158 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. 



name of the peninsula. According to Bishop Landa, apostle of the "Mayas, the 

 usual description was Ulumit Cuz el Etel Cet, that is, *' Turkey and Deer Land." 

 Mayapan, the name of the ancient capital, was also frequently applied to the 

 whole peninsula, and Maya, the name of the people, would appear to have 

 previously been given to the country. This word, Ma-ay-ha, is s.iid appropriately 

 enough to mean " Waterless Land." 



As amongst the Aztecs, the fanatical conquistadores endeavoured to efface 

 everything recalling the national religion. Manuscripts of priceless value were 

 thrown to the flames, the idols and sculptures ruthlessly destroyed. Nevertheless, 

 a few traditions have survived of pre-Columbian times, and by their aid the 

 learned have endeavoured to reconstitute the political history of the Maya nation 

 for the two or three hundred years preceding the conquest. The first legendary 

 personages in Yucatan history, at once go:ls, heroes, and founders of empires, are 

 Yotan and Zamna, who were partly confused together in the popular imagination, 

 and to whom were attributed all the national institutions, as well as all inventions 

 made since the beffinnins: of the world. After them came Cukulcan, another 

 mythical ruler, identified by archœologists with the Mexican Quetzalcoatl and 

 with the Guatemalan Gucuniatz, the *•' Feathered Serpent," whose history coincides, 

 in fact, with that of this Aztec and Quiche demi-god. Hence there can scarcely 

 be any doubt that the epoch personified by the Maya hero represents an interval 

 during which the influence of the Northern Nahuas was dominant in the peninsula. 

 Then followed other conquerors, apparently from the south, though their very 

 name, Tutul Xiu, would seem to imply that they also were Nahuas. According 

 to the national legend, they reigned as many as eleven centuries over Mayaland, 

 and it was probably under their rule that were erected the remarkable monuments 

 of Yucatan. Despite incessant wars and local revolutions involving the destruc- 

 tion of many cities, this dynasty still held sway in a part of the territory at the 

 time of the Spanish invasion. 



The first Spanish navigators had already been struck by the numerous monu- 

 ments of Alaya architecture, which were afterwards mentioned by all writers 

 speaking of this region. But during the present century no attempt was made 

 till after 1830 to systematically examine and describe these astonishing ruins. 

 Uxmal was first visited and described by Zavala in 183ô, and its remains were 

 soon after studied and illustrated by Frederick von Waldeck. But public interest 

 was first awakened by the traveller, Stephens, and the painter, Catherwood, who 

 together twice explored the land, and whose writings* may be regarded as the 

 starting-point for the archaeological stud}^ of Yucatan. 



Since that time the ruined cities have been frequently visited, amongst others, 

 by M. Charnay, whose work acquired excei^tional value from the magnificent 

 photographs, by which the accuracy of previous drawings could be judged. Over 

 sixty groups of extensive ruins are already known ; but it is impossible to say 

 how many more may still exist in the unexplored territory of the independent 



* Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan ; Catherwood, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central 

 America. 



