IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
245 
destroyed three centuries and a half ago, that I visited in 
journeying through Guatemala. The situation was a fine 
one, well suited for the metropolis of an extensive king¬ 
dom; for while roads and mountain-passes gave access 
in all directions, the very mountains formed a wall easily 
guarded, and watch-towers to discover approaching dan¬ 
ger. It was situated not unlike Granada on the Yega 
in the Sierras of Andalusia ; and like that noble capital 
of the Moorish kingdom, it was well fortified, and em¬ 
bellished with all the knowledge and taste of the time. 
On the platform where Frank and I had stumbled over 
the confused piles of rubbish and tried in vain to trace 
the buildings, so distinct only forty years before, the 
mighty Gucumatz had built high 
the altar of the bloodthirsty Tohil, 
— a steep pyramid in the centre of 
the rebuilt Gumarcah, now called 
Utatlan. Our knowledge of the 
ceremonial of that Quiche worship 
is but slight; but enough is known 
to give an air of reality to the pile 
of rubbish that alone marks the 
site of the holy place of this an¬ 
cient kingdom. I sat near the 
base of the altar, and the city 
walls arose about me ; the ruin of 
three centuries departed, and again all was new and full 
of busy life. Around me, but at a suitable distance from 
the altar-temple, were the palaces of the princes, built of 
cut stone and covered with the most brilliant white 
stucco. From the flat roofs of these massive dwellings 
floated banners of many colors and strange devices; 
Ancient Temple. 
{From an old Manuscript .) 
