CHAPTER V. 



East of the State of Vera Cruz, but separated from it by Tobasco and the 

 southern bend of the Gulf of Mexico, lies the State of Yucatan ; and, southeast of 

 it, the State of Chiapas. 



The physical character of these States demonstrates the prolific and agreeable 

 climate that probably attracted the large population with which the region must 

 have been filled before the Spanish conquest. Since 1840, three important works 

 have been issued by the American press relative to the architectural remains in 

 these States. Two of these are from the pen and pencil of the late Messrs. John 

 L. Stephens and Catherwood, while the third is the result of a visit paid to Yucatan 

 in 1841-2, by Mr. B. M. Norman.. 1 In the "long, irregular route" pursued by 

 Stephens and Catherwood, " they discovered the remains of fifty-four ancient cities, 

 most of them but a short distance apart, though, from the great change that has 

 taken place in the country and the breaking up of old roads, having no direct 

 communication with each other. With but few exceptions, all were lost, buried, 

 and unknown, never before visited by a stranger, and some of them, perhaps, never 

 looked upon by the eyes of a white man." In Chiapas, the travellers encountered 

 remarkable architectural remains at Ocozingo and Palenque, between 16° and 

 18° of N. latitude; and passing thence to Yucatan, they found the more northern 

 peninsular region crowded with monumental ruins at Maxcanu, Uxmal, Sacbey, 

 Xampon, Sanacte, Chun-hu-bu, Labpahk, Iturbide, Mayapan, San Francisco, Ticul, 

 Nochacab, Xoch, Kabah, Sabatsche, Labna, Kenick, Izamal, Saccacal, Tecax, Akil, 

 Mani, Macoba, Becanchen, Peto, Chichen, in the interior of the State ; and at Tuloom, 

 Tancar, and on the island of Cozumel, on its eastern coast. All these architectural 

 remnants of the past, lie between the 18° and 21 2° of N. latitude. Of all this 

 numerous catalogue, the remains at Palenque in Chiapas, and of Uxmal and Chichen 

 in Yucatan, are certainly the most remarkable for their architectural forms as well 

 as embellishments ; but they have been made known so popularly throughout the 

 world by the books of our countrymen, that it is unnecessary to dwell upon their 

 characteristics in this summary sketch. Mr. Stephens believed, after full investi- 

 gation, that most of these cities and towns were occupied by the original builders 

 and their descendants, at the time of the conquest. 2 If any reliance is to be placed 



1 Rambles in Yucatan, by B. M. Norman, 1 vol. ; Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Central America, 

 Chiapa, and Yucatan, 2 vols. ; and Stephens' Incidents of Travels in Yucatan, 2 vols., both of the latter 

 works being illustrated by Mr. Catherwood, who has since published many of his drawings in a sepa- 

 rate folio. 



2 See his first work, Yol. II, Chapter XXVI ; and his second, Yol. II, p. 444. See, also, Trans. 

 Am. Eth. Soc, Yol. I, and Stephens' Yucatan, for an account of the calendar and language of the 

 people, and some other ethnographic facts. 



