw when they first sailed along its coast, 163, 210.

Zuni, an inhabited Pueblo described by Lieut. Whipple, 79, 80; ruins of an "old Zuni" near it, 80, 81.

THE END.

Transcriber's Note

The following errors were found:

Page Error TN-1 ix Quiragua should read Quirigua TN-2 xi Los Monjas should read Las Monjas TN-3 124 of "great size." should read of 'great size.'" TN-4 158 sufficently should read sufficiently TN-5 280 there two years. should read there two years." TN-6 286 communicated should read communication TN-7 296 Herrara should read Herrera TN-8 297 El Masudi should read El Mas'udi

The following words were inconsistently spelled or hyphenated:

Cholula / Cholulu Chiapa / Chiapas Inca-Rocca / Inca-Rocco Mesantla / Misantla Popol-Vuh / Popol Vuh