EEPOET OF THE SECEETAEY. 25 



famous expedition to Honduras (in 1524), doubtless passed at no great 

 distance from the locality now called Palenque, and if it had been an 

 inhabited city at that time the daring conquistador probably would have 

 turned aside from his march for the purpose of conquering and plunder- 

 ing it. Moreover, no mention of the city is made in the Spanish records 

 of that period, and it may be assumed that it was deserted and in a 

 ruinous condition at the time of the conquest.* 



The principal explorations of Palenque were undertaken by Del Rio, 

 Dupaix, Waldeck, and Stephens, between the years 1787 and 1839, thus 

 extending over a period of more than half a century • but while the 

 reports of the three first named explorers remained unpublished for 

 many years, Mr. Stephens's account appeared in print within a year or 

 two after his visit to the ruins, which thus became known to a large 

 body of readers, both in this country and abroad. 



In the third chapter the author describes, according to the accounts 

 of the different explorers, the Temple of the Cross and the celebrated 

 bas relief from which it derives its name. These accounts, though not 

 absolutely harmonious, coincide in the main points and give a pretty 

 good idea of the edifice and its appurtenances. 



The fourth chapter is devoted to a consideration of the Group of the 

 Cross, including the Smithsonian tablet. It will be seen that the earlier 

 representations of this interesting piece of ancient American sculpture 

 are incorrect and fanciful, more particularly with regard to the design 

 and arrangements of the glyphs surrounding the cross, and the human 

 figures standing at its sides. In speaking of the significance of the 

 bas-relief, the author combats the theory that the adoration of the cross 

 among the aborigines of certain parts of America was due to the influence 

 of Christian missionaries, said to have gone to the New World long 

 before its discovery in the fifteenth century. He adduces facts showing 

 that the cross had a symbolic meaning in America in times long ante- 

 dating the Columbian era. 



The fifth chapter treats of aboriginal writing in Mexico, Yucatan, and 

 Central America. The Mexicans, it is well known, had already made 

 some steps toward phonetization, being able, as Humboldt says, " to write 

 names by writing some signs which recalled sounds." The Yucatecs 

 and Central Americans, however, used signs of a different character, 

 denominated calculiform by M. Aubin, the distinguished French savant. 

 The question of their significance has been revived of late years by Bras- 

 sour de Bourbourg's discovery and publication of Bishop Landa's manu- 

 script of the sixteenth century, which had lain for many years unnoti- 

 ced in the archives of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid. The 

 celebrity of the bishop's work is chiefly due to the circumstance that it 

 contains delineations of what he calls the alphabetic signs of the Yucatecs. 

 The discovery of this supposed key was hailed with great enthusiasm by 

 scholars interested in the decipherment of the glyphs sculptured on the 

 walls of ancient edifices in Central America and Yucatan, and of the few 



