2 QUIRIGUA. 



bank of the Rio Motagua. Starting- from the rancho, which stands amongst pine- 

 woods six hundred feet above the sea-level, an hour's ride brought us down to the 

 edge of the plain through which the river Motagua flows. Here the path ended in 

 some native plantations, and we then followed a track newly cut through the under- 

 growth by some villagers who had been sent ahead of us. The whole distance from 

 the rancho of El Mico to the ruins is about five and a half miles. 



I was naturally anxious and expectant on this my first visit to a Central- 

 American ruin, but it seemed as though my curiosity would be ill satisfied, for all I 

 could see on arrival was what appeared to be three moss-grown stumps of dead trees 

 covered over with a tangle of creepers and parasitic plants, around which the under- 

 growth had been cleared away for the space of a few feet. However, a closer 

 inspection showed that these were no tree-stumps but undoubtedly stone monuments 

 (A, C, D, on Plate II.). We soon pulled off the creepers, and with rough brushes, 

 made by tying together the midribs of the leaflets of the corosa palm, we set to work 

 to clear away the coating of moss. 



As the curious outlines of the carved ornament gathered shape it began to dawn 

 upon me how much more important were these monuments, upon which I had 

 stumbled almost by chance, than any account I had heard of them had led me to 

 expect. This day's work induced me to take a permanent interest in Central-American 

 Archaeology, and a journey which was undertaken merely to escape the rigours of 

 an English winter has been followed by seven expeditions from England for the 

 purpose of further exploration and archaeological research. 



On this first visit to the ruins I stayed only three days in the forest, and during that 

 time was able to examine and photograph five of the standing stelae and two of the 

 great stone animals or altars ; but so dense was the undergrowth, that, although we 

 were encamped round Stela A, it was only on the third day that I caught sight of the 

 monument B, which lay within a few feet of my camp-cot buried beneath the decaying 

 trunk of a huge tree, and wrapped round with a tangle of creepers and lianes. 



I again visited Quirigua in 1882, and as some men had been sent on a week ahead 

 of me to fell trees and clear away undergrowth, I was able during a stay of five days 

 to examine all the monuments marked on the plan, with the exception of one fallen 

 stela. 



In February 1883 I again arrived at the ruins, this time more fully equipped for the 

 work. My companions were Mr. Charles Blockley, a young surveyor from Belize, 

 Mr. L. Giuntini, from London, and the brothers Lopez, who had brought with them 

 twenty Indian labourers from the Vera Paz. 



We commenced work early in February, which is considered to be the beginning of 

 the dry season, but, unluckily for our comfort, the rains continued throughout the 

 month and our work was carried on under the greatest difficulties. Excavations 

 became filled with water as soon as they were made, and no moulding could be done 



