COMPARATIVE MODERN DATE OP RUINS. 443 



the invasion by the Spaniards, or of some not very dis- 

 tant progenitors. 



And this opinion is founded, first, upon the appear- 

 ance and condition of the remains themselves. The 

 climate and rank luxuriance of soil are most destructive 

 to all perishable materials. For six months every year 

 exposed to the deluge of tropical rains, and with trees 

 growing through the doorways of buildings and on the 

 tops, it seems impossible that, after a lapse of two or 

 three thousand years, a single edifice could now be 

 standing. 



The existence of wooden beams, and at Uxmal in a 

 perfect state of preservation, confirms this opinion. The 

 durability of wood will depend upon its quality and 

 exposure. In Egypt, it is true, wood has been dis- 

 covered sound and perfect, and certainly three thou- 

 sand years old ; but even in that dry climate none has 

 ever been found in a situation at all exposed. It occurs 

 only in coffins in the tombs and mummy-pits of Thebes, 

 and in wooden cramps connecting two stones together, 

 completely shut in and excluded from the air. 



Secondly, my opinion is founded upon historical ac- 

 counts. Herrera, perhaps the most reliable of the Span- 

 ish historians, says of Yucatan : " The whole country is 

 divided into eighteen districts, and in all of them were 

 so many and such stately Stone Buildings that it was 

 amazing, and the greatest Wonder is, that having no 

 Use of any Metal, they were able to raise such Struc- 

 tures, which seem to have been Temples, for their 

 Houses were always of Timber and thatched. In those 

 Edifices were carved the Figures of naked Men, with 

 Earrings after the Indian manner, Idols of all Sorts, 

 Lions, Pots or Jarrs," &c. ; and again, " after the part- 

 ing of these lords, for the space of twenty years there 



