412 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 33. 



M. Charnay found the ruins of an ancient city, which 

 he named after his generous patron. In his explora- 

 tions here, he was assisted by a young Englisliraan, 

 'Mr. Alfred Maudslay, with whom he shares the honor 

 of discovery. The town is about 17° N., on the 

 left bank of the Usumacinta, on the boundaries of 

 Guatemala and the two Mexican provinces of Chiapas 

 and Tabasco. The ruins resemble those of Palenque 

 in the material, arrangement of interiors, decorations, 

 and glyphs. The great stone slabs of Palenque 

 carved with inscriptions and bas-reliefs, are replaced 

 here by lintels covered with superb sculpture (cf. 1. 

 1008.) — [Proc. roy. geogr. soc, Y. 44.) J. w. P. 



[260 



Shaking towers. — Col. Lovett, in his journey 

 through northern Persia, visited the shrines of some 

 dervishes, near which is a minar, curious for possess- 

 ing the same property that makes the shaking towers 

 of Ispahan famous. When shaken by a man stand- 

 ing on the top, it oscillates sufficiently to cause a 

 brick placed on the edge of the cornice to fall. It 

 is about thirty-five feet high, and six feet diameter 

 at the base, tapering gently upwards. This property 

 of vibrating is attributed at Bostam, as it is at 

 Ispahan, to miraculous interposition of the local 

 saint. It is, of course, due to the elasticity of the 

 bricks and cement used, the latter becoming more 

 elastic with age. — {Proc. roy. geogr. soc, v. 80.) 

 J. w. p. [261 



Explorations in Guatemala..;— Mr. A. P. Mauds- 

 lay, mentioned in M. Charnay's researches, has pub- 

 lished separately some of his own personal explora- 

 tions, with a map and ground-plans. Starting from 

 Livingstone, Guatemala, he first visited Quirigua, 

 whose ruins consist of raised mounds and terraces, 

 usually faced with stone, and near to these, carved 

 monoliths. The latter are of two kinds : high upright 

 stones, ornamented with human figures and tables 

 of hieroglyphics; and low broad stones, in the shape 

 of some animal. The first named measure three to 

 five feet across, and 12 "to 2.5 feet out of the ground. 

 On both back and front, the principal ornament is a 

 human figure in relief, decked out in the barbaric 

 splendor usual throughout Central America. Mr. 

 Maudslay suggests that the inevitable human face on 

 the thorax may explain the function of the great num- 

 ber of masks from this quarter. The second class of 

 carvings is very interesting. One specimen, weigh- 

 ing about eighteen tons, represents a turtle having a 

 human head, with projecting ears richly ornamented. 

 In place of the tail is the life-sized figure of a woman 

 sitting cross-legged, and holding a manikin sceptre 

 in her hand. The whole surface of the block is pro- 

 fusely ornamented. Nowhere in tlie neighborhood 

 are there traces of houses. The exploration at Qui- 

 rigua led to an attempt to fix the site of Chaciyal, 

 mentioned by Cortez. 



Leaving this spot, Mr. Maudslay visited Copan, 

 where the sculptures impressed him as being above 

 those of Quirigua in execution. From Copan our 

 traveller wandered next to Tikal, north-east of Lake 

 Peten, only once before visited by a foreigner, Ber- 

 nouilli. All the houses here are built of stone, and 



coated with plaster. Inside, the walls are seven to 

 eight feet high, and the stone roof forms a narrow 

 gable. The rooms within are very narrow, resem- 

 bling long passages. The town was laid out in a rect- 

 angular form, the slopes terraced with sustaining 

 walls. The houses are often built on raised founda- 

 tions, stone-faced in the same manner. The most 

 imposing buildings are the five temples raised on 

 pyramidal foundations, in front of which are steep 

 stairways leading up to the doors of the temples. 

 There is no trace of any idol or object of worship in 

 these buildings, but carved slabs and circular altars 

 are found in the plaza. The next point of interest 

 was a ruined town on the Usumacinta. On the top 

 of a steep bank GO feet high staiids the first row of 

 houses, and the town is built on a succession of stone- 

 faced terraces reaching more than 250 feet in height. 

 Instead of the long, narrow interiors as at Tikal, the 

 houses are broken into a number of recesses by but^ 

 tresses supporting the roof at intervals, and stone Is 

 used instead of sapote-wood for lintels. One of the 

 houses at Usumacinta is minutely described by Mr. 

 Maudslay. In nearly all the houses, around the idols, 

 stand earthen pots partly filled with some resinous 

 substance, which the Lacandon Indians probably 

 placed there, showing that the old faith has not died 

 out. At this point Mr. Maudslay met M. Charnay. 

 This very important paper closes with a short 

 sketch of the Lacandones. — {Proc. roy. geog. soc, 

 V. 18.5. ) o. T. M. [262 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



News of a serious character has been received 

 from the Greely relief expedition. The Proteus 

 and Yantic sailed from St. Johtis, Newfoundland, 

 June 29. They arrived safely at Disco on the 6th 

 and 12th of July respectively. The Proteus with 

 Lieut. Garlington and the relief party, with sup- 

 plies, etc., sailed from Disco for Cory island, arriving 

 on the 16th. On the 21st she started for Smitli 

 sound, and reached a point in latitude 78° 52', lon- 

 gitude 74° 25' W., a few miles north and west of 

 Cape Sabine, where she was beset and crushed in 

 the pack. The party succeeded in saving boats and 

 provisions sufficient to sustain them during their re- 

 treat, and made their way across Smith sound and 

 along the eastern shore to Cape York, and reached 

 Upernavik on the 24th of August, all well. Eecords 

 had been left at Littleton island which apprised the 

 Yantic, on her arrival, of the disaster. A search 

 was immediately instituted, and on reaching Uper- 

 navik, Sept. 2, it was found that the Proteus party, 

 after suffering severe hardships, and traversing six 

 hundred miles of the Arctic sea, had arrived in 

 safety. No news was obtained of the Greely party, 

 no supplies had been landed for tliem, and their situ- 

 ation must be considered as grave. Some rumors 

 had reached the Danish settlements by parties of 

 Eskimo, which, however, are not to be considered as 

 of any weight; and there is yet no reason for sup- 

 posing that any ill fortune, further than the loss of 

 anticipated supplies, has befallen Lieut. Greely and 



