SAPPEiil INDEPENDENT INDIAN STATES OF YUCATAN 633 



Society, 1880, is unfortunately not accessible to me, was the first Euro- 

 pean since the rebellion of 1847 to visit Chan Santa Cruz, the chief 

 city of the eastern Mayas, and toward the end of 189'^ two Englishmen, 

 Mr Strange and Mr Bradley, passed through the same village, at 

 that time almost depopulated, on their way to see the chief of this 

 tribe at his place of abode, the neighboring Chanquec." I could ascer- 

 tain even less concerning southern Yucatan than concerning the 

 Santa Cruz territory when at the beginning of the year 1894 I in- 

 tended to advance through that region to the civilized northern por- 

 tion of the peninsula. Orange Walk was the first place where I could 

 obtain fairly accurate inforjuation regarding the route to be followed. 

 Unfortunately^, 1 am not permitted in this article to use my itinerar}'^ 

 maps, and therefore am restricted to an approximate location of places. 

 As the basis of my sketch map I have used the '' Map of the Penin- 

 sula of Yucatan, based mainly on the Mapa. de la Peninsula de Yuca- 

 tan of 1878, compiled by Joachim Hiibbe and Andres Aznar Perez, 

 and revised and enlarged by C. Hermann Berendt '\ given by Dr A. 

 Woeikof in Petermanns Mitteilungen, 1879, plate ii. From this map 

 I have copied without change the comparatively well-known northern 

 and western jjart of the peninsula, but have omitted the details, be- 

 cause the latter, based merely on hearsay, are for the most part very 

 unreliable. On the other hand, I have added the railroads. 



I have given the location of the ruins, as far as they are known to 

 me, owing to the great interest attached particularly to those of 

 Yucatan. I have been al)le to make some not unessential corrections 

 in regard to the south and east of the peninsula. At Icaiche, where 

 Berendfs map gives a lake, there is no large permanent body of water. 

 According to the information which I received, the Aguada of Hola- 

 uolpech is only about 150 to i^OO meters across. The connected lakes 

 of Chonil and Chacanbacab, with a width of about half a legua, are 

 together '2 leguas in length. The Ijaguna Corriente and the lake 

 of Olchem are each 4 leguas in length. I liave inserted the salt lake 

 of Chichankanab in accordance Avith the verbal statements of Mr E. 

 Thomj^son, of Merida, who has recently measured it. Tlie largwt 

 of the three narro\\ Avater basins, probably connected at high Avater, 

 is of leguas in length. As the interior of Yucatan is very scantily 



° The two Englishmen had gone there as envoys to quiet tlie Santa Cruz Indians, who 

 liad Ijeen aroused liy political news ipcontly roeeived, namely, that the British Government 

 had fonckided a boundary treaty willi the Mexican (iovernment on July S, ISO."?, in which, 

 among other things, the English bound themselves to i)roliibit the selling of arms and 

 ammunition to the independent Mayas. This stipulation aroused such dissatisfaction 

 among tlie Santa Vvu7. Indians that a raid on Corozal was seriously feared. However, a 

 large part of the Mexican people claim the northern section of I'.ritish Honduras, includ- 

 ing Belize itself, as Mexican territory, and on this account condemned the b:)undary 

 agreement ; hence the Mexican Senate, in deference to i)ublic opinion, refused to ratify 

 the treaty. 



