nd the reader that it is very doubtful
whether such a state of things ever existed. It is related, for
instance, that the king marched from Utatlan with seventy-two thousand
warriors to repel the attack of Alvarade. This would indicate a total
population of between two and three hundred thousand souls. It seems
to us that a city of that size would not so completely disappear in a
little over three centuries that a careful explorer could find only the
ruins of a few large buildings.

We do not feel that we have done near justice to the ruins of Guatemala.
As we have before remarked, there are, doubtless, many ruins not yet
brought to light. They are rapidly disappearing, and we do not know that
we will ever possess a description of them, or understand their real
import. The light of history, indeed, fell on the two groups of ruins
last described. But the Spanish writers were totally unacquainted with
Indian society, and may, therefore, have widely erred in applying to
their government terms suited only to European ideas of the sixteenth
century. And it is not doubted but that their estimate of the population
of the towns, and of the enemies with which they had to contend,
were often greatly overdrawn. In short, the remains themselves are
remarkable, but every ruined pyramid is not necessarily the remains of
a great very great city, nor every large building in ruins necessarily a
palace.

Going northward out of Guatemala, we pass into the modern state of
Chiapas. This is described a country of great natural beauty and
fertility. And here it is that we meet with a group of ruins which have
been an object of great interest to the scientific world. They have been
carefully studied and described, and many theories have been enunciated
as to their builders, their history, and civilization. The place is
supposed to have been deserted and in ruins when Cortez landed in the
country. At any rate, he marched within a few leagues of it, but, as in
the case of Copan, he is silent in regard to it.

They take their name from the modern town of Palenque, near which they
are located. This town was founded in 1564. It was once a place of
considerable importance, but its trade has died away, and now it would
not be known were it not for the ruins of a former people located near
it. Though distant from the village only some eight miles, nearly
two centuries went by before their existence was known. Had they been
visited and described at