A naturalist in Mexico, Being a visit to Cuba, Northern Yucatan and Mexico

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Division of Mollusks Seel ional Librar�·

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MAP OF NORTHERN YUCATAN.

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0 er. (j Casa d,e las Tort 11gas, or House of the Turtles, but it was i� such a state of ruin that a description was in1possible. Away to the southwest lay the range of ruined walls known as the Casa de Pa!omos, or House of the Pigeons. It was two hundred and forty feet long; the front was very much in ruins, and the · apartrnents filled with the fallen debris. On the roof, running longitudinally along its center, was a range of structures built in pyra1nidal forn1, re-. sen1bling son1e of the old Dutch houses. These were originally nine in number, built of stone, about three feet thick, and had small oblong openings through then1. It was from these holes, resen1bling pigeon houses, that the • building derived its name. The na1nes of all the buildings were misnomers, given by the Spanish residents and not by

4G

A NATURA.LIST IN �IEXICO.

the natives. This building ,vas very much in ruins, but enough re1nained to show that it once contained a large courtyard in its center. Several other ruined buildings lay buried a1nong the underbrush, but they were in such a fallen condition that it ,vas useless to n1ake a-study of them. Such was U x1nal, one of ·the 1nost interesting of the ruins of Central America. Ruin and decay have been steadily at work, and before n1any years have passed, this fan1ous relic of the ancient l\1ayas will be a thing of the past. Over all the buildings a rank vegetation is struggling for the n1astery, and the end is inevitable. U xmal is probably better known to the general public than any other of the Yucatan ruins, on account of the published writings of Stevens, LePlongeon, Charnay, N orn1an, \Valdeck, and others. It was with n1any regrets that we entered our volans, and saw the ruined city disappear fron1 our view. Anin1al life was remarkably rare about the ruins. A few bats, insects, dead 1nollusks, and occasionally a fly­ catcher, were all we saw. It is quite possible that during the rainy season, life is n1uch 1nore abundant. Lunch ,vas taken at the Hacienda of Uxn1al. Here I saw 1nany sculptured figures ,vhjch had been taken fron1 the ruins. Among others ,vas a large sculptured ornan1ent, representing a double headed lynx, ,vith the bodies joined together in the middle. It was carved fro111 one piece of stone, and n1ust have been a trernendous undertaking. The sculpture, however, was rude and uncouth, as ,vere all the ornan1ents at Uxn1al. At four o'clock we again entered our volans and started for Ticul, arriving there late in the evening. Our ride over the Sierra was son1ething of an experience, for we went gal­ loping down the steep slopes, the volan swaying fro1n side to side in a way most �darn1ing to ,veak nerves. A very noticeable feature of Yucatan evenings ,vas the silence which

HACIENDA OF TABI.

47

seemed to reigi1 supreme over the woods. Hardly a sound could be heard, save the clatter of the volan, the voice of the driver as he urged the mules, or the occasional cry of son1e wild animal. On the following morning we again set forth, this ti111e t_o visit the Hacienda of Tabi, owned by Senor Fajada, and also to visit a large cave and the ruins of Labna. Our road was very rough and rocky, and bordered by dense ,voods. At eleven o'clock ,ve can1e to the clearing in which ·was sit­ uated the Hacienda of Tabi. It was a noble building of good proportions, built of stone, and of two stories. The cattle-yard ,vas large, shaded by fine ra1non trees ( a species of tropical oak), with here and there a towering cocoa-paln1, and filled by a large herd of cattle. I have already given the reader some idea of a hacienda in Yucatan, with its cattle-yard_s, its great tanks of water, and other accessories. All these were upon a large scale, equal to any we had seen. Besides the hacienda building, native huts, etc., there was a run1 distillery and sugar refinery, fron1 both of which Senor Fajada derived an i1nmense revenue For the sJfety of the hacienda against the marauding natives of the interior, there ,vas a con1pany of soldiers stationed here. A bout the cocoa­ palms in the cattle-yard large flocks of grackles were flying; these birds see1ned always to congregate about haciendas, but were never found in the forests. In one portion of the cattle-yard I discovered a small land snail ,vhich proved to be a new species ( Oryzosoma Tabiensi's, Pilsbry). At dinner I tasted a dish of which I had heard much, but until this tin1e had not · tasted-cuttle-fish. It ,vas a small species of Octopus found abundantly ·on the coast, and onYzosol\rA . TABIENSIS, was very pa 1 atable, tasting 1nuch l1'ke c 1 11c . k�en. PILSBRY. Early in the afternoon ,ve started for the Cave of Lol­ tun, situated a league from the hacienda.· The road for the

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A 1Vi1 '1' U llALl S'1' I1V 1lIEXICO.

