THE CITY OF THE
SACRED WELL
“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
THE CENTURY CO.
NEW YORK & LONDON
Copyright, 1926, by
The Century Co.
      360
Printed in U. S. A.
v
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.
vi
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.
Many and many a night, under the gorgeous moonlight of Yucatan or    by some cozy fireside in the States, I have listened entranced, as    the hours glided by, to the true tales Don Eduardo tells of his    experiences or of the custo                        
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