UTATLAN AND IX1MCHE. 3d 



altogether most magnificent : there were 6 principal divisions, the first contained 

 lodgings for a numerous troop of lancers, archers, and other well-disciplined troops, 

 constituting the royal body-guard ; the second was destined to the accommodation of 

 the princes and relations of the king, who dwelt in it and were served with regal 

 splendour, as long as they remained unmarried ; the third was appropriated to the use 

 of the king, and contained distinct suites of apartments, for the mornings, evenings, 

 and nights. In one of the saloons stood the throne, under four canopies of plumage, 

 the ascent to it was by several steps ; in this part of the palace were, the treasury, the 

 tribunals of the judges, the armory, the gardens, aviaries, and menageries, with all the 

 requisite offices appending to each department. The 4th and 5th divisions were 

 occupied by the queens and royal concubines ; they were necessarily of great extent, 

 from the immense number of apartments requisite for the accommodation of so many 

 females, who were all maintained in a style of sumptuous magnificence; gardens for 

 their recreation, baths, and proper places for breeding geese, that were kept for the 

 sole purpose of furnishing feathers, with which hangings, coverings, and other similar 

 ornamental articles, were made. Contiguous to this division was the sixth and last ; 

 this was the residence of the king's daughters and other females of the blood royal, 

 where they were educated, and attended in a manner suitable to their rank. The 

 nation of the Quiches, or Tultecas, extended its empire over the greatest portion of the 

 present kingdom of Guatemala ; and, on the authority of the manuscripts mentioned 

 above (which were composed by some of the Caciques, who first acquired the art of 

 writing), it is related that from Tanuh, who commanded them, and conducted them 

 from the old to the new continent, down to Tecum Umam, who reigned at the period 

 when the Spaniards arrived, there was a line of 20 monarchs." 



To show how far these statements can be relied on, it will now be worth while to 

 pass in review the remains of Utatlan as they can be seen at the present day. I visited 

 both Utatlan and Iximche in January 1887, and made surveys of the sites (see 

 Plates LXXII. & LXXIIL). Utatlan lies about two miles to the W.S.W. of the 

 modern town of Santa Cruz del Quiche. On the left of the track from the town, just 

 before reaching the great barranca, there is a natural mound, the sides of which have 

 been terraced, and on the top is a more or less level space measuring 200 by 150 feet. 

 Within this space are several mounds surrounding a level plaza. A reference to the 

 plan will show that two of the mounds are nearly square at the base, and these 

 probably supported small " cues " or temples ; the other two mounds are longer, and 

 may have supported long houses. If these houses were built of stone with stone roofs 

 they probably contained two parallel corridors or rooms not more than 9 feet wide and 

 200 feet long, divided off by transverse partitions into smaller chambers. If the lower 

 part only were built of stone and the upper part of the walls and the roof were of 

 wood and thatch, then the breadth of the houses may have been 20 to 25 feet, as no 

 longitudinal partition-wall would have been needed. At the present time no traces of 



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