Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya, in an Unexplored Region; and the Possession of two Remarkable Aztec Children, Descendants and Specimens of the Sacerdotal Caste, (now nearly extinct,) of the Ancient Aztec Founders of the Ruined Temples of that Country, Described by John L. Stevens, Esq., and Other Travellers. — John Shaqi
Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya, in an Unexplored Region; and the Possession of two Remarkable Aztec Children, Descendants and Specimens of the Sacerdotal Caste, (now nearly extinct,) of the Ancient Aztec Founders of the Ruined Temples of that Country, Described by John L. Stevens, Esq., and Other Travellers.Velasquez, Pedro
History
Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America: Resulting in the Discovery of the Idolatrous City of Iximaya, in an Unexplored Region; and the Possession of two Remarkable Aztec Children, Descendants and Specimens of the Sacerdotal Caste, (now nearly extinct,) of the Ancient Aztec Founders of the Ruined Temples of that Country, Described by John L. Stevens, Esq., and Other Travellers.
Velasquez, Pedro
Aztecs; Central America -- Antiquities; Central America -- Description and travel; Indians of Central America
The next entry in the journal is dated May 15th.--"Recovered the body of
Sebastiano and the load of his mule; his brother is building a cross for
his grave, and will not leave it until famished with thirst and hunger.
All too exhausted to think of leaving this our first encampment since we
descended. Present elevation but little above that of the opposite ridge
which we left on the 11th, still, at least 3000 feet to climb." On the
19th, 4 o'clock, P. M., he records, "Myself, Sr. Hammond and Antonio, on
the highest summit, an inclined plain of bare rock, of about fifteen
acres. The Padre again right. Sr. Huertis and others just discernable,
but bravely coming on. Elevation, 9,500 feet. Completely in the clouds,
and all the country below invisible. Senor Hammond already bleeding at
the nose, and no cigar to stop it." At 10 o'clock, the same night, he
writes, "All comfortably asleep but myself and Sr. Hammond, who is going
to take the latitude." Then follows, "He finds the latitude 15 degrees
and 48 minutes _north_." Opposite this, in the margin is written, "the
mean result of three observations of different stars. Intend to take the
longitude to-morrow." Next day, the 20th, he says, "A bright and most
auspicious morning, and all, but poor Antonio, in fine health and
feeling. The wind by compass, N. E., and rolling away a billowy ocean of
mist, toward, I suppose, the Bay of Honduras. Antonio says the Pacific
will be visible within an hour; (present time not given) more and more
of the lower mountains becoming clear every moment. Fancy we already
see the Pacific, a faint yellow plain, almost as elevated as ourselves.
Can see part of the State of Chiapas pretty distinctly." At 12 o'clock,
meridian, he says, "Sr. Hammond is taking the longitude, but finds a
difference of several minutes between his excellent watch and
chronometer, and fears the latter has been shaken. Both the watch and
its owner, however, have been a great deal more shaken, for the
chronometer has been all the time in the midst of a thick blanket, and
has had no falls. Sr. Huertis, with the glass, sees whole lines and
groups of pyramids, in Chiapas." At 1 o'clock, P. M. he records, "Sr.
Hammond reports the longitude, 92 degrees 15 minutes _west_. Brave
Huertis is in ecstacy with some discovery, but will not part with the
glass for a moment. No doubt it is the Padre's city, for it is precisely
in the direction he indicated. Antonio says he can see it with his naked
eye, although less distinctly than heretofore. I can only see a white
straight line, like a ledge of limestone rock, on an elevated plain, at
least twenty leagues distant, in the midst of a vast amphitheatre of
hills, to the north east of our position, toward the State of Yucatan.
Still, it is no doubt the place the Padre saw, and it may be a great
city."
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