Page:Researches in the Central Portion of the Usumatsintla Valley.djvu/27

Rh Meanwhile Mr. Koller had returned, and on the 8th of February we left the rancho in his company, crossing the Chacamax at a little distance from the huts. Our path now led through the mountain spurs of this region, until, after travelling about two and one-half leagues, we reached the brook of Xupá. Here we found a small palmleaf hut, or champa, where my men unloaded the pack animals and put the camp in order, while I myself with Mr. Koller crossed the stream in search of the principal edifice of the ruined city, as Mr. Koller wished to return to his rancho on the same day. We succeeded in reaching this edifice, blazing the direction thither by cutting off branches, so that on the next day the thorough exploration might be carried on without interruption.

Our camp by that bubbling brook was very comfortable, but about midnight the piercing scream of a panther awoke us from our light slumbers. This animal is not directly dangerous to man, but its repeated shrill cry somewhat disconcerted my men, who were not exactly heroes. It seemed to have the same effect upon a troop of howling monkeys. They had enlivened the stillness of the night with their loud howling, but at the first cry of the panther they were struck dumb, and from this I inferred that the Stentor niger and the Felis concolor are not on good terms.

The ruins are situated on the right bank of the Xupá and are of considerable extent. Nearly all the buildings appear to have had great substructures built of good hewn stone. The superstructures are almost without exception in ruins, but in all directions there are massive substructures many of which are of considerable size. I have explored very nearly all the buildings and the ground in front of them for sculptured stones, but in vain. The principal temple, once a noble edifice crowning a large pyramidal substructure, alone still exhibits parts of rooms and remains of walls.

I therefore directed my attention chiefly to the examination of this building. The temple with its façade faces the east. On this side were the flights of stairs, the terraces forming broad steps, and apartments, now in ruins, adjoining the temple at its base, which were reached from the place in front of the temple. On the west side, on the other hand, the steps of the pyramid formed an ascent to a plateau (west terrace), and from this additional steps rose to the platform.

As the façade of the temple proper, the right wing, and the middle part are almost entirely in ruins, I had great difficulty in understanding the ground plan of the temple, but I finally discovered that it was similar to that of the three well-known temples of Palenque, — the Temple of the Trophy and the first and second Temples of the Cross, — which proves beyond all doubt that Xupá was very intimately connected with Palenque. Accordingly the temple consisted of a finely vaulted vestibule with four pillars (strips of walls) in front, whose corresponding three entrances were spanned