To enter into this question in a satisfactory manner would require a more accurate knowledge of the ancient ruins to be found there than we now possess. The accounts which the travellers above referred to have given are very meagre, and however deserving of commendation they undoubtedly were, they were notwithstanding not men of that knowledge of antiquities, and of that ability, which has led to such valuable results from the labours of Layard at Nineveh, or Newton at Budrum. All that can here be done is to cite the observations of the earliest writers who described the country, and those of later travellers, on points connected with the present enquiry.
It was in Yucatan and the neighbouring Islands that the Spaniards first met with any signs of an advanced civilization.
But the people who inhabited that country were a warlike race, and inflicted several defeats on the invaders; and this circumstance, together with the absence of gold mines, led the Spaniards to pass on to Mexico, and thus Yucatan was lost sight of in comparison with the superior attractions which other regions of the New world presented.
Gomara, in his work on the Conquest of Mexico, describes the houses in Cozumel as built of stone and brick; and the temples as being particularly well constructed. He mentions a large temple situated near the sea; the idol belonging to this temple was considered oracular, and he describes the manner in which the priests entered into the image by means of a secret door, and answered the petitions of the worshippers. The people were very religious, and on account of the oracle the island was much resorted to. A large marble cross was worshipped when want of rain was experienced. There was little water in the island, and that was collected in cisterns. Gomara gives a similar description of the buildings in Yucatan, and states that a very great fair was held annually at Xicalanco, where merchants came from distant lands. Every town in that country had its temple, but the great sanctuaries were at Xicalanco and Cozumel. Human sacrifices, especially children, were offered; dogs were also sacrificed, and incense was burnt in religious services. And it is added that the people practised the rite of circumcision.
Bernal Diaz in his history of the Conquest of Mexico mentions Indian merchants as being at Cozumel when Cortez arrived there; and in the account of the battle at Tabasco describes the natives as using trumpets, horns and timbrels.
Peter Martyr, who was careful in collecting information from trustworthy sources, mentions a large city on the coast of Yucatan, containing turretted houses, stately temples, and
