194 



TEE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Dr. Howe had removed this monument 

 to the beach north of the principal 

 temple.' 



The past field season (1916) seemed 

 especially favorable for visiting this 

 little-known but highly interesting 

 center of aboriginal population, a corn- 



transferred from Santa Cruz de Bravo 

 in the interior to Payo Obispo on the 

 shores of Chetumal Bay, and the old 

 capital with all its improvements had 

 been turned over to the Indians, thus 

 settling an old controversy. Again, the 

 writer was at Belize, much the best 



The rugged outline of the bluff at Tuloom and the surging surf at the base. Above rises the 

 Castillo, the "very great tower" of Padre Diaz' early sixteenth century description, pricked out in 

 striking silhouette against the sky. All modern nautical charts give this tower as a prominent land- 

 mark, visible for many miles 



bination of unusual factors making the 

 moment peculiarly opportune for the 

 attempt. To begin with, for the first 

 time in many years, the Mexican gov- 

 ernment had reached a friendly under- 

 standing with the Santa Cruz Indians ; 

 the capital of Quintana Eoo had been 



1 Since the foregoing was written a letter from 

 Mr. Lothrop, at Belize, British Honduras, states 

 that the Tuloom stele has probably been lost. A 

 small sailing vessel from Cozumel, commissioned to 

 Dring out the monument, has apparently gone down 

 in a great storm that swept the coast of Yucatan. 



point of departure for visiting Tuloom, 

 witli an unusually complete field equip- 

 ment; and finally, the staff of the ex- 

 pedition was sufficiently large, includ- 

 ing five investigators and assistants, to 

 insure a fairly adequate preliminary 

 study of the site in a minimum of time 

 — the latter not an inconsiderable 

 factor in spite of the recent "peace 

 negotiations." The dry season was at 

 its height; in short, all factors com- 



