120 
GUATEMALA. 
afforded, the kind Jefe furnished us with a guide to the 
ancient city of Utatlan, or Gumarcaah, and a mozo to 
carry my photographic kit. 
A walk of three long miles westward brought us to a 
great disappointment. It is human to like what one has 
not got; Americans have an extreme respect for ruins, and 
we were no exception to the mass of our countrymen. 
Stephens has described the remains of this powerful city 
of the Quiche kings, and has figured the very sacrificial 
altar of Tohil down whose steep sides were hurled the 
quivering bodies of the human victims. Three centuries 
and a half is a long period for people of a new country to 
look back over ; but that time has passed since the Con- 
quistadores destroyed the citadel and moved the inhab¬ 
itants to the site of the present Santa Cruz del Quiche. 
Forty years ago the towers, faced with cut stone, the altar, 
some houses, and even the outer walls, were in good pres¬ 
ervation ; but all these have since been torn down, and 
the neatly cut stone removed to repair a miserable mud 
church in the town. These blocks of travertine were 
generally of uniform size, 18x12x4 inches; and mingled 
with them were blocks of pumice cut to one third of this 
size. The Plaza was still paved with a smooth layer of 
cement exactly an inch thick, not unlike the chunam of the 
East Indies, and entire, except where the modern vandals 
had cut through it in search of foundation-stones which 
they are too stupid to cut from the quarries much nearer 
the town. Five towers are plainly visible still, though 
now but insecure piles of rubbish, the casing having dis¬ 
appeared. In several there are small cavities not large 
enough for rooms, but sufficient to serve as ladder wells, 
and under one our guide assured us was the entrance to a 
