ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY 
are ready to welcome, as did the origi¬ 
nal ruins a thousand or more years ago, 
the quick-growing veil of vegetation. 
The question of the future of these 
monuments thus becomes a matter of 
interest to the whole civilized world. 
So precious are they to history and 
science, and so valuable as a material 
asset to the people of Guatemala, that 
steps will certainly be taken to shelter 
them from the dangers with which they 
are beset. Is it better, in case of failure 
to take this step, considering impending 
obliteration, that they should have re¬ 
mained forever entombed in the forest? 
Certainly not, for the stage of civiliza¬ 
tion has now arrived in which the his¬ 
torical value of such monuments is ap¬ 
preciated, and their story, so far as ar¬ 
chaeological science can reveal it, will 
soon be written into the literature of 
the world. This record must be so full 
and lasting that should the works 
themselves entirely disappear, the 
world shall still have, and for all time, 
the full advantage of the story. Future 
generations will, however, hardly ex¬ 
cuse the present should no adequate 
steps be directed toward the preserva¬ 
tion of what remains of these master¬ 
pieces of ancient American art. Should 
the extraordinary upper surface of the 
dragon, shown in an accompanying 
illustration, continue exposed as now 
to the elements and to the wear that 
will come, what must we anticipate will 
be its appearance after the lapse of 
a thousand years? The strongly re¬ 
lieved features will be leveled with the 
general surface and the deep-set eyes 
lifted to heaven will, from the tears 
that fill them with every storm, be 
blind depressions in the roughly pitted 
surface of a great meaningless bowlder 
of sandstone. As soon as the work of 
exploration and record is completed, 
the work of preservation, of covering- 
in, should be taken up as a national 
obligation of the republic in whose 
custody these monuments must remain. 
iJU ^ faX 4- 
[49] 
