Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatán . remains of a colossal ape or baboon,strongly resembling in outline and appearance the fourmonstrous animals which once stood in front attachedto the base of the obelisk of Luxor, now in Paris,* andwhich, under the name of Cynocephali, were worship-ped at Thebes. This fragment was about six feet head was wanting ; the trunk lay on the side of thepyramid, and we rolled it down several steps, when itfell among a mass of stones, from which we could notdisengage it. We had no such idea at the time, butit is not absurd to suppo
Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatán . remains of a colossal ape or baboon,strongly resembling in outline and appearance the fourmonstrous animals which once stood in front attachedto the base of the obelisk of Luxor, now in Paris,* andwhich, under the name of Cynocephali, were worship-ped at Thebes. This fragment was about six feet head was wanting ; the trunk lay on the side of thepyramid, and we rolled it down several steps, when itfell among a mass of stones, from which we could notdisengage it. We had no such idea at the time, butit is not absurd to suppose the sculptured sculls to beintended for the heads of monkeys, and that these ani- * As it stands in Paris, these figures are wanting to make it complete as itstood at Thebes, the obelisk alone having been removed. 136 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. mals were worshipped as deities by the people whobuilt Copan. Among the fragments lying on the ground, near thisplace, is a remarkable portrait, of which the followingengraving is a representation. It is probably the por. trait of some king, chieftain, or sage. The mouth isinjured, and part of the ornament over the wreath thatcrowns the head. The expression is noble and severe,and the whole character shows a close imitation of na-ture. At the point marked D stands one of the columns or idols which give the peculiar character to the ruinsof Copan, the front of which forms the frontispiece tothis volume, and to which I particularly request the at-tention of the reader. It stands with its face to the CHARACTER OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 137 east, about six feet from the base of the pyramidal is thirteen feet in height, four feet in front, and threedeep, sculptured on all four of its sides from the baseto the top, and one of the richest and most elaboratespecimens in the whole extent of the ruins. Originallyit was painted, the marks of red colour being still dis-tinctly visible. Before it, at a distance of about eightfeet, is a large block of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectmayas, bookyear1853
