186 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



and the surface as smooth as if coated with enamel. It 

 is twelve inches high, and the interior is hollow, in- 

 cluding the arms and legs. In his report to the govern- 

 ment, Don Miguel calls it Cabuahuil, or one of the dei- 

 ties of the ancient inhabitants of Quiche. I do not 

 know upon "what authority he has given it this name, 

 but to me it does not seem improbable that his sup- 

 position is true, and that to this earthen vessel human 

 victims have been offered in sacrifice. 



The heads in the engraving were given me by the 

 cura. They are of terra cotta ; the lower one is hol- 

 low and the upper is solid, with a polished surface. 

 They are hard as stone, and in workmanship will com- 

 pare with images in the same material by artists of the 

 present day. 



In our investigation of antiquities we considered this 

 place important from the fact that its history is known 

 and its date fixed. It was in its greatest splendour 

 when Alvarado conquered it. It proves the character 

 of the buildings which the Indiana of that day construct- 

 ed, and in its ruins confirms the glowing accounts given 

 by Cortez and his companions of the splendour display- 

 ed in the edifices of Mexico. The point to which we 

 directed our attention was to discover some resemblance 

 to the ruins of Copan and Quirigua ; but we did not 

 find statues, or carved figures, or hieroglyphics, nor 

 could we learn that any had ever been found there. If 

 there had been such evidences we should have consid- 

 ered these remains the works of the same race of peo- 

 ple, but in the absence of such evidences we believed 

 that Copan and Quirigua were cities of another race 

 and of a much older date. 



The padre told us that thirty years before, when he 

 first saw it, the palace was entire to the garden. He was 



