AUCILEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



I LEFT New York April, 1862, for Aspinwall (Colombia), and remained ten 

 mouths on the Isthmus, devoting myself to meteorological and other physical ob- 

 servations, and in collecting specimens. 



From Panama I went to the city of Guatemala by way of San Jose. I made 

 this my headquarters, from which I started on four excursions to traverse the country 

 in various directions. 



FIRST EXCURSION FROM THE CITY OF GUATEMALA. 



The first excgrsion I made Avas directed to that unexplored region lying north 

 of the Province of Vera Paz which was. reported to be inhabited by the Lacan- 

 dones, a tribe that has never been subdued by Europeans. There prevails a general 

 belief, mentioned in Stephen's " Incidents of Travels in Central America," of the 

 existence of a large city still inhabited by the aborigines. My plan was, on reach- 

 ing Salinas, the furthest settlement in the Province of Vera Paz, to sail down the 

 river Chixoy to the land of the Lacandones, and thence, entering the river Usuma- 

 sinta, to proceed to the " lagiina de los Terminos," a part of Campeche Bay. 



I took the road througli llabinal, in the neighborhood of which are the remains 

 of two cities. Although one of them is but three miles distant from the town, I 

 preferred visiting the other, which was described to me as the more interesting 

 ruins. It lies in a northeasterly direction, nine miles from the town, and occupies 

 the sununit of three hills. The hill I visited is covered with many ruins of edifices, 

 some of them tolerably preservc/1. I made a drawing of the most conspicuous one: 

 its base is 100 feet long and 30 broad, its floor is elevated four steps above the 

 ground, and the standing walls above this are about six feet high. It seems to 

 have had ten entrances, four of which were in front, four in the rear, and one at 

 either end. The interior space was 18 feet broad and nearly 90 feet long. All the 

 buildings were of a quadrangular form, and constructed of thin slabs of mica-gneiss, 

 lying in courses like bricks, and united by mortar made of lime and sand, tlie lime 

 not forming a homogeneous mass, but being granular, some of the granules being- 

 larger than a pea. The walls had been plastered on the inside and outside. There 

 was a quadrangular subterraneous space inclosed by walls, the use of which I do 

 not venture to suggest. On the side of the hill were many arrow-heads of obsidian, 

 and such other objects of the same material as might have served for spear-points 

 or as knife-blades. Most of them were broken, but many were still perfect. Be- 

 sides these implements of obsidian, two stones were found for crushing maize, of 

 which to make tortillas. One of these stones was well preserved, and of finer 



(3) 



