THE CITY OF THE SACRED WELL [Illustration: “A last forward swing and the bride of Yum Chac hurtles far out over the well.”] THE CITY OF THE SACRED WELL BEING A NARRATIVE OF THE DISCOVERIES AND EXCAVATIONS OF EDWARD HERBERT THOMPSON IN THE ANCIENT CITY OF CHI-CHEN ITZA WITH SOME DISCOURSE ON THE CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION AS REVEALED BY THEIR ART AND ARCHITECTURE, HERE SET DOWN AND ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY T. A. WILLARD [Illustration] THE CENTURY CO. NEW YORK & LONDON Copyright, 1926, by THE CENTURY CO. 360 Printed in U. S. A. PREFACE This book is primarily an attempt to recount the many thrilling experiences of Edward Herbert Thompson in his lifelong quest for archæological treasures in the ancient and abandoned city of Chi-chen Itza, for centuries buried beneath the jungle of Yucatan. As a boy Mr. Thompson—or Don Eduardo, as he is affectionately known to the natives about the Sacred City—sat in his snug New England home and read of the adventures of Stephens in Yucatan, descriptions of the old Maya civilization, and the legends concerning the Sacred Well at Chi-chen Itza. Then and there he determined that his life-work should be the uncovering of the age-old secrets of the ancient city. When still a mere youth he was appointed by the President of the United States as the first American Consul to Yucatan, the appointment having been urged by the American Antiquarian Society and the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, both of which were anxious to have a trained investigator on the peninsula. Enthusiastically Mr. Thompson undertook his double mission. For over twenty-five years he remained at his post as consul. During this long period, sometimes at the head of regularly organized expeditions under the auspices of American archæological institutions, at other times with only his faithful native followers, he discovered ruined cities until then unknown to the world and carried on exhaustive researches among those already discovered. At last Mr. Thompson resigned the consular office, in order to carry on the various scientific undertakings that required all his time and energy. Chief among these was the search for relics that for hundreds of years had lain buried in the mud at the bottom of the Sacred Well.