ornamentation and design that
overload the palaces and temples of Uxmal. When gazing on the
structures of that city, and comparing them with those of Chichen,
it seemed that I was contemplating a low-born, illiterate man, on
whom Fortune, in one of her strange freaks, has smiled, and who
imagines that by bedecking himself with gaudy habiliments and
shining jewelry he acquires knowledge and importance. All in Uxmal
proclaims the decadency of art, the relaxation of morals, the
depravity of customs, the lewdness of the inhabitants. In Chichen
they represent the life-giving power of the universe under the
emblems of the Sun and Kukulcan. In Uxmal they worshipped the
phallus, which is to be seen everywhere, in the courts, in the
ornaments of the temples, in the residences of the priests and
priestesses, in all the monuments except the house of the governor,
built by Aac, the younger brother and assassin of Chac-Mool.

The edifices of Uxmal are evidently constructed with less art and
knowledge than those of Chichen. The latter remain whole and nearly
intact, except in those places where the hand of man has been busy;
the former have suffered much from the inclemencies of the
atmosphere, and from the ignorance and vandalistic propensities of
the visitors. I have been present at the destruction of magnificent
walls where the ruins stand. Some prefer to destroy these relics of
past ages, rather than to pick up with more ease the stones that
strew the soil in every direction.

The ornaments of temples and palaces are mostly composed of
hieroglyphics, highly adorned, of the emblems of religious rites,
of statues of great men and priests, surrounded by many
embellishments. In Uxmal the columns are representations of the
phallus-worship of the Nahuas. In Chichen the base is formed by the
head of Kukulcan, the shaft by the body of the serpent, with its
feathers beautifully carved to the very chapter. On the chapters of
the columns that support the portico, at the entrance of the castle
in Chichen-Itza, may be seen the carved figures of long-bearded
men, with upraised hands, in the act of worshipping sacred trees.
They forcibly recall to the mind the same worship in Assyria, as
seen on the slabs found by Layard in the ruins of Nineveh, now in
the Assyrian