distance of two n1iles was level, and bordered fields of hene­ q ucn; it then ascended at a 1noderate angle until we reached t1n abrupt openiug, circular in outline, fully sixty feet in cir­ cun1fercnce, seen1ing a 1nagnificent entrance to a great te1n­ ple for the worsh p of the god of nature. We first des­ cended by a succession of short ladders laid against the face of the wall of the cavern, and entered a large, vaulted cavern about sixty feet in height, lighted fro1n the n1outh. In this chan1ber were n1any weird and gigantic stalactites incrusted with the disintegrated earth, which gave the1n a brownish tinge. Fron1 here we entered a second chan1ber about twenty feet below, in which was a n1 :st beautiful display of stalactitic gro\\'th; here were gigantic colu1nns of pure, white calcite, reaching fron1 the floor to the roof above. Vve had been told of nurnerous figures and objects of don1estic utensils used Ly the ancient inhaLitants, which were to be found in this cave, but as was 1nost usually the case we were cloo111ed to disappointn1ent, for the so called figures were nothing n1ore than the huge stalactitic colu1nns before us. Fron1 this cha1nber we journeyed on by a downward, shelving path, and entered another of surpassing weirdness; it _was fully three hundred feet in dian1eter, and lighted fron1 a circular hole in the roof, eighty feet above, through which strea1ned the sunlight. At one end of this large cha1nber was a s1naller one, about as large as a good sized roo111. Against the v1all of this apartn1ent was a n1ost delicious fountain of clear, cold water, bubbling up fron1 a hollow stal­ agn1ite . \Vhen en1ptied of its contents this fountain slowly filled again, but did not run over. The exact ten1perature we were, unfortunately, not able to determine. Fron1 this sn1all chainber several dark passages branched to right and left, but tbey had not been explored, and the guides ,vould not enter then1. Recrossing the large cavern we entercel a dark passage, fifty feet in height,

CA VE OF BOLONCI-IEN.

49

which led to a huge cavern stre,vn with broken rocks which had fallen fron1 the roof above. For the space of twenty minutes we clan1bered over these boulders, and finally reached a level path in a passage some fifteen or twenty feet high and twenty-five in width. The floor was broken into ripple-n1arks, like those on a sea-shore, and looked as though ,vater had flowed over it at son1e distant day. This path was followed for some distance, ,vhen it branched in several di­ rections; one branch led.straight ahead and was said to lead to a s1nall village son1e six miles away, and was used by the ancient lVIayas as a place of retreat ,vhen hard pressed by their enen1ies. The other passages led through a laby­ rinth of stalactitic coln111ns, and ,ve did not explore the111. As evening was approaching, we returned to the hacienda. This cave was but one of n1any such ,vhich are scattered throughout Yucatan. The whole surface of the country is fiat and without a water course of any kind, so that the in­ habitants are con1pelled to depend upon the water obtained in cenotes, caves, and tanks for their supply. There are numerous strea111s throughout the country in the depths of these caves; one notable instance is the Cave of Bolo:"!chen, in wbich, at the depth of so1ne four hundred feet, a stream of good ,vater is found. This is probably true of all the caves, although son1e have not yet been explored sufficiently to determine whether all are thus supplied or not. As the country is con1posed of transition limestone it is natural that numerous caves should abound, and that th� water should seek its lowest level in the softest rock.

CHAPTER V. next morning \Ye set out for the ruins of Labna. Our road lay southeast, among the hills, and ,vas very picturesque. A dan1 p fog hung over everything, and the air ,vas quite cold. It was in fact a 1nost disn1al day. At the distance of two leagues we reached a field of ruins hidden in the dense :a�--...i� forest. The first building ,ve :-= .=2 "" - �- 11'.� -�--���-�--: sa,v was the 1nost curious and :,?:� -:..:;J;;i�� 2,�� �� __::;-�� t� �-;. extraor d.1nary structure we ---...:-·:":;,_ �---� --=--,.,... . �.,_=-aZ . = ·- � · · had yet seen, surn1ounting a A YOL ..�N cocHE. pyran1idal n1ound forty-five feet high. The steps had fallen, and trees and lVIaguey plants were growing out of the place where they had stood. A nar­ row platf0rn1 forn1ed the top of the mound. The building faced the south, and when entire 1neasured forty-three feet in· front and twenty feet in ,vidth. It had three doorways, of which one, t'Jgether with ten feet of the whole structure, had fallen, and now lay a mass of ruins. The center door­ way opened into two chambers, each twenty feet iong and · six feet wide. Above the cornice of the building rose a gigantic per­ pendic:ular ,va11 thirty feet high, which had once been or­ nan1ented fro111 one side to the other ,vith colossal figures, now broken and in fragn1ents, but still presentin6 � curious appearance. A1ong the top, standing out on the wall, ·was a row of deaths' heads; underne.1th ,vere two lines ot hun1an figures in alto relievo. Over the center doorway was a colossal seated figure, of which only detachell portions no,v remained. The wall was tottering anll ready to fall, an w 1-­ .'


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