Produced by Keith Edkins, Julia Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). * * * * * [Illustration] Sacred Mysteries AMONG THE MAYAS AND THE QUICHES, 11,500 YEARS AGO. THEIR RELATION TO THE SACRED MYSTERIES OF EGYPT, GREECE, CHALDEA AND INDIA. FREE MASONRY In Times Anterior to the Temple of Solomon. _ILLUSTRATED._ BY AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON, Author of "A Sketch of the Ancient Inhabitants of Peru, and their Civilization;" "Vestiges of the Mayas;" "Essay on Vestiges of Antiquity;" "Essay on the Causes of Earthquakes;" "Religion of Jesus compared with the Teachings of the Church;" "The Monuments of Mayax and their Historical Teachings." ---- NEW YORK: ROBERT MACOY, 4 BARCLAY STREET. 1886. Entered according to Act of Congress, March 15, 1886, by AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. ---- _All Rights Reserved._ [Illustration: F.A. RINGLER & CO. ELECTROTYPERS NEW YORK.] To MR. PIERRE LORILLARD, THIS SMALL HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE SACRED MYSTERIES PRACTICED IN REMOTE AGES BY THE MAYAS AND QUICHES Is Respectfully Dedicated, AS A FEEBLE TESTIMONIAL OF MY APPRECIATION OF HIS EFFORTS TO HELP IN REMOVING THE VEIL THAT HAS SO LONG HUNG OVER THE HISTORY, CUSTOMS AND CIVILIZATION OF THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF THIS WESTERN CONTINENT. AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON. NEW YORK, MAY 20TH, 1886. PREFACE. ---- The forests of Yucatan and Central America are to-day, for the majority of the people of the United States, even those who call themselves scientific and well informed, as much a _terra incognita_, as America was to the inhabitants of Europe before its discovery by Cristobal Colon in 1498, when for the first time he came in sight of the northern coast of South America, and navigated along it from the mouth of the river Orinoco to _Porto Cabello_ in the _Golfo Triste_.